NBA SIMS LEAGUE
NSL Insider - Division Preview: Pacificby jessedunne, updated on Wednesday, January 20 2021, 11:38 am EST  Which Division do you want to preview? Obviously the one with the Kings in it. The Pacific Division in the Western Conference it is then. What an honor it is to preview the division with the leagues team. I will try not to make this all about Klemm. But that will be tough. This is a remarkably interesting division at first glance. The Suns won it last season. Just from the Kings, just from the clippers, just from the lakers and just from the Warriors. All 5 teams made the playoffs last year. Which is remarkable. Will it happen again this season? Let’s have a look. The Suns (Last year 55-27). The Suns were a great team last year. Finishing Second in the West standings. Unfortunately, the playoffs did not quite go to plan as they would have had hopes of winning it all. Now the Suns are a completely different looking lineup. They went into a full rebuild. Trading away all their win now pieces. However. I still think they look quite solid. With the West not being the powerhouse, it was considered last year. They are still a chance to make the playoffs. Laddas, to his credit has done a nice quick pivot and they look solid again. I think they can win 42 games and still make some noise. They won’t be the team they were last season. But they can still be fun to watch. The Kings (Last year 52-30) Klemm. The man! My Man! Klemelo. Smooth Fm or whatever he calls himself. They finished second in the division and 3rd in the West last year. But took it all the way to the Conference Finals. Where they hit the eventual winners Portland and could not put up a whimper. They too have had some big changes. Moving on the King and hitching the wagon to Pascals star. Was it a mistake? Obviously yes. But we are used to Sean making them, so that is fine. Kings still look solid, even with Pascal losing his talent in the NBA. They are still right in the mix of big things this year. There are even rumors of Klemm bringing in another big piece. So stay tuned. I think the Kings hit 50 wins again. The Clippers (Last Year 52-30) The Giannis Show. It already started on Opening night. He is going to carry them again this year. But how far can he carry them? He has had 45 and 19 on opening night and got them a big win. This will be the case for much of the season. They have some nice other pieces in Sabonis and Barrett. However, it drops of quickly after that. I would love a penny for Andrews thoughts to see what his plan is with this team. However, if Giannis is there. They will be good. I can see them making the 4 again in The West and winning 50 games. It is just a matter if that is enough for Andrew or if he wants to go deeper. Perhaps a few trades on the table? The Lakers (Last Year 48-34) The Lakers had a solid season Last year, on the back of a huge season from Russ. Now Russ is gone. And so is Harris. For absolutely nothing. But do not mention that to Gav again. PJ has been a ghost ship since he took over. I have chatted with him a few times. Seems like a nice guy. He has come back with a bang. Shipping off his two best players. He still has a few nice pieces; however, I do not see him getting close to winning 48 games this year. In such a tough division too, I can see PJ and his Lakers sliding down the pecking order. I could be wrong, but I never am. The Warriors (Last Year 46-36) Titles has been a great addition to the league. Continually active and passionate. He has the Warriors best interests at heart. Just do not play the titlesorbust drinking game. Take a shot every time he mentions Zach LaVine. You will be wasted by midday every day. He will be hoping Ayton takes the next step this season. He and Zach are a nice 1-2 Combo. 46 wins last year was a great result. I can see them doing something similar this season. Perhaps in such a tough division maybe a few less wins. I think this team is just missing another big piece. There is a nice foundation here. But they might just be missing something to mix it with the big dogs in the West. After all that, here are my predictions of what will be a great conference. 1. Kings 55-27 2. Clippers 50-32 3. Suns 42-40 4. Warriors 41-41 5. Lakers 30-52 Not as dominate as last season. But this division will still be a strong one and I expect it to be as fun as competitive as ever. Good luck to all in the Pacific Division! |
Archive· Breakout Candidates for 2021 Season |