The Clippers now have solid depth, and are now in the upper tier of contenders in the west. After the Josh Smith signing, it looked like there were going to be only four elite teams in the west next year. San Antonio, Golden State, Oklahoma City, and now the Clippers. That is not the case anymore.
Yesterday, the Houston Rockets agreed to a trade with the Denver Nuggets for Ty Lawson while giving up almost nothing in return. The first round pick next year is nice, but it probably will be in the mid 20s. None of the players the Rockets gave up were rotation players. Nick Johnson might be the best player the Nuggets got.
What the Rockets have really needed the past couple of years was a point guard that could take pressure off of James Harden to run the offense. The Rockets also like to have as many shooters as possible to space the floor. It's safe to say Ty Lawson is a good fit in Houston. His stats show that he is a good NBA point guard offensively. While he isn't an amazing scorer, he can effectively get points inside and outside. He's also an excellent playmaker. Defense might be a problem, but the Rockets have tons of quality defenders to help with that.
The Rockets and Clippers might not improve too much on their win totals from last year because the other top contenders will be as good or better next year. However, both teams have helped turn the west into a race with five teams that have a legitimate shot of winning. The Spurs, Warriors, Thunder, Clippers, and Rockets form an exciting group of teams that should make the regular season and playoffs very interesting to follow. It's hard to leave out the Grizzlies, but they haven't addressed their needs very well. Unless Vince Carter has a good bounce-back year and their big three improves next season, it's hard to see Memphis being one of the elite teams in the west.
The NBA definitely needs to change the playoff format more than just seeding teams 1-8 regardless of division leaders. Seed the teams 1-16 based on record, regardless of conference. Or at least something close to that. Do we really need crappy teams in the playoffs? Two excellent teams will face each other in the first round in the Western Conference next season. In the Eastern Conference, there likely won't be more than five teams that win 50 games.
It'll be fun to see how the west unfolds. It might be like last season, with four teams fighting for home court on the last day of the regular season. The east will be more competitive this year, but it still falls short compared to the west.
Yesterday, the Houston Rockets agreed to a trade with the Denver Nuggets for Ty Lawson while giving up almost nothing in return. The first round pick next year is nice, but it probably will be in the mid 20s. None of the players the Rockets gave up were rotation players. Nick Johnson might be the best player the Nuggets got.
What the Rockets have really needed the past couple of years was a point guard that could take pressure off of James Harden to run the offense. The Rockets also like to have as many shooters as possible to space the floor. It's safe to say Ty Lawson is a good fit in Houston. His stats show that he is a good NBA point guard offensively. While he isn't an amazing scorer, he can effectively get points inside and outside. He's also an excellent playmaker. Defense might be a problem, but the Rockets have tons of quality defenders to help with that.
The Rockets and Clippers might not improve too much on their win totals from last year because the other top contenders will be as good or better next year. However, both teams have helped turn the west into a race with five teams that have a legitimate shot of winning. The Spurs, Warriors, Thunder, Clippers, and Rockets form an exciting group of teams that should make the regular season and playoffs very interesting to follow. It's hard to leave out the Grizzlies, but they haven't addressed their needs very well. Unless Vince Carter has a good bounce-back year and their big three improves next season, it's hard to see Memphis being one of the elite teams in the west.
The NBA definitely needs to change the playoff format more than just seeding teams 1-8 regardless of division leaders. Seed the teams 1-16 based on record, regardless of conference. Or at least something close to that. Do we really need crappy teams in the playoffs? Two excellent teams will face each other in the first round in the Western Conference next season. In the Eastern Conference, there likely won't be more than five teams that win 50 games.
It'll be fun to see how the west unfolds. It might be like last season, with four teams fighting for home court on the last day of the regular season. The east will be more competitive this year, but it still falls short compared to the west.
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