NBA Preview: Pacific Division

(Teams listed in order of projected finish)

Phoenix Suns: There were concerns coming into last year about how the lineup would mesh, with Amare Stoudemire returning to play a full season for the first time since 2004-05. By the end of the year, the only ones who were concerned were the Suns' opponents. Stoudemire averaged 20.4 PPG and 9.6 RPG and was named to the All-NBA First Team. Steve Nash was unable to claim a third straight MVP, but joined Stoudemire on the First Team and posted excellent numbers. Shawn Marion's numbers were slightly down, but that was likely due to Stoudemire's return. The biggest surprise was Leandro Barbosa, who had his best season yet, scoring 18.1 PPG. All this, plus contributions from Raja Bell, Boris Diaw, and Kurt Thomas landed the Suns the #2 seed in the West. Many thought this would be the year the Suns finally win it all, but those hopes were dashed when the league suspended Stoudemire and Diaw for Game 6 of the second round series against San Antonio. The Suns lost the game and the series and many still claim that the suspensions cost Phoenix the title.

Fair or not, the Suns had failed yet again to bring home a title and as a result the Suns made a few moves to bolster their chances for this year. Phoenix increased its depth when they signed Grant Hill, who will likely start at small forward, pushing Diaw out of the lineup. Hill, for once, is coming off a healthy season, in which he scored 14.4 PPG for the Magic, but his injury history has to be very concerning, especially considering the rapid pace of the Suns' offense. Even if he is healthy, it's debatable whether or not he's a good fit for the Suns. Hill will help on defense, but whatever he provides will, at best, off-set the loss of Kurt Thomas, who was dealt to Seattle to keep Phoenix from going over the salary cap. Replacing Thomas will be Brian Skinner, who is a decent defender, but won't figure much into the team's plans, save as an injury replacement. The Suns also added Alando Tucker and D.J. Strawberry through the draft.

The Suns bring back most of their core, which should be as good as ever. Nash, Marion, and Stoudemire will lead Phoenix to another division title, but that's not good enough anymore. The Suns have to at least reach the Finals for the season to be considered a success. Can Hill put them over the top? His poor outside shooting seems less than ideal for the Suns' offense and he is clearly not the playmaker he used to me. As I've written in a previous article, it's hard to see Hill improving the Suns. Same goes for Tucker and Strawberry. Both are capable defenders, but neither is a good shooter. Also notable is the fact that the Suns still lack a reliable back-up point guard. They added Marcus Banks last season hoping he could play 10-15 minutes a game to spell Nash, but he played so poorly that he fell out of the rotation entirely. Once again, Nash will be forced to play about 35 minutes a game at a very fast pace. One has to wonder whether he'll wear down by the end of the year, as he's now 33. The loss of Thomas could also prove costly, as he was far and away their best post defender. If Skinner can't hold his own against the likes of Tim Duncan and Yao Ming, the Suns will be also-rans yet again.

Golden State Warriors: After a mediocre start to the year, a mid-season trade sparked the Warriors to a late-season run culminating in the 8 seed and an upset of the regular season champion Dallas Mavericks. The Warriors made this run behind the stellar play of Baron Davis, who led the team in scoring (20.1 PPG) and assists (8.1 APG). Davis was aided by Jason Richardson and second-year guard Monta Ellis, who enjoyed a breakout season. As mentioned, the mid-season trade that acquired Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington (among others) served as a catalyst, completing Don Nelson's small-ball lineup. All these players are both very athletic and effective from three-point range, making the Warriors very tough to guard, while giving them perhaps the most exciting brand of basketball in the league. This, plus a long absence from the playoffs, gave Golden State an intense home crowd, which proved to be a big advantage, particularly in the playoffs.

In the off-season, the Warriors surprised many fans by dealing Richardson to Charlotte in a draft day trade for Brandan Wright. Wright is an excellent athlete, but he is very raw and may not contribute right away. There was speculation that they acquired Wright with hopes of trading him to Milwaukee for Yi, but such a deal never came to fruition. Golden State also came away from the draft with Marco Belinelli and Stephane Lasme. Lasme is undersized, but was one of the best shot-blockers in college basketball last year, so there's a chance he'll be useful.

Belinelli is very intriguing and may be expected to make up for a lot of Richardson's production. Some are down on Belinelli because of his poor shooting percentage from last year, but his percentages dropped because he was trying to score from a lot of different angles, instead of settling for jump shots. In other words, he was diversifying his game. In the NBA, where he won't be expected to be a star right off the bat, he should settle back into his old ways and give the Warriors another outside threat. Of course, it will take more than Belinelli for the Warriors to repeat last year's success. More than anything else, they will be counting on Davis to stay healthy. He's their best player and their leader and the team will go only as far as he can take them. Expect a low playoff seed if he's healthy.

Los Angeles Lakers: Once again Kobe Bryant put up excellent numbers for the Lakers, but they had very little to show for it. Bryant's statistics (31.6 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 5.4 APG) were outstanding, but the Lakers only finished with 42 wins on the year, giving them the 7 seed in the West. In the playoffs, they were unable to match the thrilling series of the 2006 playoffs in which they took Phoenix to seven games. Rather, the Suns handled them in five games without much trouble. It's hard to fault Kobe for this because of how little talent he had around him. Lamar Odom had a fine year, but missed a lot of time to injuries. After that, Luke Walton (who also missed 20+ games) and Smush Parker were the only scorers to average double figures. The Lakers got little production from their big men, as Kwame Brown struggled and Andrew Bynum was clearly not ready for the spotlight.

It was another confusing off-season for the Lakers. There was (and still is) a great deal of talk regarding Kobe's future with the team. Through all that GM Mitch Kupchak tried to improve Kobe's supporting cast. In the draft, he selected Javaris Crittenton, Sun Yue, and Marc Gasol. Crittenton should develop into a good point guard, but he's only had one year at college and probably won't be ready for major minutes as a rookie. Plus, the Lakers took a point guard in the first round last year, in Jordan Farmar. As for Yue and Gasol, neither will play in the NBA this year. These moves make it seem as if Kupchak is building a team for the future, rather than try to take advantage of Kobe's best years and go for a title. And yet, Kupchak also added Derek Fisher, who should step in as the starting point guard, replacing the departed Parker.

Fisher should help the Lakers with his defense and shooting, as well as his familiarity with Phil Jackson's triangle offense. That said, it's hard to see how he makes the Lakers any better than the 7 seed they were last year. The only way for the Lakers to get significantly better is for Bynum to take a huge step forward. If he can develop into one of the league's better centers, the Lakers might be able to achieve a 5 or 6 seed, but that's a lot to ask of a 20 year old and it's far more likely that the Lakers will be on the cusp of a playoff spot and quite possibly on the outside looking in.

Sacramento Kings: Last season was a frustrating one for Sacramento, as they witnessed a struggle for control of the team between Mike Bibby and Ron Artest that eclipsed an outstanding season from the up-and-coming Kevin Martin. The 24-year old Martin averaged 20.2 PPG in his 3rd season and has the look of a future All-Star. Unfortunately, no one else on the Kings played near his level. Artest and Bibby both had solid scoring numbers, but Bibby's assists were down as he had a career-low 4.7 APG. Of course, the biggest problems came from the frontcourt. None of the Kings big men were able to score with any consistency. Corliss Williamson was the only King who played in the majority of the team's games and shot over 50% from the field. Defense was also an issue for the Kings frontcourt, which included Williamson, Brad Miller, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, and Kenny Thomas.

Attempting to shore up their frontcourt woes, the Kings drafted Spencer Hawes and then signed Mikki Moore. Hawes was the most offensively-skilled center in the draft, but he is already injured and is not much of an athlete. The player he's most often compared to is Brad Miller, so it's hard to see him helping Sacramento much even if he is healthy. Meanwhile, Moore had a nice season in New Jersey, but his season is a direct result of playing alongside Jason Kidd. Not to mention, Moore is skinny and won't do much in the way of low-post defense. Sacramento made yet another questionable move in hiring Reggie Theus as their new head coach. Theus is popular in Sacramento, but he's had little coaching experience and has never been a head coach at the NBA level.

Unfortunately for Theus, he's in for a rude awakening. This Kings team has the same flaws as last year and may actually be worse. Bibby figured to decline further this season, but we won't know how much for a while because he's already injured. Artest is still a good player, when his head's on straight and Martin is outstanding, but defenses will be able to focus on him with Bibby out. The Kings will be one of the bottomfeeders of the West unless their big men actually play like big men.

Los Angeles Clippers: The Clippers failed to make the playoffs for a second consecutive season, as locker room turmoil and Sam Cassell's age caught up to them. Elton Brand had another fine season, but he lacked the support he had received in the Clippers' playoff run of 2005-06. Corey Maggette was effective, despite constant efforts to trade him, but the rest of the team was unremarkable. Cassell's scoring dropped off significantly and Tim Thomas (predictably) failed to live up to the high expectations set by his 2006 playoff performance with the Suns. Chris Kaman actually played worse than the year before and Shaun Livingston made Clippers fans question whether he'll ever be healthy.

Amazingly, Corey Maggette remains on the roster. They've been shopping him for years, but to no effect. As for the moves they DID make, the Clippers signed Ruben Patterson and drafted Al Thornton. Patterson is unlikely to repeat his impressive work in Milwaukee, but the Clippers got him fairly cheap, so there's little risk involved. Thornton had an excellent senior season and should be able to provide an immediate impact, but there are serious questions about his upside because of his age (23).

The Clippers will have to hope Thornton lives up to the hype because they will be without Brand for the beginning of the season. Much like last year's Grizzlies (barring major improvement from Livingston and Kaman), this should effectively end the Clippers season before it begins.