Look Ahead for the Western Conference

Ever since the Pau Gasol trade, the West has been loading up with talent. Shaq goes to PHX, Damon Stoudemire to the Spurs, and before all the trades, Kyle Korver to Utah. It's going to be a fight to the finish for any position in the West. There are 10 teams that are contenders for a playoff spot, but 2 teams are going to be pushed out.

1. New Orleans Hornets have been an incredible team this especially when you consider that they're in the Southwest division. What makes it even more incredible is that it's in a conference loaded with a bunch talent. Chris Paul has been incredible, maximizing the frontline in Tyson Chandler, David West and Peja Stojakovic. Need to go inside? TC or D-West. Can't get a lay-up driving inside? Kick it out to Peja for three. No wonder he averages 10.9 APG. Paul's also had an MVP caliber season to go along with the Hornets' amazing season so far. If they keep up the pace that they're on, they're definitely title contenders for this year.


2. Phoenix Suns (37-16) Even though they still have one of the best records in the NBA, a lot of people think that the Suns are worse than before. Maybe that's why they made the move to get Shaq in exchange for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. The trade gave them the much needed size that they needed since they lost Kurt Thomas, but it's still in question if Shaq can hang with the run-n-gun style of the Suns. Word is that they're not done trading yet. The Suns have missed opportunities to get to the Finals for the past 3 years and time is running out for them. Still, 2 time MVP Steve Nash still has the drive to lead the new look Suns to a championship.


3. Los Angeles Lakers (35-17) Six months ago, many people thought Kobe Bryant was on his way out of L.A. With the rise of Andrew Bynum they've been labled as contenders. Then they go get Pau Gasol and get rid of Kwame Brown. Now they're labled as the best in the west. Bynum's got a few weeks to go until he gets back on the court since injuring his knee, and Kobe just injured his pinky finger and said no to surgery. If Kobe can't perform the way he usualy does while he's injured, as tough as the West is, a bad run can drop the Lakers to a 7 or 8 seed, or even drop out of the race. If Kobe doesn't perform as well, Gasol and Lamar Odom will have to step up their game to stay in the race for at least homecourt advantage. But we've all seen Kobe.


4. Utah Jazz (34-19) The Jazz are back on track to repeating where they finished last year. Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer have proven to be one of the toughest duos to match up against in the league, averaging 40.8 PPG. Williams has become an excellent playmaker with 9.7 APG while Boozer has been a 20-10 machine. AK-47's been a stat stuffer, Ronnie Brewer's stepped up his game and with the addition of Kyle Korver, the Jazz get a much needed shooter that could help them still be contenders.
   
5. San Antonio Spurs (34-17) The NBA Champions are still in the mix. Tim Duncan has led the Spurs to 4 championships in 9 years but it looked like they were taking a tumble after losing point guard Tony Parker. Many thought that age would finally catch up to the oldest team in the NBA. When Jacque Vaughn didn't look like enough, they turned to newly signed Damon Stoudmire, where they gained control during their annual rodeo trip. Now they look to do what the Spurs haven't done before, win back-to-back championships.
   
6. Dallas Mavericks (35-18) The Mavs have had what has been the best 2 year run in the franchise's history, but at the same time the most disappointing run. They went up 2-0 to the 2005 Finals only to lose 4 straight. They clinched the first seed in the West last year and Dirk Nowitzki got the MVP, only to get booted out the first round by the Golden State Warriors. Now they look to even up with the top teams by trying to acquire Jason Kidd, only to be blocked by Deavean George. They're still working on the trade but if the Mavs don't get the trade through, it could cause problems with the team's chemistry and emotionally hurt them in the second half of the season. It can hurt the players involved with that trade the most.


7. Golden State Warriors (32-20) The Warriors barely made it in last year. This year, they've been in the playoff picture since they hit the .500 mark after starting 1-6. The Yard's own Baron Davis has helped lead this team to where they are dishing out 8.1 APG, Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson are lighting it up from 3 point land, Monta Ellis' stepping up his game. One bad run for this team can cost them the playoffs, but since getting back Captain Jack, that doesn't seem likely. Hopefully Chris Webber will help give the Warriors the size they were looking for.
   
8. Denver Nuggets (32-30) They're right in the mix for leading the Northwest division, fighting with Utah and Portland. As competitive as the West is, they could get knocked out. With a strong line-up Carmelo Anthony, Allen Iverson, Marcus Camby and Kenyon Martin, they're too strong not to make the playoffs. Melo has made it public that he would like to add to the team by trading for the Kings' forward Ron Artest, which will be a major boost in defensive. Seemingly the organization is willing to part with Eduardo Najera, not the up and coming Linas Kleiza. The Kings aren't interested in acquiring just Eduardo Najera with a draft pick or recent cancer survivor Nene. Either the Artest for Kleiza-Najera, Artest for Kleiza-draft pick or Artest for Nene goes through, or they'll go with what they have, which is still pretty good.
   
9. Houston Rockets (32-20) The Rockets were struggling in the first half of the season with Tracy McGrady injuring himself early, Yao Ming had to help carry the Rockets. During a good run that they had earlier, some were starting to think that the Rockets were better without T-Mac. This was during the time that he wanted to be traded from the team. Luther Head stepped in and had some good games to fill in for T-Mac. But now that McGrady is back, they've won 10 of 11 games to be tied for 7th place and they look better than ever. With Head injured, the team is still doing great and is looking to get even better keeping everyone healthy.
   
10. Portland Trailblazers (28-24) The Blazers were the feel good story of the NBA. Once the hottest team in the league, they won 13 straight games after losing 9 out of 10. Brandon Roy emerged as their leader, LaMarcus Aldridge became a threat, the whole team just performed well with their unbelievable chemistry on and off the court. Since their miracle run, the youngest team in the league cooled back down, losing 4 straght games, going to 4 games over .500 and 4 games out of the playoffs. They're not counted out of the playoffs and definitely not counted out as title contenders in the future, espcially with Greg Oden coming in.
    
11. Sacramento Kings (23-28) Looks like it's time to call it a season, because Mike Bibby just got traded to the Atlanta Hawks for Anthony Johnson, Tyronn Lue, Lorenzen Wright and Shelden Williams (all but Williams have expiring contracts). It seemed like a bad season from the start for them. Bibby was hurt for over 35 games, Ron Artest was suspended the first 7 games and injured later, and leading scorer Kevin Martin (23.9 PPG) was injured, it all seemed hopeless. Throw in John Salmons and Beno Udrih's breakout year, 3 Francisco Garcia game winning 3 pointers, and throw in beating divisional leaders 7 times, and they have hope for next year. Looking to finish over .500 for the year under new coach Reggie Theus and having over $1 million in cap space for a big free agent, they look to start fresh. And Artest wanting a trade, he's backed off of it.
    
12. Los Angeles Clippers (17-33) After surprisingly starting out a red hot 4-0, they went on to win only 13 more games. Everyone knew that it was going to be a horrible season without Elton Brand and Shaun Livingston. That gave Chris Kaman the opportunity to become a great center in the NBA. With Brand and Livingston due back, the Clippers look to get back on track for next year, hopefully getting back on track to becoming playoff contenders, shaping back into the form they were 2 years ago. Hopefully, both players will play the same way did before their injuries.
    
13. Memphis Grizzlies (14-38) There's not much to say about the Grizzlies now. After letting Pau Gasol and a 2010 2nd round draft pick go to the Lakers for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, brother Marc Gasol and 1st round picks in 2008 and 2010, Memphis is looking to rebuild for the future. Mike Miller may be on his way out too and they bought out Damon Stoudemire. Rudy Gay and Mike Conley are the 2 essential pieces for their future. Gay could be a potential superstar with the way he's performing. He's one of the league's best dunkers and has a great jump shot. To think he's still developing. Who know's, Darko Milicic might be a defensive key with the way he's blocking shots.
    
14. Seattle Supersonics (13-38) The Sonics are right around where they're expected to be. Kevin Durant has been one of the leading canidates for Rookie of the Year. The line-up has shaken up a little bit. Luke Ridnour lost his starting point guard job to Earl Watson, Damien Wilkins earned the small forward spot then lost it to rookie Jeff Green and Robert Swift was marred by injuries again after expecting to start this season (I know, he told me). Add this bad season with a franchise record 14-game losing streak with the controversy of moving out of Seattle, it's a year to forget, except for the fact they got the number one rookie in the draft. It's a rebuilding year, and they look to develop all the young players that they have, and players like Swift and Delonte West might not come back next year.


15. Minnesota Timberwolves (10-41) It was a dead on predicition that Minnesota would be one of the top lottery teams this year. Seven players have expiring contracts, including point guard Sesbastian Telfair, one of their best players. Obviously after trading Kevin Garnett away, this team was in rebuilding mode. Signing star power forward Al Jefferson to an extension gave the team a centerpiece to work with for the next few years. Rashad McCants has put up good numbers. They brought in some experience too by trading for Antoine Walker, while getting rid of Mark Blount and his big contract. In 10 wins so far they've beaten the Suns twice. Before going on their current 5 game losing streak, the team showed signs of development by getting two 2-game winning streaks, winning 5 out of 7 games. They've got a lot of work ahead of them, but under Jefferson, this team has a future to look ahead too.

It's going to be a wild finish for the Western Conference. Many teams have performed well throughout the season but only 8 can make it to the playoffs. There might even be an upset.