South West Division Preview

NSL 21-22 is about to begin and one of the most exciting divisions in the league has incredible new features this year. South West is the pure definition of the Wil Wild West. It became last season the strongest division in the West and even in the NSL, taking all of its participants to the Playoffs. One of them, San Antonio Spurns became league champion. Would the division be at the top of the league again this year?

San Antonio 71-11

New Orleans 55-27

Dallas 54- 28

Memphis 46- 36

Houston 43-39

Houston Rockets - Vitticus

Who still here? Nikola Jokic, Harrison Barnes and Tyrese Barnes.

Who is not here anymore? Nobody they would care about.

Who is new? Few bench players.

Strength: Inside game with Jokic.

Weakness: Everything elses.

Nikola Jokic... I mean, the Rocket managed to get an 8th position in the West, but unfortunately he was not strong enough to overcome the all powerful Blazers. This season they count again with their superstar Jokic and with the possible rise of Harrison Barnes (????) who has been improving a lot in his ESPN ranking. Nevertheless, I imagine that the Rockets will have a certain difficulty in overcoming last year's campaign without any extra reinforcement but they might make the Playoffs again in 7th or 8th position.

Prediction 42-40 – 8th seed

Memphis Grizzlies - Vitticus

Who still here? Jaylen Brown, Tyler Hierro, OG Anunoby

Who is not here anymore? Nobody important.

Who is new? Enes Kanter.

Strength: Wings and defense.

Weakness: Inside game.

The Grizzlies last season struggled with Houston to stay in the top 8 in the East. The absence of Jared Jackson Jr. for more than half of the season did not help much, putting the entire load on Jaylen Brown shoulders. In the Playoffs as expected, they were completely torn apart by the would make season champions San Antonio Spurs. This season we won't have many changes and Memphis believes a lot in the evolution of Tyler Hierro and OG Anunoby. Hierro has already been showing an improvement in the NBA at the beginning of the season and Anunoby will be the defensive key for Memphis to get important wins. We can't forget Jared Jackson Jr. who still needs to prove himself as a great power forward in this league. Could he benefit from the new engine?

Prediction 49-33 6th seed

Dallas Mavericks – LJ Maverick

Who still here – Kevin Durant, Oladipo, KP

Who is not here anymore? Dennis Schroder, Fred VanVleet.

Who is new? Patrick Mills.

Strength: Best player in the game this season.

Weakness: Injuries.

So Dallas went all salary berserk last season with Durant, KP, Oladipo and VanVleet to take the 4th seed in the West. But the absence of Victor Oladipo weighed a little when Dallas had to face Portland powerhouse. This season Dallas firmly bet that Oladipo would be a key piece in their roster, spending a first round pick and 99 gm points to retain their player for just one more year. The truth is that it will hardly be the same if he somehow plays enough this season. Another concern will be Porzingis and that he can't get enough court time to help Kevin Durant. Rumors still indicate that Kevin Durant's days are possibly numbered in Dallas and the team will head towards a rebuild...

Prediction 45-37 7th Making the Playoffs via Playin just because they have Durant.

New Orleans - Leeroy

Who still here? Ja Morant, Donovan Mitchell, John Collins, Terry Rozier

Who is not here anymore? Brook Lopez

Who is new? Richaun Holmes.

Strength: Guards

Weakness: Bench not so deep. No true defender.

New Orleans Pelicans finished third after a turn around season and even got one game from the almighty Spurs in Conference Semi-Finals. Pelicans could not get past the defensive wall that Spurs created but won at least one game. This year, however, New Orleans comes with a more experienced and stronger roster. Ja Morant has become one of the best point guards in the league and Donovan Mitchell continues to be unstoppable. To compensate for the departure of Brook Lopez, Pelicans basically pick the wallet of sloppy Indiana during FA Day by stealing Richaun Holmes. With this addition the team is complete and locked in almost every position. Pelicans comes so strong that I already imagine them as the biggest threat in the West this year, this time overtaking the mighty Spurs.

Predicitions 56 – 26 1th position

San Antonio Spurs - Nels

Who is still here? Butler, Jrue Holiday, Nerlens Noel

Who is not here anymore? Damian Lillard (Thank god), Andre Drummond (Thank god 2), Reggie Jackson, Robert Convington.

Who is new? Lebron James, Otto Porter.

Strength: Defense, GOAT

Weakness: Injuries, No depth, No dominant center

San Antonio Spurs completely destroyed all of their opponents during the Playoffs, relying on a little luck in not having Kawhi Leonard in the way during the Conference Finals. After that only a small scare during game 2 of the Finals, but the 2k gods were watching to make sure nothing went off plan. The best team won. This year Spurs come very different. They traded Dame to Sixers (for some reason) for the best player of the last decade. They had to say goodbye to Andre Drummond, handing him over to Portland during Free Agency and lost their backup at point guard. Spurs are a powerful team, even more so on defense which will be a key point this season. With Jimmy Butler, Jrue Holiday and Lebron it will be completely impossible to score points from the perimeter against them this year. But Lebron is already reaching his 37th birthday and his legs are starting to tire. Injuries will be the biggest challenge for the Spurs during this season and in a battle against the younger New Orleans they will lack legs in the long run.

Predictions 54 -28 2th place.

Divisions Bests

Top 5 Players

Kevin Durant

Lebron James

Ja Morant

Jimmy Butler

Nikola Jokic

Top 5 Under 23

Ja Morant

Tyler Hierro

Jaren Jackson Jr

Patrick Williams

Keldon Johnson