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The best and worst scenarios for every West team this season

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Every NBA team comes into a new season believing (or at least hoping) it can be the best version of itself. At the same time, each campaign comes with corresponding downside potential.

So, with training camps beginning this weekend, let's look at the best- and worst-case scenarios for all 30 teams in 2019-20.

(Read the Eastern Conference scenarios here)

Pacific Division

Golden State Warriors

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Best case: The combination of Steph Curry and Draymond Green proves more than capable of keeping the Warriors in the Western Conference playoff picture, as Curry rejoins the MVP debate and Green spends the entire season playing with the sense of urgency he usually reserves for springtime. D'Angelo Russell provides Golden State with a needed jolt of self-creation and Klay Thompson returns just in time for the postseason, propelling the Warriors to a sixth straight Finals berth and a fourth championship in the last six years.

Worst case: Thompson doesn't play a game, Russell struggles to find efficiency or a balance between self-creation and playmaking, and Green is no longer capable of going all-out for 82 games. Even Curry's brilliance isn't enough to prop up what's left of a tattered roster, and the Warriors go from five-time defending West champs to out of the playoffs altogether. - Joseph Casciaro

Los Angeles Lakers

Best case: LeBron James and Anthony Davis both make it through the season healthy. Even with an unbalanced supporting cast, the combination of the NBA's best creator and its best finisher (coupled with a premier spot-up threat in Danny Green) produces the league's No. 1 offense. After getting the spring and summer off, a rejuvenated James perks up at the other end, and with Davis patrolling the restricted area, L.A.'s defense holds up against intense Western Conference scrutiny. With useful veterans latching on during the season (Andre Iguodala, perhaps?), the Lakers separate themselves from the jumbled pack and hang the franchise's 17th banner.

Worst case: At age 35, in his 17th season, James finally breaks down. Exacerbated by the ball-handling load he's forced to carry on a team with no above-average guard play, his efficiency tails off and he struggles to stay healthy. The Lakers' point-of-attack defense proves porous and Davis is overtaxed by the number of fires he's forced to put out at the back end. Veteran retreads Dwight Howard and Rajon Rondo flop. Positional overlap means Kyle Kuzma is miscast defensively and somewhat superfluous on offense. The Lakers squeak into the playoffs as a low seed but go one-and-done. Davis then bolts as a free agent after seeing an ill-conceived roster with a declining James, minimal young talent, and few means of improving. - Joe Wolfond

Los Angeles Clippers

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Best case: Kawhi Leonard's load needs less management in an MVP season, Paul George returns from double shoulder surgery looking like the two-way monster who was a top-five player for the first half of last season, and the Clippers go into most games with the two best players on the floor. Lou Williams continues to efficiently chuck his way into our hearts, Patrick Beverley and Montrezl Harrell lead a scrappy supporting cast, and L.A. celebrates its first non-Lakers NBA title.

Worst case: George struggles to find his game after the offseason shoulder surgeries and Leonard - who's missed an average of 21 games per year in his career - is out of the lineup for a quarter of the season. The Clippers' solid yet unspectacular role players can't carry the load when called upon, and the team ends up in the bottom half of the West playoff bracket, setting up a tricky first-round matchup and a difficult postseason roadmap. The offseason's biggest winner gets sent packing within the first two rounds and heads into 2020-21 with questions surrounding the future of the Leonard-George duo it sacrificed so much to acquire just one year earlier. - Casciaro

Phoenix Suns

Best case: Ricky Rubio's steady playmaking and defense at the point of attack prove to be exactly what Devin Booker and the Suns desperately need. Deandre Ayton averages 20 points a game, Kelly Oubre builds off his underrated breakout season, and Booker's incredible offensive powers finally get a chance to shine in meaningful games as the Suns hang around the bottom of the West playoff race. Monty Williams garners Coach of the Year buzz.

Worst case: Phoenix finishes with a bottom-three defense for the fourth straight season, Ayton and Booker fail to form the potent inside-out pairing they're capable of being, and the Suns lose 60 games again. In a state of hysteria, Booker demands that teammates stop double-teaming him in practice and the Suns stop double-teaming, period, in games. Williams becomes the fourth consecutive Phoenix coach to be fired after one season. - Casciaro

Sacramento Kings

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Best case: One of De'Aaron Fox or Buddy Hield becomes an All-Star, Marvin Bagley emerges as the most impressive NBA sophomore, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Nemanja Bjelica keep splashing away, and Harry Giles asserts himself as a rotation mainstay. Meanwhile, veteran additions Trevor Ariza, Dewayne Dedmon, and Cory Joseph provide just the right blend of savvy two-way play and locker-room wisdom. The Kings build off their feel-good 2018-19 season by ending the franchise's 14-year playoff drought.

Worst case: The team's young talent stagnates and an offensive power struggle develops between Fox, Hield, Bagley, and Harrison Barnes, who makes nearly twice as much as anyone else on the roster. The aforementioned veteran additions don't move the needle enough to prop up Sacramento's bottom-10 defense, so last year's 39-win campaign looks more like a plateau than the beginning of a climb back to relevance. Kings fans then realize that Barnes, Ariza, Dedmon, and Joseph will make $61 million combined next season (although Ariza's deal isn't fully guaranteed). - Casciaro

Northwest Division

Denver Nuggets

Best case: Nikola Jokic continues his upward trajectory and plays a full season at an MVP level, showcasing enough handsy smarts and spatial awareness to break even at the defensive end while quarterbacking one of the league's best offenses. Around him, heady young role players like Gary Harris, Jerami Grant, and Malik Beasley flourish, while Jamal Murray finds a measure of consistency that makes him a reliable second option. Michael Porter Jr. contributes as a post-redshirt rookie and Paul Millsap has enough left in the tank for another All-Defense-caliber season. As a whole, the team avoids the injury bug that plagued its roster last season and replicates the 2014-15 Warriors' formula as a homegrown juggernaut that thrives on cohesion, intelligence, selflessness, and joy - an upstart champion that was hiding in plain sight.

Worst case: With a year's worth of data, opposing teams better understand how to exploit Jokic's hedging pick-and-roll defense. Murray stagnates, remaining fatally limited as a playmaker and a point-of-attack stopper. Millsap's age prevents him from papering over the team's defensive holes the way he did a season ago. Instead of progressing, the Nuggets sag beneath the weight of their increased expectations, fall back to the bottom of the Western Conference playoff bracket, and lose in the first round. - Wolfond

Minnesota Timberwolves

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Best case: Robert Covington returns from the knee injury that sidelined him in the second half of last season to be the best version of his 3-and-D self, adding another dimension to Minnesota's already capable attack while stabilizing the defense and putting himself in the DPOY conversation. Karl-Anthony Towns makes the leap from All-Star scoring machine to MVP candidate, Andrew Wiggins finally puts his immense athletic gifts to use for more than a week at a time, and the Timberwolves return to the postseason.

Worst case: The club remains a defensive tire fire, Wiggins shows no growth - finding himself in trade rumors all season even though his production makes his contract untradeable - and Covington returns to the court as a shell of his former self. The Timberwolves lose 50-plus games. - Casciaro

Oklahoma City Thunder

Best case: Chris Paul experiences an unlikely renaissance in Oklahoma City as he partners with the uber-efficient Danilo Gallinari and Steven Adams - the master of screens and offensive rebounds - to carry a surprisingly potent offense. Adams regains the defensive step he appeared to have lost down the stretch of last season and Andre Roberson returns from a 21-month injury absence to land an All-Defensive Team selection. The Thunder's stunning emergence as a League Pass favorite is capped by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's star turn. The plucky Thunder snag a West playoff berth ... and our hearts.

Worst case: Paul's decline continues or he's traded early in the season to expedite the tank. Gallinari's departure quickly follows and the Thunder battle for pingpong balls with bottom-feeders like the Hornets, Knicks, and Cavs. Forced to watch a loser for the first time since the team's inaugural season in Oklahoma City, Chesapeake Energy Arena becomes just another quiet stop showcasing NBA doldrums. - Casciaro

Portland Trail Blazers

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Best case: With Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum providing a solid offensive floor, a motivated and refocused Hassan Whiteside stabilizes the middle and helps the Blazers tread water until Jusuf Nurkic returns. When he does, Nurkic picks up where he left off last season, injecting his short-roll playmaking, high-post passing, and low-post defense back into the mix. Meanwhile, swapping Evan Turner for Kent Bazemore gives Portland better floor balance, and Zach Collins shoots and defends the perimeter well enough to hang at power forward - plugging a significant hole in the rotation. The Blazers blow past their expectations yet again by topping 50 wins, snagging home court in the first round and making a second straight conference finals appearance.

Worst case: Nurkic needs to be eased back into game shape and then fails to provide the impact he had last season. The forward rotation proves to be a serious Achilles' heel, with opposing power wings exposing Portland's lack of perimeter defensive talent and spotlighting the losses of Al-Farouq Aminu and Moe Harkless. Lillard and McCollum keep the team's floor high, but in a Western Conference field that got better on balance, the Blazers can't quite keep up. They miss the playoffs for the first time in seven years. - Wolfond

Utah Jazz

Best case: Mike Conley's two-way brilliance and the presence of Bojan Bogdanovic - a perfect tertiary scoring option - allow Donovan Mitchell to blossom into a more complete and consistent star. Rudy Gobert remains the best defensive player on the planet, Conley finally snags an All-Star spot, and the Jazz emerge as the most complete team in the Western Conference. The NBA's most wide-open title race in recent memory ends with Utah celebrating its first championship.

Worst case: The Jazz rack up regular-season wins, but even with Conley, Mitchell, and Gobert forming somewhat of a Diet Big Three, Utah can't keep up with the top-tier star power of fellow West contenders in the playoffs. The most promising season of Jazz basketball in over a decade ends with a first-round exit. - Casciaro

Southwest Division

Dallas Mavericks

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Best case: After 20 months on the shelf, Kristaps Porzingis shows scant rust and quickly re-establishes himself as one of the game's preeminent rim-protecting stretch bigs. A more aerodynamic Luka Doncic follows up his Rookie of the Year campaign with an All-Star sophomore season while forming a lethal pick-and-roll/pop combo with Porzingis. Between the interior presence of Porzingis, Maxi Kleber, and Dwight Powell, and the dogged perimeter work of Dorian Finney-Smith and Delon Wright, an overachieving Mavericks defense approaches the top 10. A sprinkling of Rick Carlisle magic propels them to a win total in the high 40s and a top-six seed in the crowded West.

Worst case: After 20 months on the shelf, Porzingis shows plenty of rust and is nowhere near the two-way impact player he was before tearing his ACL. Lacking the bounce and lateral quicks he had prior to the injury, he's more of a liability than an asset defensively and gets relegated to the perimeter on offense. Doncic hits a sophomore slump, finding limits to how much he can build out his game given his lack of conventional athleticism. The Mavs' pick-and-roll offense isn't given enough room to breathe due to a lack of spot-up threats outside of Seth Curry, and the defense is undone by a porous wing corps. Dallas winds up 13th in the West. - Wolfond

Houston Rockets

Best case: Any concerns about the offensive fit of a James Harden-Russell Westbrook partnership are immediately quelled, as the reunion of former Thunder teammates and childhood friends brings out the best in both. Coach Mike D'Antoni staggers the pair of former MVPs to perfection, and opposing defenses bend to the relentless attack of the explosive guards. P.J. Tucker and Clint Capela anchor an above-average defense and Houston secures the West's No. 1 seed en route to a championship that silences critics of Westbrook, Harden, D'Antoni, and GM Daryl Morey forever.

Worst case: Westbrook's jumper continues to fail him, his shot selection and decision-making fail Harden and the Rockets, and D'Antoni struggles to manage the awkward fit of his two high-usage ball-handlers. With Westbrook and Harden in the backcourt, the Rockets' defense falls off a cliff. Houston never hits its stride, backs into the playoffs, and loses in the first round. At least one of D'Antoni or Morey is fired. - Casciaro

Memphis Grizzlies

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Best case: Jaren Jackson hones his considerable raw skills and explodes into a game-changing big in Year 2, anchoring the Grizzlies' defense at one end and posing all manner of matchup problems at the other. Jackson's shooting and ball skills even allow for some successful rotational overlap with bruiser Jonas Valanciunas, who picks up where he left off a season ago. No. 2 pick Ja Morant arrives more fully formed than anticipated and propels a suddenly dangerous transition attack alongside fellow high-motor rookie Brandon Clarke. Between Jackson, Kyle Anderson, Bruno Caboclo, Tyus Jones, De'Anthony Melton, and possibly Iguodala (if he's not traded), the Grizzlies' length and intelligence beget an elite defense. Memphis hangs around the fringes of the playoff race for most of the season, and though this team is never a real threat to qualify, the first year of the identity overhaul checks all the boxes of an encouraging rebuild.

Worst case: Few things sink a team faster than poor point-guard play, and Memphis is submarined by an out-of-his-depth Morant. Meanwhile, Jackson remains prone to fouls and injuries in his second season. With hardly any shooting or off-the-bounce creation on the roster, and with their two best scorers occupying the same position, the Grizzlies finish dead last in offensive efficiency and land in the Western Conference's basement. What's worse, the lottery gods bounce them from the top six, which gifts their 2020 first-round pick to the Boston Celtics. - Wolfond

New Orleans Pelicans

Best case: Zion Williamson is very much The Real Deal, to the point that he becomes the Pelicans' best player right away - an offensive bulldozer capable of leading the break and initiating possessions, and a defensive cinder block who can credibly guard both small forwards and centers. Jrue Holiday builds on his career-best season, keeping a non-traditional offense organized and captaining a top-10 defense with his blanketing work at the point of attack. No longer playing out of position, Derrick Favors provides a second wave of resistance behind him. The young ex-Lakers pop and the Pelicans' incredible depth carries them to the cusp of 50 wins and a competitive first-round series.

Worst case: With a dearth of shooting on the roster, and with Williamson, Holiday, Ball, and Ingram all playing their best in on-ball roles, an uncomfortable possession battle grips the offense, which too often devolves into my-turn/your-turn posturing on a cramped floor. JJ Redick, the lone Pelicans player who carries meaningful off-ball gravity, proves too old and physically compromised to play big minutes without kneecapping the defense. Due to a lack of spot-up threats on the roster and without a reliable jumper of his own to bail him out, Williamson's possessions largely involve him careening headlong into a wall of defenders. The Pelicans never sniff playoff contention and the development of their prospects stagnates due to the poor roster fit. - Wolfond

San Antonio Spurs

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Best case: Dejounte Murray blossoms into the two-way force the Spurs envisioned him becoming before last year's preseason ACL tear, adding a functional jumper to his rebounding prowess and smothering perimeter defense. He and Derrick White form the best defensive backcourt in the league while collectively shooting the ball well enough to avoid congesting the offense. Lonnie Walker provides an injection of creative juice after a lost rookie season, LaMarcus Aldridge remains a viable go-to scoring option, and DeMar DeRozan migrates back out to the arc (after attempting just 45 threes a season ago) while continuing to grow as a lead playmaker. Gregg Popovich embraces a bit more stylistic modernity as the Spurs get back over the 50-win threshold and improbably scrape through to the West finals.

Worst case: Murray's jumper remains unreliable and squeezing him back into the rotation proves difficult. Regularly trotting out lineups with three or four non-shooting threats cripples the Spurs' offense. DeRozan is put on the trade block, but no suitors emerge, leaving San Antonio to ride out the season with a disillusioned star. At 34, Aldridge proves incapable of playing the five-spot defensively or manning the four on offense. Lacking a coherent identity, the Spurs finish below .500 and miss the playoffs for the first time in 23 years. - Wolfond

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