Who Will Be The 8 Playoff Teams In The Western Conference

8. San Antonio Spurs

7. Golden State Warriors

The dynasty years may be over in San Francisco, but the Warriors still are a talented basketball team. The loss of Kevin Durant to Brooklyn and Klay Thompson to injury will be tough to overcome, but it is doable. People may have forgotten that all-time great Stephen Curry still wears the number 30 in Oracle. Draymond Green hasn’t kick anyone in the groin in a little while too. And they added first time all star D’Angelo Russell to run alongside Steph. Klay Thompson will be a non-factor this year, at least as far as regular season games go. The Warriors have 3 all-star caliber guys, which most of the league cannot say they have. They also have rookie Jordan Poole who has looked good and Willie-Cauley Stein. This team may lack depth, but their star power alone makes them a bottom tier playoff team in the West.

6. Portland Trail Blazers

The Western Conference finalists from last year come into 2019-2020 with a ton of momentum. Damian Lillard spent this off-season beefing with Shaq after a great year prior. CJ McCollum continued to grow as a shooting guard. The only thing hurt Portland from finishing higher is that Jusuf Nurkic likely won’t play. The Trail Blazers did trade away Myers Leonard and got Hassan Whiteside back. While that is unfortunate, they did add Kent Bazemore and kept Rodney Hood and Zach Collins. Pau Gasol and Anthony Tolliver will provide some leadership for the younger guys. While Portland has some nice pieces I would not be looking at them as western conference contenders again. This is another top heavy roster and their back court alone keeps them relevant. If Whiteside can be productive then they could finish higher. For now though Portland will finish sixth in the western conference.

5. Los Angeles Lakers

The most talked-about professional basketball team will finally be returning to playoff basketball. Lakers fans thought that would be the case last year, but too many injuries hurt their chances. Lebron James is another year older, but still a top five player in the world. They also traded for top ten player in the world Anthony Davis and kept Kyle Kuzma in the process. They also have champions like Rajon Rondo, Danny Green and Javale McGee. They also have under-performing vets like Dwight Howard and Avery Bradley. There isn’t a ton of youth, but lots of misfit toys. Frank Vogel will definitely have his hands full and if they don’t win early he could be gone quickly. This team has a ton of talent, but is built more for playoff basketball. Lebron doesn’t need home court to beat teams and the Lakers won’t have it when they finish fifth.

4. Utah Jazz

Salt Lake City has a lot to be excited about going into this campaign. The Jazz have been a playoff team the past couple years and they continue to get better. Donovan Mitchell will be an all star this year for sure. The two-time defending defensive player of the year returns as well. The Jazz had a busy off-season, adding Mike Conley, Ed Davis and Bojan Bogdanovic. They also subtracted Ricky Rubio, which is big for them Joe Ingles gives them an edge, as well as some three point shooting. Quin Snyder has them playing a gritty style and will be a tough out for any team in May and June. Utah is also built to win a lot of regular season games, due to being efficient on both ends. That is why they will just squeak into the top four and could make a deep playoff run as well.

3. Los Angeles Clippers

This pains me to say, but the Clippers are going to have an incredibly successful year. The Clippers surprised many by making the playoffs as the eight seed taking the Warriors to six games. This happened despite Tobias Harris being moved mid-season. The Clippers kept Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams, Landry Shamet and Montrez Harrell. And in the middle of the night on July 9th they landed Kawhi Leonard and traded for Paul George. This was the bombshell of the summer and made the Clippers instant contenders. Kawhi and Paul George are some of the best two way players. They should have no problem coexisting and will be lethal. This team will be able to lock any team up defensively and have plenty of scoring options as well. They will win the pacific division and have a great chance to win the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

2. Houston Rockets

Houston, we have an interesting team. The Rockets had a disappointing end to last season, losing to their rival Warriors in six games. Houston did a great job of improving though, mainly by adding all star Russell Westbrook in a trade. They gave up Chris Paul to get him, but everyone can agree that was a big upgrade. James Harden was the MVP runner up and will have another big year as his game evolves further. Their core of Eric Gordon, PJ Tucker and Clint Capela all return as well. The biggest thing holding the Rockets back is Mike D’Antoni and the system they run. Defense is a priority come playoff time and they simply do not play any. That being said, this team is built for the regular season. Harden and Westbrook will have big years and the Rockets will finish second in the conference.

1. Denver Nuggets

There was one team last year that made a monumental jump in the Western Conference and that was the Denver Nuggets. This was largely due to Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray taking the next step in their development. Both players have a chance to be all stars this year after losing to Portland in the playoffs last year. Paul Millsap, Gary Harris, Will Barton and Jerami Grant will all play big minutes. Michael Porter Jr. will also finally take the floor for his rookie campaign. This is a team built to win sixty games. Much like Milwaukee they have stars, role players and lots of depth at each position. Whether this team can win a championship has yet to be seen. If Jokic can continue to get better they may have a shot. But Denver to me is the clear favorite to finish first in the west.

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