2016-2017 NBA Previews – Southwest Division Odds
Looking for 2016 NBA Southwest Division Predictions? We’ve got your back. The Southwest Division, year after year, has a chance to be one of the NBA’s strongest. The San Antonio Spurs are perennial contenders, the Memphis Grizzlies grind out wins on a regular basis, the Houston Rockets have James Harden in a high-scoring offense, the New Orleans Pelicans have one of the game’s best young players in Anthony Davis, and you can never count out the Dallas Mavericks.
Southwest Division Season Preview
Division Favorite: San Antonio Spurs -750
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Last season saw the Spurs dominate in historic fashion, which leads to the question of whether or not they can compete at the same level as they look to balance an aging core with a young nucleus.
San Antonio Spurs NBA Southwest Division Prediction
Head Coach: Gregg Popovich
2015-16 Record: 67-15
Odds To Win Division: -750
Odds To Win Conference: +450
Odds To Win NBA Championship: +900
The San Antonio Spurs quietly flew under the radar last season as one of the greatest teams of all time. Why so quiet? For starters, they’re the Spurs and that’s how they operate from year to year.
The other reason is that the Golden State Warriors were chasing 73 wins and doing so in spectacular fashion.
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This season, Tim Duncan is gone and Pau Gasol is in. Tony Park and Manu Ginobili continue to lose a step at their advanced ages, but the new face of the franchise is Kawhi Leonard, who has turned into arguably the best two-way player in the entire NBA.
The big question here is what is going to happen with LaMarcus Aldridge. The five-time All-Star has been in trade rumors this preseason and may or may not be happy with his decision to join San Antonio in free agency a year ago.
Don’t expect the Spurs to fall off the map any time soon, but keep an eye on what happens with the LMA situation throughout the year.
Memphis Grizzlies NBA Southwest Division Prediction
Head Coach: David Fizdale
2015-16 Record: 42-40
Odds To Win Division: +1200
Odds To Win Conference: +3300
Odds To Win NBA Championship: +6600
Had it not been for injuries last season, the Memphis Grizzlies would have been a legitimate second-tier team in a brutal Western Conference.
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Memphis suited up an NBA record 28 players in 2015-16 because of injury troubles.
Most notably, Mike Conley and Marc Gasol were out when it mattered most, and the team never truly stood a chance in the postseason as a result.
With David Fizdale now the lead man roaming the sidelines, the hope is that this team can find balance between its grit-and-grind defense and a hopefully improved offensive attack.
The team brought in Chandler Parsons on a maximum contract in hopes of bolstering the three-point attack this season.
Houston Rockets NBA Southwest Division Prediction
Head Coach: Mike D’Antoni
2015-16 Record: 41-41
Odds To Win Division: +1200
Odds To Win Conference: +5000
Odds To Win NBA Championship: +10000
Mike D’Antoni is in and Dwight Howard is out, which means one thing.
James Harden is going to have a lot of fun this year.
With the superstar big man no longer calling for the ball in the post (and causing a rift between himself and Harden in the locker room), Harden trails only Russell Westbrook in odds to win the 2016-17 scoring title. With D’Antoni’s fast-paced offense in play, Harden is a +240, and with Kevin Durant gone to the Golden State Warriors, Westbrook enters the year at +185.
Along with D’Antoni, Houston will have new faces in the form of Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson. Both will help enhance this team’s three-point shooting, so long as they can stay healthy throughout the season.
New Orleans Pelicans NBA Southwest Division Prediction
Head Coach: Alvin Gentry
2015-16 Record: 30-52
Odds To Win Division: +2500
Odds To Win Conference: +5000
Odds To Win NBA Championship: +10000
Anthony Davis is the future of the NBA. He and Karl-Anthony Towns are going to dominate the power forward/center positions for a long time, but the problem is that the New Orleans Pelicans have yet to truly maximize Davis’ talent.
When Alvin Gentry was hired as the head coach in 2015-16, he was supposed to bring with him elements of the Warriors squad he’d been an assistant with. He was supposed to create an offensive flow that allowed Davis to flourish, but that didn’t end up being the case.
Part of it has to do with health. Davis included, the Pelicans dealt with injuries all last season, making a return to the postseason virtually impossible.
Injuries can derail any team’s season, but the Pelicans were dealt an especially bad hand last year.
Dallas Mavericks NBA Southwest Division Prediction
Head Coach: Rick Carlisle
2015-16 Record: 42-40
Odds To Win Division: +4000
Odds To Win Conference: +10000
Odds To Win NBA Championship: + 20000
The Dallas Mavericks reaped the benefits of Durant taking his talents to the Bay Area by acquiring Andrew Bogut and Harrison Barnes this offseason. The Mavs are hoping that one team’s trash can become their own treasure, but there are certain things to consider before becoming too optimistic.
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For starters, the poor shooting of Harrison Barnes. He’s yet to prove he can create his own shot, and while you can certainly argue he never had a true chance behind Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, his putrid numbers in the NBA Finals make him a hard player to trust (especially now that we’ve seen him struggle in preseason as well).
As for Bogut, health is always going to be a concern. He’s an excellent passer and rim-protector, but this team needs him on the floor to make a difference.
NBA Southwest Division Prediction
Chances are, the Mavs are not going to be as bad as the odds indicate at this time. Unless Dirk Nowitzki finally takes a true step in the wrong direction, this team is going to lean on his shooting, Wesley Matthews’ grit on both ends and a hopefully improved Barnes.
The bottom of the division will likely play home to the Pelicans unless they can avoid injuries and maximize Davis’ abilities.
But that’s what’s great about this division. There’s no one team you can truly count out.
What you do have, however, is one team you can truly count on. That is the San Antonio Spurs, and it’d be silly to pick anybody else as the division winner at this point in the process.
2016 NBA Gambling
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