2017-18 NBA Preview: Pacific Division

Warriors
PG Curry, SG Thompson, SF Durant, PF Draymond, C Pachulia
Bench: PG Livingston, SG Nick Young/Casspi, SF Iguodala, PF West, C Magee

Injuries will undoubtedly be worse this year than previous years but the depth is better than previous years too, so no worries. Strangely enough I think letting Ian Clark and James McAdoo go was not good: grooming youngsters in a culture of winning is invaluable. That said, for the foreseeable future this is still easily the best team in the league. For the regular season I think they'll be better than last year. I think they win 70 games and march through the playoffs.

Clippers
PG Rivers, SG Beverley, SF Gallinari, PF Griffin, C Jordan
Bench: PG Teodosic, SG Williams, SF Wesley Johnson/Dekker, PF Harrell/Brice Johnson, C Reed

Last year the Clippers had 9 guys that played 1200 minutes, only Jordan, Griffin and Rivers remain (and is anyone expecting Griffin to play 2000 minutes again this year?). That is still a pretty good core and I generally like this off-season's additions (they redeemed the outgoing stars with a surprisingly strong collection of newcomers), but this is clearly still a team in flux. I think the depth is better than the Clippers have perhaps ever had but Coach Doc is a guy that rides his stars, not a nimble manager of his roster: is he gonna make the most of Teodosic or Dekker or Harrell, for example? (Magic 8 Ball says 'Outlook not so good') I think the Clippers make the playoffs--and may have some post-season success--but during the regular season, W's will be harder to come by, it'll take them a while to coalesce. I think they win 43 games, which puts them in the fight for 6th place in the West.

Kings
PG Fox, SG Hield, SF Temple, PF Labissierie, C Cauley-Stein
Bench: PG Hill, SG Frank Mason/Bogdanovic, SF Vince Carter/Justin Jackson, PF Randolph, C Koufos/Papagiannis

I was astounded at how many good moves the Kings made this summer. Yeah, its still a ragtag bunch but that just gives Coach Joerger that much more control of the team (especially since he was able to bring in Zeebo and Vince to lay down the law). This season is all about how he inculcates the plethora of youngsters. I suspect early on it'll be rough sledding but by the end of the year I can see this team actually being pretty good (or a total grease fire, that's just how the league works). Bringing in George Hill and then bringing him off the bench may seem counter intuitive but I'd suggest starting Fox right away, he's the future, he may as well be the present too; and empowering Hill to mold that 2nd unit to his whims will be good for the development of the rest of the newbies. (I'd like to see Bogdanovic get a lot of playing time, too, if that kid is good he could be the franchise, might as well find out now) Man, figuring how this rotation works will be an all-year project. I think they'll win 34 games and finish strong.

Lakers
PG Ball, SG Caldwell-Pope, SF Deng, PF Nance, C Lopez
Bench: PG Ennis, SG Ingram/Clarkson/Kuzma, SF Randall/Brewer, PF Zubac, C Bogut/Zimmerman

There's a lot of intriguing talent here but they're still another year or two (and a Deng dump) away from being ready to make noise (by which I mean, luring in the next batch of free agents to lift them back to relevance). It is an interesting mix of veterans and young talent that's still growing. Not sure how it all works out, it'll take a while to get the rotation in place. Some real highs and lows ahead for this team: I suspect they'll have weeks where they look amazing and weeks where they look like the worst team in the league. I like them to be pretty good by the end of the year, I think they'll win 31 games.

Suns
PG Bledsoe, SG Booker, SF Warren, PF Chriss, C Chandler
Bench: PG Ulis, SG Millsap, SF Josh Jackson/Dudley, PF Bender, C Len/Williams

The Suns have a bunch of interesting young players, no reason to not play them as much as they can. Brandon Knight is out for the year, the depth is not great, the experience is virtually nil and I wouldn't be surprised to see them move Chandler at the deadline. I do think they'll score points, they've got plenty of guys that can fill it up, but their defensive concepts will be lackluster. Play the kids, get them minutes, collect your lottery pick and go from there. They'll be fun but they won't win much. I think they'll win 20 games.