2008-09 Season Wrap-Up: The Western Conference's Biggest Disappointment

So as the regular season has come to an end and while the first round of the playoffs lasts longer than any playoff round should, I decided to go back and determine this season's biggest disappointment in the Western Conference.

I have narrowed it down to 3 candidates, but would love to hear cases for others...

#3: Los Angeles Clippers: After acquiring Baron Davis & Marcus Camby in the off-season a 35 win season out of the Clippers was not that far-fetched, not with the promise of Al Thornton, who seemed primed to make the leap in year 2 and the potential of Eric Gordon. The Clippers weren't necessarily supposed to crack the playoff bubble in the west, but they were certainly expected to hang around the 8-10 range in the conference. Instead, they won about 4 games and the season was defined by general discontent between Baron Davis & Mike Dunleavy, as well as a trade for Zach Randolph, effectively ruining the Clippers cap until 2012. I think this season was a huge disappointment as it was supposed to be a stepping stone to a playoff run next year, however, it instead turned into an unmitigated disaster which will take years to recover from.

#2: New Orleans Hornets: This may be a bit premature, but considering they're down 3-1 in the playoffs and have 1 home game left and just lost by approximately 120 points to denver, I'm considering their season over. This is a wonderful opportunity for the Hornets to silence their critics... but i'm not counting on it. Heading into the season, the Hornets seemed prime to make the jump to the head of the Western Conference. They fell just short of a Conference Finals date with the Lakers last year & kept their core in tact in the off-season and added post-season specialist James Posey. The Hornets were a trendy pick to win the West & represent the West in the Finals or at least push the Lakers to the brink in the Conference Finals. Instead, the Hornets finished 7th in the West, Tyson Chandler was nearly traded, but failed a physical & they got bounced in the first round of the playoffs. A huge step back.

#1: Phoenix Suns: The fate of one franchise has never been so tragically fated by one official as the Suns. Tim Donaghy essentially cost them a chance at a championship three summers ago and the Suns have yet to recover. Instead of sticking to their system of the fun and gun, they traded for Shaq last year and tried to slow it down. Eventually the core of the team was blown up, with Raja Bell, Boris Diaw and Shawn Marion all gone and an injured Amare, an aging Shaq and a discontent Nash were all that remained. Forget competing with the Lakers in the Pacific, the Suns couldn't even manage to squeak out a playoff birth in 2008-09. Steve Kerr's tenure as GM has to come to an end this off-season. He tried to fix something that wasn't broken and failed miserably. From running off D'Antoni to alienating Nash, Kerr has been made wrong turn after wrong turn. His trade for Jason Richardson really ended up being the icing on the cake, where Raja Bell and Boris Diaw nearly helped carry the Bobcats to an unprobable playoff run in the Eastern Conference. The Suns missed their window for a championship & have to hope that a core of Barbosa-Robin Lopez-Jason Richardson can carry them in the future. Please re-read that. Nash is going to leave after next season and Amare seems about as out the door as Marion did. Shaq has maybe 1 year left in him... so yea, Barbosa-Robin Lopez-Jason Richardson.... yikes.

the Suns - your 2008-09 most disappointing team in the West....

It's Kobe, Lebron, D-Wade, Dwight Howard, KG (Oh wait....) - it's the Playoffs!!!!

First and foremost... congrats to Lebron James on his first MVP Trophy. This is NOT an attempted reverse jinx. This is me basically saying that if you don't give the MVP to Lebron you're nuts. I've been behind D-Wade for most of this season, but looking back on it, you really have to give it to Lebron. I mean, his team won 66 games, he's become a force on the defensive end (thank you Olympics?)....

Anyway, everyone and their mothers are pretty much predicting a Lakers-Cavs NBA Finals. And to be honest, that's probably where the smart money is. I mean, the Lakers have dominated everyone in the West this year, save for Portland on the road, but the way Houston dominated Portland the other night, maybe Portland is still a year away from making the Leap. I mean, Houston could pose a problem for the Lakers in round 2 by throwing Battier and Artest and Kobe all night, but can they take advantage of the Lakers one glaring weakness, defending the opposing point guard? And in the East... with a KG-less Boston & with the general lack of experience in Orlando, Chicago & Philadelpia, would Atlanta or Miami really be Cleveland's biggest obstacle?

In a brief conversation with Mr. Robertson this weekend, I believe he was bucking the trend for the sake of bucking the trend and going with Orlando-Portland, but I could be wrong. Orlando was his preseason pick....

As promised... my awards:

MVP - Lebron (D-Wade gets my 2nd place vote and a homer vote for Kobe at #3)
Rookie of the Year - Derrick Rose (don't really have a second place vote, as it's unneccesary)
Coach of the Year - Mike Brown
6th Man of the Year - Chris "Birdman" Anderson
Breakout Player of the Year - tie: Kevin Durant & Brandon Roy
European of the Year - Pau Gasol
Worst GM of the Year - tie: Steve Kerr & Mike Dunleavy
Most likely to start a fight in the playoffs - J.R. Smith
Lowest Vertical Jump for a #1 Pick - Greg Oden
Best Rec-League Moves - Paul Pierce (for the 13th consecutive year)