re: ESPN's 2016-17 NBA Western Conference predictions. What are your predictions?

1. Golden State
2. San Antonio
3. Portland
4. L.A. Clippers
5. Utah
6. Memphis
7. Minnesota
8. Houston
----------------------
9. Oklahoma City
10. Dallas
11. New Orleans
12. Denver
13. L.A. Lakers
14. Phoenix
15. Sacramento

13-15 is hard to project. All three teams suck. Phoenix has some nice young talent. Not sure how I feel about Watson running the show. LAL can be 32 wins competitive.


Anybody else feel like the Clippers are trending down? I can see them finishing 6th if they have to grind out W's late in the season. CP3 seems to be doing the same thing year in and year out, same as he did in NOLA. It's the "stand around and wait for CP3 to create for us" offense that worries me. Crawford is old and hurts his team when he goes hero ball. Austin Rivers has shown he can be a capable PG, I just wouldn't bet on him. A healthy Blake Griffin wanting to show he's an MVP caliber player can change that though.

Also, I wouldn't sleep on MEM or MIN. I feel like MIN is a couple of pieces away, but hard nosed defense and a second year KAT can win 50 games.