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Win In 6 Podcast #18: Pacific Division Preview

By Adam McGee

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It’s that time of week again (for the second time), as our team gets together to discuss the latest Milwaukee Bucks’ news and most important conversation points in our “Win In 6 Podcast”!

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As the season moves closer, it only feels right to branch out and look further around at the teams the Bucks are going to have to square off against, and so from this week on that’s exactly what we’re going to be doing on the podcast.

On top of our regular podcast spot (posting on Tuesdays) where we dive deep into every piece of Bucks news or discussion, we’ll take a division by division trip around the NBA on Thursdays to get to know the opposition a little better.

Over the last few weeks we started off in the Eastern Conference by looking at the Atlantic Division and the Southeast Division, but we’ve left the Eastern Conference for now before coming back to finish with the Central in a couple of weeks time.

In the meantime, we have moved over to look at the bloodbath that is the Western Conference. We started with the Northwest Division last week, while this time out it’s the turn of the Pacific Division to be put under the spotlight.

Not only is the Pacific Division packed with some of the best known names in the entire league, but it also plays host to two of the strongest teams in the NBA heading into this new season.

Of course, that starts off with the defending champions, the Golden State Warriors. The big question surrounding the team from the Bay Area has to be can they repeat their success, or was it a once off? If teams have gone some way to figuring them out, is there a contingency plan?

On paper the Warriors don’t actually have the best of depth across their roster, yet last year their starters were so dominant that it never really factored into the debate. If teams are more prepared and can keep things tighter with their starters this year though, do they have enough in reserve to get the job done?

The Los Angeles Clippers have had some of the league’s best players for a number of years now, but they are still to make any real noise in the post-season. Could this be the year where that all changes for LA’s historically lesser known team?

In spite of the saga, re-signing DeAndre Jordan was a really big move for the Clippers, while supporting him, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin with proven NBA commodities like Josh Smith, Paul Pierce, Wesley Johnson and Pablo Prigioni should prove shrewd additions also.

Lakers fans have got to be starting to grow bored of just how bad their team has been for the last few years, and luckily for them, they finally have some young talent coming through that might be able to help change that.

D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson are the future of the franchise right now, but just how much will they be allowed to kick on when the sometimes healthy spectre of Kobe Bryant still hangs over the Staples Center.

The Phoenix Suns tried to blow it all up a couple of years ago and somehow immediately lucked into a very effective team, but many of the traces of that are now gone, and the question probably returns to should they have tried even harder to force a rebuild back then?

Goran Dragic is gone, Markieff Morris looks likely to follow, and although guys like Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Knight and the newly signed Tyson Chandler remain, Phoenix has the definite look of a team who could end up mired in mediocrity in the NBA’s toughest conference.

Last but not least, we have the show-stopping and always news worthy Sacramento Kings. The Kings must be one of the most talked about teams in the NBA, but the only problem is that the talk is rarely focused around positives.

Behind an off-season that has been dominated by front office changes, uncertainty surrounding DeMarcus Cousins‘ future, and a number of calculated free agent gambles, what will the Kings have to show us all on the court?

To get to the bottom of all of these questions and more, joining me are staff writers Ti Windisch and Jordan Treske.

Make sure to follow us on SoundCloud, and subscribe on iTunes to never miss an episode of Win In 6 in the future.

Check out our podcast breakdown of the Bucks centers next Tuesday, as well as our preview of the Southwest Division coming Thursday.

As always, let us hear your thoughts and feedback.

Next: Win In 6 Podcast #16: Northwest Division Preview

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