Ranking the Threat Posed by Every Western Conference Team to the L.A. Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers have ensured themselves that they aren't slipping down the ranks of the Western Conference. 

Adding Steve Nash during the offseason and then signing Antawn Jamison to the bench tends to do that. 

So, have the Lakers made themselves into the favorites in the West? 

To answer that question, this is how the other 14 teams stack up as threats to take down the Lakers. 

14. Houston Rockets

Everything that the Houston Rockets did during the 2012 offseason was to work towards the ultimate goal of landing Dwight Howard. 

This may come as a surprise to you if you've been living under a rock for the past month, but they didn't get Dwight. 

Now, the Rockets are left with a makeshift roster featuring way too many young players who somehow have to contribute in a major way. Plus, consistent playing time is going to be awfully hard to come by on this team. 

Jeremy Lin might be a revelation at point guard for Houston, just like he was for the New York Knicks, but he and Kevin Martin are not going to be able to carry Omer Asik, Chandler Parsons, Royce White, Jeremy Lamb, Marcus Morris and the rest of the developing pieces. 

13. Sacramento Kings

The Sacramento Kings are improving, but they're still significantly far down in the rankings of teams in a strong Western Conference. 

While the frontcourt got stronger after the addition of NBA-ready rookie power forward Thomas Robinson, a backcourt logjam still exists for the Kings. 

Isaiah Thomas and Aaron Brooks will form a great one-two punch at point guard, while Marcus Thornton is a more-than-capable shooting guard. That still forces Tyreke Evans to shift to small forward unless he's traded. 

There's a lot of talent in Sacramento, but it's not cohesive enough to win out West yet. 

12. New Orleans Hornets

Unibrow fever will reign supreme in New Orleans, surely becoming just as popular as jazz music and Cajun food by the end of the year. 

It still won't be enough for a playoff push this next year, even when Austin Rivers is added into the mix. 

With Ryan Anderson coming to town and Eric Gordon re-signing for a max contract after flirting with the Phoenix Suns, the Hornets are suddenly looking a little bit dangerous. They're a year or two away from being true playoff contenders, but they're now capable of winning a game on any given night. 

Right now, the biggest problem is that Davis and Rivers are both going to have to play out of position to get the most talent on the floor. 

11. Portland Trail Blazers

LaMarcus Aldridge is developing into a must-see attraction for the Portland Trail Blazers, but there's not enough talent surrounding him for the Blazers to challenge the Los Angeles Lakers quite yet. 

Portland started to fix this problem by adding Damian Lillard at point guard and giving the roster a top contender for Rookie of the Year, but no other significant changes were made. 

Until Portland actually finds a new head coach and starts to develop a system, it's tough to rank them any higher than this.

If the inevitable new face on the bench can maximize talent and play to Nicolas Batum's strengths, allowing him to finally breakout, this could be a dangerous bunch, though.

10. Phoenix Suns

With the exception of Marcin Gortat, Jared Dudley and Markieff Morris, the Phoenix Suns' rotation is going to look almost entirely different during the upcoming season. 

The most notable change involve trading away Steve Nash and then acquiring Goran Dragic and Kendall Marshall to replace the Canadian floor general. 

Phoenix also brought in Michael Beasley, Wes Johnson and Luis Scola to help rebuild the team. 

Even without Nash, this is a deep and talented squad capable of contending for—but not winning—a playoff spot in the tough Western Conference. 

9. Golden State Warriors

If the Golden State Warriors can stay healthy, they can hang with almost any team in the conference. 

However, with Stephen Curry, David Lee and Andrew Bogut on the roster, that's a huge if. 

When all the pieces are on the floor, this is an insanely talented team, especially after adding Harrison Barnes in the draft and Carl Landry during free agency. 

The projected starting lineup of Curry, Klay Thompson, Barnes, Lee and Bogut can hang with anyone in the NBA on offense, but Mark Jackson is going to have to continue making major improvements to the less glamorous side of the ball for the Dubs to actually compete. 

8. Utah Jazz

Frontcourt depth is the name of the game here, as the Utah Jazz boast Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson in the starting lineup, with Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter coming off the bench. 

The rest of the team isn't too shabby either, especially if Gordan Hayward and Alec Burks continue to take strides forward. 

After acquiring Mo Williams to replace Devin Harris and Randy Foye to shore up the bench, the Jazz are back in the playoff hunt once more. As you can tell by their ranking at No. 8 (not including the Los Angeles Lakers), I've still got them just barely missing the postseason though. 

7. Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks scared everyone for a while during the offseason when they remained inactive and missed out on point guard after point guard. 

Then a flurry of moves brought Darren Collison, O.J. Mayo, Chris Kaman and Elton Brand to the team and suddenly reestablished them as playoff contenders. 

Dallas still isn't a lock for the playoffs because of the question marks in the backcourt, but it will always be able to beat any team on any night while Dirk Nowitzki is on the roster. 

There are a lot of aging pieces on this team, though, and that's the other big question mark here. 

6. Minnesota Timberwolves

You may be surprised to see the Minnesota Timberwolves ranked this high, but you won't be by the end of the season. 

If the Wolves can stay healthy—Ricky Rubio's knee after his ACL injury and Kevin Love's back from carrying the team for so long—they'll be one of the Western Conference's best teams. 

With the exception of shooting guard, which only features a newly unretired Brandon Roy and Malcolm Lee, the Wolves have depth at every position. 

Rubio is set to become a sensational facilitator at the point guard spot, and he's backed up by Luke Ridnour, J.J. Barea and underrated foreign prospect Alexey Shved. 

New acquisitions Chase Budinger and Andrei Kirilenko will man small forward while Love and Derrick Williams hold down the fort at power forward. 

Finally, there's the intriguing duo of Nikola Pekovic and Greg Stiemsma at center. 

From top to bottom, this truly is a playoff team. 

5. Memphis Grizzlies

Now we take a slight jump up to the teams that I would call the fringe title contenders. It's a tier comprised of three teams in the Western Conference, starting with the Memphis Grizzlies. 

The Memphis Grizzlies are going to look almost exactly the same during the 2012-2013 season as they were supposed to during the 2011-2012 campaign. However, Zach Randolph might be able to stay healthy this time. 

As Mike Conley continues to improve and the bench gains experience, this team will creep ever so slightly up the NBA totem pole. 

They're pretty close to the ceiling, though. 

4. Denver Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets took the Los Angeles Lakers to seven games during last season's playoffs and would likely do just a bit worse if the two teams happened to square off in the postseason once more. 

Ty Lawson is still improving, but the Nuggets didn't make any quantum leaps forward during the offseason. The Lakers did. 

How good this team becomes is dictated by the development of its many young contributors. The sky is the limit, and I'm not saying that lightly or as hyperbole. 

Lawson has an insanely high ceiling, as does JaVale McGee if he can get his head on correctly. Evan Fournier, Kenneth Faried, Arron Afflalo and Danilo Gallinari all have potential to become true stars as well. 

This is the one team I'm a little bit worried about, because I have this nagging feeling that I may be selling them short in this spot. 

3. Los Angeles Clippers

Lob City is only going to get better now that many of the members of the Los Angeles Clippers have played together for a full year. 

Plus, there's the significant acquisitions of Jamal Crawford, Lamar Odom and Grant Hill to consider. With that trio coming off the bench, the Clippers now have one of the strongest second units in the NBA. 

Blake Griffin is continuing to make progress on his non-dunking game, while Chris Paul remains the best point guard in The Association. 

That's pretty much enough for me. 

2. San Antonio Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs kick off the elite group of true title contenders from the Western Conference. They're also the last team that poses a threat to the Los Angeles Lakers, but wouldn't actually beat them in a seven-game series. 

Yes, that's correct. The Steve Nash-led Lakers are the second-best team in the West. 

As for San Antonio, the status quo reigns supreme here, and that's a good thing, because it involves Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili putting on the same jersey for another year. 

Unless Nando De Colo, Kawhi Leonard and Boris Diaw start playing at an All-Star level, the Spurs are going to have to hope they can be as good as they were last year. Being better is nearly impossible given the aging contributors to the team's success. 

1. Oklahoma City Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder are the No. 1 team in the Western Conference and the only squad that could expect to beat the Los Angeles Lakers in a seven-game series. 

After a disappointing loss to the Miami Heat in the 2012 NBA Finals, the Thunder improved slightly by adding Perry Jones III in the draft and Hasheem Thabeet in free agency. Neither move will be too significant this year, though. 

Much more significant is the fact that Eric Maynor will be a healthy contributor off the bench, and the core four are back in business. 

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook will both continue to play at a near-MVP level, while James Harden and Serge Ibaka will strongly contend for All-Star spots. 

Until the Thunder show any signs of faltering, they remain the top dogs in the West.