Best PG

The options here are Jason Terry or John Wall. Terry has the resume and now the ring to back up his claim. Wall will likely take over in a year or two, but until then the veteran gets the edge. On the other hand, what are the chances of Terry being here at the end of the year, take receive this award?

Best SG

Stephen Jackson is playing out of his mind in preseason, but so is Kevin Martin. Marcus Thornton might be a dark-horse candidate, when you consider durability. Should we give this to another one of magritte's guys? I guess we have to.

Best SF

This is between Danny Granger and Rudy Gay. It is really a toss-up right now, but once the unavoidable Kevin Martin injury happens, Gay should be the man. Also Granger doesn't really look good in the NBA right now. If his slump continues he could be in for a major drop in ratings.

Best PF

Although we haven't seen Zbo play yet, a look at KGs preseason stats indicate, that it won't be the Big Ticket, and there simply isn't another serious candidate around right now. David West is coming in third, but hasn't conviced so far, despite the absence of Brook Lopez.

Best C

Judged by offensive numbers, Howard might end up second to Brook Lopez, but he is superman and thus still the top center in the division, conference and league.

Best trade (so far)

After his two key free agents left (for once players left OKC on their own free will), magritte had to retool. And that he did, by acquiring Zach Randolph from the rebuilding Pistons. Although the power forward is currently injured, he will challenge Stephen Jackson for the role a team-leader when he returns.

Worst trade (so far)

Thanks to busy bee magritte there have been plenty of trades to chose from. But none of them look bad, and certainly none look bad for the northwestern team involved. So we'll have to go with the Terry-disaster here.

Best FA acquisition

Jamal Crawford signed with the Nuggets in chase of a ring and a huge payday next summer. David West just went for the huge payday with the Wolves. West's numbers will probably top Crawford's, but Crawford's contributions will be much more meaningful.

Worst FA acquisition

Portland spent 7.5 million on Will Bynum and Ryan Gomes, and both contracts run for two years. Neither are bad players, but that money should go towards a serious upgrade on the wing.

Team on the rise

Four of the five teams in this division made the playoffs last year, although Portland did it with a negative record. Don't expect any big changes other than the Nuggets overtaking the Thunder this year.
The Jazz look exceptional in preseason, so far. They will be good too, but likely just not good enough to overtake OKC.

Team on the decline

The Thunder simply were too good for their own good last year. 58 wins? Not gonna happen again. Not only because we only play 66 games this year. They'll still be a playoff team, maybe even a top 4 team int he West, but wont win the division this time.

Potential breakout player

As much as I would like to name one of the young guys from the Blazers or Timberwolves, this clearly is Marcus Thornton. He will be finally be starting and get a lot of open looks playing alongside the superman. He should more than double his career-average of 8.1 points.

Rookie to watch

Iman Shumpert will be thrust into the role of starting point guard with the Jazz. While he certainly is up to the job defensively, it remains to be seen whether he can really run an NLL offense. His preseason assist numbers look promising.

GM to watch

Newcomer jaz will have to contend in a divison with four crafty veterans. His first moves have been cautious. He traded away a surplus PG to cut down on the luxury tax and then acquired a prospect with the exception he got for Jack and added some much-needed size via free-agency with Johan Petro. He is still navigating in luxcap territory, but that has to be attributed to his predecessor.

Predicted standings

Denver 46-20 (53-29)
Oklahoma City 40-26 (58-24)
Utah 39-27 (47-35)
Portland 33-33 (38-44)
Minnesota 23-46 (35-47)