How to measure success for every NBA Western Conference team in 2018-19: Can Rockets keep challenging Warriors?

Preseason has begun, and a bunch of players look really weird in their new uniforms. That means it's season preview time, so let's look at how every NBA team should measure success in 2018-19. For some teams (i.e. the more talented ones), it's simple: failing to make the playoffs would be catastrophic, or failing to advance to a specific round would make the season feel meaningless. For others, it's more complex, with organizations looking for specific areas of improvement or clarity on what exactly they're building.

We'll start by hopping around the Western Conference. 

For a look at the Eastern Conference, click here.

The ideal scenario: Luka Doncic wins Rookie of the Year, Rick Carlisle wins Coach of the Year and the Mavericks get in the mix for a playoff spot, giving Dirk Nowitzki a chance to play meaningful games again before he retires. The organization got serious with the DeAndre Jordan signing, and, if Dennis Smith figures some stuff out, this could be one of the most improved teams in the league. More than any other storyline, it will be worth watching how Doncic and Smith coexist -- Dallas hopes this duo will define its next era. Actually qualifying for the postseason shouldn't be the standard in Year One of their partnership; respectability should suffice. 

Here's a team that has to make the playoffs. Denver hasn't been there since George Karl and Andre Iguodala were around, and that streak was supposed to end last season. The Nuggets need Paul Millsap to stay healthy, Jamal Murray to continue on his track to stardom and the team as a whole to commit to getting better on defense. They've been a disaster on that end for years, and its biggest move this summer -- adding Isaiah Thomas -- doesn't exactly address that problem. (Also, a touch more assertiveness from unselfish-to-a-fault star Nikola Jokic would be lovely.)

This one's simple: win a title again. Preferably, the Warriors will do that while having more fun than they did last season, which has been described by Steve Kerr as a slog and the toughest of his four years as a coach. Golden State hopes that the DeMarcus Cousins experiment will energize everybody and help the star center repair his reputation. With speculation about Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson potentially looking elsewhere, any hint of disharmony will be dissected even more than usual. 

The roster looks a little worse than it did a few months ago, but that could change in between now and the playoffs. The Rockets are still aiming to take down the champs, and success would mean Carmelo Anthony fits in a million times better than he did in Oklahoma City, they don't miss Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute too much and they stay healthy throughout the playoffs. It'd be gravy if Clint Capela made the All-Star Game, too, but the competition in the West is ludicrous. Basically, Houston's job is to get back to the conference finals and give Golden State a run for its money, just like last season. 

Maybe you wish the Clippers would have decided to tank, especially because almost nobody in the West is doing it. Looking at their roster moves, though, it is obvious that they want to be pretty good. This could be an annoying team to play if Patrick Beverley and Avery Bradley stay healthy, and there's a reason every basketball nerd on the internet loves Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The additions of Mbah a Moute and Marcin Gortat mean there is quite a bit of veteran talent here, and it'll be interesting to see if Doc Rivers can quietly bring the team together for a playoff run while the whole world is focused on the next team on this list. 

On the one hand, the Lakers have a bunch of good young players and now employ a man who has been to eight straight Finals and just averaged 34-9-9 with a 62 percent true shooting percentage in the playoffs. On the other, this is the West, their free-agent signings were strange and, at the very least, there will be an adjustment period while the coaching staff figures out its rotation and the players -- LeBron James included -- figure out their roles. It's not fair to call this an elite team just because James is on the roster, but no one involved wants Los Angeles to be fighting for its playoff life in March and April. The Lakers must find cohesion relatively quickly, so that they can avoid an extremely stressful regular season. If this is the roster they take to the playoffs, simply winning a round should count as an achievement. Really, Michael Beasley was savvy when he decided to be as cagey as possible when ESPN's Dave McMenamin asked him about the team's ceiling. 

The Grizzlies' goal should be to make everyone feel stupid for sleeping on them. To do that, they'll have to stay relatively healthy, make sure the second unit doesn't bleed points and -- obviously! -- make the playoffs again. Mike Conley and Marc Gasol are still good enough to be the foundation of a solid team and Jaren Jackson is the most exciting player they've added in years, but if this turns out to be another blah season, derailed by injuries, management is going to finally have to blow it all up and start over. The key is having a strong start, so trade rumors never even pop up. 

Tom Thibodeau clearly wants the Timberwolves to return to the playoffs, but that's going to be an extremely lofty benchmark for success unless there is a Jimmy Butler-related miracle in their immediate future. As it stands, few expect them to get even decent value in exchange for their disenchanted star, which means taking a step back is all but inevitable. That said, this is a chance for Karl-Anthony Towns to have a career season. It's a chance for Andrew Wiggins to make his many, many, many doubters retract what they've said about him. Minnesota will be paying these two a staggering amount of money over the next few years, so everything else -- the intriguing rookies, the playing time of Tyus Jones, the shooting of Anthony Tolliver and James Nunnally -- is almost trivial in comparison to how they perform.

Can the Pelicans show that last year's second-round appearance was the start of something, rather than an aberration? Elfrid Payton is in Rajon Rondo's place, Julius Randle is (sort of) in DeMarcus Cousins' place and the depth is still questionable. Let's see if this bunch can remain the league's fastest team while cutting down on turnovers and improving on the glass. If Anthony Davis isn't in the MVP conversation and Jrue Holiday isn't in the All-Star conversation, then something has gone seriously wrong. 

The Thunder need to be a more cohesive offensive team, and there's no reason it shouldn't be an elite one. Russell Westbrook reining himself in; Andre Roberson returning to his pre-injury, DPOY-candidate form; Patrick Patterson bouncing back; Dennis Schroder fitting in; Nerlens Noel finding himself and Terrence Ferguson making a leap would all help here. So would, perhaps, playing at a faster pace and emphasizing ball movement more than they ever have. Based on its talent, Oklahoma City should at least have a shot to get home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Another early exit would be really rough.

You should be watching the Suns to see if Devin Booker turns into a genuine star and the rest of the roster starts to make more sense. A good way to know if they've succeeded or not is by checking in on how management's moves -- drafting DeAndre Ayton first overall, trading for Mikal Bridges on draft night, signing Trevor Ariza as free agency opened, trading for De'Anthony Melton and Ryan Anderson late in the offseason -- look in April. The whole idea was to make this team more competitive and more balanced. It doesn't look like an easy first year on the job for coach Igor Kokoskov, though, as there are a number of variables that will determine whether or not this is a good mix or a mess. Is Ayton going to be a helpful player right away? Can Dragan Bender show he's ready to hang on this level? Where does Josh Jackson fit in? Are they really not going to trade for a point guard? 

No one will be thrilled by another solid (or better) regular season from the Blazers. Their roster has barely changed, though, and the front office is in a weird spot. It is clear that Portland is too reliant on its backcourt for scoring and center Jusuf Nurkic is a matchup-dependent player. The Blazers are more than competent, but they don't scare the elite, they are one of the league's worst transition teams and they are still reeling from the summer spending spree of 2016. There's still quality basketball to be found here from night to night, but this organization has to show its fans there is a path from good to great. It's all about what happens in the playoffs.

Ignore the standings again. Sacramento must figure out who is part of the future and who is not. A hint: Marvin Bagley, Willie Cauley-Stein, Harry Giles and Skal Labissiere can't all be, even if coach Dave Joerger threw the four big men on the floor at the same time in a preseason game. Can Bogdan Bogdanovic and Buddy Hield play together? Can De'Aaron Fox establish himself as the leader he was drafted to be? It'll be a fine season if a few of these young guys separate themselves and Sacramento starts to seem like it has its act together for the first time in what feels like forever. This is not just about the players -- the coaching staff needs to use the season to experiment and the front office needs to determine where the team is going. 

The old Spurs standards -- reaching the 50-win mark is a given, "success" means winning a championship -- cannot apply anymore. It would be quite a story if they just managed to maintain the feel of a normal Gregg Popovich-coached team. I want to see how DeMar DeRozan operates in their system and how young guards Dejounte Murray, Derrick White and Lonnie Walker look next to their new star swingman. It's going to be radically different without Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard, but Popovich will do all he can to make sure they execute on both ends the way the Spurs typically do. 

Aim high. If healthy, the Jazz could be the second-best team in the West. To do that, they have to stay dominant defensively, get some growth from Donovan Mitchell and some more consistency from Ricky Rubio, with Dante Exum serving yet again as an X-factor for their backcourt rotation. Let's not forget that, in a 38-game sample last season, Utah had the NBA's best defensive rating and best point differential. It probably isn't a true contender in the time of the the Warriors, but it deserves to be seen as a tier above the Western Conference teams that will be fighting for the final few spots in the playoff picture. I'd personally like to see the Jazz become a top-10 offense and speed things up a little.