The NBA is back, and Sportsnet is breaking down everything you need to know about each of the 30 teams in the lead-up to tipoff on Tues., Dec. 22.
Today, we look at best- and worst-case scenarios for the Western Conference’s Pacific Division. (Teams are listed in the order in which we believe they’ll finish in the 2020–21 standings.)
Los Angeles Lakers
2019–20 finish: 52-19, first in the Pacific, won NBA championship.
Major additions: Marc Gasol, Dennis Schroder, Montrezl Harrell, Wesley Matthews.
Major subtractions: Danny Green, Dwight Howard, Avery Bradley, JaVale McGee, Rajon Rondo, J.R. Smith, Dion Waiters.
Best-case scenario: Essentially? A replay of last season (minus the pandemic). Good health and continued greatness from LeBron James and Anthony Davis, just enough support from the rest of the rotation, some favourable matchups in the playoffs, and yet another title for Los Angeles. There has been quite a bit of turnover around the margins, but on paper this team is better and more versatile than it was last season. Bonus best-case scenario: Twitter bans the use of the phrase “Mickey Mouse title,” which is as dumb as it’s been ubiquitous among LeBron haters over the past few months.
Worst-case scenario: So long as the stars stay relatively healthy (a standard caveat for the rest of this article), the Lakers are making the playoffs. But nothing beyond that is guaranteed. This team played its last game of the finals barely two months ago, and several players are likely still catching their breath. There’s also the possibility, as Danny Green posited in October, that LeBron will sit out the start of the season. If that happens, this team could end up playing catch-up in a shortened season and miss out on home court. What’s more, if the new pieces don’t fit nearly as well as hoped, Marc Gasol continues the downward trajectory he was on last year for the Raptors, and the Clippers don’t self destruct, there’s the possibility this team won’t even see the Western Conference final, let alone compete for the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
2020–21 season prediction: 49-23, first in the West.
Los Angeles Clippers
2019–20 finish: 49-23, second in the Pacific, lost in second round.
Major additions: Serge Ibaka, Luke Kennard, Nicolas Batum.
Major subtractions: Montrezl Harrell, Landry Shamet, JaMychal Green, Rodney McGruder, Joakim Noah.
Best-case scenario: What is that sound? Is it the clock ticking or is it Steve Ballmer’s heart beating out of his chest? Or both? This is the ultimate high-leverage season, and it could go one of two ways. In Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, this team still has one of the marquee one-two punches in the league, and their eyes are still on the title. If Tyronn Lue can work some magic as the new head coach and Serge Ibaka can be an upgrade over Montrezl Harrel in terms of rim protection and spacing (two areas the über-energetic Harrell doesn’t really contribute to), then they might have an even higher ceiling than the team that struggled against the Mavericks before flaming out against the Nuggets in the 2020 playoffs.
Worst-case scenario: Leonard and George miss too many games to injury, and this team flames out in brutal fashion just like they did last season. But … that’s not so bad, right? (Only one team gets to win the title, after all.) Wrong. What lies beyond this flameout could be a straight-up darkest-timeline disaster, with Leonard leaving via free agency (because who re-ups with a so-called super team that refuses to be super?), and the team is left tied to a max contract extension for an aging George and holding an empty burlap sack marked “draft picks.” Bleak.
2020–21 season prediction: 46-26, third in the West.
Phoenix Suns
2019–20 finish: 34-39, third in the Pacific, missed playoffs.
Major additions: Chris Paul, Dario Saric, Jae Crowder, Langston Galloway, E’Twaun Moore, Damian Jones, Jalen Smith (R).
Major subtractions: Aron Baynes, Ricky Rubio, Kelly Oubre, Frank Kaminsky.
Best-case scenario: They recapture their bubble magic. Winners of eight straight on the Disney World campus, this team has not lost since March — and they’re the only bubble team that can say that. Devin Booker particularly lit things up, averaging 30.5 points in 33.8 minutes on better than 50-per cent shooting. Long story short, they looked the part of a sure-fire playoff team, and the only thing that kept them out was the relatively large hole they dug for themselves during the regular season. And that was before they added Chris Paul in the off-season. Now they just might have the league’s best backcourt, which could be the recipe for a leap into the middle of the Western Conference playoff picture.
Worst-case scenario: The push for the next level backfires. The Suns that showed up in the bubble weren’t vastly different from the team that struggled in the regular season — they’d just hit a new stride, with every member of the rotation contributing to a whole. It was a kind of magic. But now they can’t use that spell because they don’t have the same ingredients. Paul, Booker and DeAndre Ayton are an intriguing trio, but the rest of the roster feels largely made up of supporting players and glue guys, and the other two starters are likely Jae Crowder and Mikal Bridges — in other words, there’s not a whole lot of depth here. And with the 10th pick in the draft they chose … a backup to Ayton in Jalen Smith, who some had tabbed as a second-round prospect. At the end of the day, if the Big 3 doesn’t 1) stay healthy and 2) absolutely dominate, we’re looking at a middling team destined for the play-in tournament in an absolutely brutal West.
2020–21 season prediction: 36-36, ninth in the West.
Golden State Warriors
2019–20 finish: 15-50, fifth in the Pacific, missed playoffs.
Major additions: Kelly Oubre, Kent Bazemore, Brad Wanamaker, James Wiseman (R).
Major subtractions: None.
Best-case scenario: In the annals of sports teams coming off sub-.250 win percentage seasons, this year’s Warriors may have the rosiest outlook. Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins and other holdovers here will be the envy of the league in terms of rest, seeing as how they missed the bubble entirely (albeit largely due to a plethora of injuries). While other teams may falter early due to resting players, this team could theoretically jump out to a quick start and challenge for a fifth or sixth seed in a killer Western Conference on the back of an MVP-like campaign from Curry. The loss of Klay Thompson and all he brings makes much more than that seem highly unlikely, but a spot in the play-in tournament feels like the floor.
Worst-case scenario: Rest equals rust, particularly for Green, who can’t be counted on to anchor the defence. Making matters worse, Thompson could hit a snag in his recovery, further delaying his triumphant return and throwing a pall over the season, and Wiggins could struggle to take on a more prominent role in his absence. If the latter happens, the $65 million remaining on his contract after this season will be hard to move for other help. It could also put more pressure on No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman to contribute, which isn’t often a good thing for a rookie big man in need of some seasoning.
2020–21 season prediction: 35-37, 10th in the West.
Sacramento Kings
2019–20 finish: 31-41, fourth in the Pacific, missed playoffs.
Major additions: Hassan Whiteside, Frank Kaminsky, Glenn Robison III, Tyrese Haliburton (R).
Major subtractions: Bogdan Bogdanovic, Harry Giles, Alex Len, Kent Bazemore.
Best-case scenario: Same as it was last season — the plethora of talent on this team finally gels into something that generates wins, and the Kings sneak into the back end of the playoff picture on the way to bigger things. And there's certainly talent here. De’Aaron Fox is a budding star as one of the fastest players in the league, Buddy Hield is a three-point marksman, Marvin Bagley has significant upside remaining despite losing most of last season to injury. The Kings, under Luke Walton and new assistants Alvin Gentry and former Raptors assistant Rex Kalamian, want to push the pace this season — and they should have the legs to do it.
Worst-case scenario: Same as it was last season — that gelling doesn’t fully materialize. Finding intriguing pieces hasn’t been the Kings’ problem, even as they’ve burned through front office hires. It’s that the whole has been less than the sum of the parts. It would be easy to argue that Bagley was the missing piece last season, as he spent most of it on the shelf due to injury, but in the 13 games he played the Kings fared worse than they did the rest of the season, winning only twice. And it would be a mistake to say that patience is running short here — it ran out a long time ago. This team hasn’t made the playoffs since 2005–06.
2020–21 season prediction: 32-40, 12th in the West.
