The NBA’s Southwest Division is the deepest and toughest one in the league. Four of the five teams in the division should make the playoffs, barring injuries or other unexpected plot twists. The Central is the only other division which can reasonably aspire to put four teams in the postseason.
A brief clarification before we go any further: Naturally, the most valuable players on teams are the superstars. In that sense, they are supremely important performers. Cleveland won’t win a title if LeBron James gets injured. For purposes of this discussion, an “important” player is set aside from “valuable” because of the structure of rosters. All eyes gravitate to the big star or pair of stars, but each roster has that “important” player. For some hoopheads, “glue guy” is the right term. For others, “role player” fits the bill. Those terms were considered, and one supposes that “glue guy” could include the list of players you’ll see below, but a central engine for four different NBA championship teams is not exactly a role player.
Let’s keep things simple and focus on the NBA’s most important players in the league’s most cutthroat division:
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SAN ANTONIO SPURS: TONY PARKER
The fact — not a 2 + 2 = 4 fact, but a fact nonetheless — that the San Antonio Spurs became Tony Parker’s team after many years of making Tim Duncan the centerpiece points to one of the core resons why the Spurs failed to get out of the first round last spring. Parker’s explosiveness, jump shot, and overall offensive game all lost their juice, and that’s why San Antonio couldn’t escape the Los Angeles Clippers in a magnificent seven-game series. Vintage Tony Parker would have given the Spurs enough timely buckets to advance, but that version just didn’t show up. If Parker can orchestrate the offense at a level worthy of his ability and resume, San Antonio should be ecstatic about its title chances.
If Parker remains a shell of his former self, it’s going to be a long year in the Alamo City. LaMarcus Aldridge can toss in all the mid-range jumpers he wants, but if Parker can’t draw attention and cause defenses to scramble, San Antonio will not be able to consistently initiate the symphonic sequences in which it makes five or six passes to create a great shot without the ball ever touching the floor.
The Spurs might get to 55 wins without Parker being at his best, but in the West, 55 wins probably means another mid-level seed. If San Antonio is going to be a top-two seed in the playoffs, Parker has to be right for a large-enough percentage of games. He’ll have to be a better version of himself in the playoffs; he can’t be a relatively ordinary player in late April and the month of May.
DALLAS MAVERICKS: WESLEY MATTHEWS
Getting a high-impact player who is coming off a significant injury represents just one of the many risks the Mavericks have taken. With DeAndre Jordan, Dallas would have possessed so much more inside-outside balance, but without him, the burden falls on Matthews to stitch together this team, much as he did for Portland a season ago. The Trail Blazers were not the same group without him.
Jordan is a player with a limited but fearsome skill set — what he does, he does quite well. He wouldn’t have been the answer to all of Dallas’s problems, but he would have shored up the Mavs’ interior defense and rebounding. Since he’s not on the roster, Matthews has to be dynamic if Dallas’ season is going to reach its potential.
HOUSTON ROCKETS: TY LAWSON
You could just as easily say that Patrick Beverley is the most important Rocket because of his defense, and you’d make an entirely legitimate argument. The nod goes to Lawson, though, because of his off-court problems and the powder keg he could become if he doesn’t find new peace and stability in his anything-but-comfortable career. This was a high-risk pickup by general manager Daryl Morey, and so while the Rockets need Beverley’s on-ball defense, they more acutely need Lawson to make the front office — and the team — look good.
NEW ORLEANS PELICANS: ERIC GORDON
The Pelicans are Anthony Davis’s team, but if they’re going to win a first-round playoff series — which one could reasonably establish as the goal for this season — they will likely need to get the sixth seed at worst in the West. Playing the Warriors or Spurs in the first round as a 7 or 8 seed will keep the Pelicans out of the playoffs by the time the Kentucky Derby occurs.
If New Orleans wants to climb higher, Davis’s virtuosity must be accompanied by a more substantial perimeter scoring presence. Gordon, who hit 45 percent of his threes last season, has to join Tyreke Evans as a player who can score north of 16 points per game, and he has to do it while maintaining his level of shooting accuracy. The supporting cast in the Big Easy has to do more to help Davis, and Gordon — hardly an old man in basketball terms — needs to begin to carve out a prime period in his career.
MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES: COURTNEY LEE
The man who helped the Orlando Magic reach the 2009 NBA Finals in a role-player capacity then missed a layup which would have given the Magic a legitimate chance of winning that series against the Los Angeles Lakers. Lee is a veteran who has taken plenty of big shots in his career. One could make the case that giving him the “most important” designation in Memphis overstates his overall abilities, and that might well be true; however, the Grizzlies won’t go deeper in the playoffs (remember, they’ve never won a conference finals game, even though — unlike the Clippers — they’ve reached that round) unless or until they get a reliable long-distance marksman. Lee remains the best bet to become that particular piece. It sure isn’t Vince Carter.
