Western Conference Power Rankings: 2021-2022 Preseason Edition

1. Los Angeles Lakers

A healthy (and slimmed down!) LeBron and AD now flanked by Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Kendrick Nunn, Malik Monk, DeAndre Jordan and the Laker returns of Wayne Ellington, Dwight Howard, Kent Bazemore, Rondo and Ariza (the boys are back in town!) + THT = your Western Conference favorites. It of course still all depends on LeBron and AD to be healthy and on the court, but Rob Pelinka scrapped last year’s failed version of the Lakers to bring in a new and improved ensemble with more play-making and shooting. Frank Vogel will emphasize defense as always. It will be interesting to see how he balances the lineups with all these dudes, and how the defense stacks up to the previous two years as the Lakers touted one of the top defenses in the entire NBA. Westbrook definitely raises the Lakers regular season floor, but does he limit their playoff ceiling?

2. Phoenix Suns

The Suns had incredibly good fortune last year in relation to injuries and the protocols that ravaged other teams, but they were also a UNIT that played cohesively as the most consistent and steady team in the NBA. The infrastructure here remains. There might not be a more rock-solid starting 5 in the NBA. Teams should be more ready for the Suns who took a lot of people by surprise last year. Jalen Smith’s Summer League was encouraging. The Suns need to see something from Smith this time, but JaVale McGee’s arrival to the desert does offer some big-man help, an area where they previously severely lacked. This is Landry Shamet’s newest team. He seems to always play for a contender and this could be the best situation yet for The Shamster to succeed. Elfrid Payton is here now too, and perhaps he will be the latest renovation project for CP to take under his wing after working his magic on Cam Payne who went from out of the league entirely to dropping 29 points in the freaking Western Conference Finals.

3. Utah Jazz

The Jazz, more so than most, should be highly motivated to get the bad taste of those embarrassing playoff losses to the Kawhi-less Clippers out of their mouths and to get back to their winning ways. That said, there is noticeably a great amount of pressure on Utah this season to finally break through. The core continuity remains, and there were some good additions in the offseason. The trade for Eric Paschall hasn’t received enough buzz. Not only is he good friends with D. Mitch (going back to childhood), but he can offer lineup flexibility that they didn’t have before and have desperately needed in the playoffs. The same can be said for Rudy Gay. Hassan Whiteside? Probably not so much on that front. It’s possible the Jazz will miss Georges Niang more than you’d think. Can Jordan Clarkson replicate his stellar 6th Man of the Year campaign?

4. Golden State Warriors

Klay’s return was supposed to be a Christmas present, but Bob Meyers played The Grinch on Media Day and said it’ll be January at the earliest. That’s quite the bummer, but this roster has improved with some additional shooting to allow the two-man game of Steph and Dray to flourish until Klay gets back. Otto Porter Jr. is probably going to surprise a lot of people. Nemanja Bjelica is a big who can knock down the 3, something the Warriors haven’t really had. Iguodala is back in the bay! The Warriors have missed having another experienced vet. There are still a lot of youngin’s here too: James Wiseman, Jordan Poole and Juan T + new marquee lottery picks Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody. Kuminga impressed in Summer League. The Wiggins situation getting resolved helps. It does feel like this reiteration of the Warriors is going to be a work in progress but will eventually have a much higher ceiling and floor than before.

5. Dallas Mavericks

We know Luka is not only an MVP-candidate but also the current favorite once again, good enough to propel any team to a shot at the playoffs and avoiding the play-in. What we don’t know is how will Jason Kidd as the head coach impact this team, and if Kristaps Porzingis can A. Stay healthy and B. Contribute on defense like when he was in New York and KD called him the original unicorn. Speaking of previous Knickerbockers, Reggie Bullock’s 3-and-D should be a good fit, but will the Mavs have enough offensive shot creation outside of Luka and Jalen Brunson? And will we get to see Josh Green and Tyrell Terry who Rick Carlisle scarcely played in their rookie seasons? Seems like a lot of questions here, but either way: Luka is just so damn good. We feel required to have the Mavs at least as high as they were last year.

6. Denver Nuggets

After Jamal Murray went down with his torn ACL last season, the Nuggets looked far better than anybody expected. They even beat the Blazers in the 1st Round in 6 games. The reigning MVP Nikola Jokic has officially graduated to one of the best players in the entire game. He gives the Nuggets a chance. Denver should probably rest him some this season after he played every single game, but you can’t count out the Nuggets if The Joker is out there. Aaron Gordon and MPJ got paid, so the core here is set. Now they just need Jamal to make a serious run at the West. Jeff Green was an under the radar signing. Uncle Jeff can contribute to winning like his unbelievable performance in Game 5 with 27 points, but we still have to heed caution to trusting him every night: only 5 points in Game 6 and zero in Game 7. Still holding out hope for more Bol Bol sightings. And we also hope that Michael Malone can find some minutes for the rookie Bones Hyland. Bol and Bones!

7. Portland Trail Blazers

It was pretty dicey there for a minute, but Dame is still here. That alone gives Portland a chance at the playoffs. A healthy C.J. and Nurk should go a long way if their health can sustain. Norm Powell’s return makes you feel better about the Gary Trent Jr. trade if you’re Blazers fan. The rest of the supporting cast has changed a bit: Larry Nance Jr., Cody Zeller, Tony Snell, Patrick Patterson, Dennis Smith Jr. and Quinn Cook. Neil Olshey really had the audacity to say on Media Day that this was the best roster since Dame got to Portland. The Blazers ceiling will again come down to their health, defense and getting consistent positive production from their Still Waiting to Pop Off Youngin’s: Anfernee Simons and Nassir Little.

8. Memphis Grizzlies

The Grizzlies had an extremely active offseason for a team that looks mostly the same 1-10. Gone are Valanchoony, Grayson Allen and Justise Winslow (Grizz fans are rejoicing about that last one), and in are Steven Adams, Kris Dunn, Jarrett Culver, Carsen Edwards and Sam Merrill. Adams will definitely get the most run out of the new additions, while Dunn and Culver are home run swings on forgotten lottery talents. Time will tell if they connect. The shooters, Edwards and Merrill, who we like, will probably be at the end of the roster. The Ziaire Williams pick was criticized by most, but Zach Kleiman has a pretty good track record, so we’ll let that one play out. A full season of JJJ paired with Ja should get you excited for a return to The Fun House. There is still a lot of young talent on this team that’s gotten some postseason experience under their belts.

9. Los Angeles Clippers

Holy hell, we have the Clippers 9th!? The West is a gauntlet as always. And you know, no Kawhi. Yet without Kawhi in the playoffs, the Clippers sure looked a lot better than anticipated. That will need to be replicated this season, and it starts with Paul George and whether or not he again plays up to his vast potential. Terance Mann arrived last season. He put himself on notice in the playoffs, exploding for his career-high 39 points and 7 threes against Utah when the Clips needed him most. Mann is the ultimate X-factor here, but the Clippers are also banking on Reggie Jackson being somebody they can continue to rely on like in the playoffs. Eric Bledsoe’s return to La La Land is to replace Patrick Beverly’s perimeter D. Serge Ibaka missed a lot of time last year and is apparently still limited but close to being back. Zubac is only 24 years old and should keep getting better.

10. Minnesota Timberwolves

KAT, D-Lo, Ant-Man and Beasley with Finchie calling the shots is not something we got to see last year. But the results towards the end of last season (without Beasley) were promising. Yes, the classic T-Wolves dysfunction has already reared it’s ugly head. Perhaps it’s better to go ahead and get it out of the way before the season begins. Putting the T-Wolves this high is counting on KAT to stay healthy and on the court, and counting on this being a seriously dynamite offense. The defense is the question, but we know that Patrick Beverly is going to bring some fight and defensive chops to a team that could use just that. Jaden McDaniels and Jarred Vanderbilt offer lineup flexibility. Looking forward to seeing what Leandro Bolmaro looks like in the NBA. And remember how good Nathan Knight looked last year for the Hawks!?

11. Sacramento Kings

Some were confused on draft night when the Kings took Davion Mitchell, but we got to see exactly why they did in Summer League. The Kings desperately needed defense after barely escaping having the worst defensive rating of all-time, and Davion “Off Night” Mitchell brings his outstanding lock-down defense to Sac-Town right away. (By the way, “Off Night” is a fantastic nickname.) Are the Kings a little guard-heavy? Sure, but to counter with another question: Have you seen today’s NBA? Small-ball lineups can surely reign supreme. And it’s beneficial to have a strong back-bone at the 5 in friend of the blog Richaun Holmes. We actually cannot wait to see the three-headed guard monster lineup of Fox-Halliburton-Mitchell. Slide Hield to the 4 for shooting (or trade him to Philly for Simmons — but don’t dare think about including Fox!) or just roll with Harrison Barnes. There’s a lot more continuity here than you’d think as the Kings retained last year’s trade deadline additions Moe Harkless and Terence Davis who we both like. They offer some spunk as does Summer League Championship MVP, Louis King!

12. New Orleans Pelicans

The Pelicans would be our top choice for worst offseason and it’s really not even close. No offense to Jonas Valanciunas or Devonte’ Graham (or Tomas Satoransky and Garrett Temple), but failing to land Kyle Lowry or retain Lonzo is exactly that: A failure. It was a good call to get rid of Steven Adams (contract) and Eric Bledsoe, yet that was necessary to clean up for last year’s mistakes. It might sound kinda harsh, but it’s hard not to look at everything and think that Griff has been goofing this up since Day 1. Gifted Zion by the lottery gods and nothing but incompetence since. We guess we’ll give some props to keeping Zion’s fractured foot under wraps this summer. That was actually wildly impressive, but the actual news sucks. Big Z looks big big. The injury concerns continue to grow. There might be only one man who can save things in N’awlins. Not Zion. Not Brandon Ingram. We’re talking about Trey Murphy!!!

13. San Antonio Spurs

How long until it doesn’t feel weird to have the Spurs this low? Hell, they were just in the play-in. But now DeRozan is in Chicago scarfing down za at Lou Malnati's. It’s funny that we’ve wanted the Spurs and Pop to fully embrace the youth movement and boy have they ever! There are guys here that we like: Dejounte Murray and Derrick White. There are guys here that we LOVE: Keldon Johnson and Lonnie Walker IV. A grand opportunity awaits for someone to blossom into a star. (Our money is on Keldon “Big Body.”) Knowing Pop, it will still be a team unity thing and that’s probably best. Where there is a Pop, there is a way? Thad Young’s VET experience is here. He’s reunited with Dougie McBuckets. Their last team in Indiana vastly overachieved. Maybe Zach Collins can get healthy and be the modern floor-spacing big he was supposed to be.

14. Houston Rockets

We haven’t picked our official selections for this year’s Young Surprise Teams, but we are more and more intrigued by none other than these Houston Rockets. Yes, we do have them 14th in the power rankings cause the power ranks keep it real. But how can you not look at the smiles on KPJ and Jalen Green’s faces at Media Day and not think that they could be the backcourt of the future? There is a young nucleus here! Christian Wood and Jae’Sean Tate showed their legit-ness in H-Town last season. Daniel Theis and D.J. Augustin sound ready and proud to be the veteran leaders that every Young Surprise Team needs. Hell, what if Alperen Sengun is as good as some of the draft nerds shouted? Super young teams like this can having trouble winning games but can still be fun as hell. The talent on this roster should at least be damn good entertainment.

15. Oklahoma City Thunder

Do Thunder fans still wake up in a cold sweat thinking about that last game of the season tank-off with the Clippers and Tanker’s Delight himself, Daniel Oturu? Oh shit, sorry to bring that up (and please do not reject our wish for an invitation to Pokuland!), but we remember that ominous Sunday so vividly. It’s almost like we can still hear Oturu’s bricks now. Enough of that — SGA is back and we have duly noted that he’s so good that you can’t tank with him out there. But wait, isn’t that what the Thunder still want to do? Well, you’ve got to play your best young players together to allow them to develop and grow alongside each other. Derrick Favors is the new addition veteran to help guide the way. A true professional, Favors looked very happy on Media Day to be there. Almost too happy. Just like us when Kenrich Williams makes a nice play and we get to yell: “KENNY HUSTLE!!!”

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The preseason is here.

Only two weeks until the regular season.

We love this game!