Since this seems to be the dead period for the NBA and when the biggest news is that Tony Wroten got traded to the 76ers for a second-round pick, I figured I would give my predictions on what I think the divisions are going to look like standing-wise at the end of the season.

I am going to start with the Western Conference divisions as I feel like that it is going to be an interesting ride in the West this upcoming season.

First Place—Oklahoma City Thunder

This was a no-brainer. Even though they lost Kevin Martin and did not get anything back for him, I still feel like they have way more than enough talent to stand atop the Northwest Division. When you have Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook on your team, you are going to be just fine. It will be interesting to see how Reggie Jackson improves and who that new sixth man is going to be. They have always had that go-to shooter in Harden and Martin, but now I do not know who will fill that role. I feel like it will eventually be Reggie Jackson, but right now it might be a combination of Nick Collison, Derek Fisher, Reggie Jackson, and DeAndre Liggins.

Second Place—Denver Nuggets

This is where it starts to get tougher. I think there will be an incredible fight for the second and third place spots in this division. The other four teams (outside of Utah) have all gotten better and will be extremely competitive. However, Denver has gotten worse. Losing the Coach of the Year and Executive of the Year along with Andre Iguodala hurts pretty much any team. Brian Shaw was an excellent pick-up as the new coach, but I think with grabbing J.J. Hickson, Randy Foye, Darrell Arthur, and Nate Robinson, you have stillo slightly downgraded. I feel like they will not be as solid as they were last year and I think their up-tempo style of play will have to be adjusted, especially with a coach coming in who has seen the triangle offense quite a bit. However, I still think the Nuggets have a slight advantage because they do have a really nice core in Lawson, Gallinari, and Faried. Wilson Chandler and Andre Miller are nice guys coming off the bench, so I still fully expect them to be tough to beat, but I think overall they dropped just a little bit.

Third Place—Minnesota Timberwolves

If they can finally stay healthy and we can see what the Love-Rubio combo can really do, they will be a fun team to watch. With the addition of Corey Brewer and Kevin Martin, they added some nice depth to the bench and they did not really lose much this year in terms of players. Kirilenko went to Brooklyn, but I am not sure if he was going to be the long-term option in Minnesota. Minnesota was also swimming in a sea of point guards so letting Ridnour go was a good choice and Rubio and Barea will did nicely at locking down that point guard position.

It really all depends on the injury situation. Last year was supposed to be their breakout year, but we all know what happened. Half their team was sitting in suits behind the bench. Derrick Williams is going to have to show that he is worth it next year. He has had flashes, but ultimately has been so inconsistent that it is tough to figure out what he is going to be. Finally, we will be able to see how Chase Budinger plays with Minnesota as he was out for most of last season and would have been a nice weapon to go to in games. There is going to be some three-point barrages between Martin, Love, Budinger, and Barea.

Honestly, though, I think the third place is up for grabs. Denver, Minnesota, and Portland will all have legit shots at grabbing it and it will be a dogfight.

Fourth Place—Portland Trail Blazers

The Blazers improved their bench tenfold and got some nice pieces in Thomas Robinson, Robin Lopez, and Mo Williams. The big question is will their draft picks pan out? C.J. McCollum has the potential to be explosive, but will he be able to get the time? He’ll be fighting for time with Damian Lillard and Mo Williams and I fully expect him to only get about 10-15 minutes a game to start with. Will Allen Crabbe be a weapon they can use? All these questions will need to be answered to fully predict where this team will land.

Even with the acquisition of Robin Lopez, I still think defense is going to be a big problem like it was last season. Lillard has said that he is working hard to improve his defense and people who watched him at Camp USA a couple of weeks ago said that it definitely looked better, but still needs a lot of work. I think this is the year that Nicolas Batum really needs to work on playing that lockdown defense that people say he is capable of. We saw flashes of it last season and he has said that he needs to work on his defense again, but needs to stay relatively injury-free and I think the new bench will help with that. I think you will not see a lot of free lay-ups like last year (I mean anything is better at this point), however, do not be expecting them to shut down opponents on a nightly basis. I think the Blazers are going to be able to challenge for the third place spot in the division, but I think if Minnesota is completely healthy, they will gain the edge towards the end of the season.

Fifth Place—Utah Jazz

This was pretty easy to figure out. Losing Jefferson and Millsap signaled the rebuild and youth movement in Utah. Taking a bunch of expiring contracts from Golden State, Utah is set to make a big splash next off-season. With the addition of Trey Burke to add stability to that point guard position that they haven’t had since Deron Williams will be a huge step in the rebuilding process and plus, having Millsap and Jefferson out of the way will clear space for Enes Kanter and Derrick Favors to truly grow and expand into the big men that they can be. It will be a rough year for Utah, but by no means are they hopeless. Look for them to make a big splash next off-season and to truly start making a team that competes for high seeds and can go deep into the playoffs.