Power Rankings (1 - 15)

^{1. Miami Heat (40 - 7)}
The acquisitions which caused a little consternation amongst the Trade Committee have led only to more domination by the Heat and GM Troy Bolton's pairing of Wade and Allen, with Wade at the point, has paid dividends allowing Lebron his 27.1ppg/9.1rpg/6.7apg season statline and putting him in pole position for MVP.

^{2. Brooklyn Nets (36 - 8)}
Josh Barber has his favourite team back and he's running it roughly the same way he did back in the old days, when he was the New Jersey GM - by acquiring talent. If a team has the luxury of fielding Rudy Gay as a 6th Man it's gotta be stockpiling some kind of big guns in the lineup and you get the feeling Prokhorov would be proud if he could see where Barber's taken the Nets this season. If anyone can Beat the Heat, it's Brooklyn.

^{3. Houston Rockets (29 - 16)}
After the top two Beasts of the East there's quite a quick drop-off in terms of the W/L column as we find Houston in a strong position out West. Tied in Wins with the Blazers and Spurs we're giving the Rockets the edge due to the quality of their lineup. Not much has changed on Houston's roster this season, but it doesn't have to: Greg Schiano, just like his predecessor Billy King, has put a safeguard around Harden and Dwight and has the supporting pieces to put his team 1st in the West in April.

^{4. San Antonio Spurs (29 -16)}
"Never count the Spurs out" is as good a saying as "Don't invade Moscow" in terms of all-time strategy. Despite unceremoniously jettisoning one of the most successful Big 3s of all time the Spurs have at times led the tightly-packed Western Conference and credit's been due to their young stars, Kawahi Leonard, Brook Lopez and Danny Green. GM Vlade Divac's not just rebuilt the Spurs but he's done it whilst continuing to contend.

^{5. New York Knicks (32 - 12)}
The Knicks had an epic start to the season with Carmelo averaging 36ppg, since then it's not all been domination but the Knicks continue to be a presence behind the Big 2 in the East. Bryan Colangelo and Masai Ujiri are continuing the talent acquisition that's rebuilt the Raptors over at D5 snapping up Marc Gasol and Tony Parker as other teams look to clean house. Similar to Ewing's Knicks of old though, you just get the feeling they don't have the pieces to get past Brooklyn or Miami yet.

^{6. Portland Trail Blazers (29 - 15)}
Glenn Robinson, the rebuild wizard, who finished runner up in D5's EOTY last season, may not be so good at GMing a team in the latter stages of dynasty pursuit because almost no moves have yet been made on the Blazers. Nevertheless Lillard, Batum and Aldridge average 61.8ppg between them and have led the Blazers to second spot in the West!

^{7. Oklahoma City Thunder (28 - 17)}
Despite having made no moves at all this season, GM Chris Mullin must be hoping his Thunder will step it up soon and create a gap between themselves and the rest of the tightly contested Western Conference. Durant and Westbrook comprise almost 50ppg between them but the rest of OKC are yet to step up and add to the Wins.

^{8. Chicago Bulls (27 - 19)}
So far this season the Bulls have been underwhelming despite fielding a lineup with an average 84.8 rating between them. Luol Deng has been the surprise at Small Forward, leading the team in scoring with an impressive 24ppg. Whether once rival player, now GM, Clyde Drexler can make any moves to take his team over the hump remains to be seen.

^{9. LA Lakers (28 - 17)}
Dan Gilbert's made absolutely no changes since taking over in Los Angeles but the team continues to overperform perhaps? The West is such a closely packed conference at the top at the moment that, in a month's time, it could be any number of 8 different teams in pole position but somehow you get the feeling that the (for once) neglected Lakers aren't going to be That Team this year. The aged Big 3 of Nash, Kobe and Gasol still lead the charge but the pre-season acquisition of Chris Kaman is not going to make any difference to a first or second round exit in the Playoffs.

^{10. Golden State Warriors (25 - 18)}
Former EOTY, Walt Frazier, perhaps unfortunately took over a team that's brimming with talent and now it's just a matter of consolidation. Steph Curry's averaging a masterful 26.6ppg and facilitating an offense that's looked at times like it should be leading the West, but at other times like a disappointing biscuit dipped too long in a cup of tea. Whether Walt can make the necessary moves to separate his Warriors from the pack this season remains to be seen!

^{11. Cleveland Cavaliers (24 - 20)}
Bob McAdoo's not rested since being inducted as a freshman GM this season and he's built a squad that begun the season second only to Miami in the East but which has begun to falter at the halfway point. It's quite clear that the Cavaliers are playoff calibre, Kyrie Irving, Andrey Bynum and Zach Randolph are all All Stars ready to make their mark in Cleveland, but with the rest of the lineup seen as lacking it seems as if the Cavs have a few more moves to make before they're in contention in the East again.

^{12. Denver Nuggets (26 - 22)}
JR Wiles has shown a resurgent approach after seeing his Spurs flounder over at D5, making some sound trades but perhaps fielding a questionable lineup that see the Nuggets take their place at #11. With Pekovic and Faried in the frontcourt you have a pairing that'll last you a decade but Wiles has gone with Faried in at C and Danilo Gallinari at PF, Gerald Wallace starts at SF and Kevin Martin and Ty Lawson make up the backcourt. Either way it's all led to a level of success that keeps the Nuggets in the West's contention picture.

^{13. Dallas Mavericks (25 - 21)}
Dallas are placed roughly where you'd expect them to be placed but that isn't stopping GM Danny Longley from making moves to improve his squad. The recent arrival of Glen Davis in exchange for an expiring Samuel Dalembert outlines the Mavericks strategy clearly: talent at the expense of all else. With Glen off the bench is clear that Dallas could be on the way up from here, but it'll be a while before we see them contending for the championship again.

^{14. Boston Celtics (23 - 23)}
For a team that's trying to rebuild the Celtics are performing rather well behind their Rondo - Green pairing. Marshon Brooks is averaging a stellar 18ppg as well but the Celtics are floundering in no man's land - are they rebuilding or pushing for the Playoffs? The middle of the league is the worst place to be!

^{15. LA Clippers (21 - 23)}
GM Dominique Wilkins must be extremely frustrated with the under-performance of his Clippers so far this season. Despite an impressive lineup led by CP3 and Blake Griffin, and a bench full of talent like Matt Barnes, Jared Dudley, JJ Redick and Darren Collison, the Clippers have failed to make an impact in the West and really, the only reason they're here is because a lineup like that can only unperform for so long.