There's a bottleneck in the race for the final playoff spots in the West. Teams currently ranked fifth through 11th — San Antonio, Portland, Phoenix, Memphis, Oklahoma City, New Orleans, and Houston — are all within 2.5 games of each other. It will be an interesting fight to finish.

It should be, at least, if we assume that every team on that list is fully committed to making the playoffs. However, for several playoff contenders, the negatives of making the playoffs may outweigh the positives, making it likely that several of these teams will trade key components of their rosters before the deadline.

Long-term cap situations, valuable expiring contracts, and general feelings of progress all factor into the decision. But the message is clear: the playoffs — the thing every team is theoretically fighting for — is not worth the same to all teams.

About four or five years ago, Charles Barkley gave one of my favorite quotes about the NBA (paraphrased, because it's hard to know what the Chuckster says at any moment and my memory isn't so good): you're either contending for a championship, you're rebuilding, or you're the Sacramento Kings.

At the time, Rick Adelman's Kings were on the downside of their meteoric rise to NBA royalty, playing out the last years of their golden era with an aging Chris Webber (until he was traded), Peja Stojakovic, Mike Bibby, and Brad Miller. The Kings weren't bad, making the playoffs in both 2004-05 and 2005-06, but Barkley's words touched on the Kings’ biggest issue: they weren't going anywhere near the finals.

With glory still fresh in their minds, they held on to whatever success they could grasp, making the playoffs only to lose in the first round without much of a shot. They were picking up wins without any sense that the franchise was moving in the right direction, if they were even moving at all.

If you believe that the ultimate goal of any team should be a championship, then there's no worse fate than long-term stasis. Because while a trip to the postseason sounds good in theory, the fact of the matter is those 2004-06 Kings didn't accomplish much beyond turning Bonzi Wells into an occasional folk hero. The Kings rebuilding project was put on hold, and they're only now beginning to see progress.

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Rebuilding is a long process, and the earlier you get started, the better. Pushing it a few years into the future for a chance at winning a few games in late April is an easy choice given the instant gratification of making the playoffs, but it's not the right one.

This is the decision facing many of this year's playoff contenders. The Spurs, Blazers, Thunder, and Rockets have no reason not to give it their all. San Antonio's core is aging, but Tim Duncan is still enough of a force that they could feasibly be a serious contender with a few adjustments. The Blazers and Thunder are young teams on a path towards eventual championship contention.

The Rockets are playing with house money while Yao Ming is out, auditioning their role player jamboree for potential free agents ("if these guys could make the playoffs without a star, just imagine what they'll do with you!"). But for the Suns, Grizzlies, and Hornets, there are some decisions to be made.

Phoenix is the team now most analogous to those Kings squads. A few years removed from legitimate championship aspirations, the Suns know that Amare Stoudemire is likely to leave town this summer. It's easy to say they should maximize their success during Steve Nash's prime, but their ceiling isn't very high right now, as it has been since they traded Shawn Marion two seasons ago.

A playoff berth would be nice, but seeing Amare leave while getting nothing in return would be devastating. Based on rumors, the Suns seem to have decided they should trade Stoudemire, and that decision should be commended. There is little to gain from an early exit in the playoffs.

The Grizzlies are a tougher situation to grasp. After a few years in the desert, they're now near the postseason Promised Land, yet Rudy Gay could leave this summer as a restricted free agent. So while a trip to the playoffs would put their franchise back on the map, it could also be a short-lived return to relevance. Do they trade Gay? Plus, while their core is mostly young, Zach Randolph isn't getting any younger and has never been the most dependable player in the league either.

And keep in mind that their home dominance makes a playoff upset a distinct possibility, as they could easily steal a win on the road and win all three at FedEx Forum. (Is this complicated enough for you?) Their core is good enough to form a playoff contender for years, but a postseason berth this season could give them much-needed legitimacy around the league. Which is worth more?

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With Chris Paul now out for at least a month, the Hornets look unlikely to keep up with the rest of the pack. However, they were attempting to decide their future even before CP3 went down. A series of trades put them under the luxury tax threshold, but it also gutted much of their bench.

Their superstar will always make them relevant, but New Orleans seemed to be playing for future seasons regardless of Paul's dominance. Their financial situation puts the franchise's long-term viability at risk, and Peja Stojakovic's large contract becomes an expiring deal next season. This year has been all about toeing the line between impending disaster and potential contention. In that case, a swift exit from the playoffs isn't so bad.

The playoff picture is still a little muddy with more than two months left in the regular season, and the answers to each of these teams' questions will help clarify things. It also bears mention that several teams in the East (Chicago and Charlotte, for example) are facing similar issues as these West teams, although the circumstances are different because it's possible to imagine an East squad trading key players and making it into the postseason anyway.

Yet whatever happens to these teams, remember that a late lottery pick isn't always bad news. Sometimes, it's the first step away from illusions of success and towards rebuilding. Sure, you're then heading towards the bottom of the league, but plenty of franchises have found it to be a trampoline rather than a bottomless pit.

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