The Pacific Division standings in the 2013-2014 NBA season is going to look very similar at the end of the season, in my opinion, to what it was last season. The Clippers and the Warriors have gotten better while the Lakers have obviously gotten worse with the loss of Dwight Howard. However, you cannot truly count them out as long as Kobe is on that team. I think Sacramento and Phoenix will be bringing up the rear at fourth and fifth place respectively, but let’s dive in and see why these teams will be at these spots.
First Place—Los Angeles Clippers
They easily held first place at the end of last season and had a comfortable nine game lead over the Golden State Warriors. I see no reason why this trend will not continue as they have only become deeper this past off-season with the additions of J.J. Redick, Jared Dudley, Darren Collison, and Byron Mullens as well as returning players like Jamal Crawford, Matt Barnes, and Willie Green. The rookie Reggie Bullock impressed a lot of people at Summer League this year, but I am finding it hard to figure out how he is going to get time. That is just how deep this team is. With new coach, Doc Rivers, at the helm, I think this team is going to be scary and should easily hold first place in the Pacific Division this year.
Second Place—Golden State Warriors
My, was this team fun to watch last season or what? I have to admit, I had them losing in the first round to Denver and especially when David Lee went down. They surprised me and I noticed myself rooting for them until they ultimately got knocked out by the Spurs. They added a couple nice additions to their team this off-season in Andre Iguodala, Marreese Speights, and Jermaine O’Neal. With Andre Iguodala coming in, this raises an interesting question concerning Harrison Barnes who thrived in the PF position during the playoffs. People may suggest just permanently switching Barnes to the four, but where does that leave David Lee? Andrew Bogut is playing Center currently and I feel like David Lee might be the odd man out. He is a great player do not get me wrong, but I do not know if there is going to be space for him. We shall see. I like the additions of Speights and O’Neal to strengthen that bench and bring some veteran presence to this young, young team and I think with losing Carl Landry, Speights was a nice replacement. Mark Jackson has some nice new toys to play with this season and I think this team will be extremely exciting to watch.
The Warriors would be in first place if the Clippers weren’t so dang good, but who knows maybe Golden State challenges the first place spot, but, in my opinion, I think they will lock up the second place spot with ease.
Third Place—Los Angeles Lakers
We all know what happened to the Lakers this summer. They lost Dwight Howard and replaced him with Chris Kaman. Ouch. The Lakers have only become older and unfortunately, do not have a lot of talented rookies. The loss of Dwight Howard was a huge blow for obvious reasons and it will be interesting to see how they recover from it. With him out of the picture, do the Lakers flow a little bit better this season? The Lakers lost Dwight Howard and Earl Clark notably and signed Nick Young, Wesley Johnson, and Chris Kaman. Nick Young and Kobe will have to fight to the death for the ball, but I think we know who wins that.
I can really never count the Lakers out. Kobe is coming back from injury and is sure to be fired up and ready to go. I get nervous when people start to predict the Lakers being the 12th seed because they just make Kobe angry…and we really do not like him when he is angry. I am expecting a full reboot eventually or trying to chase a big free-agent in the next off-season, but this team is getting slower and older. I expect them to be interesting towards the end of the season. Do not count the Lakers out until Kobe has retired, but in terms of division standing, I say they end up being in third place because I think they have enough talent to fight off Sacramento and Phoenix. Sacramento might be able to challenge the third place spot with some of the new additions they got, but I highly doubt it.
Fourth Place—Sacramento Kings
This is where my prediction might change the standings a little bit. With a new coach, new ownership, and with some new players, the Kings might finally have a direction and a future. They added newcomers Greivis Vasquez as part of that three-team deal that sent Tyreke Evans to New Orleans and Carl Landry from the Warriors. They also added rookies Ben McLemore and Ray McCallum, who, for the moment, are question marks, but I would expect McLemore to be a huge help for the Kings down the road. I think the Kings could sneak up on some people. The point guard situation might be interesting considering Isaiah Thomas was starting at the point last season, but Vasquez showed that he can be a quality starting point guard and, in my opinion, a better one than Thomas. It will be interesting to see who ends up going to bench first or if they try to play together. If Cousins can finally grow up a little bit and if their young pieces can mature enough to become a core, I think the Kings could possibly challenge for the third place spot, but a lot of things will have to go right. I still think this team desperately needs a veteran presence on this squad and Landry will help with some of that, but they need someone in their 30s that is not Chuck Hayes or John Salmons.
I predict that the Kings will most likely be sitting at fourth place by the end of season. However, if we do see some growing up on this squad, it is quite possible that they sneak into the third place spot in the Pacific Division.
Fifth Place—Phoenix Suns
REBUILD TIME!! Phoenix pretty much demolished last year’s roster, which was expected, and signaled the full rebuild of this team. Adding a new coach in Jeff Hornacek and new players in Eric Bledsoe and Alex Len this team is on the right track to building a contending franchise again. The Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe situation still puzzles me. Who is going to start? Dragic has shown that he can start in this league and he came to Phoenix to have a squad to his own, but Bledsoe comes in and he is ready to be a starting point guard after being under Chris Paul’s wing for a couple of years. I have no idea what they are going to do or what this says about Dragic, but we shall see. I imagine there might be some times where they play together on the floor, but I have no idea how that is going to work. I will be watching how this situation unfolds over the course of the season.
Alex Len was picked at No. 5 in this year’s draft and is the perfect guy to start the rebuild. Marcin Gortat is more than likely on his way out after this season and he can mentor Len while they are teammates. Alex Len is 20 years old and is a beast of a man. They have lots of time to develop him and I believe he will be one of the main pillars for this franchise for a long time.
This is a really easy prediction as I fully expect them to be bringing up the rear in the Pacific Division, but they now look like they have a purpose. Last year was the confusing, awkward time where we knew this team was going to get blown up and now the first stage of their plan is in motion. The fans in Phoenix should be excited for the future.