Los Angeles, San Antonio, Dallas, Portland, Denver: Best In The West Pt.2

After a few signings here and there, I have come to an agreement that the Top 5 teams in the West have altered just a bit.In my original "Who is the Best in the West" article, I ranked the Top 3 teams in the West as follows, Los Angeles Lakers at No.1, Spurs at 2, and the Nuggets at 3. While I still believe LA remains at No.1, I might consider adjusting that prediction and doing a "1a, 1b" type of ranking if they do not re-sign sixth man Lamar Odom. As of now, they stay on top, with the Spurs tailing behind them.At the three spot, the Nuggets have dropped considerably on my list (No.5) highly due to the fact that they have not made any critical moves during the offseason. They acquired point-guard Ty Lawson during draft night, re-signed Chris "Birdman" Anderson, and let defensive-minded Dahntay Jones walk.While Denver's organization has done virtually nothing to improve their roster so far, the Mavericks on the other hand have really made some crucial trades and signings to get themselves back to their 2006 season caliber.In the recent weeks they have added both swingman Shawn Marion and PF/C Drew Gooden, clearly augmenting their team as a whole and obviously preparing to make a run in the West during the upcoming season.With a team consisting of Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Josh Howard, Shawn Marion, Drew Gooden, and Dirk Nowitzki, the Mavericks have suddenly emerged as a top contending team and stand at No.3 on my Best of the West rankings. After signing veteran point-guard Andre Miller, the Portland Trail Blazers shadow right behind the Mavericks at the No.4 spot.As I mentioned in my Blazers article, Portland's roster makes up of extremely young and inexperienced talent. With a supposedly 100% healthy Greg Oden, the biggest concern for the Blazers will be if the big fella has it in him to breakout and arise as a dominate presence in the paint.They made it to the playoffs last year for the first time since the 02'-03' season and are undoubtedly on the verge of becoming a top three team in the Western Conference.If Portland can stay healthy, they are looking at another 50 plus win season with the opportunity to surpass the first round of the playoffs for the first time since the 99'-00' season.Ribak's Official Western Conference Rankings1. Los Angeles Lakers- If Odom does not re-sign, they will become 1a. 2. San Antonio Spurs- Spurs will turn into 1b. 3. Dallas Mavericks- Two big moves have bumped Dallas to the three spot. 4. Portland Trail Blazers- A healthy young team with a ton of potential to improve. 5. Denver Nuggets- Lost to LA in the ECF, haven't done anything to increase their winning chances for next season. var fansnap_syndslot_clientId = "720815042-869600645"; var fansnap_syndslot_template = "blu-nba-300x250"; var fansnap_syndslot_category = "NBA"; var fansnap_syndslot_numResults = 1;