NBA Series: The Pacific Division
2024-2025
After all the drama last season, the Los Angeles Lakers (50-32) were still the kings of this division. Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves are the new core players. They got knocked out of the first round by Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Los Angeles Clippers (50-32) surprisingly took the Denver Nuggets to 7 games. James Harden is still a potent threat from anywhere. Norman Powell and Ivica Zubac have been good for the team as well.
The Golden State Warriors (48-34) had a mid-season resurgence when they added Jimmy Butler. They knocked out the Houston Rockets in the first round and were knocked out by the Timberwolves in the second round. Steph Curry was still the greatest shooter, and despite some team drama, they actually performed well in the playoffs.
The Sacramento Kings (40-42) still seemed to be in a state of flux, as they always are. They burned through a bunch of marquee players, with the most recent one being De’Aaron Fox.
The Phoenix Suns (36-46) felt the failure of the Kevin Durant-Devin Booker-Bradley Beal experiment. KD and Book are great offensive stars, but they just did not get enough help to even clinch a playoff spot.
2025-2026
The Lakers have already re-signed Luka Doncic and Jaxson Hayes. They have also added Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart, and Jake LaRavia. The Lakers are almost always outscored by their opponents whenever Luka and LeBron are together on the floor, but have almost always outscored their opponents whenever Luka is on the floor without the King, which begs the question–will King LeBron’s 44% 3-point percentage be enough to make him fit in the Laker offense? Will they have better defense this year?
The Los Angeles Clippers did somewhat better than their crosstown rivals during the offseason. They lost Norman Powell, but got CP3 to come home, along with Bradley Beal, John Collins, and Brook Lopez. CP3 is now reunited with his old Houston Rocket buddy James Harden, and the former gives the latter some respite in playmaking duties. They also improved their frontcourt–getting Zubac some help in vet Brook Lopez and John Collins.
Nobody knows what the Golden State Warriors have been doing except being locked in a stalemate with forward Jonathan Kuminga. As of this writing, they still only have 9 players in their roster this close to opening night. However, they are expected to sign four veterans–Al Horford, De’Anthony Melton, Gary Payton II, and Steph’s brother Seth Curry. The Warriors future, at least for this season, depends on how the Kuminga saga ends.
The Kings added Dennis Schröder to their lineup, but lost Jonas Valanciunas and Jake LaRavia. Zach Lavine performed well beyond the arc last season at 43.8% (pull-up threes) and is expected to continue that. DeMar DeRozan still loves the midrange. The team should perform okay at the very least, but fans are concerned that they do not have young talent to bolster some future plans.
The Phoenix Suns overhauled their roster, getting rid of KD, Beal, Tyus Jones, and Mason Plumlee. They got Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, and Mark Williams. Their biggest weakness last year was their over-reliance on KD–they were 3-17 without him. They were also outscored by 8.2 points per game inside the paint, the league’s biggest discrepancy by a huge margin. Will Mark Williams’ inside presence be enough to address that?
