The Northwest division holds the answers to a lot of the intriguing questions in this draft. The five teams hold 7 first round picks and each team controls a different part of the round. Will Portland select Gerald Green at # 3 or make a deal to allow another team to move up to nab one of the top point guards? Will the point-guard starved Jazz be involved in such a deal? Will Minnesota start the run on big, experienced college bodies that can contribute immediately or will they go after future potential at # 14? Will Denver make a deal to get into the lottery or stay put and control the face of the last one-third of the first round? Will Seattle’s selection lend insight into which of their many free agents they plan to re-sign this summer?

Seattle Supersonics, 1st Place, # 3 seed

52-30, lost to San Antonio in Conference Semifinals

Pick # 25, 48, 55

Out of all the first place teams, Seattle is by far the team with the highest level of uncertainty with regard to their roster for next season. The Sonics have 8 free agents, which means that they may need everything and they may need nothing, who knows. They could potentially lose 72% of their offense, including Ray Allen, Vlad Radmanovic, Antonio Daniels, Ronald Murray and Danny Fortson. Murray and Daniels were fantastic off the bench last season and will likely receive huge offers on the free agent market that Seattle will be unable to match. But if they re-sign everyone else they will have a good core to go along with Rashard Lewis, Luke Ridnour and 2nd year players Nick Collison and Damien Wilkins. If that is the case they will have no major holes, but could use more depth in the frontcourt and another shooter. At # 25 look for them to take the best player available, which could be Wayne Simien, Hakim Warrick, Chris Taft, Ryan Gomes, Rashad McCants or Francisco Garcia.

,

Denver Nuggets, 2nd Place, # 7 seed

49-33, lost to San Antonio 4-1 in First Round

Pick # 20, 22, 52

In Carmelo Anthony, Kenyon Martin, Andre Miller, Marcus Camby, Earl Boykins, Nene Hilario, Dermarr Johnson, and Eduardo Najera the Nuggets have a pretty solid 8-man rotation. You could even make the argument that Denver is on the verge of being an elite team. They’ve got decent big men in Martin, Camby and Hilario and Miller at the point to go with Carmelo on the wing. If they can find a shooting guard who can consistently knock down the three and play tough George Karl-type defense they’ll be in great shape.

The good news is that Denver has two first-round picks...for now. Don’t be surprised to see them package # 20 and # 22 in a deal to try to move into the lottery to position themselves to take Antoine Wright or Martell Webster. It would be a wise move, as those two guys are a step above the rest of the shooting guards in the draft. If they don’t move up, they might as well trade down a handful of spots because they will be able to get a similar caliber shooter in the early twenties as they will in the mid-to-late twenties. If they stay put or trade down, the possibilities include Rudy Fernandez, Rashad McCant and Francisco Garcia. If they keep both picks, look for Denver to use one of them to invest in a project – either a high school kid like Andrew Bynum or Monta Ellis, or a foreign player like Ersan Ilyasova or Yaroslav Korolev.

Minnesota Timberwolves, 3rd Place

44-38, no playoffs

Pick # 14, 47

The T-wolves went in the flat-out wrong direction this past season. After making the conference finals last season, Minnesota didn’t even make the playoffs this year. Overpriced unhappy veterans with big egos (read: Sam Cassell, Latrell Sprewell) are simply not the answer when you are trying to take the next step to being an elite franchise. Fortunately, Sprewell will be gone via free agency this summer and the front office would love to find a way to move Cassell as well. In other words, the T-Wolves are looking for a new backcourt to compliment Kevin Garnett. And like most other teams in the league, they could also use help at center – the oft-injured Michael Olowokandi has not played well even when healthy.

This is only the T-Wolves 2nd first round pick in the last five years thanks to the Joe Smith scandal, so they finally have a chance to add some young talent to the roster. With the last lottery pick, they are unlikely to get a shot at Martell Webster, Antoine Wright or Raymond Felton. And unfortunately # 14 is a reach to select the next tier of backcourt players like Rudy Fernandez, Rashad McCants, Jarrett Jack, or Roko-Leni Ukic. Instead, the T-Wolves may go big, and they hold the key to the door of experienced college players that should go in the mid-first round. This could include Sean May, Hakim Warrick, Ike Diogu, or Chris Taft. The other option is to take the best athlete available, which could yield Joey Graham or Charlie Villanueva.

Portland Trailblazers, 4th Place

27-55, no playoffs

Pick # 3, 35

Despite only 27 wins, Portland actually has a decent mix of quality veterans and young talent. Damon Stoudamire, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Zach Randolph and Nick Van Exel are well established and should provide leadership during the continued development of Sebastian Telfair, Joel Przybilla, and Darius Miles. The team is well-stocked at point guard and in the paint, but sorely lacks shooters on the wing. Derek Anderson was the only true shooter last season, and they could certainly use an upgrade. Some shooting help will come next season when the team adds last year’s first round pick, Sergei Monya, to the roster, but Portland is still looking to nab a wing player at # 3.

Fortunately for Blazers fans, the team got lucky in the draft lottery with the # 3 pick. They now are perfectly positioned to nab high school scorer Gerald Green and possibly add some depth in the process via trade. Because they already have Telfair developing at point guard, they don’t have a need for Chris Paul or Deron Williams, who are in high demand from several teams in the middle of the lottery. Rumors are swirling that Portland will swap picks with the Bobcats (# 5) or Jazz (# 6) and still select Green at # 5 or 6. This would make the most sense if they can pull it off, although logic has not always been a strong suit of the Blazers front office. But trade or no trade, Green is the guy they have their eye on and along with Telfair, Portland could have one of the top backcourts in the league in a couple years.

Utah Jazz, 5th Place

26-56, no playoffs

Picks # 6, 27, 34, 51, 60

After the big spending spree to land Carlos Boozer last off-season, the Jazz were railroaded by injuries this year. But Utah does have a decent talent base in the frontcourt with Boozer, Andrei Kirilenko, Mehmet Okur, and Matt Harpring. The backcourt is another story. After the team surprisingly gave up on Carlos Arroyo early in the season, the Jazz were left with a point guard by committee consisting of Keith McLeod, Howard Eisley and Raul Lopez. Along with Raja Bell at the 2-guard, it wasn’t the most formidable backcourt in the division to say the least.

Fortunately, Utah has 3 of the top 34 picks in this draft. Their major need is a franchise point guard to give the team some leadership and direction. If they could get their hands on Chris Paul or Deron Williams, they would have a perfect fit to go with Boozer and Kirilenko. Paul and Williams will be long gone by # 6, but Utah is one of the teams in the running to make a deal with Portland for the # 3 overall pick, which would allow them to choose between Paul and Williams. If they decide to stay put at # 6, Raymond Felton should be available but is a clear step below the other two top point guards at the top of the lottery and Utah may choose to take one of the top wing guards available (Antoine Wright, Danny Granger, Martell Webster) instead. If the Jazz still own the 27th pick, look for them to go European or fill out the rest of their backcourt, preferably with someone who can consistently knock down the three point shot. Possibilities include Rashad McCants, Francisco Garcia, Kennedy Winston, Mickael Gelabale, or Jarrett Jack.