2017-18 NBA Preview: Northwest Division

Thunder
PG Westbrook, SG George, SF Roberson, PF Melo, C Adams
Bench: PG Felton/Canaan, SG Abrines/Christon, SF Patterson/Singler, PF Grant, C Dakari

Personally I wasn't a huge fan of adding Melo; yes, I understand you'd rather have one great player rather than two okay players but when you've already got Westbrook doing 90% of the offense, I'd rather have Kanter and McDermott, I'd rather have two more braves in support than another chief to compete with my big dog. I thought adding Paul George (steal of the century!) was a brilliant move and just the thing that OKC needed to take a step forward; I think PG understands that this is Westbrook's team and I think he's cool with that. Great players either clash or fall into mutual respect. I think George and Westbrook have the mutual respect. Melo on the other hand....crashes the party. I think the the Kanter/Adams platoon was a perfect fit for the Westbrook/George offense, I love bringing in Patrick Patterson (very team friendly deal too!) and shoring up the bench by adding Ray Felton. I liked a Roberson/McDermott platoon, for a mix of offense and defense. I thought bringing in George alone vaulted them past the Spurs and probably the Rockets too. But adding Melo only complicates that. Now they've got no size off the bench (unless Dakari Johnson takes a big step forward) and less scoring on the wings (unless you think Kyle Singler is gonna make a big comeback, which I do not). But adding Melo adds wing scoring, right? Not really. If he plays with the Westbrook line then he only gets the ball when Westbrook gives it to him; you can expect McDermott to live with that, you cannot expect Melo to live with that. I still like this team to finish 2nd in the West but if you think swapping Melo for Kanter (who fit perfectly with Westbrook!) is a positive, I'm not convinced.

Wolves
PG Teague, SG Wiggins, SF Butler, PF Gibson, C Townes
Bench: PG Crawford/Jones, SG Muhammad, SF Bjelica, PF Dieng, C Aldrich/Patton

Last year when the Wolves brought in Coach Thibodeau I had my doubts; the previous year had been a fun teamwork-oriented season and while they sucked on the court, they looked like a crew that was growing together and having fun. The Thibs mindset is constant rugged hard work and defensive intensity (which clearly didn't take hold as the Wolves sucked on defense last year). This summer the Wolves pulled off a coup picking up Jimmy Butler for the oft-injured Zach LaVine and the disappointing Kris Dunn; or did they? Are we sure that LaVine wasn't run into the ground by Thibs? Are we sure that Thibs didn't give up too quick on Dunn? My suggestions at the time of the Thibs hiring was move Sam Mitchell (terrible coach but clearly liked by the players) upstairs, bring back Garnett (useless on the court but clearly respected by the players) for one more year in uniform and bring in Jeff Hornacek (smart, no-nonsense but not a hardass) to teach the gang how to play. By turning the team over to Thibs, you've made it Thibs's team not the team's team (kinda reminds me of Pitino in Boston, not the model you want to follow!). This summer they stocked up on old Thibs soldiers (Gibson, Aaron Brooks to go with Butler), basically traded Rubio for Teague (an unnecessary sideways move to my eye), and moved Bjelica, Jones and Dieng further down the depth chart without really adding depth. I dunno, man, the more I look at this the more I don't like the moves they've made since drafting Dunn in June 2016. They kept the shell but lost the heart, I think its a dangerous thing to do. But none of that matters really, its all about Towns. If he keeps up the pace he had last year then the Wolves will be vastly improved. If they don't make the playoffs this will be a disappointing campaign. 42 wins, 7th in the West.

Nuggets
PG Mudiay, SG Harris, SF Barton, PF Jokic, C Millsap
Bench: PG Nelson/Beasley, SG Murray, SF Chandler/Lyles, PF Faried/Hernangomez, C Plumlee

So much unproven talent, so many guys without clear positions, so many players I like but don't yet love, I can't figure out how to put together a lineup. Is Millsap the center or Jokic? Do you bring Harris off the bench or Barton? Can Murray play the PG? How long do they give Mudiay some run? Where does Faried fit into the lineup? And where is the playing time for Beasley and Lyles and Hernangomez? (There's pretty much no way Tyler Lydon sees the floor this year, right?) And though they're aiming for the playoffs this year, I'd keep the youth movement going: if they can figure out how to jettison Chandler, Arthur and Faried, I'd say go for it even if just brings back more youth and/or draft picks (hmmmmm.....doesn't Doc's Clippers seem like the perfect dumping ground for Chandler? And did you realize that Jokic has the smallest paycheck on this squad? That'll change next summer, I reckon). This seems like a strangely easy call: if the Nuggets are in the playoffs, Mike Malone is pretty much first choice for Coach of the Year, right? How he juggles this team will make or break the season for the Nuggets--probably next season too! I like the talent, I don't know how it all works, they've got trades to make too, and don't forget their unique home court advantage. I think they'll make the playoffs and win 46 games (but it could all go off the rails tragically too).

Jazz
PG: Rubio, SG Ingles, SF Hood, PF Favors, C Gobert
Bench: PG Mitchell/Exum/Neto, SG Johnson/Burks, SF Sefelosha/Jerebko, PF Udoh/Bolomboy, C Tony Bradley

Hmmmmm....I like the coach, I like the culture, I like depth but I'd like it all better if they'd been able to keep Hayward (and even Lyles, for that matter). Rubio and Exum are both fine distributors and defenders but neither of them can score and you've got to give that playing time to Mitchell soon enough. Behind Gobert they'll be needing to get minutes from Bradley (rookie) or Bolomboy (2nd year, basically a rookie) or Udoh (hasn't played in the NBA in a few years now). Favors is injury-prone, Sefelosha and Jerebko are not reliable scorers, doesn't feel like they have any trade options. The Jazz will need a lot from Ingles, Hood and Alec Burks to make up for the loss of Hayward. Not impossible--again, I like the coach and the vibe and generally I'm in on these players--but this team is one injury away from disappearing completely. I have them winning 42 games and sneaking that 8th spot in the playoffs.

Blazers
PG Lillard, SG McCollum, SF Turner, PF Harkless, C Nurkic
Bench: PG Napier, SG Connaughton, SF Aminu/Leonard, PF Vonleah, C Davis

Every time I look at the Blazers I'm blown away at how far over the cap they are (and badly mortgaged for the future already) and yet this still doesn't feel like a playoff team to me. This is a team, though, that could be the big surprise of the league. They've grown together, they're gonna stay together, if Lillard and McCollum are lights out (and don't get hurt!), this team could blast through this division (Wolves, Nuggets and Jazz are hardly proven commodities). But I don't see it. I think the management has an eye toward shedding salary and at the slightest misstep, they'll be making trades--and those trades are going out, not coming in. This team is on a fine line, if they'll pull together and get lucky they could be really good; but I think its more likely this blows up and gets blown up. I think they win 40 games, missed the playoffs.