Wizards
Out
Tomas Satoransky, Cassius Winston, Raul Neto, Thomas Bryant, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Ish Smith
Weird out, weird in with the Wizards.
Tough to lose reliable vets like Satoransky, KCP, Smith and Neto but they brought back similar guys, so...kinda seems like the exact team.
Tough to lose Bryant but they never figured what they wanted from him, so good luck to his greener pastures.
In
Johnny Davis (#10 pick), Delon Wright, Will Barton, Monte Morris, Taj Gibson, Makur Makur (Ex 10), Quenton Jackson (Ex 10), Jordan Goodwin (Ex 10), Devon Dotson,
Okay, so Wright, Barton, Morris and Gibson are going to give them exactly what they lost in the vets that went out, right? So...a wash?
The whispers are already strong that Johnny Davis is a full-on bust. Look, if the Wizards are just playing for draft picks this is what happens: you occasionally hit on them and you occasionally miss on them. Seems like just building a team around more reliable draft picks and vets is the way to go, right?
Don't know the others, there may be some talent in there.
Re-signed
Anthony Gill (2yr/$3.8m), Bradley Beal (5yr/$251m)
I'm not as much of a Beal fan as most, but the Wizards had to pay him because...well...they had to. This roster is such that I don't think the Wizards will suck but I don't think they'll be any good either, so they'll be looking to make moves all season long....and don't be shocked if Beal isn't here at the end of the year.
Certainly an inexpensive contract for Gill.
Rest of roster
PF Kristaps Porzingis, F Kyle Kuzma, PF Rui Hachimura, SG Deni Avdija, SG Corey Kispert, PF Daniel Gafford, C Vernon Carey, Isaiah Todd
Who are the keepers and who are the trade bait? I dunno, man, you tell me.
Next summer's free agents
Barton, Hachimura, Gibson (and Porzingis and Kuzma with player options)
I'd say Barton and Gibson are both gone, KP and Kuzma both opt in and Hacimura is 50/50.
Over/Under
35
The Wizards roster is too good to tank, not good enough to be dangerous in the East. They'll be making moves--but will they be upgrading or shipping out salary? I say...both...? If the Wizards for whatever reason start the season hot, they may look to bring in talent; but if they start slow, they'll be shipping out whoever draws any interest at all.
My gut is they walk this line all season long, make up moves and down moves and end up next summer in pretty much the same spot they're in now. I'm seeing weird highs and lows for this team. (And, yeah, I can totally see Beal getting traded)
Hawks
Out
Kevin Knox, Skylar Mays, Delon Wright, Gorgui Dieng, Lou Williams, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Danilo Gallinari, Kevin Huerter, Jock Londale, Sharife Cooper, Chaundee Brown Jr, Mo Harkless,
The quick playoff success the Hawks had with Trae two years ago may be a curse in disguise. They don't know how to build around him and until they figure it out, they're going to be a merry go round that never stops and never pleases.
I think Huerter was wildly underrappreciated, I think Cooper can play, I like TLC, I'm not convinced that Knox is no good.
I think Wright, Dieng, Williams and Gallinari--and even Londale--could've worked for this team but the Hawks are so myopically focused on Trae that they never bothered to find out what all these guys can do.
How many teams has Mo Harkless been waived by since this summer?
Are any of these losses devastating? Probably not, but there were a lot more options available that are now gone.
In
Dejounte Murray, AJ Griffin (#16 pick), Aaron Holiday, Justin Holiday, Frank Kaminsky, Vit Krejci, Trent Forrest (2-way), Jarret Culver (2-way),
I had Dejounte Murray as an all-pro last year, probably should've won Most Improved, and I'm an all around believer in his game. But I don't know how he fits with Trae. Well, we'll find out.
Griffin looks like a can't miss rotation guy, not sure if he gets run as a rook, though.
Two Holidays? (Were there no Antetokounpos available?)
Curious to see if they get anything out of Culver or Forrest, two guys that have bounced around the league a bit.
Not sure what Kaminsky or Krejci are bringing to the table (but its hard to imagine they bring more depth than the Hawks already had).
Re-signed
Tyrese Martin (2yr/$2.7m)
Okay. I don't know who this is.
Rest of roster
PG Trae Young, PF John Collins, C Clint Capela, SF Bogdan Bogdanovic, F De'Andre Hunter, C Onyeka Okongwu, SF Jalen Johnson,
The overrated/underrated roller coaster carries on. I overrated Trae last year, so clearly I'm underrating him now. Look, I think he's great, but he doesn't (yet) make his team great and until he does that, what good is being great? Can the Hawks be awesome this year? Yeah, I guess so, but they can go wrong, too--we've seen it!
I like Collins, not sure why the Hawks were so gung ho to trade him. (Not sure they're not still gung ho to trade him)
If Capela can get back to the form he had 2 years ago, he can be a DPOY candidate.
If Bogdan can stay healthy, he can be a 6th man candidate.
If Hunter and Okongwu take steps forward, they could make this team truly great.
I still think Jalen Johnson might be the steal of 2021 draft. (Not sure we'll see it in Atlanta, though)
Next summer's free agents
Hunter, Holiday & Holiday, Kaminsky (and a player option for Bogdanovic)
Hunter has been re-upped.
Kaminsky is probably just a rental. Not sure about either Holiday.
Bogdanovic will probably be back because his number next summer ($18m) will be hard to get anywhere else, I reckon.
Over/Under
43
If they come together the way they can, then this team can be amazing. But who thinks that's going to happen? (Not me) I have them in the middle of the pack in the East, struggling to find an identity (even though they're entirely built around one guy) and it wouldn't be a shock to see them make more trades (whether of the up or down variety). And will they be dangerous in the playoffs? I suppose it's possible, but I don't see it.
If Trae makes the most of his teammates, they could be #1 in the East and Trae would win an MVP. Anything short of that looks like chaos.
Hornets
Out
Arnoldas Kubolka, Scottie Lewis, Isaiah Thomas, Montrezl Harrell
Easy come, easy go.
In
Bryce McGowens (2-way), Coach Steve Clifford, Mark Williams (#15 pick), Anthony Duruji (Ex 10), Jaylen Sims (Ex 10), Dennis Smith Jr, Xavier Sneed (1yr/$?), (and a 1st rd pick and a pile of 2nd rd picks)
Easy come, next summer's easy go.
I can't say I'm excited about bringing back Coach Clifford (might as well call him 'Coach White Flag') or Williams at the #15 pick.
Re-signed
Cody Martin (4yr/$18m)
I like Martin. That's a good deal.
Rest of roster
F Gordon Hayward, PG Terry Rozier, SG Kelly Oubre, C Mason Plumlee, PF PJ Washington, PG James Bouknight, C Kai Jones, SF Jalen McDaniels, C Nick Richards, C JT Thor
Will we see Bouknight, Thor or Jones this year? If not, why not?
Hayward is trade bait, Rozier is stuck in Charlotte, Oubre is fine but not a needle-mover, Plumlee is a Plumlee, I always kinda liked McDaniels and Richards but those guys are not dragging Charlotte into the playoffs or anything.
And they're holding out on PJ Washington....like he's the problem? *sheesh*
Next summer's free agents
Oubre, Plumlee, Washington, McDaniels, Richards
Oubre and Plumlee and Richards are probably all gone. Seems like Washington should be moving on for his health. Not sure about McDaniels, he's playing for a contract, but who's gonna give it to him?
Over/Under
12
This team stinks. The best player they've got is LaMelo Ball and while he's fun to watch, he's not a winning player. I think Washington and Hayward are trade bait. Curious to see the young kids get some work (although the Hornets seem to hate youth). I just don't see how this team possibly wins any games at all. (And, I didn't even mention the Miles Bridges stuff) This team is a disaster.
Heat
Out
PJ Tucker, Markieff Morris, Ja'Vonte Smart
Tucker is one of those no-nonsense vets that manages to make his team better just by growling in practice. The Heat, in particular, love that shit! So this is tough loss for them. On the court his contribution was reliable, if minimal, but off the court Tucker makes teams better and the Heat will not be better without him.
Morris never really fit in with the Heat.
I don't know Smart.
In
Nikola Jovic (#27 pick), Orlando Robinson (Ex 10), Jamaree Bouyea (Ex 10), Marcus Garrett (2-way), Dru Smith (Ex 10), Jamal Cain (2-way),
All they brought in was a draft pick whose name sounds like "Nikola Jokic" (but isn't Nikola Jokic). Okay...uh...is that it? Can this kid play? Maybe, we'll see.
On the one hand, it's easy to say that the rest will contribute little or nothing to this team; on the other, the Heat get more of nobodies than any other team in the league...so....these guys might be fuckin' all-stars for all I know!
Re-signed
Caleb Martin (3yr/$20.5m), Dewayne Dedmon (2yr/$9m), Victor Oladipo (2yr/$18.2m), Tyler Herro (4yr/$130m), Mychal Mulder (pre-season, I presume)
Perhaps a little rich for Herro but he does have the possibility of gapping up into a much better player and that's worth a raise.
I thought Oladipo was way overrated in last year's playoffs (dudes were acting like he won World War II all by himself, when I saw a dude that almost shot them out of games). But he does still have tantalizing upside (and/or trade value), so this is probably a pretty good deal.
I like those Martin twins, that's a good deal.
I like Dedmon, minimal money, good deal.
Rest of roster
SF Jimmy Butler, C Bam Adebayo, PG Kyle Lowry, SG Duncan Robinson, G Gabe Vincent, G Max Strus, C Omer Yurtseven, C Haywood Highsmith
If Lowry can give them anything (oh, I'm dubious), then the Heat can contend for a title. But if he washes out another season, I feel like the Heat will not overcome that.
But if Adebayo takes a step forward, perhaps that alone can elevate this squad.
Or if Robinson can just get back to being okay (wtf happened to that dude?), that might net them a few extra W's.
How much more can they expect out of Strus and Vincent? Or even Yurtseven and Highsmith?
How far can Jimmy Butler carry this squad? He'll need Adebayo and Herro to get better and he'll need Lowry and Robinson to contribute something and he'll need Oladipo to be useful without being a drain.
Next summer's free agents
Vincent, Strus, Yurtseven (and a player option for Oladipo)
Oladipo's number next summer is under $10m, which will be do-able for a lot of teams if Oladipo is worth it. So, Oladipo probably only comes back if he sucks.
I assume Vincent, Strus and Yurtseven will be affordable (and maybe even necessary).
Over/Under
50
I like this team but I don't love it. There's a lot of flux on this team and if it all comes together, they'll be in the mix. But, if not, this could be a team that works really really hard to lose in the 1st round. Anything short of a Butler-for-MVP year will doom this team.
I think Adebayo can be better, but I'm skeptical of Herro. I'm also skeptical of Lowry, Robinson and Oladipo. This team might be in long term hell with those three, because if this team fails this year, we can go ahead and assume they'll fail next year, too. There's a lot on the line for this team and that tends to bring the best out of Heat Culture, but it could just be that they've bet too much on dwindling talent.
Magic
Out
Ignas Brazdeikis, Robin Lopez
Oh well.
In
Paulo Banchero (#1 pick), Caleb Houstan (#32 pick), Kevon Harris (2-way), Drake Jeffries (Ex 10)
The Magic's weird draft day switcheroo with Jabari Smith for Banchero was especially shocking to me. Here's how I interpreted the top three prospects this year: Banchero is ready to play today, but Smith should get better as the season progresses, while Holmgren probably has the best chance at a long durable career. So if the Magic wanted the best overall prospect, they should've taken Chet; but if they wanted the best ROY candidate, they should've taken Smith; but if they think they've got a good enough team to win now, that's when you take Banchero. So...can they win now? Uhhhhh....no. So I'm not sure Banchero was the best pick--even though I think he's the most ready play on day #1.
Don't know about the other guys.
Re-signed
Gary Harris (2yr/$26m), Bol Bol (2yr/$4m), Mo Bamba (2yr/$21m), Admiral Schofield (2-way)
Weird to say, but I like bringing back all of these guys. Harris is a reliable vet, brings continuity and that's not a killer contract.
I thought keeping Bol was the whole point of the weird trade that brought him to Orlando last year; it looked like a dumping ground but I think Orlando wanted to see if they could get something out of a lottery talent and it seems like they decided to give it a try--and don't be surprised if he's awesome!
Bamba was a divisive player but I liked what I saw of him last year and on that kind of money, I think giving him another 2 years is a good idea.
I liked Schofield in NCAA, I'm not out on him yet.
Rest of roster
C Jonathon Isaac, PG Markelle Fultz, PF Wendell Carter, SF Terrence Ross, PG Jalen Suggs, F Franz Wagner, PG Cole Anthony, F Chuma Okeke, PG RJ Hampton, F Mo Wagner
If all these guys are healthy (and Banchero is badass), then I think Orlando can be a legit good team this year.
Isaac has a lot to prove. So does Fultz. So does Suggs. So does Okeke. So does Hampton.
We know Carter and Franz are ballers and that Anthony and Mo are rotation guys.
Ross is the big brother/trade bait that gives them spice.
Next summer's free agents
Ross, Mo Wagner (and a lot of unguaranteed money....)
Ross will likely move on. Mo Wagner is 50/50.
Over/Under
36
I think this team has no interest in tanking. I think it's time to let the kids play their game and if they win, well, they win. And if it means another lottery pick, well, okay, we'll throw another lottery pick in the mix.
I like this team, I like this roster. There are a lot of guys that need to ball out (Fultz, Isaac, Bol, Banchero, Suggs) and there's nothing stopping them. I think this team plays hard and if they win, I think they'll be rewarded by the team and the fans rather than punished. This is not a team playing for Wembamyama, they're playing for themselves and I think they're gonna be pretty good.
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