Suns
Out
Aaron Holiday, Gabriel Lundberg, Elfrid Payton, JaVale McGee, (Jae Crowder?)
Never understood the beef with Jae Crowder that erupted during the summer but seems like they are ready to part ways. That's too bad because he fits nicely in that lineup, not easy to replace.
McGee and Payton, on the other hand, are both occasionally maligned guys but they are reliable pros.
Losing Holiday and Lundberg will not be impactful.
In
Damion Lee, Josh Okogie, Jock Londale, Duane Washington (2-way), Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot
I like Luwawu but I can't see him doing much on this team. Okogie and Lee and Londale have had their fans over the years but I was never one....and no draft picks at all?
Re-signed
Bismack Biyombo (1yr/$2.9m), Devin Booker (4yr/$214m), Deandre Ayton (4yr/$133m), Coach Monty Williams (3yr extension)
Big money for Booker is a no-brainer and we've heard nothing but the most glowing stories of Coach Monty...
But...after hating all over Ayton all season long, they brought him back at the max? AND they brought back Biyombo? I don't understand any of that.
Rest of roster
PG Chris Paul, F Mikal Bridges, SG Landry Shamet, PF Dario Saric, PG Cam Payne, SF Cam Johnson, SG Torrey Craig,
Paul is probably the greatest regular season PG of all time, which is nice.
Bridges and Johnson are great complementary players. Shamet an Payne are nice contributors. Craig still has moments and Saric is coming back from injury.
Next summer's free agents
Crowder, Saric, Johnson, Craig, Biyombo, Okogie, Lee, Londale, Luwawu
Gotta bring back Johnson. Probably none of the rest.
Over/Under
49
They didn't upgrade at any position and they seem to be giving away Jae Crowder. So how do they get better this year? (Answer: They don't....they were always overrated, now they're obnoxious and overrated) I never believed in CP as a post-season guy, I worry that Booker has had just enough success that he starts to slough off, I worry that Bridges and Johnson have peaked, I wonder if Ayton wants to get better at basketball (or with this team), and I'm not sure the rest of the cast will provide much. And now it feels like the front office just thinks they're gonna get better by not making any changes (except maybe shipping out Crowder). I don't buy this team, man, I think they overachieved 2 years ago and that was their peak. I think they're fading and they don't look likely to correct the decline. The only thing elevating from play-in range is CP's brilliance (in games that don't matter).
Kings
Out
Donte DiVincenzo, Damian Jones, Jeremy Lamb, Josh Jackson, Justin Holiday, Moe Harkless
I thought they got a pretty deal on DiVincenzo last year, then they just let him walk...I don't get it, but oh well, he wasn't there long enough to matter, I guess.
Jones in a Laker uniform is gonna smart.
How many teams has Harkless been on in the last 6 months? I see that guy's name everywhere!
I was never in on Lamb, gave up on Jackson years ago and Holiday was never really gonna play here.
In
Keegan Murray (#4 pick), Aleksander Vezenkov (rights), Keon Ellis (2-way), Malik Monk, Kevin Huerter, Chima Moneke, Matthew Dellavedova, Kent Bazemore, Quinn Cook, Sam Merrill, KZ Okpala
Murray looks like a monster, serious ROY candidate and I think he'll fit into this rotation.
Huerter is one of the most underrated players of the last few years, I'd say. Way more active than he gets credit for, can shoot from anywhere, scrappy defender, and overshadowed--think he fits right in here.
Monk and Fox made for one of the funner Kentucky duos in the Calipari era. Good to see them back together (after the Kings passed on getting them both on draft day). Monk will disappear from time to time, but he's still a deadly shooter.
I've always been intrigued by Okpala, as well. The Heat gave up on his contract, not his game. I think the Kings made another good pickup.
Re-signed
Neemias Queta (2-way)
Don't know him.
Rest of roster
PG De'Aaron Fox, C Damontas Sabonis, SF Harrison Barnes, C Richaun Holmes, SG Davion Mitchell, SF Terence Davis, C Alex Len, PF Trey Lyles, F Chimezie Metu
I like Fox and Sabonis, seems like a weird pairing, but they are both good players. And I like this year's supporting cast better than any either of them have had before.
Mitchell has room to keep improving.
Barnes and Holmes are the adults in the room
Lyles is underrated, Metu could still make a jump an Davis and Len are reliable vets at this point.
Next summer's free agents
Barnes, Davis, Len, Lyles, Metu, Dellvedova, Ellis, Okpala
Probably the end of the line for Barnes in Sactown. Been a good run (time for a Heat jersey or maybe Suns).
I can see Lyles and Okpala coming back. I think Okpala will be a real find and actually in a low-key way Lyles has greatly improved in the last coupla seasons.
Over/Under
44
I like all these guys, I like this squad. There's a lot of room for a bunch of dudes to get better and if Fox can harness that, this team might be really good. Wedged in with the Warriors, Lakers, Suns and Clippers, they could fly under the radar right into a dangerous play-in spot. Also, I don't see them as a tanking team, so they're playing to win throughout and I think by March they'll still be there after the pretenders have bailed.
Warriors
Out
Chris Chiozza, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Damion Lee, Gary Payton II, Nemanja Bjelica, Otto Porter
Payton and Porter played big minutes in the playoffs and Bjelica, too, was a reliable vet off the bench. And during the regular season Chiozza, Lee and Toscano-Anderson played meaningful minutes, replacing them won't be impossible but this is more like gum recession: the teeth are still there, they just have less protection. The Warriors didn't lose teeth here, but maybe some muscle.
In
Patrick Baldwin (#28 pick), Ryan Rollins (#? pick), Donte DiVincenzo, Pat Spencer (Ex 10), Jerome Robinson (Ex 10), Anthony Lamb, Ty Jerome, JaMychal Green
Green and DiVincenzo should fit right into this lineup. I've never actually been a huge DiVincenzo fan but I can see him quietly sliding into some nice numbers and being good depth in the post-season. Green, too, is a wily vet, knows what to do, knows where to go, won't give a lot of minutes but will play quality ones.
Baldwin is a vaguely familiar name from last year's mocks. He'd be far enough down the depth chart that I reckon he'll be a G-Leaguer as a rook.
The rest...meh. They need to fill roster spots.
Re-signed
Quinndary Weatherspoon (2-way), Lester Quinones (2-way), Kevon Looney (3yr/$25m), Andre Iguodala (1yr/$?), (Nico Mannion?)
I think Looney is a greatly underappreciated force in this last championship run. Dude's already a full NBA career (highs, lows, all that), he's already a wily vet and probably worth more than the $8m/per the Warriors got him for. And if his extension contribute to moving on from Draymond, well they'd need to replace Draymond.
Iguodala (the new 'Udonis'? Well, the old Udonis is still around, too) works for me. They should treat him the way the Wolves played KG in his last coupla years: put him in the starting lineup, talk about him, make him a face of the team, make sure he never plays more than 5-8 mins a night, and when's all said and done the Warriors go deep in the playoffs and Wiggins wins 6th Man 'cause he's getting his 38mins a night coming off the bench.
Can Weatherspoon be a 3-and-D guy? Or a rebound machine?
Rest of roster
PG Steph Curry, SG Klay Thompson, SF Andrew Wiggins, PF Draymond Green, C James Wiseman, PF Kevon Looney, F Jonathon Kuminga, SG Jordan Poole, PG Moses Moody
These guys already won a Championship. I think we'll look back on last year's Warriors victory and say, 'My god! They got nothing out of Wiseman, Kuminga or Moody and not really all that much out of Poole and they still crushed the Grizzlies, Mavs and Celtics!' The idea that anyone other than the Warriors are winning the next championship is just foolish ranting, my friends. Steph and Klay are both so awesome, Wiggins is in his prime, the aforementioned youngsters are ready to kick ass for the next decade.
And on top of that: suddenly, Draymond is playing for his future. Yup, the baddest man in basketball is pissed off. (To me Draymond is like DeMarcus Cousins at his absolute peak but being the ultimate team player (or the exact opposite of Cousins); Draymond is the DeMarcus Cousins of being the anti-DeMarcus Cousins). And he's pissed off, violent and in a walk year. Oh my god, you must be crazy if you think the Warriors aren't coming out of the West.
Next summer's free agents
Wiggins, Poole, Green, (and player options for Draymond, DiVicenzo)
Green will likely not be back next year. Wiggins and Poole have already re-upped. I'd be willing to bet DiVincenzo is in on that option.
Suddenly not sure about Draymond; he feels like the perfect candidate to get moved for Kelly Olynyk and two 2nd rd picks and that is crazy talk about the guy arguably the most valuable over the last 10 years (seriously, how many dudes you got ahead of Draymond? ....That's probably too many). I'm all for the family vibe the Warruirs got going but there is a limit to how much money can be spent and Wiseman and Kuminga and Moody will be up soon, too. It feels like Draymond is getting traded, this is one of the weirder cliffhangers since... (Anthony Davis's last year in New Orleans?).
Over/Under
54
I think they'll be really good but not great, they'll be load managing Steph and Klay (and probably Looney, too), and the youngsters will falter from time to time. They'll still win a ton of games but they won't kill themselves, cruise into the playoffs in a comfortable 2nd or 3rd place and promptly roast everyone. I think the Grizzlies can give them pause, maybe the Clippers or the Lakers, but I still think they're better than all those teams. I think they'd smoke the Nuggets, Suns, Wolves, Pelicans or Mavs. And the Bucks will give them a good run in the Finals, but I see the Warriors as the Champs.
This seems like a wide-open year but the championship hasn't seemed so obvious to me, since the Jordan years. This team is already way better than everyone else and they still have plenty of room to get better and plenty of depth to manage minutes. This is a precision auto and it is fully operational. I just don't see the Lakers cobbling together anything that even comes close. Who is the competition in the West? I don't see any.
I see them being good but not dominant through the regular season. But they'll turn full mambo come the post-season.
Lakers
Out
Mac McClung, Mason Jones, Avery Bradley, Carmelo Anthony, DJ Augustine, Dwight Howard, Kent Bazemore, Malik Monk, Wayne Ellington, Talen Horton-Tucker, Stanley Johnson
The one guy from last year's supporting cast that I would've kept was Monk, but the Lakers let him get away. (Too much money sloshing around over time limits creates less financial dynamism rather than more; the Mo Bitches=Mo Problems equation)
Bradley, Augustine, Dwight, Bazemore, Ellington all should've been gone years ago. Carmelo may still have some buckets in him but they're not worth it if he's gonna stand around acting like he's running the place. Johnson is still young and lively enough to give good defensive minutes.
I don't understand the aversion to McClung. He can obviously play, he's obviously an athlete, a scoring man's TJ McConnell, if you will. Yes, like all hammy actors, he draws focus; but there are some teams that could use that, you know? He'll end up somewhere. The Spurs might give him some run.
I never saw it in Horton-Tucker. Now he'll get to be a perfectly mediocre (overpaid) combo guard that doesn't shoot or defend particularly well.
In
Max Christie (#35 pick), Cole Swider (2-way), Damian Jones, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Scotty Pippen Jr (2-way), Troy Brown, Lonnie Walker, Thomas Bryant, Javante McCoy (Ex 10), Jay Huff (Ex 10), Patrick Beverley, Dennis Schroder, Matt Ryan, LJ Figueroa, Shaq Harrison
I thought Schroder was the MVP of EuroBasket--yeah, I'll say it again, not Giannis or Jokic or Luka or even Markkanen. Schroder controlled every game (until the semifinals, anyway), got buckets and made plays like a motherfuckin' boss (*). I've seen him do it, I know he can do it. The Lakers are not the best spot for him to take over--but they so fucking need him to take over! But they probably won't let him. I think he's gonna be really good this year in spite of the Lakers. So is he a good pickup? Not sure, he could blow up and be an all-star or he could be blamed for all problems and shipped off to San Antonio (where they'll treat him with the respect) for a good deal on a Honda Accord.
Otherwise I think I like this batch of underlings better than the last few Laker vintages. I like Jones, should work just fine for the Lakers. Toscano-Anderson is a good get, he knows how to handle stars and shit. Walker and Bryant are young enough to give some good defense.
Oh, but, I find Patrick Beverley wildly overrated. He's fine, he's never really ever been better than just fine. He's fine. If you think PatBev is the difference between a championship and not making the playoffs, I think you're probably crazy.
The rest of these guys will come and go and be on some other roster next Fall.
Re-signed
Lebron James (2yr/$97.1m)
This might sound weird but I always kinda thought Lebron could do the hired gun thing and go ring-hunting. Others say he needs the ball too much but I'm not sure that's true. I think he'd be happy to defer, he's just never played with anyone better than him before or on a team where he wasn't the focus. I do think he could throttle back and give a hard 20 mins in a supporting role and elevate a mid-level team. I know that all sounds weird, but I think deep down Lebron dreams of just being a basketball player and a contributor rather than having the whole franchise riding on his shoulders at all times. Now that his kids are getting old enough, I can totally see him at least flirting with the idea. This 2-year kinda hamstrings that a little, doesn't it? Well, gearing up with AD, Schroder and whatever they can get for Westbrook might could work out. And if it all falls apart, Lebron could just sit out next year, conserve his body, let the kids figure out where they're going to be and slip back into the game in a supporting role. On the other hand, I think Lebron legit likes living in LA and be a Laker legend would be a pretty tasty part of that, so making the best of the fresh fruit and rotting vegetables that the Lakers have become.
Rest of roster
PG Russell Westbrook, C Anthony Davis, PG Kendrick Nunn, F Wenyen Gabriel, SG Austin Reaves
Anhtony Davis only has a handful of games left in him, it is up to the Lakers to make the most of them. If Davis can just stay on the court, I think he and Lebron could get W's in the regular season. Can AD and Lebron stay healthy all the way through the playoffs? Hard to imagine, right?
Where does Westbrook go? I dunno, man, if they could get him to embrace coming off the bench, then at least they'd have something they could work with. But the diva routine is just not getting it done.
Curious to see Nunn's return; had some nice moments on finals team, let's see if he's still got something.
Gabriel can get rebounds and play some defense. Reaves had a fun rookie season, let's see if he can keep it going.
Next summer's free agents
Westbrook, Beverley, Walker, Nunn, Gabriel, Toscano-Anderson, Bryant, Brown, Huff, Reaves, Pippen, Schroder
Oh yeah, they'll get completely overhauled next summer, win or lose. That Lebron contract was for this year and....well, we'll see if Lebron can recuit talent to come out to LA, they'll have money to spend.
I can see them keeping Bryant, maybe Walker, maybe Toscano-Anderson. That's probably it, though.
Over/Under
46
Like virtually everybody in the West, I think the Lakers will be good, not great and all the teams will be bunched up on each other. I don't see the Lakers bailing out, so they'll be on the win-now side throughout. But I don't see much movement on that roster, so I think their "upgrades" will come from the pool of free agents--which seems to be larger than ever. So, they can always go get Tristan Thompson or Lou Williams or whoever.
If the Lakers trust in Schroder, I think he can make the most of AD and maybe even Lebron. Not sure the Lakers have the patience or wisdom to do that but if they do, I think the Lakers can actually be pretty good in the regular season and a roll of the dice in the playoffs.
Clippers
Out
Isaiah Hartenstein, Rodney Hood, Jay Scrubb
Yes, I agree: Hartenstein was pretty good for them last year and while they had some bigger fish frying, sometimes the minnows are the ones that make the difference. (Eh, he's probably better on the Knicks, actually)
Don't know Scrubb and I totally forgot that Hood was with the Clippers.
In
Moussa Diabate (#43 pick) (2-way), John Wall, Moses Brown (Ex 10), Malik Fits
Curious to see if Wall can still play, been a while. I think he can still be helpful and sandwiched between two scorers like Kawhi and PG, he'll have room to score. I think this can be a good offense.
Fits was on the Celtics last year....that's all I know about him. That's not bad.
Brown looks to get some Harteinstein minutes. Don't know Diabate.
Re-signed
Ivica Zubac (3yr/$33m), Amir Coffey (3yr$11m), Nicolas Batum (2yr/$22m), Xavier Moon (Ex 10), Nate Darling
I like Zubac. I like Coffey. I think Batum still has good minutes in him. I even kinda like Xavier Moon--feels like these were all good moves.
Rest of roster
SF Kawhi Leonard, SF Paul George, SG Norman Powell, F Marcus Morris, SG Luke Kennard, SG Robert Covington, PG Reggie Jackson, SG Terence Mann, SG Brandon Boston, F Jason Preston
I like all these guys. I think if Wall can be what we think Wall can be, it makes all these guys immensely better; I don't think I like it quite as much if Reggie Jax is the 1st string PG and Wall is just bench guy. Outside of the Warriors, this is the deepest roster in the league. Hell, I still think Brandon Boston can blow up.
Next summer's free agents
Jackson, Brown, Moon
Hmmm....feels like the Clippers will not be busy next summer. This roster is their roster for a while.
Over/Under
58
I think night in/night out, the Clippers might be the best team in the regular season. They've got enough depth that they're not really relying on anyone too much. I don't think they have moves (well, maybe only desperate, burn it all down kinda moves--not hey, we can get better moves). I think the Clippers will be #1 in the West and give the Warriors the stiffest challenge.
(*) Yeah, I know. You're like...Schroder? I'm telling you, man, it was Magic Johnson-level shit he was doing. He controlled the action like it was an Alfred Hitchcock movie. How Germany lost to Spain, I'll never know. Pound for pound I thought Germany was the best, Slovenia was good, Lithuania should've gone further, France was nice but kinda hollow, champion Spain was frisky but had way less talent than usual. (Poland made the semis without belonging there at all, so the Euro was kinda George Mason-y this year, the major powers mostly didn't get it done)
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