The separation in the standings in the west isn't quite what it's been in the past. It's still early of course. The Lakers will likely be out ahead when all is said and done despite their recent struggles.
The rest of the pack though looks like it will be the same as it has been the past couple of years. For the sake of this comment, we'll leave Dallas grouped with LA for now in the standings. That leaves just a three-game spread between #3 Denver and #9 OKC. We're at #8, just 2 games back.
And really, the only ones that can be counted out of the playoffs at this point are Golden State and Minnesota.
Given the current point-differentials only, you would have to think that everyone below OKC will start the drop off a bit. The rest of the teams though could be ranked anywhere though when the regular season comes to an end.
The Sporting News interviews Wesley Matthews
A week after the trade and it looks like Dontell Jefferson is the most likely to get signed by the team to fill the minimum roster requirements.
He should be a bit more than a roster filler though. That's not saying he's going to get PT, but he knows the Jazz system. He's been the Flash's leading scorer and assist man. He can also shoot the three.
Seems like the safe pick, especially given salary implications.
Will we see a Memo awakening starting next month? If the past is any indicator, we will. Here are Memo's career numbers by month followed by his numbers this year by month.
| Career | ||||
| Split | Value | FG% | 3P% | PTS |
| Month | October | 43.9% | 33.3% | 9.2 |
| November | 45.6% | 37.2% | 12.3 | |
| December | 44.0% | 35.6% | 13.5 | |
| January | 46.3% | 37.8% | 14.7 | |
| February | 47.1% | 40.4% | 14.5 | |
| March | 47.3% | 37.7% | 14.5 | |
| April | 46.0% | 37.5% | 14.3 | |
| 2009-2010 | ||||
| Split | Value | FG% | 3P% | PTS |
| Month | October | 45.5% | 66.7% | 13 |
| November | 44.3% | 42.9% | 13.3 | |
| December | 43.4% | 29.8% | 11.8 | |
OKC is now 3-0 since Maynor joined their team. He's not doing us any favors. He's played pretty solid and shooting 50%. He's getting about 13 minutes a game which is just a little less than what he was getting here. If you look at his numbers, the small sample size that they are, he's playing about the same as he did here.