The Three Most Difficult Teams to Predict in the Western Conference

The Western Conference is going to be hyper-competitive this season. With pretty much every team a threat to make the playoffs, it’s difficult to predict how the standings will shake out. These are the three most confusing and difficult-to-predict teams for next season.

Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks have a really solid roster. They’ve built a great supporting cast around Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving, and now they’ve thrown one of the most hyped prospects ever, Cooper Flagg, onto the roster. Unfortunately, Kyrie will miss a significant portion of the season recovering from injury.

That’s why the Mavericks are hard to predict. We don’t know when Kyrie will come back. We don’t know how ready Flagg is to contribute to winning basketball, and we don’t know if A.D. can stay healthy for a whole season.

Memphis Grizzlies

The Grizzlies were one of the best teams in the West for most of last season. Then they traded their most reliable player, Desmond Bane, and didn’t get equal playing talent in return. Was this the first step toward a rebuild in Memphis? Or does the Grizzlies’ front office believe Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. are enough to lead a contending team?

The Grizzlies could be competing at the top of the West like last year, or the loss of Bane could hit them harder than they’re expecting. 

Golden State Warriors

The Warriors are old. Four of their key rotation players (and three of their best players) are all over 35 years old and have tons of mileage on their bodies. The healthy and best version of this Warriors team could be a top team in the West. 

However, predicting the health of older veterans is always hard. If the Warriors struggle with major injuries, their young players may not be good enough to pick up the slack. The Warriors will be one of the harder teams to predict this season.