NBA Pre-Season Power Rankings - Part II: Western Conference

[EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second of a 3-pack of pre-season power rankings. Part I was posted yesterday and Part III will be posted sometime on Thursday. These power rankings will be used to determine draft order for our first NBA Mock Draft. Additionally, these rankings were done about two weeks; therefore, it does not factor certain injuries from a #1 overall pick from 2007.]

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Southwest Division
1. New Orleans
2. Houston
3. San Antonio
4. Dallas
5. Memphis

In what it was the toughest division in the NBA and possibly ever, the Southwest carries four stellar teams and a Memphis squad who will be able to compete for the playoffs in two years. In the Big Easy, Chris Paul is the single most valuable player to any team and his supporting cast has only gotten stronger with the addition of James Posey. All eyes are on Ron Artest. If they actually win a playoff series in this millennium, look no further. San Antonio and Dallas will be stingy competition, but both may need to reload in the very near future.

Northwest Division
1. Utah
2. Portland
3. Denver
4. Oklahoma City
5. Minnesota

After dominating the Northwest Division last season, the Jazz are back at it again. While Portland and Denver will be competent adversaries, both lack the continuity and the ability to buckle down on defense. They also lack the consummate floor general in the form of Deron Williams. As for Oklahoma City and Minnesota, they are tough to watch unless you have Durant or Jefferson (or Miller) on your fantasy teams.

Pacific Division
1. LA Lakers
2. Phoenix
3. LA Clippers
4. Golden State
5. Sacramento

The Lakers are not only the cream of the crop in the Pacific Division, but also the Western Conference. To remain at the top of the heap, the Lakers need a healthy frontcourt in addition to a head-strong Kobe. In Phoenix, we know they're still good, but many questions are left to be answered. Is Nash still an elite point guard? Can Shaq be a factor at both ends of the floor? Did the team learn how to play defense over the summer? As for the other three teams, expect them to struggle. Golden State may finish third, but do not expect to see them in the playoffs.

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

Hardware Time: The NBA Awards Season

Note: Before I begin, while I realize this is simply a blog about sports, I just wanted to send out thoughts and prayers to the victims of the senseless massacre that took place today at Virginia Tech.

Everyone seems to be plugging their NBA awards for the 2006-2007 season. While perhaps it’s cheating to drop awards with a couple days, and games, left in the season…I’ll be a trend-follower instead of a setter (for once).

Throughout this post, I’ll be displaying my season-ending picks alongside my pre-season picks. No need to act surprised on how lopsided they might seem (for either set of selections). No need to worry about lengthy explanations either, meat and potatoes is all that’s on the menu today.

MVP: Steve Nash, Phoenix Suns
[He makes his entire team as good as it can possibly be. I honestly wonder if they make the playoffs without him. Seriously.]
Preseason – Dwayne Wade, Miami Heat

Defensive Player of the Year: Bruce Bowen, San Antonio Spurs
[The only guy everyone seems to mention every time. Camby is right there after the last three weeks though.]
Preseason – Ron Artest, Sacramento Kings

Rookie of the Year: Brandon Roy, Portland Trail Blazers
[Far and away the lone elite performer of the Rookie ’06 class thus far. Bad team or not.]
Preseason – Brandon Roy, Portland Trail Blazers

Most Improved Player: Monta Ellis, Golden State Warriors
[Another diamond in the rough for the Warriors; hopefully, one they can keep for a few years.]
Preseason – Marquis Daniels, Indiana Pacers

Coach of the Year: Sam Mitchell, Toronto Raptors
[He quietly has molded a team of scary, youthful talent and gotten numerous players to completely buy into his style of coaching.]
Preseason – Jerry Sloan, Utah Jazz

Executive of the Year: Brian Colangelo, Toronto Raptors
[Molded a Phoenix-of-the-East with several brilliant moves, including: Villanueva for Ford, a solid #1-pick in Bargnani, free-agent rookie Garbajosa, and several savvy moves – i.e. acquiring Dixon and shipping Fred Jones elsewhere, cutting PJ Tucker, and picking up the seemingly invaluable Anthony Parker.]
Preseason – Brian Colangelo, Tornto Raptors

All-1^st Team:
Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan, LeBron James, Steve Nash, & Kobe Bryant
Preseason – D. Nowitzki, T. Duncan, S. Nash, K. Bryant, and D. Wade

All-2^nd Team:
Yao Ming, Kevin Garnett, Chris Bosh, Gilbert Arenas, & Chauncey Billups
Preseason – L. James, C. Anthony, G. Arenas, Y. Ming, and K. Garnett

Note: Where’s Dwayne Wade? I guess I had to penalize him, more than Gilbert, for the injury and numerous games missed.

Unfortunately, this was my lasting image of D-Wade's 06/07 campaign.
Credit: Times Union

All-1^st Team Defense:
Tim Duncan, Dwight Howard, Marcus Camby, Bruce Bowen, & Ron Artest
Preseason – R. Artest, T. Duncan, K. Bryant, B. Bowen, and R. Bell

All-Rookie 1^st Team:
Jorge Garbajosa, Andrea Bargnani, Rudy Gay, Brandon Roy, & Randy Foye
Preseason – I had Aldridge here, yet Garbajosa is a legitimate #2 rookie of the year selection.

We’ll see how close, or insanely far away, I end up being in the coming weeks.

Until next time…