Last season ended with a heat pick and roll. Kawhi Leonard went under the screen, backing up to the paint and begging LeBron to shoot a jumper. It was what San Antonio had done all series and it had pretty much worked. But with 27 seconds left in game 7 of the NBA finals, LeBron took the jumper and put Miami up 92-88. 27 seconds and 3 made free throws later, the Heat had won their second title in as many years.
The western conference the Spurs won last year was a lot different than the one they will be playing in this season. Russell Westbrook was out for the playoffs, it was the Golden State team’s first playoffs, and Dwight hadn’t yet left the Lakers. The Western conference this year has a few very interesting teams in it all with a chance to reach the finals.
Golden State had a very intriguing playoff run last year. Without David Lee the Warriors elected to play Harrison Barnes at Power forward in crunch time. With that lineup, the Warriors got to within two games of the Western conference finals. The biggest question for this Warriors team coming into this season is who will play in crunch time and at what positions. It will likely be Harrison Barnes on the bench to start the season, but that could change as the year goes on. He is a much better defender than David Lee. Lee is a better pick and roll player than Barnes but Barnes’ range provides more spacing for Curry and Thompson to do their thing. Mark Jackson will have to make a decision about what type of offense he wants to run down the stretch. Another option might be to deal one of the players but they both have 4 years on their contracts. Barnes is in his second year in the league and an asset that Golden State probably doesn’t want to deal. David Lee’s contract is huge and probably untradeable. This offseason the Warriors signed Andre Iguodala to a four year deal. Golden State’s offensive game last year was based around the spacing provided by having Curry, Thompson, Barnes, and Lee (and Jarrett Jack in the playoffs) on the floor together. All 5 of those players are good long range shooters. In the offseason Andre Iguodala was brought in for his defensive production. He will most likely be guarding players like Kobe, Parker, Durant, and Harden down the stretch in big games, but he is a poor shooter. Iguodala might destroy the balance of spacing that Golden State had last year. If this team can stay healthy and figure out its offense and rotation, it could be the best team in the west. Remember the David Lee Steph Curry pick and roll is the most dangerous in the league and it will hopefully be around for the playoffs this year.
Last year, the Oklahoma City Thunder was the favorite to come out of the western conference until Russel Westbrook got injured in their first round series against the Rockets. Unprepared for the loss of a teammate, there wasn’t a solid enough structure in the team to have a successful season, and they were easily defeated in the next round by Memphis. Though Westbrook is now healthy and in playing condition, he is scheduled to miss the first six weeks of the season. With Kevin Martin departing to Minnesota, the Thunder are left with young players like Perry Jones, Reggie Jackson, and Jeremy Lamb as the only other scoring threats on the team besides Durant and Ibaka. The team will probably struggle until Westbrook returns, and may only win on nights when Kevin Durant scores 30. The injury will impact the Thunder’s playoff seeding, but it will not keep them from the playoffs. The bigger question down the line will be if the Thunder beat the top teams in the west in a playoff series, like they did in 2012, without James Harden.
The Spurs are the defending champions of the West. The big question surrounding the Spurs, and their continued success, is age. Greg Popovich has shown, over the years, an ability to manage the minutes of older players saving them for the playoffs with the team still earning impressive playoff seeding. Another major question for the Spurs is Manu Ginobili’s play. In the last two rounds of the playoffs last year, he shot 39% from the field and only 30% from 3. He couldn’t create plays off the dribble or drive to the hoop the way he had in seasons past. If Manu really has gotten to the age where he can’t be a contributor for the spurs then other players will have to take his minutes and make plays for the offense. A step up for Kawhi Leonard would help to alleviate this problem. Kawhi has shown great defensive ability in his first two years NBA seasons. He is quickly becoming one of the top perimeter defenders in the league. His shooting and the plays off of the dribble are not the best, and with only a little improvement in the former point, he will probably be asked to take on a much bigger role in the Spurs offense than he did last year. Tony Parker’s season last year was given MVP consideration, he was the Spurs best player in the playoffs last season and he would have won finals MVP if the Spurs had won the finals. He will need to have a similar season for the Spurs to be contenders this year. Over the years the Spurs have been a team that consistently gets high seeding in the playoffs by staying steady and avoiding losing streaks. This coupled with the Thunder’s projected early season struggle makes them an early for the number one seed in the west.
