Already 3-team race for final spot in West

With the signing of Baron Davis and the trade for Marcus Camby, the Los Angeles Clippers should be considered the favorites for the final playoff spot next year, a spot Denver vacated after it traded Camby for nothing.

Denver was lucky to get to the playoffs anyway. The only reason the Nuggets took the eighth seed and not Golden State was an injury to Golden State center Andris Biedrins that took him out of action for a big chunk of March. The Warriors were so desperate that they dusted off Chris Webber and put him in the starting lineup.

That experiment worked about as well as it should have and C-Web left out the door faster than when he entered.

He didn’t leave as fast as Davis did through. Davis opted out of his Golden State contract and then signed a max contract the following day with the Clippers. The deal was so quick it appeared to have gone down sight unseen unless the Clippers and Davis already had the principles of the deal ironed out before he opted out. But that’s a story for another day.

Today the topic is the Clippers and how the addition of Davis and Camby has shifted the balance of mediocre power by adding to the Clippers all-star level scoring and rebounding and playmaking ability.

They’ll have a front line of Camby, Kaman, and Al Thornton, one that should be tougher than most Western Conference teams. Camby, who said this week he’s going to be motivated by Denver’s giving him away, will be able to move to power forward, the position that most suits his skill set.

The Clippers main question now is shooting guard. They have undersized veteran Cutino Mobley or Quinton Ross. All they need there is someone who can man-up on defense and can hit an open jump shot.

Golden State tried to cover the loss of Davis by signing Corey Maggette. He will help. He’ll cancel out Davis in the scoring department, but he’s hasn’t shown he has Davis’ moxy. Davis will often lead the team in scoring, but he also rebounds like a forward and assists like a guard. In any game, he is a threat to post a triple-double.

Maggette will score 25 points, but have four rebounds and two assists. His slashing game should thrive in Don Nelson’s open court style, and his free throw numbers should go up, increasing his scoring average. Ultimately the Warriors won’t win unless they can find a true point guard. Perhaps it’s Monta Ellis, who they finally signed to a long-term deal yesterday.

Monta Ellis, Stephen Jackson and Corey Maggette sounds like a pretty good guard/forward tandem and with Andris Biedrins and All Harrington there as big men, they should be all right.

The Trailblazers are in the conversation because Brandon Roy sometimes looks like Chris Paul with the ball in his hands. He’s the wildcard in Portland’s ascension next season. He looks like he’d going to be a top point guard in the league for a long time. But it’s going to be Greg Oden’s first season. Roy’s wizardry is going to have to make up for Oden’s mistakes.

The biggest growth curve for the 7-0 center from Ohio State is going to be how he handles the double team in the NBA. His first task will be forcing the double-team, second will be learning how to take it and third will be passing out of it. Only the best master the fourth -- turning away from it to score.