The wild, wild west

The competition in the Western Conference just got stiffer.

With Pau Gasol going to the Lakers, Shaq to the Suns and now Jason Kidd to the Mavericks, the west’s rich just became richer.

This does help create a potential Lakers-Celtics finals match-up that the NBA so sorely needs to rejuvenate its popularity.

While it wouldn’t be Showtime versus Bird, Parish and McHale, a battle between Boston’s new Big Three against Kobe, Gasol and company should provide plenty of fireworks.

That is, if the Lakers can get past eight other teams who currently have a .600 winning percentage.

Although the slow-moving Shaq is contradictory to Phoenix’s running game, his size could help the undersized Suns battle against bigger teams such as the Spurs and the Rockets.

The Spurs have been flying under the radar despite being the defending World Champions and having a team that’s been together for several years.

The Kidd-Nowitzki-Howard connection in Dallas is a scary thought. Kidd brings his run-and-gun offense to coach Avery Johnson’s defensive-minded gameplan.

The Hornets have been the big surprise this year, barely holding onto the No. 1 seed in the West. Chris Paul is the best point guard in the league and he has a strong supporting cast. But the team’s lack of postseason experience will hurt them.

Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer aren’t the new Stockton-Malone, but the team’s chemistry is helping them stay on top of their division.

Which brings me to the Nuggets. Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony are arguably the most lethal scoring combo in the league, and they have a strong supporting cast, but they haven’t been able to come together. They only had one winning streak of more than three games this year, but that was at the beginning of the season.

What they need another piece. Though they lost out on the Kidd sweepstakes, Ron Artest and Mike Miller are still on the trading block. Artest’s volatile temper is a risk, but there are few who can defend better than him. Miller is a tall swingman who would give the Nuggs a consistant outside threat.