Western Conference contenders: A closer look at playoff race

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic pulls up for a shot over Lakers center Marc Gasol.

Staff Writer

April 4, 2021 5 AM PT

While the Lakers and Clippers are considered NBA title contenders, here is a look at the teams who could threaten their Western Conference supremacy.

Denver Nuggets

There wasn’t a better trade made at the deadline than the Nuggets’ acquisition of Aaron Gordon. Denver picked up the athletic wing without sacrificing any key role players or their top young talent.

There aren’t many players in the NBA who can guard LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard or Paul George — the jobs are so distinct and require combinations of size, speed, athleticism and smarts. Gordon is one of the few who can compete credibly with the Lakers’ and Clippers’ stars.

It gives the Nuggets the kind of defender (and then some) that they lost when Jerami Grant bolted for Detroit this past offseason. Nikola Jokic is probably going to win the MVP (injuries derailing the cases for James and Brooklyn’s James Harden) and the Nuggets center is going to be even better this postseason after last year’s trip to the conference finals.

One possible holdup is with Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, a player who’s explosive enough to carry them for stretches, but one who is inconsistent enough to disappear for a half.

Utah Jazz

It’s easy to undervalue Utah because of the general rule that you always roll with the team with the best player in a playoff series. And the Jazz could end up being on the other end of that rule in each round they play.

Yet they’re a team with plenty of ways to beat you. In the last 10 games, they’ve got the fifth-best offense and the third-best defense. Donovan Mitchell has gotten on track after a little bit of a slow start.

While they were quiet at the trade deadline, why would they try to fix what’s not broken? More than one NBA insider thinks this season ends with the Jazz unfairly ending up with a team like the Lakers in the first or second round.

Portland Trail Blazers

It’s hard not to like the trade for Norm Powell, even if Gary Trent Jr. had earned his place in Portland’s rotation since settling in during the bubble. Powell is experienced and a more explosive scorer.

But the reason Portland should be worrisome is another frontrunner for MVP — Damian Lillard. When you watch him play, you can talk yourself into him doing anything and you feel like he’ll win with Portland sooner or later.

C.J. McCollum is back, Jusuf Nurkic is too, and the depth the Trail Blazers cultivated while those starters were out should be valuable in the postseason.

Phoenix Suns

There’s a pretty big gap in terms of “scare factor” between Portland and Phoenix despite the Suns’ terrific season.

Chris Paul has been a cursed figure when it comes to the postseason, and the Suns feel more like a tough out than a team ready to play in the Finals.

Dallas Mavericks/Golden State Warriors

If things really bottom out for the Lakers and they find themselves in the play-in tournament among the seventh through 10th seeds, what could possibly be scarier than a winner-takes-all game against Luka Doncic? Maybe a winner-takes-all game against Steph Curry?

Best to watch that No. 7 spot in the standings — even healthy, no one should want any part of that play-in tournament.