Western Conference Little Changed By Off Season

[George O'Brien]

Last year the top four teams in the West were the Mavs, Spurs, Clippers, and Suns. Not much this off season has changed that although a few teams look to be stronger.

NORTHWEST

Denver added JR Smith and Joe Smith while losing Greg Buckner, Francisco Elson, and Ruben Patterson. Nothing here to make you say "wow, this is the team to beat". Considering how weak the Northwest Division is, they are still the favorites, but that doesn't prove much.

Utah's improvement is dependent on the development of rookie Ronnie Brewer although Derek Fisher is certainly better than McLeod at PG. Unlike Denver, the Jazz haven't lost anyone important. Overall, they look somewhat improved depending on how much Brewer contributes.

Seattle added Sene who looked great in summer league, but it's hard to see how he's going to make a huge impact this season. Re-signing Wilcox was a big deal, but overall this is still the same team that did not make the playoffs last season.

Minnesota added Mike James and Randy Foye while losing Marcus Banks. James had a career year in Toronto after bouncing around. Any team with KG and Ricky Davis is a threat, but these changes do not make the Wolves look significantly better.

Portland was amazingly active over the summer, but whether this turns them into a playoff team remains to be seen. On paper, this should be a much better team by adding rookies LaMarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy, and Sergio Rodriguez along with veterans Raef LaFrentz and Jamaal Magloire. They unloaded Theo Ratliff, Brian Skinner, Sebastian Telfair, and Viktor Khryapa along with draft picks. There is some talent here, but it is hard to see how they've put together a real team unless Brandon Roy becomes rookie of the year.

SOUTHWEST

Dallas was very activity in changing their bench players. They added Greg Buckner, Devean George, Austin Croshere, Anthony Johnson, and rookie Maurice Ager. Leaving are Marquis Daniels, Adrian Griffin, and Keith Van Horn. It is hard to see how this materially changes the team unless Anthony Johnson gives them real point guard play.

San Antonio had some major changes. They traded away Rasho Nesterovic, lost Nazr Mohammed to Detroit through free agency, and Sean Marks came to the Suns. They were replaced by Matt Bonner, Eric Williams, Jackie Butler, and Francisco Elson. At most, the Spurs may not be hugely weaker than before, but it is not likely they are going to be better.

Memphis is going to have new look without Shane Battier, Lorenzen Wright, and Bobby Jackson. Stromile Swift and Rudy Gay don't really appear to be an immediate upgrade.

New Orleans made some huge changes with the addition of Peja Stojakovic, Bobby Jackson and Tyson Chandler along with some rookies like Simmons and Armstrong. Exiting are Speedy Claxton, P.J. Brown, J.R. Smith, Aaron Williams, and Marcus Fizer. Generally, this looks to be a better team, though for the money you would have expected more.

Houston certainly improved themselves simply because Battier is a huge improvement over the clueless Stromile Swift. Kirt Snyder is a nice addition and Vassilis Spanoulis of the Greek national team looks very promising. None of this will matter if T-Mac continues to have back problems.

PACIFIC

The Clippers lost Vladimir Radmanovic to the Lakers, but replaced him with Tim Thomas from the Suns as well as Aaron Williams. Aaron Williams was useless in Toronto, but was mildly effective with the Hornets. Overall, it is hard to view their offseason as being a big deal either way

The Lakers signed Vladimir Radmanovic , drafted Farmar, and traded for Maurice Evans; while only losing Devean George. Vladimir Radmanovic is a good shooter and should help the Lakers some.

The Warriors big off season move was to hire Don Nelson as coach. They traded Derek Fisher is cap dump for Devin Brown, Keith McLeod and Andre Owens while drafting project Patrick O'Bryant. Nelson faces a serious challenge.

Suns added Marcus Banks, Jumaine Jones, Eric Piatkowski, and Sean Marks while losing Tim Thomas, Eddie House, Brian Grant, and Nikoloz Tskitishvili. While losing Tim Thomas was a big deal, overall this appears to be a fairly good upgrade in depth for an already good team.

 

[NugzFan]

Last year the top four teams in the West were the Mavs, Spurs, Clippers, and Suns. Not much this off season has changed that although a few teams look to be stronger.

NORTHWEST

Denver added JR Smith and Joe Smith while losing Greg Buckner, Francisco Elson, and Ruben Patterson. Nothing here to make you say "wow, this is the team to beat". Considering how weak the Northwest Division is, they are still the favorites, but that doesn't prove much.

we did also add nene (sort of).

Utah's improvement is dependent on the development of rookie Ronnie Brewer although Derek Fisher is certainly better than McLeod at PG. Unlike Denver, the Jazz haven't lost anyone important. Overall, they look somewhat improved depending on how much Brewer contributes.

buckner, elson and patterson - important? decent role players but important? funny, no one ever said that when they were on our team.

 

[George O'Brien]

we did also add nene (sort of).

buckner, elson and patterson - important? decent role players but important? funny, no one ever said that when they were on our team.

I was discussing off season moves only, which is why I didn't mention Amare and KT coming back. BTW, I should have included Evans although there is a chance he might return.

I agree that Buckner and Elson weren't huge contributors to the Nuggets, but apparently the Mavs and Spurs disagree. Right now Elson is slated to start for the Spurs.

In any case, it is hard to get a handle on the Nuggets. The fact that JR Smith is viewed as an important pickup suggests they still have some work to do if they are going to become an elite team.

 

[elindholm]

we did also add nene (sort of).

The article doesn't count the Suns as adding Stoudemire, so it's only consistent that it doesn't count the Nuggets as adding Nene.

That said, the overall Phoenix homer bias comes through clearly. It glibly dismisses every other team's moves as irrelevant, backward, or financially reckless, while claiming scrubs like Piatkowski and Marks will improve the Suns' depth.

The Suns' depth will improve, if it does, in only two possible areas:

1. Stoudemire and Kurt Thomas may stay healthy and contribute.
2. Banks may be more consistent than House was.

Besides those two factors, the Suns' only real roster change was to replace Tim Thomas with Jumaine Jones, which is a clear step backward in terms of talent, size, and offensive firepower.

I think we can probably put our faith in "Banks > House" without being unrealistic, although don't forget how recently this board was talking up House like he was the second coming of Pete Maravich.

As far as Stoudemire and Kurt Thomas go, all the armchair analysis in the world can't escape the simple truth: We'll just have to see.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

we did also add nene (sort of).

The article doesn't count the Suns as adding Stoudemire, so it's only consistent that it doesn't count the Nuggets as adding Nene.

That said, the overall Phoenix homer bias comes through clearly. It glibly dismisses every other team's moves as irrelevant, backward, or financially reckless, while claiming scrubs like Piatkowski and Marks will improve the Suns' depth.

The Suns' depth will improve, if it does, in only two possible areas:

1. Stoudemire and Kurt Thomas may stay healthy and contribute.
2. Banks may be more consistent than House was.

Besides those two factors, the Suns' only real roster change was to replace Tim Thomas with Jumaine Jones, which is a clear step backward in terms of talent, size, and offensive firepower.

I think we can probably put our faith in "Banks > House" without being unrealistic, although don't forget how recently this board was talking up House like he was the second coming of Pete Maravich.

As far as Stoudemire and Kurt Thomas go, all the armchair analysis in the world can't escape the simple truth: We'll just have to see.

Ahhh...the voice of reason. I'm glad you are back

 

[devilalum]

George,

Don't you think its excessive to have created 25 out of the last 50 threads?
I enjoy reading your thoughts but I liked the board more when there were more people either starting or contributing to threads.

Also if you compare there seem to be more threads with only a handful of posts and fewer threads with really good discussions than any other ASFN board.

 

[George O'Brien]

George,

Don't you think its excessive to have created 25 out of the last 50 threads?
I enjoy reading your thoughts but I liked the board more when there were more people either starting or contributing to threads.

Also if you compare there seem to be more threads with only a handful of posts and fewer threads with really good discussions than any other ASFN board.

Go to it. The board has been incredibly slow in recent days. In any case, most of my threads are reprinted articles from the World Championships and other article postings.

As for Eric's comments, I suppose I'm a homer but this is a discussion board not some definitive "this is the final word" statement. In any case, I stated that some of the other teams may have made substantial improvements, but I stand by my statement that there has not been a huge change by the top four in the West nor has any of the other teams jumped enough to replace them. We can debate that, but that's my opinion.

As for whether Banks is so much better than House that he will make up for losing TT, it is very hard to know. On the surface, I think there is good reason to think he will. For the last two seasons the Suns have had a lot of trouble when Nash is off the court. If that changes, it will make a huge difference. Having TT as an insurance policy would be great, but if Amare and KT are healthy, TT doesn't play that much.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

George,

Don't you think its excessive to have created 25 out of the last 50 threads?
I enjoy reading your thoughts but I liked the board more when there were more people either starting or contributing to threads.

Also if you compare there seem to be more threads with only a handful of posts and fewer threads with really good discussions than any other ASFN board.

Ahh leave George alone. It's the off season and hes just trying to start up conversation.

 

[sly fly]

I hate board Nazi's.

As someone who doesn't have that much free time, I don't mind coming here and finding some copied/pasted info in George's posts.

It's the off-season. Nothing wrong with keeping things going.

 

[Superbone]

I for one appreciate George's threads.

May I have some more, please?

 

[Mainstreet]

I need my Suns fix and I need it now. Go for it George.

 

[NugzFan]

I was discussing off season moves only, which is why I didn't mention Amare and KT coming back. BTW, I should have included Evans although there is a chance he might return.

evans just resigned.

how come nene doesnt count? he was a free agent.

I agree that Buckner and Elson weren't huge contributors to the Nuggets, but apparently the Mavs and Spurs disagree. Right now Elson is slated to start for the Spurs.

doesnt justify them being important to us. role players are far more important to great teams, because they can just fill the little holes that they have. thats all the spurs and mavs need.

elson can start along side duncan. he wasnt going to start or be the 1st big man off the bench for us. not even 2nd. maybe 3rd.

In any case, it is hard to get a handle on the Nuggets. The fact that JR Smith is viewed as an important pickup suggests they still have some work to do if they are going to become an elite team.

the thing about smith was more of the fact that he was basically free. and he can shoot. hes not the missing piece by any means.

 

[NugzFan]

we did also add nene (sort of).

The article doesn't count the Suns as adding Stoudemire, so it's only consistent that it doesn't count the Nuggets as adding Nene.

i only said that beacuse he was a free agent. to me its like we are adding him because he didnt play last year.

but count amare - makes sense to me

 

[basketballfan]

Last year the top four teams in the West were the Mavs, Spurs, Clippers, and Suns. Not much this off season has changed that although a few teams look to be stronger.

NORTHWEST

Denver added JR Smith and Joe Smith while losing Greg Buckner, Francisco Elson, and Ruben Patterson. Nothing here to make you say "wow, this is the team to beat". Considering how weak the Northwest Division is, they are still the favorites, but that doesn't prove much.

Utah's improvement is dependent on the development of rookie Ronnie Brewer although Derek Fisher is certainly better than McLeod at PG. Unlike Denver, the Jazz haven't lost anyone important. Overall, they look somewhat improved depending on how much Brewer contributes.

Seattle added Sene who looked great in summer league, but it's hard to see how he's going to make a huge impact this season. Re-signing Wilcox was a big deal, but overall this is still the same team that did not make the playoffs last season.

Minnesota added Mike James and Randy Foye while losing Marcus Banks. James had a career year in Toronto after bouncing around. Any team with KG and Ricky Davis is a threat, but these changes do not make the Wolves look significantly better.

Portland was amazingly active over the summer, but whether this turns them into a playoff team remains to be seen. On paper, this should be a much better team by adding rookies LaMarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy, and Sergio Rodriguez along with veterans Raef LaFrentz and Jamaal Magloire. They unloaded Theo Ratliff, Brian Skinner, Sebastian Telfair, and Viktor Khryapa along with draft picks. There is some talent here, but it is hard to see how they've put together a real team unless Brandon Roy becomes rookie of the year.

SOUTHWEST

Dallas was very activity in changing their bench players. They added Greg Buckner, Devean George, Austin Croshere, Anthony Johnson, and rookie Maurice Ager. Leaving are Marquis Daniels, Adrian Griffin, and Keith Van Horn. It is hard to see how this materially changes the team unless Anthony Johnson gives them real point guard play.

San Antonio had some major changes. They traded away Rasho Nesterovic, lost Nazr Mohammed to Detroit through free agency, and Sean Marks came to the Suns. They were replaced by Matt Bonner, Eric Williams, Jackie Butler, and Francisco Elson. At most, the Spurs may not be hugely weaker than before, but it is not likely they are going to be better.

Memphis is going to have new look without Shane Battier, Lorenzen Wright, and Bobby Jackson. Stromile Swift and Rudy Gay don't really appear to be an immediate upgrade.

New Orleans made some huge changes with the addition of Peja Stojakovic, Bobby Jackson and Tyson Chandler along with some rookies like Simmons and Armstrong. Exiting are Speedy Claxton, P.J. Brown, J.R. Smith, Aaron Williams, and Marcus Fizer. Generally, this looks to be a better team, though for the money you would have expected more.

Houston certainly improved themselves simply because Battier is a huge improvement over the clueless Stromile Swift. Kirt Snyder is a nice addition and Vassilis Spanoulis of the Greek national team looks very promising. None of this will matter if T-Mac continues to have back problems.

PACIFIC

The Clippers lost Vladimir Radmanovic to the Lakers, but replaced him with Tim Thomas from the Suns as well as Aaron Williams. Aaron Williams was useless in Toronto, but was mildly effective with the Hornets. Overall, it is hard to view their offseason as being a big deal either way

The Lakers signed Vladimir Radmanovic , drafted Farmar, and traded for Maurice Evans; while only losing Devean George. Vladimir Radmanovic is a good shooter and should help the Lakers some.

The Warriors big off season move was to hire Don Nelson as coach. They traded Derek Fisher is cap dump for Devin Brown, Keith McLeod and Andre Owens while drafting project Patrick O'Bryant. Nelson faces a serious challenge.

Suns added Marcus Banks, Jumaine Jones, Eric Piatkowski, and Sean Marks while losing Tim Thomas, Eddie House, Brian Grant, and Nikoloz Tskitishvili. While losing Tim Thomas was a big deal, overall this appears to be a fairly good upgrade in depth for an already good team.

I think you forgot the Kings.

 

[George O'Brien]

Rats. I knew something was missing. Everyone was so anxious to rag on me about trying to some action going on this board nobody seemed to notice I left them out. I can include them if anybody cares.

 

[basketballfan]

It's all up to you, but I for one wouldn't mind reading what you have to say.