The Future of the Middle of the NBA: The Western Conference

And now for the Western Conference…

Hornets— How many rookies does it take to turn a franchise around? In this case, it took one. The Hornets went from being one of the worst teams in the league to being an up and comer. But the real question the franchise faces is, to quote Guns N’ Roses, “where do we go now?” The problem with such rapid success is that the team doesn’t have many ways to grow. Because a mid first round draft pick doesn’t generally yield star, a piece the Hornets will need to get over the top, the draft will simply serve to provide them with more complementary pieces to surround a core of Chris Paul and David West. While adding complementary pieces isn’t a bad thing, the Hornet’s core could really use just a bit more punch. The problem doesn’t lie in Paul though; David West is simply not a dynamic enough player. He’s a very good second or third scoring option, but the Hornets are in need of a go-to guy. Paul is a great passer, scorer and a crunch-time player, but he isn’t, nor should he strive to be, a volume scorer. So that, a volume scorer, is the missing piece in the Hornets nest. But with a middle draft pick and not much cap space, how does a team acquire a scorer of that nature? One possible solution, albeit a risky one, is to make a trade. Since “Flip” Murray is emerging as a very good second option for the Cavaliers, they might think about trading Larry Hughes. If the Hornets were to offer J. R. Smith and Desmond Mason for Hughes, the Cavs might bite. Even though Smith is severely talented, he’s not really show much of that this year. After a solid rookie season, he hasn’t really improved. Playing behind Lebron James and Murray might be just what he needs to develop. Desmond Mason also provides the Cavs with a dynamic sixth man, something they currently lack. Although Hughes is older, and a bit of an injury risk, he has a history of excelling when paired with a great point guard: just look at his numbers with Gilbert Arenas. Hughes would also add the scoring punch that the Hornets are currently lacking and might be enough, along with the natural development of West and Paul, to make this team one of the better teams in the West. Its interesting to note that the Hornets will also have a decent amount of cap space freeing up over the next two years. If they manage it wisely, they could be a strong player in future free agent markets.


Lakers— The Lakers have one of the best players in the game, in Kobe Bryant, and one of the worst teams in the game, in everyone else. In Miami, Lamar Odom proved that he can be a marvelous player, with his rebounding and passing ability, but he needs a strong supporting cast for his abilities to be really useful. Smush Parker, Chris Mihm and Kwame Brown are proving to be somewhat adequate puzzle pieces, but they clearly leave a lot to be desired. The rest of the team is terrible. Actually, if you take Kobe out of the equation, the entire team is a pretty terrible offensive unit. There will be frequent nights when not a single one of them manages to score in double figures; of course on a lot of those nights Bryant will score 40 to 50 points, thereby making up for his teammates shortcomings. But that really doesn’t leave you a lot say, if Kobe gets injured or has an off night and only scores 25. Fortunately the Lakers have a really big future, in Andrew Bynum, but he’s still years away from doing anything more than tumbling with Shaq for 15-20 minutes a game. By the time he develops, Bryant and Odom might be too old to keep the team in contention. There might be a solution though. When the Timberwolves miss the playoffs again this year, the Lakers should do everything they can to acquire the Wolves’ disgruntled star. A package of Bynum, Brown, Odom and some future draft picks might actually be enough to complete a trade for Kevin Garnett. That plus a few well placed phone calls by Phil Jackson, Kobe Bryant and Jerry Buss to help convince Garnett that pairing two of the games best players almost always results in a championship, or three.

Kings—The Kings are a lot like the West’s version of the Knicks. Granted, Rick Adelman isn’t quite able to break the spirits of his players the way Larry Brown is, and the players themselves make up a more balanced roster. Think of the Kings as a ‘rich man’s’ Knicks. Obviously not in terms of payroll, but in terms of wins. The problem with this roster though may simply be that Rick Adelman’s voice has been sounding in Sacramento for so long that it has become white noise. The players simply aren’t listening to their coach anymore. So what if the Maloof brothers offered James Dolan, Adelman, a coach who uses the run-and-gun attack that might actually be able to make the Knicks roster work; for Brown, a hard nosed defensive minded coach who might be able to get the best out of the underachieving Sacramento squad. A coach-for-coach trade could be the answer that these two teams are looking for, improbable as it may be. Of course you can't really trade coaches, but it is a nice thought. So is winning.

Jazz—Something clearly isn’t working in Utah. They bring in the players they want, deal the players they want, have the coach they want and still seem to recover from the Stockton/Malone era. Although it’s only a few years passed, this current Jazz roster should be so much more than they are. Owner Larry Miller agrees and has been publicly berating his players through the media. The Jazz have the clear need of a shooting guard, and would probably like to put an end to the Carlos Boozer era as soon as they can. It looks like the summer will provide the team with an opportunity to do both. With the Lakers leading the charge for Boozer and the draft looking to yield Jeff Hornacek clone, JJ Redick, the best thing for the Jazz to do seems to be taking the “wait and see” approach to things. If they are able to grab Redick, and either move Boozer, or get him into playing shape, the Jazz could be a drastically different team next season. If a backcourt of Redick and Derron Williams is able to play to its potential the Jazz will have a bright future. Combine them with Mehmet Okur and Andre Kirilenko, the second coming of Dolph Lundgren, and the future of the Jazz looks brilliant.