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NBA 2021-22 Western Conference Team-by-Team Preview
Updated: | First published:
Written by Dimers Staff
The 2021-22 NBA season is here, meaning it's time to dive into each and every team's prospects, with the Western Conference in focus here.
The West is headlined by two teams this season, being the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors, with the latter hoping that the return of Klay Thompson can see them back to making a deep run.
NBA 2021-22 Title Odds
Western Conference
- Los Angeles Lakers +400
- Golden State Warriors +900
- Phoenix Suns +1500
- Los Angeles Clippers +1600
- Utah Jazz +1600
- Denver Nuggets +2200
- Dallas Mavericks +3000
- Portland Trail Blazers +5000
- Memphis Grizzlies +10000
- New Orleans Pelicans +10000
- Minnesota Timberwolves +15000
- Sacramento Kings +15000
- San Antonio Spurs +30000
- Houston Rockets +50000
- OKC Thunder +50000
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Now, let's get into our expert Western Conference team previews for the 2021-22 NBA season, as we help you make your futures betting decisions ⬇️
Dallas Mavericks
Positives
Luka MVP! The campaign for Doncic to claim his first award as the Association's Most Valuable Player will pick up steam early this season with the Slovenian looking a lot fitter than he did last offseason. The 22-year-old will win multiple games off his own back this season.
MORE: 2021-22 NBA MVP Picks
Negatives
Is Kristaps Porzinigs really the No. 2 guy on a title team, or even a really good team? His potential has always been there, but the body has not been able to hold up to the rigours of NBA basketball. The Mavs have a lot of serviceable role players, but they're not good enough to really go deep into playoffs, especially if the former Knick goes down with yet another long-term injury.
Mavericks title odds: +3000
Mavericks title probability: 3.4%
Sportsbook wins total line: 48.5
Denver Nuggets
Positives
Denver have a young core with one of the brightest up-and-coming stars in Michael Porter Jr, not to mention the reigning MVP in Nikola Jokic. They've consistently been one of the best performed regular season teams over the last few years and need to take the leap in the postseason.
Negatives
The injury to Jamal Murray hurts the Nuggets badly. Although they will find themselves seeded either first or second heading into playoffs, that is mostly because some of the other contenders rest their star talent. Porter Jr will have a lot on his shoulders if Denver is to translate their regular season success into the ultimate glory.
Nuggets title odds: +2500
Nuggets title probability: 4.0%
Sportsbook wins total line: 47.5
Golden State Warriors
Positives
Golden State will go into this season quietly confident about their chances to comeback into the frame as contenders this season. Steph Curry was back to MVP-numbers last year as he had to carry the team without Klay Thompson who is expected back sometime early in the new year. If they can hold out at a .500 record up until Christmas, the sky is the limit with some flexibility before the trade deadline to bring in more help as they march to the playoffs.
Negatives
Andrew Wiggins and James Wiseman are interesting propositions as we head into the season. Wiggins has had an inconsistent career, but he'll need to get that flaw out of his game with expectations higher this season than last year when the Warriors knew they would be too undermanned to make a legitimate run. If he doesn't get better, Golden State could find themselves too far back when Thompson comes back and the former No. 1 pick could find himself on the trade block.
Warriors title odds: +1200
Warriors title probability: 5.1.%
Sportsbook wins total line: 47.5
MORE: 2021-22 NBA Stats Leader Picks
Houston Rockets
Positives
Uhhhh. Ummmm. I'm sorry, I've got nothing here.
Negatives
Where do we start? John Wall has an untradeable contract, owed more than $90M over the next two years. Eric Gordon is the second highest paid player which is just terrible for a guy who only excels as a role player. The Rockets are in full bottom-out mode and it feels like it will be a long time before they come out of it.
Rockets title odds: +50000
Rockets title probability: 0.0%
Sportsbook wins total line: 28.5
Los Angeles Clippers
Positives
Kawhi Leonard signing on over the off-season is great news for the Clippers who can have the rug pulled out from them at any time if they continue to underdeliver on the Leonard and George experiment. The news on Kawhi around his ACL seems promising and if he can return before the end of the regular season, they could spring a surprise.
Negatives
Paul George will need to be THE guy for 70 games and he hasn't had to be that since his days in Indiana. He's a popular fall guy for a lot of fans online, but he has shown that he can be good when he's given the keys to a franchise. The only bad thing, though, is that in a league of superstar duos, he may find himself without the required resources to get the Clippers very far.
Clippers title odds: +1800
Clippers title probability: 5.4%
Sportsbook wins total line: 45.5
Los Angeles Lakers
Positives
The Lakers are stacked with just about every All-Star from the last decade. With Kyrie Irving little chance of suiting up for the Nets this season, it won't be long before LA find themselves as the NBA title favorites.
Negatives
Much has been made of their ageing roster which is a legitimate concern, not to mention that one of the younger stars they do have in Anthony Davis is injury prone. There's definitely a reality in which the Lakers are constantly having to tweak and alter rotations to accomodate for resting and injured players. That could ultimately stifle their chances of getting any real cohesion in their quest for another championship.
Lakers title odds: +400
Lakers title probability: 17.6%
Sportsbook wins total line: 52.5
Memphis Grizzlies
Positives
The Grizzlies front office is continuing to build something for the future and have a good mix of young guys like Ja Morant, Dillion Brooks with some good locker room veterans.
Negatives
The team is still too young to contend and will have to continue to build via the draft as a star Free Agent ever choosing to go Memphis seems unlikely. We're still a few years away from seeing Memphis get through a playoff series.
Grizzlies title odds: +10000
Grizzlies title probability: 0.8.%
Sportsbook wins total line: 41.5
Minnesota Timberwolves
Positives
Anthony Edwards appears to be exactly the man the Timberwolves hoped he could be when they drafted him first overall in the 2020 draft. They'll look to start building out a team around him moving forward and fans can expect some exciting moments out of their star man.
Negatives
Karl-Anthony Towns is one of the ultimate good stats/bad team players having never really achieved anything with a franchise that perennially underperforms. With KAT earning $31M this year, as well as his childhood buddy D'Angelo Russell taking up $30M from the cap, the Wolves have little wriggle room to improve their team unless they cut the cord with one, or both of their top earners.
Timberwolves title odds: +25000
Timberwolves title probability: 0.4%
Sportsbook wins total line: 35.5
New Orleans Pelicans
Positives
Brandon Ingram has started to come of age as one of the young stars of the league and could take this team over as his own with Zion Williamson entering the season with an injury. Jonas Valancuinias is also a nice off-season pick up.
Negatives
The news on Zion isn't good, with Pels' GM David Griffin saying there is not currently a timetable for the return of New Orleans' franchise man. While nobody doubted the sheer power of Williamson, many worried about whether his bigger body could withstand the rigours of the modern day NBA. The Pelicans have all their chips in the Zion basket and if he doesn't come back soon - and in shape - it will be yet another wasted year.
Pelicans title odds: +10000
Pelicans title probability: 0.9%
Sportsbook wins total line: 38.5
MORE: NBA Most Improved Player Picks
OKC Thunder
Positives
The Thunder have locked in Shai Gllgeous-Alexander for the foreseeable future and look to have found a good one in this year's draft pick up Josh Giddey. The Thunder are playing the long game like they did when they secured Durant, Westbrook and Harden in consecutive drafts over a decade ago.
Negatives
Tanking is all well and good, but how far is too far, especially when you have a duty to develop the young players you have? Oklahoma City decided to shut down SGA early last year as they tried to improve their draft hand. They can't keep doing that if they really want to come out the other end of this with a competitive roster.
Thunder title odds: +50000
Thunder title probability: 0.1%
Sportsbook wins total line: 22.5
Phoenix Suns
Positives
The Suns fell agonizingly short of a title last season but they'll be entering this year with the belief that they can go one better this season with the continuing emergence of Devin Booker and DeAndre Ayton. The window is still well and truly open.
Negatives
Chris Paul will be an interesting one. The point god is 36-years-old and defied logic last year, but Father Time is a cruel beast. Phoenix will be pinning a lot of their success on the health of one of the oldest players in the league.
Suns title odds: +1600
Sportsbook wins total line: 51.5
Portland Trail Blazers
Positives
The Trail Blazers are dependable with one of the best duos in the league in Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. They are built for the regular season grind and will continue to find themselves at the pointy end of the season.
Negatives
This team has a ceiling that they reached a long, long time ago. We know what this team is capable of, and what they're not. Lillard and CJ are great players, but they'll need more than that if anyone is really going to take them as a threat to the title.
Trail Blazers title odds: +8000
Trail Blazers title probability: 1.1%
Sportsbook wins total line: 44.5
Sacramento Kings
Positives
The Kings have talent and they have assets. De'Aaron Fox is the main main, while the emergence of Tyrese Halliburton gives Kings fans hope for the future. Sacramento also find themselves int he frame to add a disgruntled Ben Simmons to the roster via trade from Philadelphia.
Negatives
Without a Simmons trade, the Kings are still a couple of years away from finding themselves with a chance to challenge for a postseason spot. They'll need to be aggressive before the trade deadline.
Kings title odds: +25000
Mavericks title probability: 0.4%
Sportsbook wins total line: 36.5
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San Antonio Spurs
Positives
Call this harsh, but I don't think there are any positives about this team right now. Let's get into the negatives.
Negatives
With the loss of DeMar DeRozan in the offseason, this team now lacks any superstar talent and are destined for a bottom finish in the conference this year. Dejonte Murray and Derrick White can do some good things at times, but overall this is one of the least inspiring rosters in the Western Conference. The only thing I'm predicting for Spurs fans is a lot of pain.
Spurs title odds: +30000
Sportsbook wins total line: 29.5
Utah Jazz
Positives
The Jazz are settled and will once again find themselves challenging in the final few weeks of the season with one of the most well-rounded rosters in the league, combining a perfect mix of superstar talent with role players who perform night in, night out.
Negatives
Like Denver, the Jazz always seem to stumble at the final hurdles, losing out to bigger and better teams. Can they really match up against the likes of LeBron and AD when it really counts? So far they have yet to prove it.
Jazz title odds: +1600
Sportsbook wins total line: 53.5
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Written by
Dimers Staff For articles with several contributors, we use this author profile. This profile is also used for new sportsbook promos and offers. Our contributors' level of experience spans all sports and bet types. We hope we have you covered, no matter what you're betting on.
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