WESTERN CONFERENCE.(NBA)

MIDWEST DIVISION

DALLAS MAVERICKS: A key item on the summer to-do list is developing a consistent bench. The lack of depth was glaring in the playoffs. Coach Don Nelson often had to lean on his top four for 40-plus minutes. In the Game 5 clincher against the Jazz, Nelson played SG Michael Finley all 48 minutes, PF Juwan Howard 46 minutes and PG Steve Nash 43 minutes. Finley also went all the way in the Game 4 victory over the Spurs, and SF Dirk Nowitzki logged 47 minutes in the Game 5 finale against the Spurs. Finley and Nash were worn out by the end of the playoffs, and the bench was consistently outplayed by the Jazz and Spurs reserves, often by a wide margin. --Ken Sins

DENVER NUGGETS: The team did not get lucky in the draft lottery. It wound up with the 11th pick, which the Celtics can claim if they want. That might leave the team without a first-round pick, unless the Magic hand over the one they owe the Nuggets. Coach and president Dan Issel doesn't think any player in this draft could help the team immediately, so he might decline the Magic's pick, even if Orlando offers it, choosing instead to look for a veteran scorer to complement PF Antonio McDyess and PG Nick Van Exel. --Michael BeDan

HOUSTON ROCKETS: C Hakeem Olajuwon is publicly applying pressure to keep together the group that went 45-37, saying the Rockets have the ingredients to win it all. That's not likely considering the team struggled to compete for the division title. Olajuwon also made it clear he won't take less than market value. The team is in the hunt for PF Chris Webber and would not be able, or willing, to pay Olajuwon more than the $4.5 million exception. Olajuwon won't help accommodate Webber's contract and says PF Maurice Taylor is just as good as Webber. Webber averaged 27.1 points, more than doubled Taylor on the boards and almost tripled his free-throw attempts and assists. --Michael Murphy

MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES: SF Wally Szczerbiak will play for the U.S. in this summer's Goodwill Games in Australia after making sure his right knee is strong enough to take on the offseason work. He had surgery last summer and wasn't fully healthy during the regular season but says he's feeling good after rehab work and training with friends. Szczerbiak was the leading scorer on the U.S. team that won the 1998 Goodwill gold medal in New York. That performance and a strong senior season helped make him the No. 6 pick in the 1999 draft. He will join Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders, who will lead the U.S. team. --John Millea

SAN ANTONIO SPURS: The Spurs turned to a quicker lineup when SG Derek Anderson returned for Game 3 against the Lakers. Anderson started at small forward with Antonio Daniels at shooting guard, giving the Spurs a pair of athletic players on the wings. Anderson started at small forward in four regular-season games. He averaged 21.3 points, and the team went 2-2. In Game 3, though, Anderson missed all eight of his shots, and the Spurs lost by 39 points. The off guard and small forward positions are fairly interchangeable in the team's offense, but putting Daniels and Anderson on the floor together didn't work out. --Johnny Ludden

UTAH JAZZ: Despite the fact the team would like to get younger, don't be surprised if it trades its first-round draft pick for a future choice. The Jazz doesn't have many roster spots to work with, and the team already will have a few youngsters, including 1999 top pick SF Andrei Kirilenko and second-year SG DeShawn Stevenson. Stevenson will have a much bigger role next season after playing sparingly as a 19-year-old rookie straight out of high school. The Jazz like his raw skills and athletic ability, but his outside shooting needs work. He will battle SGs Bryon Russell and John Sharks for playing time, barring a trade. --Loren Jorgensen