August 20, 2003

All the elite teams have made great stride to separate themselves from the rest of the pack. The Lakers, Spurs, Kings, Mavs, and Timberwolves have revamped their squad with the intention of representing the Western Conference in the NBA Championship. I'm going to break down what each team has done over the off season and what you should expect from them this coming up season.

What they did to improve: They added 2 future Hall of Famers in Gary Payton and Karl Malone, in addition to their other 2 future Hall of Famers in Shaq and Kobe and also brought back Horace Grant. This helped the Lakers by bringing in veteran players who are hungry for rings, who bring leadership to the locker room and options outside of O'Neal and Bryant. On paper this squad has the potential to be one of the greatest ever assembled.

What they need to address: Yes they added 2 Hall of Famers, but they don't have a bench beyond Grant, Derrick Fisher, and Devean George. It is still yet to be seen if they have enough basketball's to go around for this group to play on the same floor. If Phil Jackson can make this work, this will be one of his best jobs ever. The Lakers obvisiously sold out this year to win another championship, because they couldn't have been looking down the road with signing Malone, Payton, and Grant.

Overview: The Lakers are sitting the catbird seat, they have to be the front runners out of the gate, because the have proven players and a coach with a proven track record. The only thing that could derail them is, if the "Kobe situation" makes them lose focus or Phil can't contain all the ego's on this team. Utimately it is the Lakers championship to lose if all else is in order.

What they did to improve: By acquiring All-Star Center Brad Miller from Indiana, obvisiously helped upfront, and in the west the more bulk the better. By making this move they we're looking down the road to replace Vlade Divac as the starter and by maybe prolonging his career by giving him a reduced role.

What they need to address: They lost Hedo Turkolu and Scot Pollard in the Miller trade, didn't resign Keon Clark, and to date haven't resigned Jim Jackson, so they lost bench strength in which made them so formiable. They need to get some defensive stoppers. The can score on anybody, but they can't stop anybody on defense.

Overview: Even with the addition of Miller and a healthy Webber, I don't think the Kings did enough to keep up with the Lakers. But if the stars line up exactly right you never know.

What they did to improve: Adding Sam Cassell, Latrell Sprewell, and Michael Olowakandi, along with Garnett, Wally Szczerbiak, and Tony Hudson, solidified this team, surely all but guaranteeing more than a first round playoff appearance. This team has been strapped with no first round draft choices for the last couple of years because of the “Joe Smith situation” and that left no room for improvement through the draft. How this helps the team is, you have at least 5 scoring options. Cassell and Sprewell come with their share of baggage, but the good out weigh the bad. They bring mental toughness, veteran leadership, and versatility to a team, that has been stigmatized with label of being soft and not athletic outside of KG.

What they need to address: They lost Anthony Peeler and Joe Smith, which will hurt their depth. The Wolves are rolling the the dice with Olowakandi hoping that he can finally come into his own, now that he has been released from the shackles of Clipperland.

Overview: The Timberwolves have made great strides this off season. I see them making some noise in the playoffs probably reaching the second round for the first time. They still need more depth off the bench to go any further.

What they did to improve: Cuban pulled no punches by trading Nick Van Exel to Golden State for Antawn Jamison solidifying the small forward position a blairing weakness. Also in that trade acquired, guard Jiri Welsch and forwards Danny Fortson and Chris Mills. Fortson will help because he brings rebounding and size off the bench another major weakness.

What they need to address: They still need to address defense. Jamison is a scorer not known for defense. Fortson is pretty good defensely though. Teams will figure out those gimicky defenses come playoff time because they have adequate time to prepare. I still think Raef LaFrentz is a little too soft to man the middle.

Overview: Dallas will be in the hunt once again, but like Sacramento, their defense is their achilles heal. They can score in bunches but can't stop anybody from scoring. They will advance in the playoffs, but probably no further than the second round.

What they did to improve: The Spurs acquired Ron Mercer from Indiana and Hedo Turkolu from Sacramento for Danny Ferry. They signed veteran free agent Robert Horry from the Lakers, resigned Kevin Willis, and signed Radoslav Nesterovic from Minnesota to take David Robinson's place. They also added Anthony Carter from Miami. The Spurs improved their championship roster from a year ago.

What they need to address: Some people may not see the loss of the Admiral as that big a deal, because at Robinson's age, his skills we're not at the level he was a couple of years ago. Robinson was a dynamic shot blocker and rebounder, a perfect compliment to T.D. Nesterovic is younger and probably better offensely than David, but no where near as good defensively. To date the Spurs haven't resigned Steven Jackson, I guess they are content with Manu Ginobilli and Bruce Bowen at the 2 and 3 spot, with Mercer and Turkolu coming off the bench. Tony Parker has to be more consistent if he is going to be the second option.

Overview: San Antonio improved the depth of their bench, and added a little more scoring punch. The Spurs will give L.A. a run for their money. They will go deep in the playoffs, the Western Conference Finals and repeating as NBA Champions are not a stretch either.