Poll: Which Team Will Miss Playoffs In West?

We’re past the halfway mark of the 2017/18 NBA season, and the teams at the top of the standings in the Western Conference come as no surprise to most league observers. The Warriors (37-10) and Rockets (32-12) lead the way, followed by the Spurs (30-18) and Timberwolves (30-18), with the Thunder (26-20) rounding out the top five.

After that though, four teams are currently jockeying for the remaining three playoff spots in the West. As of today, the Trail Blazers (25-21) and Pelicans (24-21) are in control of the sixth and seventh seeds, with the Clippers (23-23) holding a narrow lead on the Nuggets (23-23) for No. 8.

Although Portland and New Orleans are in playoff position now, their rosters are somewhat imbalanced — the Blazers are led by their backcourt duo of C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard, while the Pelicans’ star-studded frontcourt of DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis has carried them. Neither team has a ton of flexibility to make upgrades at the trade deadline, so it will be interesting to see if their stars can get them into the postseason without any real roster changes.

Meanwhile, the Clippers have been up and down all season, but they’ve been trending in the right direction lately. With the February 8 deadline fast approaching, the club will have to decide whether it makes sense to continue pushing for a playoff spot, even if it means hanging onto DeAndre Jordan and Lou Williams and risking losing them for nothing in free agency this summer.

Finally, the Nuggets have been struggling recently, but even if Denver doesn’t make a trade at the deadline, the club should have reinforcements coming in February — top offseason acquisition Paul Millsap is expected to get back on the court sometime around the All-Star break after recovering from wrist surgery. The Nuggets were 9-6 in the 15 full games Millsap played at the start of the season, and hope to make a late-season run once they get him in their lineup again.

While the Jazz (19-27), Lakers (17-29), Suns (17-29), and Grizzlies (16-29) aren’t totally out of the running yet, it’s likely that eight of the nine teams discussed above will represent the West in the postseason this year. It’s just a question of which one of those nine clubs will miss out.

Which team do you expect to end up on the outside looking in? Vote in our poll below and jump into the comment section to share your two cents!

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