Raptors
Out
Isaac Bonga, Yuta Watanabe, Armoni Brooks, Svi Mykhailiuk
Nice guys, but not irreplaceable. The Raptor rotation is always deep and will be again this year.
In
Otto Porter, DJ Wilson, Ron Harper Jr (2-way), Jeff Dowtin (2-way), Juan Hernangomez, Gabe Brown (Ex 10), Christian Koloko (#33 pick), Josh Jackson
Porter played big minutes in the playoffs last year and is just the right pickup for the Raptors.
I like Hernangomez (balled out in EuroBasket) and he, too, is another good addition to the rotation that never ends.
Josh Jackson, huh? I thought he had the most raw talent in his draft class but he was never able to develop the sophistication necessary to last. You know what? He might be awesome here.
I kinda like Dowtin in pre-season last year, bounced around since then.
Re-signed
Thaddeus Young (2yr/$16m), Chris Boucher (3yr/$35.3m), Justin Champagnie (2yr/$3.6m)
I'm a little surprised they brought back Young because although he does kinda match their profile (an entire roster of long lean small forwards that can play bigger or smaller), I thought he demanded more attention than he was worth and wasn't the team guy they needed him to be. Perhaps I just saw it wrong or perhaps he's ready to fit in. If so, welcome.
Boucher, on the other hand, is a perfect Raptor and not yet too expensive.
I don't know Champagnie.
Rest of roster
PF Pascal Siakam, PG Fred Van Vleet, SG Gary Trent Jr, F OG Anunoby, F Scottie Barnes, C Khem Birch, PF Precious Achiuwa, SG Malachi Flynn, G Dalano Banton
Yeah, I like all these dudes. Siakam is not really a lead dog bell cow kinda guy, but on a rotation this deep, he feels like the elder statesman without having to do too much.
Trent, Anunoby, Barnes, Birch, Achiuwa, Banton and Flynn are all set for improvement years, right? The Raptors are rather faceless but they got a lot kicking legs.
Next summer's free agents
Hernengomez (and player options for Van Vleet, Trent and Porter)
Keep them. Keep them all.
Over/Under
55
I think the Raptors nothing better to do than to go gets wins every night. There's no reason to tank, too much talent to suck. Not sure if they're top tier, but I got a feeling they'll be such a reliably consistent team that they should steam roll their way into the top 4. In the playoffs, though, I can see them falling apart. A dangerous team night in/night out but could turn to jelly in a playoff series.
Sixers
Out
Danny Green, Myles Powell, DeAndre Jordan, Paul Millsap
No big loss on any of those guys.
In
De'Anthony Melton, Julian Champagne (2-way), Danuel House, PJ Tucker, Michael Foster Jr (2-way), Montrezl Harrell, Patrick McCaw
Melton, House, Tucker and Harrell are going to make them a significantly tougher and more disciplined team. The supporting cast is in place to make a deep run.
Re-signed
James Harden (2yr/$68.6m)
Wow, look how not-much-money he took on this deal! Wow! (Okay, you happy JH? There's your surprise party) The MVP-every-year Harden is gone. But he's still savvy and gonna get to the FT line and he's on a team that could win a championship, so I expect him to bust ass this season. Doesn't that mean he'll quit pouting? Well, no, I think he's gonna be pouting a lot this year. But once he finds himself within this team, he'll be really good and be a reliable scorer and assist man.
Rest of roster
SF Tobias Harris, C Joel Embiid, SG Furkan Korkmaz, F Matisse Thybulle, F Georges Niang, PG Tyrese Maxey, SG Jaden Springer, PG Shake Milton, F Isaiah Joe, F Paul Reed, F Charles Bassey,
I got Embiid for MVP. I just think everyone wants to vote for him and the Sixers are gonna bust ass this year.
I think Maxey playing off Harden can be a great thing. Keep an eye on Maxey for 6th Man and/or Most Improved.
I like Harris and Korkmax better than most; I think they're good scorers and they're both gonna get buckets. (Also Harris's contract is big enough to get himself in a blockbuster if that comes available for the Sixers)
I like Thybulle (no rookie extension), Milton, Springer and Je better than most, too. And I'm still in on Bassey!
Next summer's free agents
Thybulle, Niang, Milton, Joe, Reed, Foster (and player options for Harden and House)
I'd bring them all back (well, I say that now, by next summer I may have changed my tune!).
Over/Under
58
I think the Sixers are motivated to win early and often and though they'll have ups and downs, I think the talent is too deep for them to not be good all year long. They're motivated for the #1 spot in the East and I think they get it. (I don't like their chances to go deep, though)
Knicks
Out
Kemba Walker, Taj Gibson, Alec Burks, Nerlens Noel, (and a bunch of 2nd rd picks)
These guys were signed to be fungible commodities and that's what they are. Not a bad crew (well, except for Kemba), but there are other fungible commodities out there.
In
Trevor Keels (2-way), Nikola Radicevic (rights), Isaiah Hartenstein (2yr/$16.7m), Jalen Brunson (4yr/$120m), DaQuan Jeffries (Ex 10), Svi Mykhiliuk (1yr/$2m), Jalen Harris, (and potentially 3 1st rd picks in some complicated maneuvering on draft night)
I like Brunson but I'm not sure how he fits with Randle or on this team in general, so while I understand the move, I can see it being a disaster. We'll see.
I like Hartenstein, think he'll give good workable production for this team.
Not sure about how any of the rest fit in.
Re-signed
Jericho Sims (3yr/$5.7m), Mitchell Robinson (4yr$60m), RJ Barrett (4yr/$120m), Ryan Arcidiacono,
These guys have shown promise over the last few years for the Knicks so pay them. Good moves, all around.
Rest of roster
PF Julius Randle, SF Evan Fournier, PG Derrick Rose, SF Cam Reddish, F Obi Toppin, PG Immanuel Quickley, SG Quentin Grimes, SF Miles McBride
I like these players, but I don't much care for the team. Meh.
Randle is a weird player, hard to know whether he'll bring it this year or not.
And, well, yeah, they're all like that. If all these guys take a step forward, the Knicks will be pretty good. But if they don't...man, the Knicks can go sideways with a quickness.
Next summer's free agents
Reddish
I dunno. 50/50 on whether he's back next year.
Over/Under
40
I think the Knicks will be fine but not good enough in a tough East. They'll be one step forward, two steps back kinda team all year long. Also, they could be trading up or down (I'm thinking down), so this team might end up with even fewer wins than that.
Good year or tough year in New York? Could go either way, which is probably a bad sign in a year when there are so many good teams.
Nets
Out
Andre Drummond, Blake Griffin, Bruce Brown, Goran Dragic, LaMarcus Alridge, (and 2023 1st rd pick)
Brown was good last year and I think they're going to miss him. The rest, though, are not a big loss.
In
Royce O'Neale, Alondes Williams (2-way), TJ Warren, Edmond Sumner, Yuta Watanabe, Markieff Morris, Chris Chiozza
I like O'Neale as tough guy rotation vet, I think he'll give them good minutes. Markieff, too, should be reliable.
I like Warren's upside, we'll see if he can slide into that upside.
Sumner, Watanabe and Chiozza are cast off youngsters who might be really good. I think all three of those guys will get rotation time as this team load-manages.
Re-signed
Kessler Edwards (2yr/$3.6m), Nic Claxton (2yr/$20m), Patty Mills (2yr/$14.5m), David Duke (2-way)
I like all these dues, I think the Nets did well to bring them back.
Rest of roster
F Kevin Durant, PG Kyrie Irving, F Ben Simmons, SG Joe Harris, SG Seth Curry, SF Cam Thomas, C Day'Ron Sharpe
Okay, can these guys play together? We'll finally see.
I think Durant is still great but he'll only play 50-60 games.
I think Kyrie will be great but he'll have weird ups and downs.
I think Simmons will be good but still be a lightning rod for fan grumpiness.
I think Harris will be good but it'll take a little while to get going.
I think Curry will be good.
I like Thomas and Sharpe to grow nicely.
Next summer's free agents
Kyrie, Curry, Warren, Morris
Play good, get paid. If not, move on.
Over/Under
54
I think the Nets will be really good. This is a deep enough team--and with for-real rotation guys instead of just a barge full of ring-chasers--that they'll be able to work around Durant and Kyrie's ups and downs. There's no upside to tanking and I don't see them making moves til next summer. There will be free agents and buy-outs to assemble and they'll pick up one or two. But I think this roster is what it is and I think its good enough to be near the top in the East.
Celtics
Out
Matt Ryan, Aaron Nesmith, Daniel Theis, Malik Fitts, Juwan Morgan, Nik Stauskas, (and a 2023 1st r pick), Coach Ide Udoka
Losing Coach Udoka is going to be tough. It took a while for him to find the pulse of the team last year but when he did, their defense was amazing and they rode Tatum's regression to the mean (he kinda sucked early on last year) although way to the Finals. Can they get it back without him? Yeah, but it'll take a while all over again.
Theis was the kinda of big body veteran that every team needs a little bit of, so I think Theis is actually a loss. But not something they can't overcome.
The other guys didn't play enough to really make a difference, so no big loss.
In
JD Davison (#53 pick) (2-way), Malcolm Brogdon, Danilo Gallinari (who has subsequently been injured and isn't expected to play this season), Mfiondu Kabengele, Noah Vonleh (Ex 9), Justin Jackson, Jake Layman (Ex 10), Coach (Interim) Joe Mazulla, Luka Samanic, Blake Griffin
Well, see how long it takes Coach Mazulla to take control of this squad.
Brogdon can be a big contributor off the bench, a smart lively PG that will move the ball around. The 2nd string needed an upgrade and Brogdon is that upgrade.
Gallinari is already out for the season which is unfortunate, but I think the Celtics can do just fine without him. Not sure what Blake Griffin is gonna do, but they've got him.
Kabengele and Davison have had some nice buzz, we'll see if there's room in the rotation for some youth.
Vonleh, Jackson, and Layman probably aren't likely to hang around.
Re-signed
Luke Kornet (2yr/$4.6m), Sam Hauser (3yr/$6m)
Hauser is expected to take a step forward. Not sure about Kornet, but neither of these contracts are bad.
Rest of roster
PF Jayson Tatum, SF Jaylen Brown, F-C Al Horford, SG Marcus Smart, PG Derrick White, C Robert Williams, F Grant Williams, SG Payton Pritchard
White, Smart, Tatum, Brown and Robert Williams with Horford, Brogdon, Pritchard and Grant Williams adding in got to through an East final last year, think it'll get them through the regular season this year.
Robert Williams is out til after Xmas, that sucks but at least they'll have him late, so might be a blessing in disguise. (And...uh...doesn't this kind of track last year, when they sucked early on but then Williams found his form in the defensive paint that reset the whole team...?)
Next summer's free agents
Horford, Grant Williams
I think Horford retires. Grant Williams needs to ball out or move on.
Over/Under
50
I think this team is good, not great, solid 4th or 5th in the East. I think they win games without killing themselves and should be in good shape for the playoffs. While they're going into the second straight year with a new coach, I think the team will come together sooner than last year but not at as high a level. In short, I think they'll be better than the lows of last season but won't hit the peaks of last season. Tatum gets MVP buzz, Williams gets DPOY buzz, Mazzula gets Coach of the Year buzz.
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