Geek NBA Preview Part 5: Northwest Division

I know, I know... the NBA season has started and I didn't get this finished. It happens, life has been busy the last couple of weeks. But I'll go on with the show and try to get this done by the end of next week.

Denver Nuggets:

I like this team quite a bit. There's no superstar on the team but this team has good chemistry and plays hard. Igoudala comes to town and he brings good defense and is a solid contributor for any team. I can see this team winning 50 games this year and having a solid seed in the playoffs.

Minnesota Timberwolves:

This team made some big strides last season and were threatening to finish with a record above .500 until Rubio and Love got hurt. This years team brought in Brandon Roy and Andrei Kirilenko. Roy, if healthy, would provide a great scoring option for the team and could be a huge difference maker down the road. The downside is Love and Rubio are still hurt and this team can't really go anywhere without them. I think this season is already a wash for them.

Oklahoma City Thunder:

James Harden leaves and this team takes a serious step back. I thought going into this season that OKC had a legit shot at getting back to the Finals and winning it this time around. Unfortunately, they couldn't come to terms with James Harden and shipped him off to the Houston Rockets. Harden was a great defender and he really anchored the team when Durant and Westbrook were off the court. The team still has Durant and Westbrook who are top 20 players but their road to a championship just got much harder. I still see this as a team that wins more than 50 games but now I don't see them having the punch to beat San Antonio or the Lakers in the playoffs.

Portland Trailblazers:

I like their front court quite a bit. Aldridge is a good player while Hickson and Batum are solid front court players. I think this is a 30ish win team though. Outside of those guys, who's going to hurt you on this team?

Utah Jazz:

I'm not sure what I think of the Utah Jazz. There's some talent on this team. Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap, Marvin Williams, Mo Williams, Randy Foye and Jamaal Tinsley all have their moments and can all contribute to a winning team. This team could surprise some people and win just enough to get the 8 seed or they could suck completely. I'm having a really hard time deciding what I think. I will say though, that this team did a remarkable job of rebuilding after Boozer and Williams left town.