Northwest Division � Once again this division is headed by the Championship Portland Trail Blazers having won this division for every NSL season to date. However, this season this division is certainly up for grabs Denver and Minnesota are improving, having both made the 2^nd round of the playoffs and both teams significantly improved their rosters over the off-season. Utah just landed a free agency poaching of a genuine All Star in Bradley Beal and the Oklahoma City Thunder brought in a quality big man and poached a genuine back-up point guard in Tyus Jones. This will certainly be a hotly contested division this season.

Let�s look at the teams going in order of last season�s records.

 

Portland Trail Blazers: 68W-14L � The Blazers were aggressive this off-season they went to work in bringing in quality depth to surround their superstars and managed to bring back their star big man Andre Drummond who looked almost certainly gone, but they managed to scare off the competition for his services.

Portland�s starting 5

PG: Josh Richardson

SG: James Harden

SF: Kevin Durant

PF: Andre Drummond

C: Jakob Poeltl

A strong starting 5 off the bat, however we are all in the know on a blockbuster deal where Harden will be sent out for LeBron James in the middle of the season. Making this team a scary threat for their 3^rd title in 4 years.

 

Minnesota Timberwolves: 66W-16L � Headed by the reigning GMOTY the Timberwolves were the feel-good story of last season and stamped their authority to let the league know they had arrived. This off-season they went to work adding even more defensive talent bringing in arguably the best POA defender in the league in Jrue Holiday and multiple time DPOY big man Rudy Gobert.

Minnesota�s starting 5

PG: LaMelo Ball

SG: Jrue Holiday

SF: Scottie Barnes

PF: Otto Porter

C: Rudy Gobert

Minnesota has that great mix of young stars and star veterans and should be a strong team again this coming season as they push toward a first championship.

 

Denver Nuggets: 50W-32L � The Nuggets GM has remained patient in what was previously an unchanged team for many years Digga was fine letting his players sit with injury and watching Curry win 2 MVPs. This off-season the Nuggets managed to snag an All-Star offensive minded big man in Domantis Sabonis for a cheap price. Denver this season has a ton of offensive talent that should see them exceed their previous years win total.

Denver�s starting 5

PG: Stephen Curry

SG: Klay Thompson

SF: Gary Trent Jr

PF: Michael Porter Jnr

C: Domantis Sabonis

I think this team is one of the most potent offensive teams in the NSL, the question is can they outscore other teams with their lack of defense. The West is really talented up top, so I don�t see this team pushing up higher than 5^th or 6^th.

 

Oklahoma City Thunder: 25W-57L � OKC had a bit of an odd year, they have a bunch of great talent that just didn�t gel in 2k22. This offseason OKC went and got Chet Holmgren with pick 1 who will unfortunately miss the whole year injured. In free agency they went head hunting and managed to sway Tyus Jones from Brooklyn to come play the back up PG. They also went big in dropping a big offer on a previously highly coveted glitch big in DeAndre Jordan.

OKC�s starting 5

PG: Spencer Dinwiddie

SG: Anthony Edwards

SF: Kevin Huerter

PF: Keegan Murray

C: DeAndre Jordan

I think DeAndre starts with this young group to be that veteran anchor and if he is still a glitch big, he will bring a lot of wins to the Thunder. Currently this team has a bit of 2k vetting to come to be a real threat but with the current form this is a borderline playoff team.

 

Utah Jazz: 15W-67L � Utah have held firm up until free agency that they are rebuilding this young squad. However free agency day came, and they took the chance on adding a star player and the swing paid off with Bradley Beal inking his new contract in Utah. They drafted Jaden Ivey and Dyson Daniels both look like phenomenal young players. It�s hard to pick what this squad will do with adding Beal they will be winning more games, while they want to be losing games, but a free asset is a free asset.

Utah�s starting 5

PG: Josh Giddey

SG: Jaden Ivey

SF: Bradley Beal

PF: Franz Wagner

C: Kai Jones

This line-up outside of their big is such a quality starting 5 that should lead to Utah winning some games. According to the comments from the GM Beal will be made available for trade as soon as he becomes unblocked so we could see this team become a very different team mid-season.

 

 

 

Season projections:

Portland Trail Blazers: 67W � 15L

Minnesota Timberwolves: 60W � 22L

Denver Nuggets: 54W � 28L

Oklahoma City Thunder: 35W � 47L

Utah Jazz: 25W � 57L