Title last year, so are they prepared to reach the summit yet again or

With the regular season right around the corner, TSN.ca profiles each NBA division before the first tip. TSN Basketball analyst Jack Armstrong also gives his pick for division champ and a player to keep an eye on this season. We continue with the Southwest, where Tony Parkers San Antonio Spurs look to win yet another NBA Title, Dwight Howard tries to build on a disappointing first season with the Houston Rockets and the New Orleans Pelicans attempt to ride Anthony Daviss burgeoning superstardom into the playoffs. Dallas Mavericks Dirk Nowitzki in 2013-14: 21.7 PPG, 6.2 RPG, .497 FG% Coach: Rick Carlisle (seventh season) GM: Donnie Nelson (14th season) Last Season: 49-34, fourth in Southwest (eighth in Western Conference) Playoffs: Lost in first round to Spurs Notable additions: C Tyson Chandler (acquired from Knicks), SF Chandler Parsons ($46M, three-year deal), PG Jameer Nelson ($5.6M, two-year deal), PG Raymond Felton (acquired from Knicks), SF Richard Jefferson ($1.45M, one-year deal), C/PF Greg Smith (acquired from Bulls), SF Al-Farouq Aminu ($2M, two-year deal) and PF Charlie Villanueva ($1.32M, one-year deal) Notable subtractions: SF Vince Carter (signed with Grizzlies), C Samuel Dalembert (traded to Knicks), PF DeJuan Blair (traded to Wizards), PG Jose Calderon (traded to Knicks), PG Shane Larkin (traded to Knicks), SG Wayne Ellington (traded to Knicks), SF/PF Shawn Marion (signed with Cavaliers) Mavericks Depth Chart Position Starter Bench Point Guard Jameer Nelson Raymond Felton, Gal Mekel Shooting Guard Monta Ellis Devin Harris, Ricky Ledo Small Forward Chandler Parsons Richard Jefferson, Al-Farouq Aminu, Jae Crowder, Eric Griffin Power Forward Dirk Nowitzki Brandan Wright, Charlie Villanueva, Ivan Johnson Centre Tyson Chandler Greg Smith, Bernard James You can make a pretty compelling argument that the Mavs were the team that best gave the Spurs a run for their money in last year’s playoffs. They took the eventual NBA Champions to seven games in their first-round match-up when every other team that Gregg Popovich’s grizzled crew of destroyers went up against could only last for six. That’s all well and good, yet a first-round exit is a first-round exit. Claim that you gave the Spurs their toughest test all you want, but you still went out in the first round. To get the Mavs back in contending mode, they’ve brought back a familiar face from their 2011 edition that won the NBA Title in Tyson Chandler. Chandler’s smothering defence went a long way in securing Mark Cuban his first ever title, but this isn’t the same Tyson Chandler of four years ago. At 32, Chandler has been beaten up mentally and physically over the past two seasons in New York and might have lost a step from the player who won the 2012 Defensive Player of the Year. That said, he represents a massive improvement over Samuel Dalembert when it comes to interior defending. Chandler will need help from Chandler Parsons. Parsons was a calculated risk by the Mavs in signing him to an offer sheet from the divisional rival Rockets. Was he overpaid? Well, yeah, probably (and Nowitzki’s hometown discount facilitated it), but the Mavs grabbed an asset away from a rival (mind you, the Rockets could have matched and didn’t) and have in Parsons a very good third option. With a vast majority of attention likely to be paid to Dirk and Monta Ellis, Parsons could find himself with more open looks that he had in Houston and as a dangerous weak side force on the break. The 25-year-old’s deftness with the pick-and-roll will make everybody around him more dangerous. To offset the loss of Vince Carter, who thrived as the Mavs’ first guy off of the bench last season, Richard Jefferson comes aboard, while reserve bigs Greg Smith and Al-Farouq Aminu will be tasked with keeping opponents honest in place of Shawn Marion and DeJuan Blair. In the back, Jameer Nelson is the team’s third starting point guard in three years with Jose Calderon heading to New York as part of the Chandler deal. Nelson is competent at the one, as is Raymond Felton who should also see significant time. Neither is a particularly great defender, though. Couple either player with Ellis (or Devin Harris) and you’ve got a backcourt that can score, but one that isn’t going to make stops or force the issue on D. With a healthy Nowitzki, the Mavs will still score in droves, the hallmark of this team since the German’s arrival 16 seasons ago. A surefire Hall of Famer, Nowitzki is still a threat at 36 and leading the charge with the likes of an Ellis and Parsons, the Mavs know that putting up points will come naturally (the team was third in scoring a season ago), it’s just an inability to make stops that will prevent them from bettering last season’s finish. The margin for error in the West has decreased, but the Mavs should see themselves back in the playoffs and maybe even to give the Spurs another headache. Projection: Third in the Southwest (seventh in the Western Conference) Houston Rockets Dwight Howard in 2013-14: 18.3 PPG, 12.2 RPG, 1.8 BPG Coach: Kevin McHale (fourth season) GM: Daryl Morey (eighth season) Last Season: 54-28, second in Southwest (fourth in Western Conference) Playoffs: Lost in first round to Trail Blazers Notable additions: SG/SF Trevor Ariza (acquired from Wizards), SG Jason Terry (acquired from Kings), SF Jeff Adrien ($900K, one-year deal), C Clint Capela (drafted) and PG Ishmael Smith ($980K, one-year deal), Notable subtractions: PG Jeremy Lin (traded to Lakers), SF Chandler Parsons (signed with Mavericks), C Omer Asik (traded to Pelicans), PF Omri Casspi (traded to Pelicans), SG/SF Alonzo Gee (traded to Kings) and SF/SG Jordan Hamilton (signed with Raptors) Rockets Depth Chart Position Starter Bench Point Guard Patrick Beverley Isaiah Canaan, Ish Smith Shooting Guard James Harden Jason Terry, Troy Daniels, Nick Johson Small Forward Trevor Ariza Francisco Garcia, Kostas Papanikolaou Power Forward Terrence Jones Jeff Adrien, Donatas Motiejunas, Josh Powell, Tarik Black Centre Dwight Howard Joey Dorsey, Clint Capela The last time the Houston Rockets were on the court, they watched Dame Lillard sink a series-winning, buzzer-beating three, rendering their 54-win season moot in a first-round exit. General manager Daryl Morey wanted to make sure that this didn’t happen again, so he drew up a grand plan to turn the Rockets into title contenders this past summer. Morey was in contact with LeBron. He had a contract drawn up for Chris Bosh. The Rockets weren’t fooling around. Of course, it all went for naught. LeBron took his talents back home to Ohio, Bosh stayed in South Beach and, to make matters worse, the Rockets balked in a very public game of chicken with the Mavericks over Chandler Parsons and refused to match his offer sheet. Morey has tenure and job security and isn’t worried about his future in Houston. Kevin McHale, though, well, he might start to feel the heat this season if the Rockets aren’t on a similar pace to what they found themselves on last year. The Rockets will be led by the same pair they were a season ago. Dwight Howard and James Harden are legitimate superstars in the league and will make the Rockets a threat on any given night. Howard remains the best defensive centre in the league, is an automatic 18-12 guy and is capable of once again reasserting himself as the best overall five in the NBA, health permitting. Obviously, Howard’s reputation has yet to recover from his exits in both Orlando and Los Angeles. Still, there’s no reason why that should affect his performance on the court. You don’t have to like Dwight Howard, but you will respect him. While Howard’s defensive credibility is unassailable, quite the opposite is the case for Harden. If Howard suffers for his reputation, Harden coasts by on his for being a shutdown defender. He’s not. He looked lost at times in Spain this summer as a member of USA Basketball in the FIBA World Cup. Granted, he led that team in scoring, but Harden is very much turning into a one-dimensional player. Tony Allen, he is not. Hell, he’s not even Wesley Matthews. With all that said, he’s an All-NBA first teamer, a gifted scorer and would start on any team in the league. As long as the Rockets contend, the less you will hear about Harden’s defence this season and, rest assured, the dogged tenacity of backcourt-mate Patrick Beverley can make up for the Beard’s deficiencies. Trevor Ariza is back for his second stint with the Rockets after a solid season with Wizards. Ariza is certainly not nearly as sexy an addition as the names that were bandied about on the Rockets’ radar, but Ariza is a dependable defender and a definite upgrade on Parsons. This is still a very good team that might have sacrificed some depth in the summer, but also made a couple of intriguing additions (Kostas Papanikolaou was very good in Europe and still very young and Clint Capela could look like a steal, taken with the 25th-overall pick, in a few years’ time) with high upside. If McHale can get his team to buy into a team commitment to defence and let Harden and Howard score, they’re going to be right back in the Western Conference conversation. Still, Morey still expects a title contender from his charges. That is wishful thinking. Projection: Second in the Southwest (fifth in the Western Conference) Memphis Grizzlies Marc Gasol in 2013-14: 14.6 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 1.2 BPG Coach: Dave Joerger (second season) GM: Chris Wallace (eighth season) Last Season: 50-32, third in Southwest (seventh in Western Conference) Playoffs: Lost in first round to Thunder Notable additions: SF Vince Carter ($12.26M, three-year deal), SG Jordan Adams (drafted) and PF Jarnell Stokes (acquired from Jazz) Notable subtractions: SG Mike Miller (signed with Cavaliers), SF/PF James Johnson (signed with Raptors) and PF Ed Davis (waived, signed with Lakers) Grizzlies Depth Chart Position Starter Bench Point Guard Mike Conley Beno Udrih, Nick Calathes Shooting Guard Courtney Lee Jordan Adams Small Forward Tony Allen Vince Carter, Quincy Pondexter, Tayshaun Prince Power Forward Zach Randolph Jarnell Stokes, Jon Leuer Centre Marc Gasol Kosta Koufos Dave Joerger is still the coach of the Grizzlies. He wasn’t going to be. He was headed to Minneapolis to coach the T-Wolves. Then, he wasn’t. And now he got an extension. Chris Wallace is essentially the entire Grizzlies’ front office under Cubanesque owner Robert Pena. That’d be okay in a scenario where Wallace was a hands-on GM, except that Wallace isn’t. In fact, Wallace barely had anything to do with the team last year prior to a power play by Pena in the late spring to remove a pair of minority owners from the NBA Board of Governors. But enough about front office strife, the Grizzlies were a playoff team last season, even without Marc Gasol for 23 games last season. The Grizzlies were arguably the model for team defence in the Association led by Tony Allen. Allen, affectionately referred to as a “crazy guy” by Charles Barkley, has earned the reputation as one of the game’s toughest players and led by example in taking the Thunder to seven games in the first round, doggedly shadowing Kevin Durant. Courtney Lee, acquired from the Celtics midseason, and Mike Conley made for an effective, if unheralded, backcourt with Lee proving a nice offensive complement to Conley’s elite passing. Zach Randolph, ornery as ever, was rewarded with an extension and was a dominant defender and capable scorer. The combination of Z-Bo and Gasol rivals any other frontcourt in the entire Western Conference when it comes to defensive punch. With defence on lock, the key for the Grizzlies this season (aside from keeping Gasol healthy and hoping that Randolph doesn’t begin to break down with age) will be scoring. Vince Carter will turn 38 in January, but turned himself into one of the league’s best sixth men in Dallas and will be looked to for scoring off of the bench. The Grizz were thrilled to grab UCLA two-guard Jordan Adams at #22 and truly believe that he can become a fearsome wing presence in the near future and could even make Lee (who has two years left on an affordable deal) expendable before season’s end. Adams is a much more gifted natural scorer than Lee, but certainly should not be expected to shoulder any sort of offensive load at this nascent stage of his game, even though he’s looked very good in the preseason. The team also hopes that their other rookie, Jarnell Stokes, can contribute key minutes during the season. The Grizzlies have built a reputation of making their opposition work for every basket and never phoning it in. While defensive responsibility isn’t in question, the ability to score is. If Gasol can avoid injury for a majority of the season and the rest of the team can score by committee, the Grizzlies will compete for a playoff spot right down to the wire. If not, they’re going to find themselves on the outside looking in in what is a West that could be even tighter than it was a year ago. Projection: Fourth in the Southwest (ninth in the Western Conference) New Orleans Pelicans Anthony Davis in 2013-14: 20.8 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 2.8 BPG Coach: Monty Williams (fifth season) GM: Dell Demps (fifth season) Last Season: 34-48, fifth in Southwest (12th in Western Conference) Playoffs: Did not qualify Notable additions: C Omer Asik (acquired from Rockets), PG Jimmer Fredette ($950K, one-year deal), SF John Salmons ($2M, one-year deal) Notable subtractions: SG Anthony Morrow (signed with Thunder), PG Brian Roberts (signed with Hornets) and SF/PF Al-Farouq Aminu (signed with Mavericks) Pelicans Depth Chart Position Starter Bench Point Guard Jrue Holiday Jimmer Fredette, Russ Smith Shooting Guard Eric Gordon Austin Rivers Small Forward Tyreke Evans John Salmons, Darius Miller, Luke Babbitt Power Forward Anthony Davis Ryan Anderson, Patric Young Centre Omer Asik Alexis Ajinca, Jeff Withey Beat up on Anthony Davis while you still can...if you still can. When Tim Duncan came into the NBA as a lanky youngster, he sat under the learning tree of the Admiral as he grew into his body and became one the leagues all-time greats. Davis hasnt had the advantage of being the understudy to the likes of a David Robinson. Davis has gone it alone in his first two seasons, posting up against much heavier and aggressive players, and taken his lumps. One day, Anthony Davis will be the best player in the NBA and the Pelicans believe it could happen sooner than later. Hes already a fine boards presence, good scorer and, perhaps, the best shot-blocker in the league already. Hes put on some upper body weight and he won a gold medal at the FIBA World Cup this summer with USA Basketball. Best of all, the Pelicans went out and got Omer Asik. Asik, buried on the Rockets bench behind Dwight Howard, isnt a talented scorer, but that doesnt matter because hes a lockdown defender. Bringing in Asik lets Davis shift to the four, avoid defending centres and find himself in offensive mismatches The thought of a freed-up Anthony Davis should terrify the rest of the Western Conference. Davis cant do it alone, though. The Pelicans were snakebitten by injury last year, losing Tyreke Evans (10 games), Eric Gordon (18 games), Jrue Holiday (58 games) and Ryan Anderson (60 games) all missed extensive time and the Pelicans playoff chase was over before it started. While everybody is healthy heading into the regular season, the Pelicans need the likes of Evans and Holiday to revert to the players that the Pelicans thought they were getting last season. The team has made a significant financial investment in these players and it expects a return. On the bench, Ryan Anderson is a fine big and can space out the floor and hit from distance. Jimmer Fredette is also deadly from behind the arc, while John Salmons provides a veteran presence. Salmons, traded from the Kings to the Raptors last December, saw himself fall out of favour in Duane Casey’s rotation, shipped out of Toronto and waived by the Hawks. At 34, Salmons believes he still has something left in the tank and can contribute. He’s probably right, but under no circumstances is John Salmons a starter in 2014 on a good team, so if that happens (meaning that Gordon has gone down again and Evans is shifted to the two), the Pelicans are looking at a long season. The Pelicans will frustrate and thrill fans in equal measure this year. Davis is a special, special talent and watching his coming of age will be a treat and, when healthy, the team will play some attractive, up-tempo basketball. Still, in a deep West, they remain a step behind the contenders and, considering their history, the Pelicans must assume that they will be looking at an injured key contributor at some point this year. While there’s a lot to like in New Orleans, they will be hard-pressed to see the postseason for the first time in the post-Chris Paul era. Projection: Fifth in Southwest (10th in Western Conference) San Antonio Spurs Kawhi Leonard in 2013-14: 12.8 PPG, 6.2 RPG, .522 FG% Coach: Gregg Popovich (18th season) GM: RC Buford (16th season) Last Season: 62-20, first in Southwest (First in Western Conference) Playoffs: NBA Champions Notable additions: SF Kyle Anderson (drafted) Notable subtractions: None Spurs Depth Chart Position Starter Bench Point Guard Tony Parker Cory Joseph, Patty Mills Shooting Guard Danny Green Manu Ginobili, Marco Belinelli Small Forward Kawhi Leonard Austin Daye, Kyle Anderson Power Forward Tim Duncan Matt Bonner, Jeff Ayres Centre Tiago Splitter Boris Diaw, Aron Baynes The San Antonio Spurs could very well win yet another NBA Title and Gregg Popovich is going to look as miserable as ever about it. The Spurs are the envy of, not just in the NBA, but the whole of pro sports. They epitomize the Platonic ideal of the “team,” checking egos at the door and rallying behind what it says on the front of the jersey and not on the back. That’s lame and clichéd, but it’s accurate. It’s almost boring just how consistently good this team is. Off of a heartbreaking seven-game series loss (after blowing a 3-2 series lead) to the Miami Heat in the 2013 NBA Finals, Pop rallied the troops and marched right back to exorcize the Heat demon and claim the team’s fifth NBA Title in 15 years. As the defending champions, the Spurs will face the question that all title-holders face in whether or not the hunger exists to win anew. They avenged a Finals loss with an NBA Title last year, so are they prepared to reach the summit yet again or have they been lulled into contentment? Don’t be silly. Gregg Popovich doesn’t allow contentment (or fun or smiling, presumably). The trio of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili is quite possibly the finest troika ever assembled in the game and all three are consummate professionals. As long as their bodies allow them, they still want to win. The issue of age, obviously, has reared its head with the three (Duncan is 38, Ginobili is 37 and Parker, the pup of the bunch, is 32) in recent years and, with that, health. To ensure that none of his key trio misses extended time, Pop has utilized his rotation to perfection. Ginobili played under 23 minutes a night last season for the first time since his rookie year and has taken a back seat to Danny Green. Nights off will be given to his vets to maintain health and make sure that the postseason is a priority. No offence to the Jazz, but a match-up in January with Utah might mean Parker or Duncan takes a seat. With the Big Three moving into their twilight years, Popovich has his next group ready. When Robinson, Sean Elliott and Avery Johnson were aging, Popovich had Duncan, Parker and Ginobili there to step up. The next generation of Spurs is led by last year’s Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard. Entering his fourth season (and a contract year), Popovich has a decision to make with Leonard. What made him so effective last season, and in the playoffs especially, was the fact that the 23-year-old always seem to surprise. Because of his versatility and ability to play just about anywhere on the court, plays weren’t necessarily drawn up for Leonard. He was able to create his own chances. With his core aging, Popovich might now choose to have more of his offence run through Leonard, but that could limit his effectiveness in removing some of his unpredictability. Still, Leonard is rapidly flourishing into a superstar and is seemingly primed for big things. It’s a safe and boring pick to say that the Spurs will once again be the class of the NBA. It’s safe for a reason, though, as the Spurs contending is almost as much of a lock as death and taxes. Barring the unforeseen, the Spurs will head to their third-straight NBA Finals. Projection: First in Southwest (first in Western Conference) Jack Armstrongs Pick: Tony Parker in 2013-14: 16.7 PPG, 5.7 APG, .499 FG% San Antonio Spurs - Theyre boringly efficient. Popovichs team isnt all that concerned with the day-to-day grind of wins and losses. They just try to get it all right by about mid-April. Their Big Three is brilliant and the coaching is phenomenal. Their depth is sound and its role definition and chemistry are top shelf. Jack Armstrongs Player to Watch: James Harden in 2013-14: 25.4 PPG, 6.1 APG, .366 3P% James Harden, Rockets - No Chandler Parsons and now its just him and Dwight Howard. Will he be able to carry the load each night and will he actually compete defensively? 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