Post by The Athletic on Jul 27, 2018 13:57:01 GMT -5
Golden State Warriors
PG Stephen Curry
SG CJ McCollum
SF Kevin Knox
PF Ben Simmons
C Alex Len
UTL Thaddeus Young
UTL Trey Lyles
Key Bench – JR Smith/Wilson Chandler
Championship Contender
Another year goes by and expectations are the same. Where is the ring for Caleb and the Warriors? Last year’s injury to Steph killed all hope to bring that ring to the bay, but let’s not dwell in the past. Caleb has already made some serious moves this offseason; first they traded away Rudy Gobert for CJ McCollum and Kevin Knox. Then with the remaining cap space they decided to go out and hand Thaddeus Young a reasonable deal. The two headed monster of Steph and Ben Simmons may be the most feared in the league, who else has two 40 point guys? Along with that is CJ McCollum who does have his deficiencies here but there is no doubt that he can go off on any given night. Alex Len has a new home in Atlanta and should slot in as a starter. Trey Lyles can only get better as he is looking for more minutes in Denver. Lastly, the Warriors made a highly debated trade by giving up a coveted Utah future 1st to move up two spots and snag their guy in Kevin Knox. Knox has looked great and should be in for a heavy workload in his rookie year. I liked Caleb’s move to go out and get his guy but there is a huge amount of pressure on Knox producing in his first year. It’s championship or bust for this yet again, loaded Warriors team.
Sacramento Kings
PG Goran Dragic
SG Nik Satuskas
SF Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
PF Blake Griffin
C Marc Gasol
UTL Kyle Kuzma
UTL Patrick Beverly
Key Bench – Aaron Baynes
Pretender
David and the Kings are some bright spots but the needs are clear. They desperately need a competent SG to push this team into the playoffs. Marc Gasol and Blake are both studs but need to stay healthy. Kuzma was a nice surprise and will look to improve in his second year. Dragic and Beverly are also going to need to stay healthy for this team to make a run. MKG will probably need to be better or the Kings should look to upgrade there. Signing Aaron Baynes looks a little bit questionable when you see the holes at SG and SF but he could put up some decent numbers in a starting role. With all this said, the Kings are going to need to make some moves if they want to even make a run for the playoffs.
Phoenix Suns
PG Tyus Jones
SG Gary Harris
SF Dillon Brooks
PF Nerlens Noel
C Jarrett Allen
UTL Jerami Grant
UTL Mohamed Bamba
Key Bench – Malik Monk
Pretender
Terrence and the Suns have completely switched it up. The roster compared to last year is almost completely different after making several moves. First, they dealt away Dennis Schroder for Nerlens Noel and his mega contract. Noel should only improve after a miserable year in Dallas but is there a role for him in OKC? Next up is another addition of a huge contract. They dished out 23M a year for Gary Harris, Gary is a great piece but that price tag is extremely high for a player of his caliber. The Suns then took Mo Bama at 4 who has potential to become an absolute stud. Jarrett Allen is a really nice young piece on top of all of this who should improve on a bad Nets team. Jerami Grant was one of my favorite free agency signings as he is slotted in to start for OKC and should put up some nice defensive stats. Malik Monk looks like a capable player in the NBA and could put up some big games this year. The only hole here is point guard; Tyus Jones and Elie Okobo are not going to cut it. This team will take some time to develop but are oozing with potential. We’ll take a wait and see approach for the Suns.
LA Clippers
PG Trae Young
SG Luke Kennard
SF Jimmy Butler
PF Maurice Harkless
C Dwight Howard
UTL Hassan Whiteside
UTL Kent Bazemore
Key Bench – Grayson Allen/Furkan Korkmaz
Borderline Pretender
Remy has made some moves this summer! The James Harden era has ended in LA, they acquired Jimmy Butler (who may be the most traded player in league history) and Trae Young (traded three times already). Remy is really banking on Trae Young being more of a Steph mold then a Jimmer mold but I think he’ll be somewhere in the middle. Trae has legitimate passing skills and while he is going to have some rough patches his rookie year, there will be moments of him shining. Jimmy will be his normal high usage stud here while Dwight and Whiteside form the most interesting center duo in the league. Dwight is coming off a monster year for Charlotte and his new gig in DC only looks to be better. Whiteside is in a strange situation after calling out his coaching staff and barely playing in the playoffs. When Whiteside plays, he is a top 15 guy here but if he doesn’t, it’s a fat 25M going to waste. This team has huge upside but there is also potential for it to all fall apart. It’s not bad coming from a team Trey built.
LA Lakers
PG Kris Dunn
SG Josh Richardson
SF Taurean Prince
PF Serge Ibaka
C Joel Embiid
UTL Collin Sexton
UTL Marquese Chriss
Key Bench – Dante Exum/Jawaun Evans
Pretender
Griffin has taken the conservative and patient approach to building this Lakers team. Not a ton of trades but trusting the process moving forward. The team is finally starting to flash some potential. They are still a ways off from being a title contender but who knows if guys step up this could be a playoff team. Kris Dunn is really important. At times last year he flashed a ton of potential a guy who can fill it up with steals and create for others. But there is still some uncertainty if he can create his shot and score, and there have been some reports that the Bulls are concerned with his work ethic this summer. We'll see. The next two I'm really going to monitor are Collin Sexton and Taurean Prince. Sexton showed exactly why he was drafted 7th overall in the summer league. He showed insane intensity and fearlessness with the ability to score and create for others. There will be a learning curve of course, but Sexton should be on track for good minutes out of the gate. Taurean took a step forward last year, and will need to continue to do so for this Lakers team. He was really good at times last year, and really bad at times as well. The Lakers are a fun young team, and won't be a push over this year wouldn't be surprised to see this team push for a playoff appearance this year, and if not this year, next year.