  Just some thoughts on the Western Conference as players sign with teams...here are my top eight teams...note the absence of the Lakers. My number eight team is a tough call...Portland is talented, deep, but dysfunctional. Utah made a run this year and they've added Carlos Boozer. They still seem to be short a few guards, but the most fun for that team will be watching Jerry Sloan break down the Uberegomaniac rookie, Kris Humphries. New Orleans has moved to the West, but they haven't made any significant changes and everybody on that team is a year older, not better...I'm going with Memphis for this pick. The Geriatric Geniuses, Jerry West and Hubie Brown, have a seemingly endless supply of solid players. Ok, not endless, but they've got fifteen guys under contract right now and every one of them could step in and contribute. They picked up Andre Emmett and will be able to take their time grooming him. Their youth is developing and I can see West making a big splash in next year's FA pool by bringing in a couple of players.
Until then, Hubie will use his depth to win games by wearing teams down. I give them the number eight seed in the playoffs. Phoenix is a poor man's Dallas. After picking up Nash, they're just as good from point guard to power forward as any team in the league...but there's a gaping hole at center, unless you consider Jake Voskuhl or Zarko Cabarkapa as legitimate centers.
The Suns will run as much as possible and will be great entertainment, but with their lack of size and defense will hurt them in the clutch. I'm still trying to figure out why they signed Quentin Richardson, seeing as that position is already filled by Joe Johnson...leads me to think they may make a run at Eric Dampier and try to pull a sign and trade for Johnson somewhere down the road. Denver is a hard team to get a read on for a few reasons. Signing KMart will undoubtedly be a boost to their inside game (he's their future now, seeing as they gave up three first round draft picks to get him) and Carmelo and Nene will improve just from another year of experience. However, three things come to mind that I think will define their season. Can Camby duplicate last year's performance? If he's healthy, there's no reason to think he can't. Will playing in the Olympics hamper Carmelo? He looked worn at times last year, so I can see this being a problem later in the season (i.e., draft him in your fantasy league, trade him at the break). Will they be able to recapture the same chemistry they had last year? They seem like a close group, so I'm guessing yes. Andre Miller looked more comfortable in their system as the year went on, so I'm guessing he'll be able to pull them together and blend KMart into their system.
Last year Dallas payed Antawn Jamison $15 million to come off the bench. Stop and read that sentence again. In my opinion, the Mavs pulled off the second best trade of the summer just behind the Heat's coup by dumping that salary in exchange for a Stackhouse (an all-star if healthy), Laettner (who's in the final year of his contract, great trade bait), and the arguably most NBA ready rookie (Devin Harris). Quietly signing Marquis Daniels to a six year deal at a fairly low cost was a steal. Thumbs up for the Mavs.
But they still have no defenders, no serious inside presence, and still have the Nelson boys running the team. Thumbs down for the Mavs. So it's going to be the same story for the Mavs: they'll put up a lot of points, be very entertaining, win 50 plus games, and lose in the first or second round. Other than the Heat, I think the Rockets will be the most improved team next year. This is not Yao's team...this is not TMac's team...now that Francis is gone, Jeff Van Gundy has complete control.
The offense will flow through Yao, TMac will be able to create when necessary, and they have a slew of spot up shooters to complement those two (Howard, Jackson, Piatkowski, Gaines, etc). I think it will take a year to get the chemistry right...if they click, look out. They won't be making any serious dips into the FA pool as they need to save some cap room for max extensions to Yao and TMac in the near future. Under the assumption that they resign Darius Songalia and Anthony Peeler and that CWebb and Bobby Jackson are healthy this year, the Kings should be a better team this year.
Brad Miller's role will be increased, as will Songalia's, as Vlade continues to creep into retirement...if the Kings resign him. Even though he's 137 years old, Vlade is 7'1", passes better than any other big man in the league, and can knock down the outside jumper consistently. The Minnesota Timberwolves did the smartest thing by doing virtually nothing besides resigning Troy Hudson. If they were healthy last year (Hudson, Cassell, Szczerbiak, etc), it's hard to not see them going even further in the playoffs. The have the balance, size, depth, and shooting to finish in the upper echelon of the Western Conference again next year.
Their relative youth gives them the edge over the Kings. The San Antonio Spurs are quietly putting the best team together again for 2004. Take away Derek Fisher's miracle and the Spurs are the NBA champs. By resigning Ginobili and Bowen and adding one of the top three-point shooters in Brent Barry, they have put all of the best pieces around Tim Duncan for the next several years. I'm guessing this is about the end of their major FA moves as they'll try to save some funds to offer Tony Parker a contract extension. At this point they have to be considered the favorites heading into the next season. Plus they're still well under the cap. 
