This is part 2 of the preview - Western Conference Lottery teams!
15 - Sacramento - The owners are broke now and have dumped out every asset to just survive financially. Well, actually SG Kevin Martin is still available. It will be interesting if he ends up getting moved as well.
14 - Golden State - Don Nelson wants to retire or get fired and has basically given up. Plus, all the potential displayed from the summer came to a screeching halt when Brandan Wright injured his shoulder and is probably out for the season.
13 - Memphis - I actually think it's an "interesting roster" with PG Conley, SG Mayo, C Marc Gasol, SF Rudy Gay, and PF Zach Randolph. And 6th-man Iverson. And 7-foot rookie Hasheem Thabeet. However, "interesting" doesn't always translate to "successful." I just don't think Randolph and Iverson are going to breed a winning atmosphere. Call it a hunch.
12 - Clippers - Baron Davis is fun to watch when healthy... it just doesn't happen much. They do have rookie Blake Griffin and 2nd-year man Eric Gordon (a poor man's Iverson), so they will also be entertaining, just not winning much.
11 - T-wolves - I actually think this team is going to be moderately competitive. PG Ramon Sessions, SG Corey Brewer, C Kevin Love, SF Ryan Gomes, PF Al Jefferson? Plus, they have rookie PG Johnny Flynn! McHale will be crying somewhere when he sees how much better the team is after just one season of him not being in charge and not making all the decisions. I also have to comment on the new GM, because he would make George Costanza proud... you see, Minnesota Timberwolves GM just couldn't stop going to Europe this summer- with 3 trips alone between June and August. I personally think it's just an excuse for the GM to go to Europe once a month. Actually, it's the greatest idea in the history of being a GM. Want more vacation time? Simply draft someone who's already locked into contract, then just keep "visiting", beg them to rip up the contract for 15 minutes, then vacation for 6 days. It's actually quite genius.
10- Suns - Well, they still have PG Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire. I will tell you from last season, that Amare is one of the laziest players defensively that I've ever seen. He literally does not care. Neither does Jason Richardson. Plus, I think PF Channing Frye has to start for them despite being the 4th-string big man on the Blazers. I just think this means the Suns will be a lottery team again this season.
9 - Hornets - This is by far the toughest thing to decide... who will be the 9th-best Western Conference team? I'm in love with the Ok City Thundercats and I'm irrationally going to place them in the playoffs. So my decision came down to either the Hornets or the Rockets. I've gone back and forth on this a number of times. I realize that just leaving the Thundercats out would be the most logical decision, but that would be boring, as they are my "surprise" team for this year. So... I'm choosing the Hornets to fall short. The Hornets still have Chris Paul but while the Rockets don't have any superstars this season (no Yao or McGrady) i'm guessing that Carl Landry, Chuck Hayes, Luis Scola, and new Euro player David Andersen will be able to get enough production to get the Rockets to the playoffs. I really like all of these players and the more I think about it, the more likely that the Hornets can be like a KG T-wolves team that had the one of the best players in the game, but just couldn't make the playoffs... I will talk about the OkCity Thundercats in more depth next week.
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