Posted by Solace:
After the draft, I think the west looks like this:
Teams that are locks for the playoffs:
*Dallas
*Phoenix
*San Antonio
Teams that are probable for the playoffs:
* Denver
* Utah
* Houston
* Portland
Teams that are on the fringe:
* Golden State
* LA Lakers
* New Orleans
* LA Clippers
* Seattle SuperSonics
The rest (all of these teams have a shot):
* Minnesota
* Sacramento
* Memphis
----------------------
The west is going to be crazy next year. Here's a crazy thought. What if the 11th or 12th team in the division wins say 42 games and misses the playoffs, while in the east the 5th seed has like 42 wins. It could totally happen.
This was bad for the league in the sense that there's an incredible inbalance. One thing I'm hoping is that some of these fringe teams realize how stacked the west is and it forces them to trade some stars to the east. Kevin Garnett isn't likely to make the playoffs again for a few years. Kobe might not be in the playoffs next year; I don't think the Lakers slip in, unless they improve.
Which will cause more movement during this off-season or at the trade deadline. Teams like the Lakers, Nets, Warriors, Minnesota, Clippers, Hornets, Orlando I'll even say the Knicks will be somewhat desperate to make moves. People are really getting way ahead of themselves with the imbalance talk.
So what if next yr there's very close to Durant and Oden like talent in the draft or equal quality say the draft class of 2005 when Paul, Felton, M. Williams, Deron, Ellis, Granger, Bynum, Lee, etc etc came out and the East snags the majority of the caliber, then what?
