Trail Blazers and Jazz the best of a division in flux

The Northwest Division is the home of identity crises this offseason.

First and most famously, the team formerly known as the Seattle SuperSonics is awaiting its new nickname, logo and team colors, all due to be announced on Wednesday in Oklahoma City. The name has been a poorly-kept secret, though. They are expected to be called the Thunder, one of those collective plurals that is singularly bad. Besides, after spending its entire existence in a market defined by its rain, this franchise moved all the way to the Dust Bowl only to get stuck with a meteorological moniker?

Next there is the Minnesota club, which unveiled its new uniforms and touted the official axing of the "Timber'' from its players' shirts. Two decades of being stigmatized as the "T-Wolves'' apparently was enough. Then there is Utah's entry, which has been toting around that Jazz nickname in a town where Pete Fountain and the Preservation Hall guys likely never set foot. The fact is, it's hard to refer to this quintet as the Northwest Division at all, given that shift out of Seattle and the inclusion of a near-Texas market.

But when it comes to identities, at least the Jazz know who they are and the Trail Blazers are learning who they'll become. The Nuggets still aren't sure who their answer is, and the Wolves and (let's go for it) Thunder still are busy making introductions.

What went right:

Deron Williams is locked up through at least 2011-12.

Jazz owner Larry Miller spent nearly two months of this summer battling a series of formidable internal ailments. But no one could blame either his weakened condition or rosy, new life-is-short outlook for Miller's key offseason business move: signing his point guard to a three-year, $50 million contract extension that begins in 2009-10. It was, in fact, a deal as tough and shrewd as any hammered out by the old-school car salesman, because Williams is building block No. 1, both present and future, for Utah.

Williams' rough rookie season and the constant (and frequently unfavorable) comparisons to fellow Redeem Teamer Chris Paul are in the past. Williams is a favorite to make it to his first All-Star Game this season, an honor that still won't top the gold medal he won with Team USA. Williams' decision-making, his ability to get to the rim, and his big-play capabilities in the clutch took another big leap last season, and he's keeping Miller happy with his enhanced leadership skills.

The Jazz survived the Olympics just fine.

No NBA franchise had more players gunning for gold this summer: Williams and Carlos Boozer with the U.S. men's squad and Andrei Kirilenko with Russia. Had Turkey qualified, Mehmet Okur would have been booked, too. But the Jazz guys came through the Beijing workouts just fine. Boozer, in fact, cruised through 47 minutes spread across seven games, so he clearly got his rest.