Southwest division preview

 

 

Best PG  

 

 

1. SA  -  Kyle Lowry

2. Dal – Mike Conley

3. Hou – Rodney Stuckey

4. NO  - Darren Collison

5. Memp – Jeff Teague

 

In a division ripe with young, budding point guards, we have to give the edge to Kyle Lowry of San Antonio.  Last year, he was already a top 50 overall player, but with the breakout season he is having in the NBA, I’m sure he will be a force to be reckoned with in the NLL.  Mike Conley of Dallas was a close second.

Best SG

 

 

1. NO – Ray Allen

2. Mem – B Gordon

3. Dal –Tony Allen/OJ Mayo

4. Hou – Meeks/T Will/Wes Johnson

5. SA – Gary Neal

 

This division also has a run of youth at the 2 spot.  Yet the craft vet, Ray Allen, holds off his competitors to be the best SG in the division.  His only major competition comes from Ben Gordon, but Allen’s uncanny ability to hit over 45% from 3 and his solid defensive play makes him the consensus favorite.

 

Best SF

 

 

1. Dal  –Carmelo Anthony

2. SA – Nicolas Batum

3. Mem – Thad Young/Danilo Gallinari

4. Hou – Wes Johnson/ T Will

5. NO – Courtney Lee

 

Absolutely no competition here, Carmelo Anthony wins in a landslide.  One of the best scorers in the game, Melo obliterates defenses as he imposes his offensive dominance everywhere on the court.  He can post, drive, pull up and hit from long range.  We are curious to see if Danilo Gallinari can continue his hot streak in the NBA for a full season and Nicolas Batum is always a match-up nightmare.

Best PF

 

 

1. NO – Amare Stoudemire

2. Hou – Shawn Marion

3. Mem – Kris Humphries

4. Dal – Brandon Bass

5. SA – Jonas Jerebko

 

Amare Stoudemire of New Orleans tops all power forwards in this division.  He can rebound, hit the mid range jumper and post.  He’s one of the fastest power forwards in the NLL and we expect to see him average a double double this season.  Marion is still a factor, but a lack of a consistent jump shot and old age is catching up to him.  Keep your eye on Kris Humphries.  His ugly divorce with Kim and the daily reminder on national TV seems to be fueling his inner demon.  He’s averaging 14 and 10 in the NBA and we do expect to see it translate to the NLL.

Best C

 

 

1. SA – Al Horford(injured)

2. Mem – Joakim Noah

3. NO – Chris Kaman

4. Dal – Anderson Varejao/Spencer Hawes

5. Hou – Channing Frye

 

The saddest part of this category is that we won’t even get to see the best center in the divison play this year in the NLL.  Al Horford is out 3-4 months.  The best active center will be Joakim Noah.  He’s a defensive monster that gobbles up any rebound that comes his way.  He doesn’t have a consistent jumper, but he makes up for that by pounding the offensive glass scoring on put backs.  We expect to see him in the top 10 in blocks and rebounds by the end of the year.

Best trade (so far)

 

 

Memphis – Jameer Nelson and Brendon Haywood for Ben Gordon

 

The nod for best trade thus far goes to Memphis for the acquisition of Ben Gordon.  The Grizz were sorely lacking a true shooter, someone that spreads the floor and allows the bigs to get inside.  They got that in Gordon.  Ben can shoot from anywhere on the court and is one of the harder SG to defend in this division.  If he played better defense, he could have been the best SG in the divison.  The price was not cheap for Ben, as the Grizz gave Jameer Nelson and Brendon Haywood for him.  However, Haywood was getting limited minutes backing up Noah and Teague is a young PG on the rise, so we think that Memphis made the right move here,

Worst trade (so far)

 

 

Houston – Baron Davis for Maurice Evans and 15 GM pts

 

Worst trade so far goes to Houston for dumping Baron Davis and getting Maurice Evans and 15 GM points back.  Evans will get some minutes off the bench, but Jodie Meeks is not ready to take over the starting role at SG.  We think a back court of Stuckey and Davis would have been much more effective and allowed Meeks to come off the bench and contribute.

Best FA acquisition

 

 

 

Hou – Re-signing Stuckey

 

Re-signing Rodney Stuckey by the Rockets was definitely the best FA acquisition so far.  The division really hasn’t made many waves in the offseason, but Stuckey is a sturdy guard that can play both the 1 and 2.  Seeing that Houston’s only other PG is Derek Fisher, this was a no brainer.

Worst FA acquisition

 

 

SA – Andre Miller 

 

San Antonio surprised everyone this off season by signing Andre Miller.  They already have a dominant starter in Kyle Lowry.  CJ Watson is playing great with Derrick Rose out in the NBA, and we are positive that will translate to the NLL.  Most teams don’t want a 3^rd PG, unless it’s a young guy with lots of potential.  Andre Miller is the antithesis of this.  He’s 35 and costs a whopping $8 million.  With the hole the Spurs have at SG, we feel that money would have been WAY better spent on someone like Jamal Crawford.  We may still see the Spurs strike once more in free agency by going after Alonzo Gee, but to win that bidding war, they may have to dump a lot of GM points.

Team on the rise

 

 

Memphis

 

Last year, Memphis was 23-59.  We don’t see that again this year.  Look for them to challenge for a playoff spot this season.   The oldest player on their roster is Beno Udrih, at 29, and he doesn’t even start.  The average age for the roster is 23.7 and there are 6 rookies or 1 year players.  Sprinkle in some experience in Noah, Gordon, Thad Young and Humphries and you have the makings of an up and coming team.  I don’t think Memphis will vie for the division title this year, but they seem to be on the right track, and will be a difficult matchup for years to come.

 

Team on the decline

 

 

Dallas

 

They won the Western conference last year with a 59-23 record, but it seems like some of their offseason moves were geared towards a continuation of greatness in the future more than a push to win the NLL Finals this coming year.  Melo is still the most dominant player in the division, but age is creeping up on a few role players.  If Melo has an off night, can Conley, Mayo, and Sessions create enough offense?  Aside from Melo, only Mayo can really create his own shot, so there will be a lot of pressure for the guards to distribute the ball.  The frontcourt has rebounding issues, and it doesn’t help that Hawes may be injured to start the season.  The big question mark on the team is free agent pickup Eddy Curry.  If Curry can display the skills that got him the ludicrous contract he had in New York previously, Dallas may not skip a beat.  He’s dropped almost 100 pounds and says he wants a ring.(and he didn’t mean donut)  Don’t get me wrong, Dallas will make the playoffs, but the other teams in the division are getting better, and it doesn’t seem like Dallas made moves that will translate to more wins this season.

Potential breakout players

 

Lots of potential for break out players this season.  Byron Mullens of San Antonio and Danilo Gallinari seem to be prepared to take the leap forward over the rest. 

 

SA –Byron Mullens

Mullens has more than doubled his career stats in EVERY category in the NBA this season.  He’s already gotten over a 16 point overall rating boost.  If he can keep up this pace in the NBA, We expect him to be more successful in the NLL also. 

 

 

Mem -  Danilo Gallinari

 

Danilo Gallinari is scoring at will in the NBA with a whopping 20.52 PER while averaging almost 35 minutes a game.  At 6’10, he keeps opposing SF up at nights thinking of ways to defend him.  He’s more agile than expected and can score from long range.  He runs the floor well and usually finishes around the rim.

Rookies to watch

 

 

SA – Bismack Biyombo

 

 

NO – Jordan Hamilton

 

Not too many rookies in this division, but the nod goes to Bismack Biyombo.  Defensively, he’s a stud, but he’s a project on offense.  Fortunately, the Spurs need him for his rebounding and shot blocking mostly, so expect him to log a decent amount of minutes at both the PF and C positions.  We also expect to see lots from Jordan Hamilton, a young athletic scorer in a NLL where wings have been the leading scorers for the most part.  He’s still a rookie, but if he gets acclimated to the speed of the game at this level, we can see him averaging 12 ppg no problem.

GM to watch

 

 

Houston

 

GM Dare is not afraid to mix things up.  He’s already made more transactions than the rest of the division this offseason.  We don’t see any reason why he would stop now.  He’s got 3 open roster spots and over $12 million in space under the cap.  After Houston underperformed with a 13-69 record, there really is nowhere to go but up!

Predicted standings

 

New Orleans    40-26

Dallas               38-28

Memphis          36-30

San Antonio     34-32

Houston           26-40

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