Cinco de Mayo

Well, with New Orleans' adding of Peja Stojakovic, the Southwest Division just got that much tougher.

I think this could be the season where we see all five teams from the Southwest make the playoffs. All it depends on is Houston's overall health and how quickly and how much Rudy Gay can contribute. Another big question is where the Grizzlies finish in that race.

Right now, Dallas and San Antonio are better than us (and they probably will stay that way for at least a couple more seasons). Houston, assuming a healthy Yao and a healthy TMac, should be better especially now with Battier. He'll add a certain level of chemistry that was lacking last year even when TMac was dressed out. Much like he did in Memphis, except he didn't have two 20+ ppg scorers to carry the team when the postseason rolled around. In New Orleans, another year's experience for Chris Paul plus David West and now Peja's 16+ points per game.

As for Memphis, while I loved the draft night trade, we've lost our "glue" guy and added two high-profile rookies. We'll very likely be much better than we have been the past three seasons when they develop, but it might be a slight step back until they do develop.

We need to make some more moves to keep up.

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