Which Western Conference teams tried to get better this summer but failed?

The latest episode of Fastbreak Breakfast previews the Western Conference.

Now that there is a pre-season basketball result in the books, things are starting to get real. The season is just around the corner. And at Fastbreak Breakfast the arrival of the season means the annual “Butter or Parkay” previews. (Don’t miss Part One where we covered the Eastern Conference).

Each off-season, almost every team thinks they have improved. Whether it is through free agency, the draft, or internal improvements, optimism runs high. So our challenge this episode is to look at every team in the Western Conference and and ask a very simple question: Did they get better (butter)? Or are they not-butter (parkay)? Or perhaps were the team changes too “margarinal” to matter?

Does this food pun/analogy get confusing? Absolutely!

Among the tougher verdicts to hand out:

• The Trail Blazers moved on from Al-Farouq Aminu and Moe Harkless, who played a majority of their forward minutes, and brought in Hassan Whiteside to fill-in for an injured Jusuf Nurkic. Does this represent a net gain?
• Despite not currently being projected as a playoff team, do a healthy Jeff Teague and Robert Covington mean the Timberwolves will take a step forward?
• For the sake of this exercise, if you consider Anthony Davis to be a part of last year’s Pelicans team, could the new look New Orleans roster built around Zion Williamson defeat them? Yes, Jrue Holiday has to guard himself in this hypothetical game.
• Will the James Harden and Russell Westbrook pairing bring the Rockets to higher heights than they achieved with Chris Paul?

Fastbreak Breakfast is a podcast for serious NBA fans that is incredibly not serious. All episodes are available on Apple Podcasts and Soundcloud or any other major podcast service.

Music provided courtesy of New Man and Codaphonic.

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