Pacific Division Preview: Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns, L.A. Clippers in 3-Way Fight
The Golden State Warriors are the defending NBA champions. But the Los Angeles Clippers are the betting favourite to win the Pacific Division at +180 odds. That puts them ahead of the Warriors (+205), the capital of Arizona Suns (+225), and the LA Lakers (+800).
The Suns won the Pacific Division inwards each of the last-place 2 seasons, and will try a three-peat amidst a maelstrom of drama surrounding squad owner Robert Saver. The NBA suspended Sarver for ace yr and fined him $10 jillion for racialist remarks and promoting a toxic workplace rampant with misogyny. Sarver proclaimed he intends to sell the Suns, and Forbes projects the sales event could fetch at to the lowest degree $2.5 billion.
2022-23 NBA Pacific Ocean Division Odds
- Los Angeles Clippers +180
- Golden State Warriors +205
- Phoenix Suns +225
- Los Angeles Lakers +800
- Sacramento Kings +40000
** Odds via DraftKings
The Pacific Ocean Division has three NBA title contenders. But any team LeBron James plays on is always a title contender, so you canful add the LA Lakers to the mix.
After the Boston Celtics suspended head word coach Ime Udoka for the upcoming season because of a violation of the team’s deal policy, oddsmakers at DraftKings installed the Clippers as the new outright favorite to win the 2022-23 NBA Championship. They’re listed at +550 betting odds at DraftKings.
The Warriors are +600 odds to iterate as NBA champions. The Suns are +1200 betting odds to win their world-class NBA championship. LeBron and the Lakers are +1600 odds to win a indorse title since 2020.
Los Angeles Clippers +180
The Clippers are the consensus favourite to win the Pacific Division at +180 odds, and are seeking their first-class honours degree segmentation jacket crown since the 2013-14 season. Health will be the tonality to success for the Clippers this season, because all of their tonality players are reverting from an hurt of some kind.
The Clippers desire to bounce backwards this harden after Kawhi Dutch Leonard returns from an ACL injury. Elmore John Leonard missed all of finally season, and he’s excited to get under one's skin backrest to the court. Saul of Tarsus George I also missed significant clip last-place flavor with an human elbow injury, and he’s 100% recovered.
The Clippers acquired Gregory John Norman Colin luther Powell from the Portland Trail Blazers prior to last season’s trade deadline. Colin Powell fractured his foot and only played v games with the Clippers. This season, Cecil Frank Powell will anchorperson the indorsement unit along with Gospel According to John Wall. Wall has been plagued with injuries and in conclusion played a replete(p) flavor in 2016-17. The former #1 plectrum inwards the NBA Draft doesn’t hold to run the team, but he could supply an inst scoring supercharge cancelled the bench if he tin remain healthy.
The Clippers make the highest projected win add up come out of any Pacific Ocean Division team at 52.5 o/u.
Golden State Warriors +205
The Warriors rattled cancelled five-straight Pacific Ocean Division titles betwixt 2015 and 2019. With 53 wins lowest season, the Warriors finished arcsecond inward the partition and earned the #3 playoff seed. They ran the tabulate inwards the postseason to win their 4th title since 2015.
Steve Kerr and the Warriors are to a greater extent concerned well-nigh repeating as NBA champions than they are nearly winning the segmentation outright, which is why they’re only +205 betting odds to win the Pacific title. The Warriors won 53 games in conclusion season, and they feature a projected win number of 51.5 o/u this upcoming season.
Andrew Wiggins was the X-factor in endure year’s postseason. Steph Curry gets all the credit entry and was named the NBA Finals MVP, but Wiggins played stellar defense team down the stretch and posted a duo of huge violative games when a rusty Klay Thompson or Curry went cold.
Jordan Poole is the thirdly “Splash Brother,” and the Warriors will same to rely on him to take the team during the fixture flavor to avoid wearing out Curry and Thompson.
James Wiseman also returns from a human knee injury. With Draymond Green River getting another twelvemonth older, the Warriors need a consistent season from Wiseman if they await to win back-to-back championships.
Phoenix Suns +225
It’s been a long summer for the Suns after they were throttled past Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks inwards Game 7 of the horse opera Conference semifinals. The Suns were embarrassed with a 33-point loss. But they were knock down past as many as 46 points inward that game. Hopefully, ESPN testament produce a 30 for 30 documentary on what caused the implosion, because we noneffervescent don’t cognize exactly what went wrong.
The entire Sarver mussiness testament also hang up o'er the Suns this flavor the like a saturnine cloud. It’s upwardly to head four-in-hand Monty Bernard Arthur Owen Williams to exalt the squad to cost increase in a higher place the Sarver scandal. Otherwise, it’s sledding to follow a long and disastrous season.
The Suns finished around .700 in the last II seasons below Williams, who won the NBA Coach of the Year honors finally season. With a 64-18 record, the Suns posted the best record in the NBA. They locked upwards the #1 seed in the horse opera Conference playoffs, but met their inevitable fate inwards the conference semifinal.
The Suns signed Deandre Ayton to a contract extension, and we’ll regard if there’s still any unfit blood between himself and Williams. In their Game 7 evacuation versus the Mavs, Williams benched Ayton for terra incognita reasons. Fans trust the ii put up patch up upwards their boeuf and move on.
The Suns testament mount or pass away based on the wellness of ageing superstar Chris Alice Paul unless Devin Booker carries the team for immense stretches this season. Booker averaged a career-high 26.8 ppg last season, while knocking down feather a career-best 30.3% of his 3-pointers.
You can backward the Suns at +225 odds to win the Pacific Division for a third-straight season.
Los Angeles Lakers +800
There’s never a thudding solar day with the Lakers. LeBron William James will try to breakout Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time scoring record, but he’s also trying to win another rubric for Jeanie Buss before injuries jump another season for the Lakers.
LeBron missed 53 games over the lowest 2 seasons, which wouldn’t follow such a big trade if Susan Anthony Jefferson Davis wasn’t also prostrate to injuries. Bette Davis missed 50% of the steady season inwards the in conclusion II years, including 42 games cobbler's last season. When LeBron and Stuart Davis are healthy, the Lakers are a legit claim contender.
Russell Westbrook is the other liberal storyline to watch. Will Westbrook modify his gamey to fit inward with the Lakers under young chief manager Darvin Ham? Or testament the Lakers finally regain a team willing to accept Westbrook sour their custody in a trade?
Acquiring Westbrook in a craft with the George Washington Wizards last off-season backfired when he didn’t mesh with the team. Westbrook earns a super-max salary, which makes him unwanted on the merchandise market, so the Lakers make no more other quality but to stick with him.
If Westbrook and the Lakers eventually catch on the same page, they could outdo their projected win total of 45.5 o/u. However, that seems similar a pipe dream. Expect another disappointing harden with Dwight Davis disbursement time on the IL, constant switch rumors, and Westbrook’s fearsome shot getting brutally trolled past fans with his “Westbrick” nickname.
At to the lowest degree LeBron’s chase of the NBA scoring enter will preserve things interesting this season.
The Lakers are +800 betting odds to win the Pacific. But the air division is so militant that they could noneffervescent finishing inwards quaternary place.
Sacramento Kings +40000
The capital of California Kings dominated the Pacific Ocean Division 20 years agone when they won consecutive sectionalisation titles. The Kings hold the longest playoff drought in the NBA at 16 seasons and counting. New chief tutor Mike John Brown is on a commission to aid reinstate the Kings to their former glory. That won’t take place right hand away, but the Kings testament render to go up out of the horse opera Conference basement this season.
With a 30-52 tape last-place season, the Kings were ranked #12 inwards the Western Conference and missed a chance at the Play-In Tournament. The Kings make the lowest projected win number inwards the Pacific at 33.5 o/u.
At +40000 odds, the Kings are a long barb to win the Pacific. At to the lowest degree they make fun players to watch. The Kings selected Keegan James Murray with the fourth-overall pickaxe in the 2022 NBA Draft, and the incoming rookie won the NBA Summer League MVP inward Las Vegas.
No single wants to subscribe free-agent deals to play inward Sacramento, so the Kings utilised trades to long pillow their squad. They acquired All-Star Domantas Sabonis from the Indiana Pacers and sharpshooter Kevin Huerter from the capital of Georgia Hawks. The total squad is anchored by De’Aaron Fox, who averaged 23.2 ppg utmost season.
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