Glancing at the near-future of the West
Here’s the Dallas Morninig News with an early overall glance at the Western Conference for next season:
While the East remains the domain of whatever team James plays for in any given season, the West is as wide open as ever because of the wealth of strong teams. Next season, it wouldn’t take a lot for any of them to be where Golden State is now.
The Warriors have a great nucleus and a bright future, not to mention being favorites to win the finals in the here and now. But they are not head-and-shoulders better than a lot of their competition.
The Los Angeles Clippers lurk as contenders, as do Houston, Oklahoma City and Memphis. New Orleans is on the verge of becoming a major force, thanks to Anthony Davis. San Antonio isn’t going to shrivel up and die. Portland is tough. And we haven’t even mentioned the possibility of George Karl turning Sacramento into something big.
Which brings us to the Mavericks, who at this point aren’t far removed from any conversations about the Western Conference that include the Lakers and Utah.
Losing in the first round, which the Mavericks have done three times since winning the title, is not something they take a lot of pride in. The only thing it’s better than is not making the playoffs at all, which happened in 2013.
