NBA preview: Southwest Division

Teams listed in projected order of finish

1. San Antonio Spurs
You don't know R.C. Buford. You probably don't know what he looks like. But he's the best executive in the NBA.
The Spurs' GM gets top-flight talent into his team's uniforms at minimal cost. Buford is head-smacking efficient at his work and knows his job is to make his move and quickly get back behind the scenes to plot his next move.
This off-season was no exception. Last year, the triumvirate of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker led the Spurs to their third NBA title in seven years. This year, the core stayed intact and off-season acquisitions Michael Finley and Nick Van Exel got added to the mix. By themselves, Finley is past his prime and Van Exel is a mercurial rogue. In the Bill Belichick-esque system of head coach Gregg Popovich, however, they will be valuable role players.
The Spurs are the class of the West and the class of the league. Odds are, they will add another trophy to their collection in June.

2. Dallas Mavericks
Mark Cuban is the anti-Buford. While the Spurs thrive on stability, Cuban is using his billions to keep pumping new players into the Mavericks' system. It has added up to a bunch of playoff appearances, but no NBA Finals.
The one constant is Dirk Nowitzki, who takes a lot of flak for being the stereotypical all-score, no-defense European player. But as long as Dallas has a healthy Nowitzki and at least a competent supporting cast around him, they will be a playoff team because they will score enough to overcome their mistakes.
Nowitzki is possibly the toughest defensive matchup in the league not named Shaq. He is a seven-footer who runs the floor like a gazelle and shoots the ball like a Seattle-era Sam Perkins. Unfortunately, come playoff time, teams like San Antonio that actually have a low-post game find ways around Nowitzki, and the Mavs' weaknesses are exploited. That's happened too often in the past to think it won't happen again.

3. Houston Rockets
The top of this division is Texas-heavy, but Houston is still probably the weakest of the Lone Star Trio.
Ironically, they have Yao Ming, the best pure center in the West, and a perimeter scoring compliment in Tracy McGrady.
The trouble is, both Yao and McGrady, while tremendous individual talents, are more interested in creating for themselves than playing in the parameters of a team offense. As a result, the Rockets have two guys who can pile up the stats and not much else.
If Yao or McGrady slump, it could make the difference between a 40-win season for the Rockets and a 50-win season.

4. Memphis Grizzlies
Coach Mike Fratello might save this team with his nuts-and-bolts defensive schemes, and his little-general attitude. Fratello now has a team with one top-flight scorer in Pau Gasol and a couple of past-their-prime guards as a supporting cast (Damon Stoudamire and Eddie Jones).
This team is solid, but they won't out-talent anyone in the West save for the Hornets (see below). If Fratello has his way, however, they will be tough and will play enough defense to get to the playoffs.

5. New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets
I've written about the future of this team before. Forced from New Orleans by Katrina, they will split their home dates between Baton Rouge and Oklahoma City this year in a likely prelude to taking full-time residence in OKC for the 2006-07 season.
On the court, this team is completely dismantled. With the trade of Jamaal Magloire to the Bucks last week, any remnant of the early-2000s playoff teams is gone. There is hope for the future, however, and it rests primarily with new point guard Chris Paul, a Wake Forest product. But no matter where they call home, this team is at least several years away from respectability again.

Up next: the Pacific Division