By T.A. March 9, 2023
The West is beyond Complex! It is definitely not safe in the West at all. Especially since the trade deadline a lot has happened in the NBA that just looks miraculous. First I will start with he teams with the least Chances of winning the championships who seemed to be in the race:
1. Memphis Grizzlies: It may have really been fine with Ja Morant in the East. But Ja’s life outside the NBA seemed to be far from fine. JA Morant has been suspended indefinitely for pulling a gun at a nightclub outside of Denver COlorado. The effects of Ja’s suspension will be tremendously felt by the Grizzlies team.
Although from another angle Memphis can build on their new look without Ja. The Grizzlies are the most unpredictable team in the NBA without JA. It will be surprising to find out that Memphis’ last two triumphs over Golden State have been without Ja Morant. The only reason is because Golden State cannot manipulate the Memphis playbook properly when the King is ambiguous. Up until Morant is off the court. JA is the King piece to Memphis success.
2. Minnesota Timberwolves: Simply put, the Timberwolves are not built for the NBA playoffs. When Karl Anthony Towns had his non-contact leg injury in the 3rd quarter against the Wizards earlier this season, I knew it would be bad and it would keep him out for a long stretch of the season (Although not this long). The fact that even if he returns,the time left for him to build with the team is too little too late to do something worthwhile in the playoffs. As for other players like Rudy Gobert, to adapt to the Timberwolves may just require more than one season.The Greatest miracle is that they make it past the second round of the playoffs.
The top competing teams with almost the same odds of winning the championship
1. Phoenix Suns: Even with Kevin Durant’s ankle in the question. The Phoenix Suns chances of winning the championship is really high. If KD is healthy before the playoffs and even during the playoffs, the season might be over for every other team in the NBA. Even Devin Booker is also trash talking a little more this season and backing it up.
The Luka Curse should be broken this season with KD on the court. Hopefully, Phoenix fans won’t need an apology letter due to an embarrassing exit away from the playoffs.
2. Dallas Mavericks: The Kyrie and Luka Situation looks like two ball hogs that are trying all it takes to gel properly with each other before the onset of the playoffs. The Mavericks are a really good team. Nonetheless, The Mavericks need to work on their defense. Especially Luka!
Luka is loose on the defensive end and the Mavericks have also lost a key defender in Dorian Finney Smith.
3. Denver Nuggets: They are currently the team with the best record in the Western Conference and this tells a lot about how great a player Nikola Jokic is.( Who is on his 3rd MVP Campaign). A player that NBA fans are also really crazy about is Aaron Gordon. The team to beat for this matchup will definitely be the Warriors. The good news for the Nuggets is that they will have a Home Court advantage against the Warriors and can work on that.
4. Warriors: The warriors are currently the most unpredictable team in the NBA right now. Although they don’t seem to have a good regular season run. The Warriors are experienced for a playoff push. Golden State knows just how to switch things up for the playoffs. They are still real contenders and in my opinion the team to beat is the Warriors.
5. Sacramento Kings: The Sacramento Kings is the breakout team of the season. Mike Brown(Sacramento’s Coach) also deserves the coach of the year award(unequivocally). The Achilles heel of this team is little playoffs experience. That’s the reason why a team like the Warriors or the Suns may find it easy to beat the Kings.
6. Los Angeles Clippers: The trio between Kawhi Lenard, Paul George and Russell Westbrook will be a terrific one to rush especially when these players are gelling together properly for the playoffs. Concerning playoff experience the Clippers team has it. Kawhi has championship rings for goodness sake. The fact that both Paul Good and Kawhi are loving Westbrook’s role for the team shows a certain amount of chemistry possessed by this Clippers team.
7. Lakers: The Lakers can always cook something up. Although they don’t seem like it. Especially when Anthony Davis seems to be battling some hidden kind of depression. All the Lakers team needs is good Chemistry. LeBron still is a top 5 player on the planet to be honest.
