G9.
Pistons GM
- Messages
- 6,172
Pre-Season Power Rankings: Western Conference Top 10.
By
NC, G9.
1
NC: The Kings are going ALL IN. Bojan/Kumangi/Ejim/Ziare/Vyt look like one of the stronger starting 5’s in the league. They still have youth they could move for potential depth upgrades if they choose to do so.
G9: Damn. Not sure if the Kings organization paid NC for this #1 spot or what..? In all seriousness, tyfreak has done a great job surrounding Ejim's rookie contract with seasoned veterans. The acquisition of Bojan put this team in serious business, and Vytenis Cizauskas's blossoming put this team in serious business.
2
NC: Cloud is gonna Cloud and the Sonics will find themselves at the top of the West again, even in the post Maxey era. I love the frontcourt addition of CJ Walker and Fabricio Oberto. Ivan Almeida will be asked to carry the scoring load, with Patrick Williams right there with him, it will be interesting to see how this new roster gels this year.
G9: I'm still jealous of the C.J. Walker signing. The pick-up really enables the young playmakers on this offense to be more aggressive - something that is certain to help Juwan Staten and Ivan Almeida thrive. I'm sure the roster will gel just fine, as Cloud has lots of depth chart adjusting to do to figure out who is worthy of receiving the minutes come playoffs.
3
NC: The Nuggets lost CJ Walker in free agency and won’t even skip a beat. Sims, Cliff, and Wallace will hold down the frontcourt and Bouldin will lead the team in scoring. Stability, health wise and playing wise, from the point guard position this year will be crucial for Denver’s success.
G9: We've seen in the potential FA articles that Denver is in jeopardy losing their entire frontcourt, but that won't happen until at least one more full season of basketball. Expect Denver to make the most of their expiring bigs while they have them under contract. Bouldin continues to look insane and the recent Aleksandar Vlahovic pickup appears to have been a good get. This well-rounded team will hang around the top for sure.
4
NC: I really love what user has done with the Clippers over the years. Ndong, WCJ, and Raef might be one of the more underrated frontcourt trios in the league. Nikos and Weaver are gonna light it up shooting as well, the Clippers have a better Greeme like roster than Greeme himself this year… feels weird.
G9: There is no denying that the Nikos signing last off-season was a great one. Nikos played his typical lights-out basketball during his first season in Los Angeles and we can expect that trend to continue. Tyler's addition of shooters such as Jalen Wever, Cam Reddish, and Travon Woodall will really enable this Clipper team to score from nearly anywhere. The front-court pickups of Boniface Ndong and Raef LaFrentz will certainly be a boost over the Vernon Carey of last year. LA could just find themselves representing the West in the Finals.
5
NC: Golden State badly needed an upgrade on the wing this off season. The trio of Killian, Price, and Manu has proven time after time that they can’t win together in the postseason. Luckily for the Warriors the West SUCKS this year, so the 5th seed is like a worst case scenario situation for them.
G9: Not gonna lie, ever since I found out that Manu and Price haven't been being camped... I have been kind of annoyed. These two players already look capable of hanging out with the RJ/Maxey, Anthony/Nash, and Curry/AI's of the league - imagine if they had an additional +6 boosts over the past 5 seasons. Brad Daugherty and Tyreek Smith appear to be capable starters, but this team needs a serious third option or much more depth to push up the West. NC is right that the West sucking is a reason for this team to be 5th in the first place.
6
NC: If the Suns are going to make a surprise run in the Western Conference, this would be the year. They have depth, they paid their point guard this off season, and if they could just land an upgrade on the wing the could become a serious threat in the West.
G9: Huge fan of Sitnik. Renardo Sidney looks solid now. Tiny Gallon can really contribute on offense. Bogic just had a monster TC and impressed in Pre-Season. Everybody getting minutes is a capable player. I'm with NC - the Suns don't have what it takes to win the chip, but they could run through the weak West if their scorers aren't kept in check.
7
NC: The Mavericks will be in the postseason this year. G9’s long and painful rebuild is trending away from tanker and into a playoff contender. If their youth can step up, they might even jump higher up these rankings.
G9: Either NC is getting tired or he just ranked me here to make me feel good. He didn't have much to say... Jokes aside, it does feel good to be a hopeful playoff contender. I've added some pieces that I think can contribute in positive ways and I think this team is capable of 41 wins. Our true prospects are still a season or two away, but hopefully they can start hanging with the bigger dogs this year.
8
NC: No RJ, No Problem? Just kidding that will definitely be a problem, but Tariq Abdul-Wahad & Worthy de Jong should easily be able to carry this team into the playoffs. Sylven Landesberg will be the x-factor for this team’s success this season.
G9: Yeesh, I think NC should have ranked the Jazz ahead of the Mavs. Tariq Abdul-Wahad has really come together as a scorer and his surrounding cast of Worthy de Jong, Antoine Diot, and Sylven Landesberg can all shoot as well. Mobley eats the boards, but the other rotational bigs are lackluster at their best. I think the Jazz could outscore most teams in the league and with a bit of defensive/frontcourt focused trades, they could outscore most teams quite regularly.
9
NC: Until they sell Roddy and Wiseman they will still find themselves as a fringe playoff team. I’d love to see this team of misfits make some noise in the postseason this year. Jaden McDaniels, N’Faly Dante, Ryan Minor, and Jaden Hardy…. So many what could have been prospects.
G9: The group of players NC listed brings back memories. It would indeed be interesting to see any of them do anything good for once... Roddy Gayle Jr. is still scoring at a ridiculous rate and James Wiseman (although extremely overpaid) is still playing some pretty solid basketball. This Thunder team honestly seems as good as most of these West teams... but I guess that isn't saying much.
10
NC: I honestly had no idea to put here, maybe that Dilliard dude Donkey wants 5 picks for is good enough to put Vancouver here. Idk though.
G9: yikes. Some of these teams really gunning for that #1!
