NBA Divison Preview: Pacific

The Pacific Division produced the NBA Champions last season in the Golden State Warriors as well as the league MVP in Stephen Curry. This year it could do the same thing again. The division as a whole is getting better as Sacramento looks to get back to what they once were in the early 2000’s and the addition of Rajon Rondo should help that. You can’t talk about this division without talking about the return of Kobe Bryant to the Lakers. Bryant missed all but a few weeks of last season with a shoulder injury. His return doesn’t mean the Lakers are the favorites like they once were but it does make for a good storyline.

 

Golden State Warriors: When you have the reigning MVP and are the reigning NBA Champions you are going to be at the head of the class in your division. The Warriors have the target now and will be getting everyone’s best shot night in and night out. The duo of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson was lights out last season from nearly everywhere on the court, which many believed shooters couldn’t win an NBA title. Head coach Steve Kerr believed that it could and in July that proved to be true.

Player to watch: Harrison Barnes

Prediction: 65-17

Los Angeles Clippers: The Clippers knocked off perhaps the only team that could’ve beat the Warriors last season in the San Antonio Spurs. This year, Doc Rivers and his team look to be that team that knocks off the Warriors. This summer’s free agency was sort of a wild one that was headlined by DeAndre Jordan giving a verbal commitment to the Dallas Mavericks then backing out of that commitment to rejoin the Clippers. The team also added veteran Paul Pierce who was with Rivers in Boston when they won a title. Pierce will look to add wisdom and veteran leadership to a team that already has a leader in Chris Paul. If the Clippers want to take that next step they’ll need Blake Griffin to do the same thing and become the MVP they believe he can be.

Player to watch: Blake Griffin

Prediction: 58-24

Sacramento Kings: The Kings are an interesting team to say the least. They have a top 10 player in DeMarcus Cousins who if he can learn to coexist with his teammates and head coach George Karl. One of those teammates is Rajon Rondo. The once upon a time best point guard in the league joined the team in free agency after a disaster of a relationship in Dallas. I’m not saying Rondo and Cousins will be Mike Bibby and Chris Webber but if they can actually get along and not chirp at Karl, the Kings will be able to make noise. The team also went out and drafted former Kentucky big man Willie Cauley-Stein to boost the frontcourt and add more length. Don’t sleep on the Kings.

Player to watch: Rajon Rondo

Prediction: 50-32

Phoenix Suns: If you can name the next three guys off the bench for the Suns then you know more than most NBA fans. They let their best player go last season in Goran Dragic who is now with Miami. They did get Brandon Knight from Detroit who is a speed point guard who can distribute the ball well. (That is such a generic description of a point guard.) As for the rest of the starting five for head coach Jeff Hornacek; Eric Bledsoe will run with Knight and they will look down low for Tyson Chandler who joins the team after spending some time in Dallas. Markeiff Morris looks to take the next step for the Suns as they look to get to the playoffs for the first time since 2010.

Player to watch: Eric Bledsoe

Prediction: 45-37

Los Angeles Lakers: It pains me to write about the Lakers as potentially one of the worst teams in the NBA. I do think they’ll be better than last year solely because of Kobe Bryant. The 19-year veteran is coming off a shoulder injury, his second straight season that was cut short by injury, and he looks to end his career on a high note. The Lakers might have gotten one of the steals in draft when they got Ohio State point guard D’Angelo Russell with the second pick. The team also gets extra help inside with the signing of Roy Hibbert in free agency as well as their first round pick from 2012 in Julius Randle. The Lakers have a good nucleus but it is going to take some time for all these guys to come together and actually compete, sorry Kobe.

Player to watch: Julius Randle

Prediction: 40-42

Brad Frantz, Follow him on Twitter @brad_nastee