How the NBA's Southwest Division Will Stand

I know that this will ruffle some feathers, but with the recent happenings of the Rockets, the future is not bright in Clutch City. If Ron Artest had stayed in Houston, there would be no way that I put them at number five. But with him in LA, Yao permanently down for at least a year, and the unclear nature of T-Mac, I just don't see the rest of the roster being able to contribute. We still don't know how effective Trevor Ariza will be as a starter in Houston, so this is basically a "the jury is still out" pick.

The Grizzlies go here simply because at the moment they are more put together than the Houston Rockets. But to tell the truth, it's a great spot to put them at. They have two of the NBA's most exciting young scorers in Rudy Gay and O.J Mayo. They should have solid front court scoring with Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol and possibly Sam Young. And they have what many in Memphis circles say is the missing piece to a playoff puzzle—a solid front court defender in Thabeet. Still, I don't think that they will make the playoffs, but they should increase by at least seven wins from last season.

The darlings from the '07-'08 playoffs came down to earth last season thanks to Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston. This year, they should be able to rebound from their disappointments. Although they did not do much to help them out during the offseason, their strong nucleus of Chris Paul, David West and Peja Stojakovich should keep them in contention all season.

The team that you thought was too old just might not be after all. The best power forward ever is still putting up 20/10 for the squad and Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili will still slash and drive on opponents. Now they add Richard Jefferson, who is still as productive as he was when he came out of Arizona in 2001. They basically got blessed directly from Jesus when DeJuan Blair fell in their lap at No. 37, immediately getting a great off-the-bench rebounder who can bang in the paint. They also grabbed an Eddie House-clone in Jack McClinton. Look for them to be the second best team in the division after...

The class of the division in '09-'10, the Dallas Mavericks, are going to be a force to be reckoned with. Having Dirk Nowitski gives them instant credibility already, but keeping Jason Kidd and possibly adding "the Matrix" Shawn Marion (in talks as I type) gives them a team that can go all the way. After seeing them take out the Spurs in the playoffs, it seems as if that is going to happen all of this season as well. We all know that they can score, but if they can stop on defense as well, we may be watching the Western Conference Champs.