Who Would Be the Most Fun Eighth Seed in the West? A Crossover Ranking

The race for the eighth seed in the Western Conference is the hottest club of 2020. It has everything—an older squad holding on to its dignity (Spurs), a young team with two exciting talents (Grizzlies), a perennial playoff squad (Blazers), a perennial underachiever (Wolves), plus the Kings, Suns, and Pelicans. In all seriousness, as of this blog (the only unit of time that means anything to me) seeds eight through 14 in the West are separated by only four games. And after years of elitism and snobbery and only really good teams making the postseason, the West is finally slumming it with its cousins back East, as all seven of those teams are sub-.500. And all of them—with the exception of maybe Memphis—entered this season with playoff hopes. Which team would be the most fun to see in the first round? Let’s rank them.

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