Grading each team at midseason (cont.)

Western Conference

Nenê's strong play in the paint has helped elevate the Nuggets into contention for home-court advantage in the first round. AP Steve Aschburner's Mailbag Submit a comment or question for Steve. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND

Northwest Division

Denver Nuggets: The trade for Chauncey Billups was a masterstroke, for the here and now anyway. Having healthy horses up front, Nenê and Kenyon Martin, has been almost as big. With Carmelo Anthony possibly back by the end of the month and a tight division race to push them, the Nuggets could nail down a top-four berth and finally make it out of the first round.
Grade: A-

Portland Trail Blazers: Greg Oden's slow development has been, let's be honest, one of the surprises of this season. The Blazers are still more parts than whole, and they ought to hand in some extra-credit work to make up for the Darius Miles misstep. LaMarcus Aldridge's rise has made up for some of the Oden frustration, but Portland might be waiting an extra year to take the step it envisioned. Grade: B

Utah Jazz: Not only have they weathered injuries (108 man-games lost through the first 41) to stay right where they need to be for a second-half push, but they also potentially have addressed one of their problems for this summer: Paul Millsap should do just fine taking over Carlos Boozer's vacated spot next season if that's how things play out on the free-agent market. Mehmet Okur still doesn't strike me as a serious postseason type of center. Grade: B

Minnesota Timberwolves: They seriously underachieved through their first 19 games, costing Randy Wittman his job, then lost eight in a row under Kevin McHale. The 9-4 stretch since then has been encouraging, a credit to some scruffy opponents but also to McHale's coaching personality, Al Jefferson's relentless low-post play and the improvement of Randy Foye, Kevin Love, Ryan Gomes and Sebastian Telfair. Still, it took one heck of a detour to get there and the Wolves still are behind the pace they expected. Grade: C-

Oklahoma City Thunder: A buzzer-beater victory at Golden State (after a 72-point first half) on Wednesday, with the Clippers in their sights for Friday night? Things are looking up for the Thunder, who are 6-5 since New Year's Eve. Russell Westbrook is coming along, coach Scott Brooks looks ready to grow with the rest of these guys and GM Sam Presti could set up his club nicely with a deadline move or two. Grade: D+

Pacific Division

Los Angeles Lakers: Dispatching the Celtics on Christmas and the Cavaliers on MLK Day has fueled a holiday spirit, with fans really looking forward to how the team fares on Cinco de Mayo, Memorial Day, Flag Day and Father's Day. Call me greedy but I'd like to see, on a regular basis, more of what Andrew Bynum (42 points, 15 boards) did to the Clippers on Wednesday. Grade: A

Phoenix Suns: Probably no team in the NBA has more neutral fans rooting for it to get hot and make noise in the postseason than the Suns. People loved this team when it simply outgassed opponents and now they love it for the tribulations and false starts it has endured. Jason Richardson was a nice "get,'' and a Shaq renaissance that ran through May would be a hoot to write about. But Amaré Stoudemire, by the day, is looking less like The Man he claims to be. Grade: C

Golden State Warriors: Don Nelson has earned his mad scientist label and seems to find more hidden-gem players than most coaches, but he sure does bring the drama, doesn't he? Andris Biedrins, Jamal Crawford, C.J. Watson, Ronny Turiaf and Anthony Morrow all are good stories. Now the Warriors need consistent results. Grade: D+

Sacramento Kings: The way the Kings have been hemorrhaging points -- they've given up an average of 125.8 in the last five games, including a triple-overtime victory against Golden State -- the Bucks, Raptors and Cavs are drooling over their upcoming contests. Everyone is waiting for Brad Miller to be traded and for Beno Udrih to feel pushed by someone, anyone, at the point guard spot. Grade: D+

Los Angeles Clippers: It was tempting here to give an incomplete, not just because of injuries but because of this franchise's chronically inadequate results. But they made the decision to invest in Baron Davis, known for creakiness in non-contract years, and history suggests few other clubs would have been so snookered by Elton Brand. They welcomed in Ricky Davis and Zach Randolph, yet claim to want to win. That's like emptying the gas canister and lighting the match as you make lofty boasts about your failing Beanie Baby franchise. Grade: F

Southwest Division

San Antonio Spurs: The first half of the season means less to this team than to any of the 29 others (well, OK, it rarely means much to the Clippers). The annual goal is to stay or get healthy, probe the bench guys (Roger Mason, Matt Bonner and rookie George Hill have been solid), continuously tighten the defense and survive/bond on the long road trips. The defense isn't where Gregg Popovich wants it yet. Grade: B+

New Orleans Hornets: This team was supposed to be what Orlando has been, taking a bigger step than we've seen. It sounds good but it's not very fruitful when the Hornets have to commit, and recommit, to things like defense. That should have been set in October. At least the schedule gets friendly, home-heavy and loser-laden, from now until All-Star weekend. Better do something with it. Grade: B-

Houston Rockets: One Internet site referred to these guys as the best team we've never seen. On paper, the Rockets have it all. On paper, though, the Speed Racer movie looked good, too. Tracy McGrady -- who weighs down the team GPA for this grader -- looks to be a superior talent who never will be physically or mentally durable enough. (Yao Ming sure has been, though, during the recent T-Mac-less success.) The schedule is set up nicely for Houston over the next three weeks and, really, if not now, when? Grade: C+

Dallas Mavericks: Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry have been reliable, but little around them has been, particularly former All-Star Josh Howard (hopefully, that "former'' tag stings a little). The Mavs are 40-31 since the trade last February for Jason Kidd, which might make them gun-shy (and low on trade chips) as this season's deadline approaches. No one fears these guys anymore, and on any given night it's a coin flip as to how they will play. Grade: C+

Memphis Grizzlies: They get an extra half-grade just for thumbing their noses at the big Portland warning, the Blazers waving their lawyers around to discourage Darius Miles' continued comeback. The scoring exploits of O.J. Mayo and Rudy Gay would be more compelling if Memphis was getting better point-guard play from Kyle Lowry or Mike Conley to impose some order on it all. Grade: C-

Steve Aschburner covered the Minnesota Timberwolves and the NBA for 13 seasons for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He has served as president or vice president of the Professional Basketball Writers Association since 2005.