Post by donatello2424 on Nov 21, 2008 10:11:01 GMT -5
Golden State WarriorsProjected Finish: 1st in the Division
There is no doubt that the Warriors are the top team in the division. After making to the Western Conference Finals, they will be the favorite to win the west this season. They are led in the middle by Favors and Forney. Both of these guys play off of each other very well. Favors can score and rebound, but isn’t a great shot blocker. Forney on the other hand is a great shot blocker. Opponents have a hard time going into the lane because Forney will block the shot and Favors grab the rebound. Backing them up will be Dooley and Goode. Dooley is a very good rebounder and Goode can score. However neither are great shot blockers. That can cause problems if Forney happens to get injured and neither of these guys can step up to be the defensive beast in the middle that will challenge players. Their bread and butter comes from the 1-2-3 positions. Claybrin isn’t a great defender but he can do everything else. He can score inside and out and can handle the rock some. Kimber is a beast. He can score and is a great defender, what else can you say? They also have the reigning MVP in Treir. He is a great scorer, can handle the rock (under 2 topg is amazing), can pass, and is a great defender. He will likely win the MVP again this season. Their bench guard is also very solid. Wattie can score from the outside and is decent with his handles and passing. However his defense is a weakness and that could hurt the Warriors this season. Outside of Treir and Kimber, they only have 1 other guy over B+ defense. If these guys get injured, they will score all right. However will they be able to score enough points to make up for the fact that they can’t play defense?
Trier is a stud and likely the candidate to repeat as MVP
Sacramento KingsProjected Finish: 2nd in the Division
The Kings are a solid team. They return all 5 starters this season and look to do something. They made a solid deal near the end of the season to bring in a more scoring oriented point guard than Wall, and one who is also younger. Sulaimon and Ferrell are one of the best young duos in the league who can both put up 25+ points apiece. Their front court, however, is old. Tatsch is 36, Bradley is 31, and their backup, Blair, is 38. They will rely heavily on stud rebounding freshman Luke Davis out of Oregon. If he can play well for this team, he can add some youth to this old rotation. Jevon Thomas also needs to turn on his scoring. During the offseason, he worked on his handles looking to limit turnovers which plagued him last season. He averaged around 23 ppg for the Rockets during the 2024 season. If Thomas could score 20 points, it will make the Kings a hard team to beat with 3 very solid offensive options. The main problem with the Kings is their lack of depth. Other than their center and power forward depth, which is fairly strong, the rest of their depth is bad. No wing depth, no point guard depth, means serious trouble. Unless they can make some moves to strength their depth (and maybe add a top tier big man which everyone says the Kings need), they will not make it deep in the playoffs.
Sulaimon is one of the great guards for the Kings
Los Angeles LakersProjected Finish: 3rd in the division
The Lakers had horrible luck. Their team just was coming together, as was shown in their western conference finals win and their loss in 7 to the Pacers. Then it seems their world came crashing down. Star point guard K.C. Ross Miller and power forward Patrick Patterson retired. However don’t count the Lakers out of it. Prince is a stud player who can easily score 30 a game. Washington, who is being rumored as being shopped, is also a 20+ per game player. They still have Ralph Sampson Jr. who is a great shot blocker and the have the same in Anthony Struthers. Their weakness may be rebounding the ball. Sampson Jr. and Struthers are not dominating rebounders. Watkins and Torres will need to be able to come off the bench and rebound the ball well. A huge question mark for this team is their depth and the point. Ross Miller retiring screwed the team by leaving them without a true point. Omar Calhoun showed that he could play the point and will likely start for this team. Calhoun, one of the most intriguing players in UOSL2 history, is a weird player. He is a defensive, solid ball handler, solid passer, and rebounder…at the 3. The real question will be whether he can play the point for a whole season. If he can limit his turnover and keep them under 3, the Lakers will continue to be a dominate team. If he turns it over a ton, and Lakers have no backup who is capable of starting. They will be on the block for a point to make the season not seem like a total loss.
Sampson Jr. might be old, but he can still produce
Los Angeles ClippersProjected Finish: 4th in the Division
The Clippers are a team that is starting to make a name for themselves. They have solid pieces but can they put everything together? They are lead by two very good points in Dean Danos and Ricky Roberts. Danos, who plays more of a shooting guard roll, is their main scoring option. A bit undersized at the 2, Danos is still a legit threat. He will score over 25 ppg and can handle the rock as well. However his defense has always been a concern. He doesn’t suck there, but isn’t going to make an All-Defensive team anytime soon. Roberts, the point, has a solid outside shot and can handle the rock. Like Danos, he isn’t a great defender. However, he is solid enough for the team. Their small forward is Pierre Wright. Wright, a former Bucks standout, will probably provide scoring for this team. He could be a 20 ppg scorer in the right system, but is this it? Bench wise they have two solid wings. DeVante Moore can play both guard positions and the 3. He is a bit overpaid but if he can contribute, it is worth it. Blueitt is the other wing. Blueitt, a former Kings player, can add a bit of an outside shot and some defense. However, that is about it. In the middle they have 3 solid big men. Anthony Williams is a very good big man. He can defend, block shots, and rebound in the middle. DeMarcus Cousins, at 35, is still a great scorer. His numbers have dropped off since being on the Clippers, but he can still ball. He is also a great rebounder. Zachary Thomas has taken over Cousins’ role as the big man scorer. He can defend, but isn’t a shot blocker. He isn’t a great rebounder, but is decent enough. With them having 2 solid big men to go along with solid wings and a decent point, they could be the surprising team in this division this season.
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Cousins is a still a great scorer
Phoenix SunsProjected Finish: 5th in the Division
The Suns have been a mess for a while it seems. The Suns do have a couple of good pieces. Ralston Turner, who comes over in an offseason trade, will provide a scoring spark for the Suns. He can defend as well which is valuable for a wing in a division full of great scoring wings. LaQuinton Ross, the other wing with Turner, is also very solid. Ross can score, rebound, and pass the ball. However he is turnover prone. But with Turner he won’t be looked upon to take the big scoring load so he can lower his turnovers. The post is lead by John Allen. Allen is a defensive, shot blocking big man who can rebound as well. Allen is overpaid though for a guy with no offensive capabilities. Joining Allen is Joel Smith, another vet big man. Both of these guys are very good shot blockers. They will give the other teams in this league fits with being able to reject shots left and right. Both are solid rebounders, with Smith being the weaker of the two. They don’t have much depth behind those two, and will rely heavily on young big man Julius Hamilton. Hamilton, in his 4th year, didn’t play for the first two of those. Last year he came on strong, averaging 8 rpg and 1 bpg in around 25 mpg. He should be a solid option for them. Their biggest weakness though is at the point. Garrett has solid ratings, however his stats do not rely that info. Garrett will get around 8 apg and will score in the teens, but his turnovers kill him. He is consistently one of the highest turnover point guards, with around 3.5 topg. He hit his highest mark of 4.3 in 2022, and has been in the 3’s since then. But 3.5 topg is still bad. Dinate Baldwin could start in his place, but his ball handling and passing is in question as well. The Suns just may have to bite the bullet with Garrett and hope that Turner, Ross, and their big men can make up for Garrett’s mistakes.
Turner will provide the Suns with another scoring option
Seattle SonicsProjected Finish: 6th
Seattle might be in turmoil since they are in between GM’s. However to a new GM they do have some solid pieces. They are lead by point guard Dominic Artis. He is very similar to a former Sonic great, former point guard Ricky Rubio. Artis will score more than 20 ppg, have a solid number of assist, and low turnovers. Artis can score and distribute, but does he has the pieces around him? Their wings don’t provide much help either. Nate Bucher is one of those, outside shooters and defenders, but doesn’t have much of an inside game to make him a true legit scorer. Trashaun Caroll can defend, but isn’t a real threat to go for 20 points. DaQuan Walker might be the best scorer of the wings and he can defend some. But he won’t be more than a 15 ppg type scorer. They may not be able to score but they can defend fairly well. Their scoring is likely going to come from the power forward position. Austin Ray is their best big man scorer, but quite frankly, that isn’t saying much. He will provide scoring in the teens, and that is about it. He isn’t a legit rebounding or shot blocking threat now. He is solid but isn’t going to put up 10+ rpg and 2+ bpg. For those stats the Sonics will look toward N-Kewerin Okoro. Okoro isn’t a great shot blocker but he can block some shots. He is able to rebound the ball. But without those two hot blockers, they will look towards the bench for some help there. Mangisto Arop is their shot blocker off the bench. He averaged around 1.7 in 26 mpg last season. He is a solid rebounder as well. If they didn’t need the scoring of Ray, he would probably be the starter at the 4 for them. But with coming off the bench, he could be a great 3rd big man for them, adding in the defense that they need off the bench. They are solid, but they need more scorers to be a legit threat in a division where there are so many scorers.
Artis is the star for this Sonic team
Portland TrailblazersProjected Finish: 7th in the Division
Last in the division is the Blazers. They have some solid pieces but not a true star to build around. The closest things are probably their duo of point guards. Travon Landry is the starter at the point. He has a decent outside shot and solid passing. He isn’t a great handler and is a bad defender. Their other point starts at the 2 for them. Kirill Slepuhka is small for a 2. At 5’9” he will get dominated by the bigger guards. He can score inside and out, but he can’t defend either. Having your guards be bad defenders is never good. Their other wing is a question. They have a rotation between 3 other wings for the starting small forward and backup wing position. Their first one is Shelden Matalon. The rookie can defend and has an inside game. He is young so he still has some potential left in the tank. If he develops an outside game he can be a stud player. Thomas Marshall joins Matalon in the wing rotation. He is the best defender of the bunch and has a bit of an outside shot as well. He can handle the rock and pass it as well, allowing him to play some point as well. The last of the wings is Per Gunther. Gunther is basically Thomas Marshall without the handles or passing. Their key big man is Reginald Dillard. He can score, block shots, and is a great rebounder. He has solid passing for a big man. He is the closest thing they have to a franchise player. Justin Brooks is their other starting big man. Don’t let his ratings fool you, he is very solid. He will get double-digit rebounders and can block shots as well. He can score some as well. He gets paid a ton compared to his ratings, but his stats can back it up. Until they get a point guard who can defend they won’t be a legit threat. They are young team who will only get better with age.
Gunther is one of the young wings that will help the Blazers
