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• Last Week: The Haves and the Have-Nots
• Power Rankings Mail -- Phoenix Loves the Bucks!
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I would love to know what was said in the front offices of Dallas, New Orleans, Phoenix, and San Antonio when they heard about the trade. But since those conversations are obviously private, I'm opening up the mailbox to fans of those teams this week.

If you're a Mavs, Hornets, Suns or Spurs fan, does the Gasol trade change your outlook on the season? Do you feel your team needs to make a move?

How about fans of the other Western Conference contenders like Denver, Golden State, Houston, Portland or Utah?

I'm guessing that Hornets fans and Blazer fans will want to stand pat, knowing that the future is still pretty bright. But if you follow the Nuggets, do you have any hope of breaking through and at least getting to the Conference Finals?

Let me know. And of course, I always welcome any beef with the rankings.

Hero Team of the Week: Utah (4-0)
Zero Team of the Week: Milwaukee (0-3)

High jumps of the week: Atlanta (+4), New Jersey (+4), Seattle (+3)
Free falls of the week: New York (-5), Memphis (-4), San Antonio (-3)

Off: Points scored per 100 possessions
Def: Points allowed per 100 possessions
The league averages 91.6 possessions (per team) per game and 107.8 points per 100 possessions.

	TEAM (LAST WK)	REC.	BREAKDOWN
1	Boston (4)	36-8	Off: 111.1 (10), Def: 98.8 (1) -- KG probably won't play in tomorrow's game in Cleveland, but it's not like the Celtics are desperate to get him back. They're 2-1 without the MVP (in my humble opinion) and are comfortably ahead of the Pistons for the top spot in the East. Ray Allen's ankles might be an issue though.
2	Detroit (5)	34-13	Off: 112.6 (6), Def: 103.8 (2) -- It's a good week in Detroit when you beat the Lakers, blow out the Mavs, and produce this headline. With a home game against Blazers (Friday) being the toughest matchup, the Pistons have a good shot at going into the break on a 10-game winning streak.
3	New Orleans (1)	32-14	Off: 111.7 (7), Def: 104.9 (5) -- After winning nine straight and taking over the top spot, the Hornets have dropped two in a row, two of their worst defensive performances of the season. And with games in Utah and Phoenix up next, they're in danger of slipping a few spots in the West.
4	Phoenix (2)	33-14	Off: 114.0 (1), Def: 107.8 (15) -- Don't expect the Suns to change things up. Steve Kerr likes their continuity. And who's to argue? Well, maybe if they didn't blow it against the Spurs on Thursday.
5	Dallas (3)	31-15	Off: 112.9 (3), Def: 108.1 (18) -- The Mavs can deny any interest in Jason Kidd all they want, but nobody's going to believe them until after 3 p.m. ET on Feb. 21, even if he clearly doesn't fit their style of play offensively.

	TEAM (LAST WK)	REC.	BREAKDOWN
6	L.A. Lakers (7)	30-16	Off: 112.6 (5), Def: 106.5 (9) -- All eyes will be on New Jersey on Tuesday as Pau Gasol makes his Laker debut. They could probably use him more defensively than offensively, as they've struggled on that end (111.0 rating) since Andrew Bynum went out.
7	Utah (9)	30-18	Off: 113.3 (2), Def: 107.0 (10) -- The Jazz have won eight straight and 14 of their last 16. The biggest improvement has come on the defensive end, where they have a 104.6 rating over the last 16 and a 102.1 rating during the streak. Tonight's matchup with the Hornets is a must-see.
8	Golden State (8)	29-19	Off: 112.6 (4), Def: 110.0 (24) -- It will be a few more days before we get to see how Chris Webber fits in. The Warriors are in the middle of five straight days off. The C-Webb experiment begins Thursday against the Bulls (10:30 p.m. ET, TNT).
9	San Antonio (6)	29-16	Off: 109.5 (12), Def: 104.4 (4) -- The Spurs are 12-13 over their last 25 games, but the Tony Parker situation has to be more of a concern at this point. Even with the addition of Damon Stoudamire, they need a healthy Parker.
10	Cleveland (10)	26-20	Off: 106.5 (17), Def: 107.2 (11) -- The Cavs have lost only three of their last 15 games. One was a heartbreaker to the Suns and another was Thursday's loss in Seattle without LeBron. Tomorrow's matchup with the Celtics has the words "measuring stick" written all over it.
11	Orlando (11)	31-18	Off: 111.5 (8), Def: 107.8 (14) -- Winners of seven of their last eight, the Magic play their final five pre-break games at home, but it's a touch stretch, with Dallas, the Lakers, Cleveland and Denver visiting.
12	Denver (12)	28-18	Off: 108.1 (14), Def: 105.6 (6) -- The Nuggets are talking about running the table going into the All-Star break, which would give them an eight-game streak, but they haven't put more than three wins together since mid-November. With the next two coming against the teams their battling in the Northwest (at Portland tonight and home against Utah on Wednesday), just making it four straight would be huge.
13	Portland (13)	27-19	Off: 108.9 (13), Def: 108.0 (16) -- Since they ran off 17 of 18, the Blazers are 5-6, but the losses have all been to quality teams. Still, they're now sitting out of the playoffs in the Western Conference.
14	Sacramento (17)	22-24	Off: 107.9 (15), Def: 111.0 (25) -- There have been 19 20-20 games in the NBA this season and Brad Miller has two in his last three games. Suddenly, you're looking at the Kings' roster and realizing that this is a pretty good team. Add them to the "Haves" group.
15	Houston (16)	27-20	Off: 106.3 (18), Def: 103.8 (3) -- The Rockets' offense started to improve midway through Tracy McGrady's 11-game absence and it has continued to be strong with him back in the lineup. Their rating is a solid 109.8 over the last 15 games, and they're 12-3 over that stretch.
16	Toronto (14)	25-21	Off: 111.3 (9), Def: 108.0 (17) -- If Kobe's 46 on Friday has got you down, Raptor fans, just watch this. I can't wait until the 16th.
17	Washington (15)	24-22	Off: 109.6 (11), Def: 108.9 (21) -- The Wizards have lost three straight and five of their six games before the break are on the road. Staying above .500 will be tough.
18	Atlanta (22)	19-24	Off: 105.0 (21), Def: 106.5 (8) -- I was going to write something like, "With games against the Lakers, Cavs, Rockets and Pistons before the break, I would be impressed if the Hawks were still in seventh at All-Star." But then I remember that they could lose all those games and actually strengthen their hold on the spot the way the East is this year.
19	New Jersey (23)	20-27	Off: 103.5 (25), Def: 109.8 (22) -- Yes, the Nets' offense is bad. But as The Painted Area explains, the Nets' offense has never been all that great in since Jason Kidd arrived. The problem is that they used to be an elite defensive team, and now they are not.
20	Charlotte (18)	18-30	Off: 104.9 (22), Def: 109.9 (23) -- After starting their five-game trip with a win over the Clippers, the Bobcats have lost the last three by an average of 20.3 points, contributing to the cancellation of the Jeff McInnis experiment. The trip ends tonight in Phoenix.
21	Philadelphia (24)	18-29	Off: 105.1 (20), Def: 107.3 (12) -- After blowing out the Bucks on Wednesday, the Sixers got somewhat of a moral victory on Friday by hanging with the Magic. But Philly is just 7-21 against teams in our top 17, while they're 11-8 against the bottom 13.
22	Chicago (20)	18-28	Off: 102.5 (27), Def: 105.8 (7) -- Let's hear it Bulls fans. Which felt worse: Seeing your team lose to the Timberwolves by 16 on Wednesday or hearing that Pau Gasol got traded somewhere else?
23	Indiana (21)	19-29	Off: 106.1 (19), Def: 108.2 (19) -- The Pacers have lost six straight and 16 of their last 20. Wednesday's game in New York looks to be their only winnable one before the break.
24	New York (19)	14-33	Off: 104.9 (23), Def: 111.6 (28) -- The Knicks' five-game trip started out somewhat promising, with a two-point loss at Golden State. Then it went downhill from there, ending with a loss to the Sonics where Seattle native Nate Robinson missed all nine shots he took, including the potential game-winner with one second on the clock.
25	Minnesota (28)	10-36	Off: 103.2 (26), Def: 111.2 (27) -- Break up the Timberwolves (Oh wait, that already happened). They've won five of the last seven. KG returns on Friday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).
26	Seattle (30)	12-35	Off: 101.1 (30), Def: 108.9 (20) -- Last week, I said that the Sonics "look to have an 0-for-January locked up." Then they beat the Spurs and Cavs, and started February off with a win over the Knicks. If you'd like me to predict losses for your team, just let me know.
27	Milwaukee (26)	18-30	Off: 104.7 (24), Def: 112.4 (29) -- You get the good with bad when you're missing Michael Redd. In the eight Redd-less games, the Bucks have a terrific defensive rating of 98.9. And they have an atrocious offensive rating of ... 98.9.
28	L.A. Clippers (27)	14-30	Off: 102.3 (29), Def: 107.7 (13) -- When your seven-game road trip begins with a 21-point loss in Minnesota...
29	Memphis (25)	13-34	Off: 107.4 (16), Def: 112.4 (30) -- Well, the upcoming draft class looks pretty promising. Of course, it's point guard heavy, and the Grizz already have three of those.
30	Miami (29)	9-36	Off: 102.3 (28), Def: 110.2 (26) -- It's a good thing we've all got this year's Dance Bracket (coming soon!) to look forward to.