Best in the West: So little room at the top

By Todd Heaps

February 27, 2008 | The race happening in the NBA's Western Conference this year is one of the best and most exciting we've seen in years. The top nine teams in the conference are packed like marshmallows in a key-hole, and it's only going to get more interesting.

The New Orleans Hornets, who held the best record in the West as of this writing (36-15), and the Houston Rockets, who currently hold the ninth spot (32-20), are separated by only 4.5 games! To compare, the top team in the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics, and the ninth team in the same conference, the Atlanta Hawks, are currently separated by 19.5 games. This gives you an idea of just how competitive it is, and it's not getting any easier out West any time soon.

Over the past few weeks, many top teams in the West made trades for big name players, to try and improve. The Dallas Mavericks, who are sitting in the 6th spot in the West, only 2 games behind the leader, executed a trade early last week to bring All-Star point guard, Jason Kidd back to Dallas where he began his career. The trade gives the Mavs experience, but not enough to bring them a championship. In L.A, the Lakers made a deal at the end of January which brought forward Pau Gasol to L.A. and gave away next to nothing. The trade turned the Lakers into a first-round loser into a title contender. Meanwhile in Phoenix, GM Steve Kerr made a deal of his own with Miami, swapping All-Star forward Shawn Marion for arguably the most dominant center of all-time in Shaquille O'neal. The trade gives Phoenix the size they need, and improves there team, but only for this year. With Shaq's health fading fast, the Suns will need to capitalize on this trade this season or their hopes for a title in the valley of the sun will set.

That said, the team that may have improved the most with a single trade this year was the team that acquired Kyle Korver. Unless you live in Utah, you may be asking yourself "Who is Kyle Korver?". The Utah Jazz acquired Korver near the end of December for Gordon Girichek who was a cancer in the Utah organization from the day her arrived. Since Korver's acquisition, the Jazz have won 19 of their last 22 games. In the process, the moved from the ninth spot in the West, to the fourth, and are currently leading their division. Korver is being compared to former Jazz great, Jeff Hornacek, who is one of the NBA's all time deadliest shooter and who helped lead Utah to their only two finals appearances in franchise history. Korver posses's good size for a shooter(6'6''), and provides a deep threat that Utah was so desperately seeking.

Utah or Los Angeles. It's too close to call, but one of these two teams will emerge from the west this year. If L.A. can stay healthy, the trio of Bryant, Gasol and Odom will be too much to handle. They are loaded with talent, including a bright young center in Andrew Bynum. Although, if Utah can continue to play together as well as they have, the Lakers may have their hands full in a match-up with the Jazz. The duo of WIlliams and Boozer, a modern-day Stockton and Malone, has already proven unstoppable. If Kirelinko can continue to play well, and Korver continues to provide an outside presense, you may be looking at Utah's third trip to the finals in franchise history. If nothing else, it's definitley going to be exciting. Stay tuned.

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