2020 Western Conference

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1. Los Angeles Lakers

2. Los Angeles Clippers

3. Denver Nuggets

4. Dallas Mavericks

5. Portland Trail Blazers 

6. Phoenix Suns

7. Utah Jazz 

8. Houston Rockets 

9. Golden State Warriors

10. Minnesota Timberwolves

11. Memphis Grizzlies 

12. New Orleans Pelicans

13. San Antoinio Spurs

14. Sacramento Kings

15. Oklohma City Thunder

1. Los Angeles Lakers

Imagine the champions of last year who only lost 5 games in the playoffs last year, improving their bench and tying down their two best players to big-money deals. That is the case in yellow and gold. Two sixth man of the year candidates in Harrell and Schroder joined and Marc Gasol adds veteran experience. They are the favorites for a reason and if any team wants to compete, they are going to have to be on top of their game. 

2. Los Angeles Clippers 

Will we finally get the battle of LA in the playoffs? As I mentioned before, I am a Raptors fan so seeing Kawhi and Ma Fuzzy Chef on the same team together will hurt but I wish them the best of luck. Paul George cannot play as badly as he did last playoffs. Kennard adds shooting but I feel there is one missing piece which is a more natural point guard and this team and the matchup with the Lakers will truly be fascinating. 

3. Denver Nuggets

A very good young core who are deep and coming off a conference finals berth and who are the only team ever to come back twice from 3-1 down. Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic are complete players and showed that in the 2020 playoffs. Letting two very good wing defenders in Jerami Grant and Torrey Craig go, will be a mistake come to the end of the season. However, if Bol Bol and MPJ continue their development, a similar high playoff berth awaits the Nuggets. 

4. Dallas Mavericks

With Luka Doncic playing like an MVP for most of the last season, Dallas is going to be hard to stop. Their problems lie on the defensive side of the ball game. However, with the addition of Josh Richardson, they add this as well as a decent three ball stroke. Rick Carlisle knows this organization inside and out, so will lead this team far and will be hard to stop. 

5. Portland Trail Blazers

I have Portland higher than most others predicting the NBA season. I really like the additions of Covington and Derrick Jones Jr. and Rodney Hood will be fit for the regular season. Dame and CJ are probably the best backcourt in the NBA but they both need help carrying the load but I really like the Blazers this year. They were struck with injuries last year and they still managed to finish at the 9th seed and won the seed in game. If they can be free of injuries then this seed and position look likely. 

6. Phoenix Suns 

Phoenix have made a good few signings this off season with Chris Paul coming in and Jae Crowder as well. Phoenix were the hottest team during the NBA seeding games and if they can carry this through to next year, Phoenix will be back in the playoffs. DeAndre Ayton and Devin Booker will carry on their development and I fancy Phoenix to make this seed with CP3 anchoring and playing the leadership role as he did so successfully in OKC. 

7. Utah Jazz

This was probably the hardest choice of all of the top 8 for me. Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert form a very solid paternship in this small town market. However, while Utah are good and showed that last year, all the teams around them have added pieces which in my opinion make them stronger, Utah have kept the same team. There of course benefits of running it back but I think they have slip low in this heavely contest West. 

8. Houston Rockets

Houston have obviously dropped hugely from last year but that is not due to the departure of Russell Westbrook. Even if Harden stays after all these trade rumours, the dressing room atmosphere will be abosultely shot. Wall and Boogie Cousins are good pick ups but they are both coming back from long-term injuries, so no one can really tell how good they will be or if either can get to anywhere near to how effective they were. Christian Wood is a good pick up and will be in the long term plans of the organisation 

So there are my predictions for 2020-2021 playoff table. This Western Conference is unbelivably tight with 14 out of the 15 teams being able to make a case for them being a playoff team. The only team who does not look like making the playoffs is the Oklahoma City Thunder but they're in a rebuild with a solid team. 



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