My current prediction for bottom 5 in the West is…

11. Whichever team of the usual top 11 gets the most injuries.

12. Rockets: I think our roster is heavily upgraded. We’re going from Silas to Udoka, KPJ/Nix to FVV/Amen, and then replacing 20/21 year old bench pieces with actual NBA vets. It’s just a gigantic upgrade on all fronts. There’s the chance we struggle to gel, but the signs have been promising in pre-season. One of the main reasons I have us at 12 though, is that we have no incentive to tank. We don’t have our own pick, so we’ll be fighting for wins all year and I think we have the depth to outlast injuries.

13. Spurs: They look great in pre-season and Wemby looks more NBA ready than I thought. They could easily jump up into the play-in, but they also could easily fall to 15 if Wemby misses a lot of time which is still a concern for me due to his size. I also think there’s incentive for them to tank at the mid-way point in the season if they’re not in the play-in spots. This is probably the last chance they have a shot at a high pick with Wemby on the roster now and it may make sense to capitalize on it.

14. Jazz: It’s ridiculous a team with the Jazz’s roster is down here, but the West is just deep this year. Main reason I have them down here is that they were 10-16 after trading Conley and they’re too dependent on Lauri for scoring. A Lauri injuries could bottom them out, and I’m not confident in their PG options at the moment. I also just think Ainge secretly wants to tank to get more high tier prospects, and is just waiting for a reason to do so. If they’re near the bottom at the deadline, I think they become sellers.

15. Blazers: They have a good 7-8 man roster, but not much after that so I think injuries could hurt this team more than most. Brogdon and Timelord are also part of the main rotation and consistently have injury issues too. I also don’t trust Billups as a coach while I trust the coaches for the other three teams above them much more. I like the way the rebuild is going, but they’re not in the rush and will probably look to add another top 5 pick next to Scoot which is probably the better move long term.

Grizzlies for sure. It having Ja for 25 games is gonna be a mess. That’s assuming he comes back and plays those other ones with no issues but no Clarke and now no Adams, yikes

1. Denver Nuggets
2. Phoenix Suns
3. OKC Thunder
4. GS Warriors
5. Memphis Grizzlies
6. Dallas Mavericks
7. LA Clippers
8. Sacramento Kings
9. LA Lakers
10. New Orleons Pelicans
11. Houston Rockets
12. San Antonio Hotspurs
13. Portland Trailblazer
14. Utah Jazz (intentional tanking as planned by Danny Ainge)
15. Minnesota T’Wolves (intentional tanking as planned by incompetence)

I’m loving all the people thinking the rockets will be bottom of the west. Neither Portland or spurs are better than us, even on paper. The rockets defense has looked great. The offense has been iffy but the team added 4 new players to the rotation and a new coach. It’ll take time for the chemistry to develop. I don’t care if people sleep on us, but we’re not going to be a bottom 3 team.

how is it not blazers

Ima go with the jazz. Figure they will tank this year more than last.

If Pelicans stay somewhat healthy I can’t see them being the 15th team in the west

Is the west more stacked than the East? Kind of random paring of top teams, but it’s what came to mind.

• Denver = Boston
• Suns < Bucks
• Kings = Cavs
• Warriors > Knicks
• Lakers = 76ers
• Clippers < Heat

I think the Blazers and Rockets will both surprise people, they both have talent on the team from high draft picks.

There is a high chance some team in the West gets eaten up with injuries and falls off hard. Clippers are old, Warriors could be either of those.

Without accounting for injuries I think the Jazz have a HARD tank year.

Lakers. Prolly 10th or 11th

No. It’s not.

The West is “stacked” like it was last season. Where no one knew what the fuck any team would deliver.

Unlike last year, there’s a clear favorite (DEN.) But, they were the BIGGEST reason the West was unpredictable last season. Because no one knew if they could get it done when it matters. They answered that question.

Anyway, I don’t know how the Pelicans got added to your question. If Zion is remotely healthy (60 games) then they are a playoff team.

The Blazers and Rockets have shit rosters. A god-awful team added Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks. Surely that will have the same impact as Bron and Bosh joining Miami.

The Blazers sucked really bad last year. Replacing Dame with a rookie PG and adding a center that a win-now team openly didn’t want for two seasons must make them a contender now!

The west isn’t stacked anymore.

Blazers. Scoot will be good eventually, but young rookies are almost always inefficient and below average compared to NBA starting caliber players. Grant and Brogdon will be gone by the trade deadline.

Their future looks bright, but they’re gonna be bad this year.

I think the Jazz and Blazers will finish below the Rockets and Spurs in the standings. I think the Clippers or Pelicans will end up being the other team that misses the play-in, but it’ll come down to whichever playoff-level team struggles the most with injuries throughout the year.

This is my take on the ordering in the west, would love to see how bad or good my take is going to turn out lol

1. Timberwolves
2. Suns
3. Nuggets
4. Grizzlies
5. Lakers
6. Kings
7. Warriors
8. Clippers
9. Thunder
10. Pelicans
11. Mavericks
12. Jazz
13. Rockets
14. Spurs
15. Trailblazers