Divisional Analysis: The Pacific
4 divisions down, only 2 more to go. This time it's the division that lays claim to the world champion Los Angeles Lakers. My rule is that whenever a team wins a championship, they're automatically the top team at the start of the next year as far as how I'm ranking teams. Of course there are exceptions when teams make drastic changes, almost always negative (see the Chicago Bulls in '98/'99), but Jordan Farmar and Adam Morrison just are not quite enough to make that difference. There's also the Suns who have undergone drastic changes this offseason as well as the rising Clippers (how often do you hear that?), the new look Warriors, and the young Sacramento Kings. However, the class of the division is clearly the Lakers right now.
Really, when you look at it, the Lakers look like they may have even gotten better during this past offseason. Sure, Jordan Farmar is gone, not a bit loss at all, but he did do his part. However, they now have Steve Blake, who may even take over the starting spot as Fisher is just getting too old at this point to really handle starter minutes. Also, Blake is simply a better player than Farmar and has proven to be an excellent point guard if you already have other players on the team that really run things on offense.
Outside of Blake the Lakers have also brought in Kobe nemesis Matt Barnes, a very tough defender who excels at getting into the heads of other players and can give you an offensive boost on occasion. They also may have been able to nab the steal of the draft with Derrick Caracter, a player whose talent is undeniable, but has other issues. If Caracter can show that he's mature enough at this point to not screw things up, then he can wind up being a pick that LA really enjoys in the future.
With the Phoenix Suns it's a different story. While they have had some additions this offseason, the biggest change was the loss of their best draft pick in the last ten years, Amar'e Stoudemire. Stoudemire has, when healthy, been the top scorer on the Suns since the '04/'05 season. The year before that he was .2 points behind Stephon Marbury for the team lead in points per game. There is no doubt that his absence is going to be a huge change for the Suns. However, there were major weaknesses to the game of Stoudemire, defense being by far the biggest one. Still though, the loss is going to be a huge negative to the team.
The Suns did make proper moves to add to their team though. Josh Childress should wind up being a nice addition. Hedo Turkoglu should also wind up being a very nice addition. He did have a poor season in Toronto, but he's moving somewhere that should see him get better opportunities, as he will have one of the best point guards of the past decade throwing him the ball. The Suns have also added Hakim Warrick, a nice defender off the bench, and Gani Lawal via the draft, a combo forward with a lot of potential. The continued improvement of Robin Lopez and Goran Dragic is also going to be very important to the Suns. Assuming there will be some there, the Suns should finish at the second spot in the division, but it's nothing that looks sure, even at this point.
That's because of the Los Angeles Clippers. Long considered one of the jokes of the NBA, the Clippers seem to have enough to get in the playoffs, getting there 7 times throughout their 41 year history. To put that into perspective, the Toronto Raptors have been far from the ideal franchise, but in a 15 year history they have made it to the playoffs 5 times. Instead of making it into the playoffs barely better than once every 6 years, the Raptors have made it once every 3 years, twice as good. However, if there has ever been a time for a team to turn things around, it's right now for the Clippers.
What may wind up being a blessing in disguise for the Clippers was the injury to Blake Griffin last season. Griffin was the first overall pick in the 2009 draft, but wound up missing the entire '09/'10 season due to injury. However, Griffin looks good now and should be able to go right away as the next season starts, but on top of that, the Clippers were also able to draft Al-Farouq Aminu, who looks like a Luol Deng without a jumper, but with more athleticism. As a whole, Aminu won't wind up being a superstar in the league, but he will be a very nice addition to this team.
The Clippers still won't be competing for a championship, but they look like they can easily be that next up and coming team, and they look like they may be good enough to really impress the rest of the league as soon as this upcoming season.
Next up is the Sacramento Kings. If Demarcus Cousins had been picked 10 picks later, he'd be the clear frontrunner for the steal of the draft. However, while he did fall, let's not get too excited until he actually plays at the high level that he is expected to play at. Still, putting him along with the rest of that Kings team, things are looking much better than they have before.
Adding Samuel Dalembert for underperforming young players (which is pretty much the trade that did go down) should help to make the Kings a more complete team. Dalembert is not the strongest offensive player, but he is a solid defender who can rebound the ball well. He makes for great insurance in case Cousins winds up being completely nuts. Hassan Whiteside was another good draft pick, a center with amazing potential, but who also brings along an amazing risk, Whiteside should be able to learn well from Dalembert. The Kings also picked up Luther Head, a sharpshooter who should be able to give them quality minutes off the bench.
The final team here is the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors seem to be in a transition period that they're starting now. When you realize that they were as bad as they were last season, you really begin to realize how bad they may be this upcoming season. However, to throw a positive in there, the new administration actually wants to acknowledge Andris Biedrins as a member of the team. Also, they brought in David Lee, a power forward who should be able to once again average at least very close to 20 and 10 for them despite not having much on defense to bring in.
Beyond that, the Warriors have a very strong young backcourt with Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry. This is the backcourt that Ellis said couldn't work before last season (and has since apologized for), but when you look at it, both guys can run the offense, and they have their distinct offensive roles with Ellis being the penetration guy and Curry being the sharpshooter. The Warriors actually have had a solid amount of turnover on their roster, but there are just not a lot of impact players that have come in for them.
While they will likely be pretty bad this coming season, expect plenty of great moments from the Warriors this coming season.They likely will be similar, if not worse than last year, but don't expect everything to be a waste either.
