Team to beat: Geeeezzzzz! Does it get tougher than this to pick a winner? The Pacific holds the reigning champ Lakers, the conference 2^nd strongest team but under new management Kings and the 5^th placed (last season) Suns, whom despite the loss of Chandler Parsons in free agency look stronger, better and deeper! Despite this, you’d have to suggest the Lakers are once again the team to beat. Coming off a 66 win season (Good for 3^rd best overall), they were 9 games clear of the rest of the conference, and managed to make all their key free agents return for another shot at the title. It wasn’t all peaches and cream for Greenmig over summer, he had to be very strategic and cunning, and had to lose some of that depth, but his free agent targets outside of the returning were good solid options like Raymond Felton, Aron Baynes and Chris Copeland and the Lakers should be tough to beat as long as Gerald Green keeps himself in check and out of hospital.

Key story line: The Great Divide. While my tenure has been relatively short (compared to some of the veteran GMs) it has been clear that the Lakers and Kings  have been consistently strong teams at least for the past couple of seasons, and the Suns have been a playoff team also and look like they’re really honing in on making that regular. However then there is a chasm between the top 3 and the bottom two currently. The Clippers are only one season removed from the pit of “just inside the playoffs” before a GM change has blown them up and looks to have them primed for a long term rebuild, while the Warriors have been treading water in the “others” zone for a while now.

The Top. The Los Angeles Lakers. Reigning champs and a very unique blend of youth, vets and savvy GM choices targeting getting the job done in the NLL. Some like to focus on the personnel choices and how they are performing compared to how they are expected to perform, but the bottom line is, Greenmig is a master coach who gets the most out of his players and rules with an iron fist in terms of mediocrity and shifting out the guys he doesn’t think fits his system and THE system. The Lakers are top for a reason and won’t be easily de-throned.

Second in line. Sacramento Kings. The Kings are by default here at #2 and one could envision them possibly have being a real contender to knocking off the Lakers had GM Carl stuck around. He’d made a name for himself in knowing what to do and making the right move. Unfortunately for Sacramento, Carl departed. That’s not to say new GM Klemmelo is a poor GM, it just means that their offseason might have been more productive overall with a GM that wasn’t learning the trade on the fly. Klemm has shown a good NBA knowledge so far and has been relatively reluctant to jump into things with a team that is so strong on paper currently, instead making small Free Agent moves, retaining his main guys, and getting himself under the lux. As his knowledge grows there’s sure to be the typical moves moulding the team as his own. Currently, the Kings are placed 2^nd from last season and it might just be that the sitting while others around them have been working might mean they drop a peg or 2 while still going deep into the playoffs.

The Jumpers. The Phoenix Suns. The Suns lost what was probably the biggest name in the Free Agent pool this summer, yet you look at their roster and you don’t see the loss. They finished 5^th last year, but with a deeper looking team and the Sanders debacle done with, they will look to move up from there. Pierce is in to replace Parsons, Beverley, Davis, McBob and Arthur all solidify the bench and imagine had the Chandler coup occurred! Penny has this team looking strong and fit and ready to compete. Asik and his health might be the key, but Penny’s got this.

The Fillers. Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors. Not everyone can be pushing for a playoff birth and in this division the teams bringing up the rear are the Warriors and Clippers.

The Clippers have a relatively new GM in Andrew running the show and taking the team in an entirely new direction after trading out, well, everybody and flying into the draft with 5 1^st round picks last year (subsequently condensing them into 4). This strategy typically has shown a slow development, so we’re not expecting much of a shift up the table just yet, but Andrew has got this team primed to push up and out of that “fringe Playoff Team” spot that everyone hates. Whiteside was a gem of a find by trade, veteran’s like Taj Gibson and Alec Burks are in via trade and DeMarre Carroll chose to come to LA while there has been positive signs from sophomores in Hood and Capela. They do have 5 2015 1^st round picks on the roster, and one of them starting, so teething problems will ensue. The future looks good.

The Warriors have almost entirely new GM MaiLo running the show now. Last season was a dead season in every way for the Warriors. Their GM lost the will to continue and so decided to stop doing…anything. No trades, no shuffling, nothing. He was dismissed mid season and the new GM came in and did…even less. Is that even possible? So MaiLo has then been left with not an entirely poor roster, but one that had been neglected and was only good enough to finish 11^th out West anyhow. He’s made some big name moves already, anticipating a mass free agent exodus come the season end, and there will surely be more. He’s been active in discussions across the league, even with things not coming to fruition, and other than the point guard spot, his team still doesn’t look all that bad. Will it rise? Unlikely, particularly now Chandler is downed, and you can envision MaiLo having to make that tough decision at some stage to either blow it all up or move what is likely to be a really high draft pick for a couple of more established youth. Good luck MaiLo!

Five best players:

1) Suns SG: Monta Ellis- Monta is the star of this division. He averaged a massive 31.2 points per game for the Suns last year and was the reason Parsons walked (Penny put all his efforts into retaining the obvious stud). He’s small but lightning quick and dropped 50 multiple times last season. He’s primed to keep that flowing this season.

2) Lakers SG: Gerald Green- Part of me can’t believe I am saying this, but can you overlook the MVP runner-up from last season who dropped 26.4 points per game on the championship team? Say what you will about Gerald compared to his Earth2 clone, he is the real deal in NLL at 6’8 with a killer jumpshot and jump out of the gym explosion. The Lakers won it all because of this dude and could live and die by whether he maintains this form for a 2^nd season.

3) Kings PF: Kevin Love- The Kings arguably have the most star power of any team in the division and KLove is atop of that list. He’s been a much maligned double double threat for the past couple of seasons but a new style of gameplay is suggesting that perhaps he might push up to meet the levels most would expect a guy like Love (and other bigs around the league) to reach. He’s shown some grit in preseason and is now the money man for the Kings.

4) Kings PG: Mike Conley- KLove is their star, but Mike Conley is the heart and soul, even based around the game system.  Conley is perennially underrated by all and sundry across the NLL and the NBA, but he’s a legit 2 way guard with speed, shooting and vision and he’ll be a strong leader for the Kings this year, a contract year. Sac will want to make sure he’s staying come end of the season.

5) Lakers C: Tyson Chandler- Klay Thompson is spitting at me right now…like literally standing at my office door and spitting. But Tyson was the defensive anchor for the champs and eventual defensive player of the year. He pulled down a whopping 13.2 rebounds per game while helping out all over the court and working at a crazy 71% Field Goal percentage. He’s by no means a sexy choice but this guy does it night in and night out and paired with Gerald Green is the reason the Lakers have a ring.

Sleeper: The Suns. The Lakers are bringing back the same team as last year but with a little weaker depth, and the Kings have lost Lopez and swapped out Lee for Frye in a cost cutting move, so the Suns are a real shot to push for the top of the division. All it takes for the Lakers to drop a little is Gerald Green to come back to earth and the Suns really do look like a nicely rounded and deep roster lead by water bugs Monta and Kemba with solid interior defence and scoring options a plenty.

Breakout star: The time has come, Harrison Barnes. With Wilson Chandler having gone down for the season, Ty Lawson in Boston and oft-injured OJ Mayo the only other legit threat in Golden State, it’s hard not to envision the next step being taken by Barnes with all that opportunity. He declined an extension over the summer, Jimmy Butler style, instead opting to “bet on himself” so the motivation couldn’t be stronger. He’s a scoring wing with a fair amount of flash when required and he’ll be looking to get Oakland excited this season.

Best newcomer: He was a close runner up to the breakout star, but Alec Burks in LA returning from injury and in a new team after having never played for Charlotte gets this gong. While Paul Pierce’s role is likely to be more instrumental to the overall success of the Suns, Burks whom has perpetually threatened to break out looks like he might be set to do so. In a team with 2 defensive middle men and a slow perimeter shooter at the small forward spot, Burks should be asked to do a lot as Russell takes his time to adjust to the league and will inevitably struggle at least early on. It wouldn’t be a stretch to see him break out as much as Barnes…or more, I tossed a coin above. Tails, Barnes won.

Prediction: I believe we’re once again looking at a dominant Lakers team that could surprise the East and go all the way again. Greeny got his key back, Tyson Chandler, and there’s no real reason to bet against a team who had 9 more wins than the Kings whom have stalled slightly also. That said, I think the Suns might surprise and jump the Kings. Again, nothing against the Kings and Klemm, but he’s learning a little and there’s likely to be moves made in the season that won’t always keep them sitting pretty as a contender in the West, it’s just what people do making a team their own. The Clippers will surprise a lot of people, as they did last year, but far too much hinges on their rookies for them to really make a playoff push this season, and GM Andrew wouldn’t have been thinking for that anyhow. The Warriors, will bring up the rear. They’re in a state of flux and don’t have a whole lot of assets to work with. MaiLo should get writing and get into those GM Points that everyone will crave at least towards the end of the year to acquire some extra assets, and he’d be well off making a decent deal for depth from Nene and/or Hibbert. It’s going to be a long road.

1: Lakers (West Top)
2: Suns (West 2^nd Top)
3: Kings (3-6 in the West, depending on moves)
4: Clippers (hovering around 10^th)
5: Warriors (Bottom out…but not Portland)