Candidates:
Northwest:
Seattle
Minnesota
Utah
Denver
Portland
Pacific:
Phoenix
SacTown
LA Clippers
LA Lakers
Golden State
Southwest:
San Antonio
Dallas
Houston
Memphis
New Orleans
Central:
Indy
Cleveland
Detroit
Milwaukee
Chicago
Your opinion? Everyone assumed it was going to be the Southwest this year but so far all 5 teams in the Northwest are over .500 ball. Do you think that the NW division is the toughest or would you go with the Pacific or Southwest? Maybe even a few EC fans would choose the Central?
Tough call, so I will try to get there backwards.
No way is it the Pacific, because it includes the Warriors and the Clips. Two traditionally poor teams make this a weaker division.
The Central is interesting. Chicago sucks, so that makes it tough top choise, but 2 of the 3 best teams in the East are in this division (at least before the suspensions). Cleveland is up and coming, and they will probably make the playoffs in the weaker East, but would be shut out in the West. Milwaukee has some good talent, but they wouldn't make the playoffs in the West either.
Northwest has a potentially terrific team in Minnesota, and the hottest team in the league in Seattle. All the teams are over .500, so no weak teams in the division. I know Seattle will fade from it blistering start, and I believe they will end up with around 40 to 43 wins. I think Portland will probably end up with 41 to 45 wins, same with Utah, Denver maybe a little better than that. In other words they will have a lot of slightly better than average teams, but only 1 potentially very good team.
Southwest has 2 great teams in Dallas and SA, and a potentially very good team in Houston. Houston has struggled so far, but in time I believe they will be good, with 48 to 52 wins. The change from Hubie Brown to Mike Fratello will probably hurt Memphis, but they should still win around 42 to 45 games. New Orleans is in terrible shape right now, and I think they will struggle to get 20 wins.
So the deepest division is the Northwest, but the best division I believe is the Southwest, though it is very close. If Seattle gets to 45 wins, and that is all Houston and Memphis can muster, then the Northwest will be the best.
