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If the Western Conference is the best in the NBA, the Southwest Division is responsible for the honor. Four teams won more than 50 games. (Yes, the Grizzlies lost 60 and handed the conference crown to the Lakers, but those are just details, right?)

Though the league is focused on catching the Celtics, the Southwest has been waging an inter-division arms race for years. This summer was no different with the Rockets' addition of Ron Artest, the Mavs' addition of a new coach and the Hornets' addition of former Celtics glue man James Posey. Who made the right moves? Who didn't? Let's see ...

New Orleans Hornets

What went right:

Chris Paul decided to call New Orleans home through 2012.

Locking up the league's best point guard with a three-year deal, including a fourth year at the player's option, should ensure that the Hornets remain a playoff regular. It also serves as a tasty carrot to attract difference-making free agents.

James Posey placed a bet on the next big thing.

With a plethora of title aspirants interested in his services, the league's new Robert Horry opted for the Hornets' potential. Yes, a four-year, $25 million contract helped, especially when most of Posey's other suitors weren't offering more than the midlevel exception of $5.6 million per season. Still, Posey knew what he was doing by eschewing the likes of his hometown Cavs and his previous employer, the Celtics, who won their first title in 17 years with Posey's help.

Posey has that "it" factor, which teams on the cusp of the Finals feel could be their missing ingredient. His defense will be crucial in defending the West's many weapons and his three-point shooting will prove a welcome burst of offense from a previously underpowered bench. But counting on a Finals berth will be asking a lot from a 31-year-old bench player who hasn't shot better than 43 percent in any of the last four seasons.

The fans bought in.

Overlooked amid the NBA's show of support for New Orleans is a clause in the Hornets' lease that allows them to leave if they don't average at least 14,735 fans per game from December 2007 through the end of the '08-09 season. With 10,000 season tickets sold for the first time since the team arrived in New Orleans in '02, and after selling out most of last season's second half, the Hornets are a lot more likely to remain in the Big Easy and not embarrass the league by packing their bags and moving on.

What went wrong:

Jannero Pargo got his passport stamped for Russia.

Following in Josh Childress' footsteps, the six-year veteran decided to play overseas next season, inking a one-year contract with Dynamo Moscow, reportedly for almost $4 million. Ostensibly a point guard, Pargo rarely found a shot he wasn't willing to take -- a trait that shot the Hornets out of some games (see: Game 7, 2008 Western Conference semifinals) -- though his itchy trigger finger did provide a necessary boost of adrenaline for a bench that often offered little support on the scoreboard.

George Shinn still owns them.

Not only did Shinn dismantle a solid Charlotte franchise to make leaving town a lot easier, but also he got an escape clause in his New Orleans lease -- and this is a guy who claims that he's tired of moving his teams. No fan can feel secure in his team's long-term viability when Shinn is the owner.

Grade: A-

Try as we might, we just couldn't find a whole lot this team didn't do right during the offseason. The Hornets locked up Paul to a new deal, addressed their iffy bench and overall tenacity with Posey, and moved a good deal closer to remaining in New Orleans for longer than its owner perhaps wanted. With good health, this team will be in the Western Conference finals next spring.

Dallas Mavericks

What went right:

Rick Carlisle took the helm.

After back-to-back first-round playoff knockouts, and a helpful nudge from Jason Kidd -- who reportedly told a friend, "When I got [to Dallas], the players all thought [Avery Johnson] was crazy. And he was" -- the beleaguered coach was shown the door after four seasons. Shuttled in from the broadcast chair was Carlisle, who has won 57 percent of his games as an NBA coach and doesn't just talk defense, but knows how to coach it. Then again, Carlisle also knows how to rub teams the wrong way with his demanding ways, a trait that paved his way out of Detroit and Indiana and may not sit well with the notoriously headstrong Kidd and the oft-sensitive Dirk Nowitzki.

Josh Howard is still a Maverick.

After Howard's dismal postseason performance and poorly-timed admission -- in the middle of the Mavs' first-round playoff series against New Orleans -- that he'd used marijuana during the offseason, rumors arose that Dallas was entertaining the thought of trading away the versatile small forward. Owner Mark Cuban may be many things, but he isn't stupid, which is why Howard is still a Mav. Small forwards who can score inside and out, attack the glass, and are willing to play defense are hard to find.

What went wrong:

DeSagana Diop received a raise.

Employing a player who has never averaged more than three points per game or as many as six rebounds is common practice in the NBA, but paying him $31 million for the next five years is uncommon exuberance, to put it nicely. Cuban has never been shy about blowing through the salary cap and into the luxury-tax stratosphere, but deals the likes of Diop's clog the avenues a team needs to make further moves. Flexibility will be vital for Dallas in the tightly-packed Western Conference.

Jason Kidd didn't get any younger.

Look, Kidd once was the league's best point guard, capable of turning a team's fortunes around to a degree surpassed only by Shaquille O'Neal in his prime. But anyone from LeBron James to the Mavericks' front office crew who thinks that Kidd can make a similar impact now didn't watch him last season. They didn't see him mail in the first 51 games while shooting a career-low 36 percent from the field or that he was benched late in games after he arrived in Dallas because he's a shadow of his former self. At 35, Kidd won't find an extra gear this fall.

Grade: C

Clearly this team had tuned out Johnson. But will the hard-driving Carlisle have its ears for very long? Of course, he may not need very long with Kidd sliding toward the end of his career. For a team that boasted one of the youngest and talented cores only two years ago, the title window appears to be closing. It will be hard to keep it propped open with the more balanced Lakers and Hornets emerging as the dominant Western powers. If Carlisle can't get this club past the first round in the spring, a housecleaning could be next.