I would go with the Spurs. They have the worst backcourt in the league, and its tough to win without competent guard play. Even if Wemby is a stud, they will struggle.

The Blazers and Rockets have some legit veterans and I think they’ll be somewhat competitive.

My current prediction for bottom 5 in the West is…

11. Whichever team of the usual top 11 gets the most injuries.

12. Rockets: I think our roster is heavily upgraded. We’re going from Silas to Udoka, KPJ/Nix to FVV/Amen, and then replacing 20/21 year old bench pieces with actual NBA vets. It’s just a gigantic upgrade on all fronts. There’s the chance we struggle to gel, but the signs have been promising in pre-season. One of the main reasons I have us at 12 though, is that we have no incentive to tank. We don’t have our own pick, so we’ll be fighting for wins all year and I think we have the depth to outlast injuries.

13. Spurs: They look great in pre-season and Wemby looks more NBA ready than I thought. They could easily jump up into the play-in, but they also could easily fall to 15 if Wemby misses a lot of time which is still a concern for me due to his size. I also think there’s incentive for them to tank at the mid-way point in the season if they’re not in the play-in spots. This is probably the last chance they have a shot at a high pick with Wemby on the roster now and it may make sense to capitalize on it.

14. Jazz: It’s ridiculous a team with the Jazz’s roster is down here, but the West is just deep this year. Main reason I have them down here is that they were 10-16 after trading Conley and they’re too dependent on Lauri for scoring. A Lauri injuries could bottom them out, and I’m not confident in their PG options at the moment. I also just think Ainge secretly wants to tank to get more high tier prospects, and is just waiting for a reason to do so. If they’re near the bottom at the deadline, I think they become sellers.

15. Blazers: They have a good 7-8 man roster, but not much after that so I think injuries could hurt this team more than most. Brogdon and Timelord are also part of the main rotation and consistently have injury issues too. I also don’t trust Billups as a coach while I trust the coaches for the other three teams above them much more. I like the way the rebuild is going, but they’re not in the rush and will probably look to add another top 5 pick next to Scoot which is probably the better move long term.

Pelicans are ranked 20 and the Raptors 25 on Espn!! Cant wait the first month of the season!!

Lakers. Prolly 10th or 11th

Grizzlies for sure. It having Ja for 25 games is gonna be a mess. That’s assuming he comes back and plays those other ones with no issues but no Clarke and now no Adams, yikes

Mavericks

Rockets maybe

Mavs

Spurs, Blazers, then Rockets

Blazers, Lakers, Mavericks, Rockets, and Spurs are my expected bottom 5. I expect Warriors and Clippers to be play in. The top 8 becomes much more difficult to predict. Suns and Nuggets on top, of course.

Not sure the West is as stacked as people are saying, though. Over-rating old guys and rookies too much, maybe? That being said, Blazers, Spurs, and Pelicans are the west teams I am most excited to watch.

I think the Blazers and Rockets will both surprise people, they both have talent on the team from high draft picks.

There is a high chance some team in the West gets eaten up with injuries and falls off hard. Clippers are old, Warriors could be either of those.

Without accounting for injuries I think the Jazz have a HARD tank year.

The West is so stacked this year even the bad teams could win 30+ games. I could see every playoff team around 45-50 wins.

Easily Blazers, Pels are not gonna be anywhere near the bottom tf…and Rockets have a lot of SOLID prospects they are gonna struggle but for sure get more wins than projected

Did an AI make this post

Lakers