Central:
The Bucks season did not go how anyone expected it to go due to the coaching situation, injuries and losing in the first round. They will have a full season of Doc Rivers as head coach and hopefully a healthy season of PG Damian Lillard, SF Khris Middleton and PF Giannis Antetokounmpo. They still have C Brooke Lopez, G Pat Connaughton and added the likes of guards Gary Trent Jr, Delon Wright and F Taurean Prince to complement the stars as this is their division to lose, the conference is another story.
The Cavaliers did make it out of the first round which is an improvement for a middle tier-playoff team but it wasn’t good enough apparently so they fired their head coach JB Bickerstaff , so Kenny Atkinson is in. They also didn’t trade any of their core players like it was rumored as they re-signed G Donovan Mitchell, C Jarrett Allen, PF Evan Mobley and SF Isaac Okoro to keep them alongside PG Darius Garland and G Max Strus. They also still have G Caris LeVert off the bench, but again the question will be how far can Mitchell take this team when healthy/can he and Garland work together long term?
The Pacers have a very talented offensive team but can they stop anyone on defense which was the issue last season and could be the same issue this season. Head coach Rick Carlisle still has All-Star PG Tyrese Hailburton leading the team and they even re-signed key trade-deadline acquisition PF Pascal Siakam to a long-term deal which will make them a deadly 1-2 punch. They also still have center Myles Turner and off the bench they re-signed G TJ McConnell, F Obi Toppin and signed C James Wisemen. Hopefully their defense improves but they still do not have starting wing players so the hope is don’t have to be a play in team but got to the Eastern Conference Finals which surprised many teams.
The Bulls need to stop being a lower level seeded-team/play in team which is why they need to trade G Zach Lavine, Lonzo Ball and C Nikola Vucevic due to their inability to play defense or stay healthy, since they traded away two of their best players already. Out is G Alex Caruso their best defender, and SF DeMar DeRozan their best player plus let C Andre Drummond leave in free agency. The rebuild needs to start so they can have a top 5 pick or have a better chance in the lottery so play the young kids. Let PG Josh Giddey who came in the Caruso trade and SG Chris Duarte who came in the DeRozan play as many minutes possible with their own guys Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu over Lavine/Jevon Carter/Torrey Craig. They also made two bad financial moves by resigning draft-bust Patrick Williams who can’t stay healthy/is a tweener and paid C Jalen Smith starting money when he is an ok backup, when they should play first round pick Matas Buzelis and re-signed Drummond.
The Pistons kind of forced a good head coach to come there when he didn’t really want to and then it was a historically bad season (17 wins total) so they fired him but are still paying him for years. They hired recently fired Cavs head coach JB Bickerstaff in hopes it will turn around but this owner needs to be patient. Their best player G Cade Cunningham has to be healthy first, their young players need to develop and gel together in G Jaden Ivey, F Ausar Thompson and C Jalen Duren. They also added some veterans which will help in the development by getting guards Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr and F Tobias Harris. Detroit fans, your ownership/front office need to be patient because you cannot keep drafting players in the lottery and rush their development then cut them.
Atlantic:
Well it finally happened the Jayson Tatum–Jalen Brown duo finally won the NBA Championship for the Celtics. President of basketball operations Brad Stevens tuned out the outside noise to keep them together, getting Kristpas Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White and bringing back Al Horford, all of those moves were made by him. All of them were key in helping their duo reach the pinnacle finally and even locked up their core like Tatum and White this offseason. It is very hard to repeat in any sport and it will be hard due to the fact their core players have always had health concerns so their depth will be an issue outside of Payton Pritchard.
The Knicks lost a very close series in the semifinals and took that to heart to get much better as they made two crucial trades. They traded a bunch of draft picks to get F Mikal Bridges and then traded away PF Julius Randle/Donte DiVincenzo to Minnesota for Karl Anthony Towns. More importantly they locked up PG Jalen Brunson for less than he could have got and re-signed OG Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa. They also still have Josh Hart and Mitchell Robinson as part of their defensive core. They did lose Alec Burks, Isaiah Hartenstein, Shake Milton and Bojan Bogdanovic. Will head coach Tom Thibodeau stop over using his key players and how far will they get in the playoffs with new front court players in Kat and Bridges gelling with Brunson.
The 76ers will only go as far C Joel Embiid(contract extension) takes them so step one this season is no back to back games since he never is healthy in the course of a regular season/post season run and were eliminated in the first round. They did lose key role players in Tobias Harris, Nicolas Batum, Buddy Hield, Mo Bamba and De’Anthony Melton in the offseason. To help Embiid/PG Tyrese Maxey(contract extension) they added SF Paul George who will not be asked to be the third option and not the first or second. They also added guards Caleb Martin, Reggie Jackson, C Andre Drummond, G Eric Gordon and re-signed F Kelly Oubre Jr, PG Kyle Lowry and F KJ Martin to make a good core of role players.
The Nets are and should be in full rebuild mode now that they traded their best player Bridges for so many draft picks and should play all the young players. Those young players are guards Cam Thomas, Cameron Johnson, F Dorian Finney-Smith and C Nic Claxton who they re-signed. They also brought in F Bojan Bogdanovic for another run with G Shake Milton, F Ziaire Williams and have PG Dennis Schroder still. Their biggest question mark will G Ben Simmons ever be healthy enough to play any games no matter if it is as a PG or a center.
The Raptors have a nice team of tall, athletic and long players like their best player F Scottie Barnes who they extended. They did lose two key role players in Gary Trent/Jalen McDaniels but got guards Davion Mitchell and drafted Ja’Kobe Walter. They have some nice role players in C Jakob Poltl, F Kelly Olynyk, guards Bruce Brown, Immanuel Quickley and hope last season’s trade pickup G RJ Barrett continues to grow and last year’s first round pick G Gradey Dick does the same.
Southeast:
The Magic took a huge step by being the #5 seed and took Cleveland to seven games in the 1st round. That success can be tied to head coach Jamahl Mosley and Paolo Banchero being an All-Star. They have a good core of young players in the Wagner brothers(Franz and Moritz who both signed extensions), guards Jalen Suggs, Cole Anthony, centers Jonathan Isaac and Wendell Carter Jr. They also brought in veterans F Kentavious Caldwell Pope, G Cory Joseph and kept G Gary Harris to have some veteran leadership.
The Heat definitely didn’t have the season they expect to have every season losing in the first round/being a play in team. They have “Heat Culture” where they take late 1st round/2nd round/undrafted players and churn them out to be useful role players but this team will only go as far as F Jimmy Butler takes them and he missed lots of time due to injury. Their core of Butler, C Bam Adebayo, G Tyler Herro, F Nikola Jovic, guards Terry Rozier, Josh Richardson, Duncan Robinson, Alec Burks, F Jaime Jaquez, F Kevin Love and C Thomas Bryant makeup a playoff caliber team. While Butler was out with injury this conference got better but their own divisional rival got better so the culture might not help them get far.
The Hawks realized the trade for DeJounte Murray, a PG to play alongside PG Trae Young, didn’t work out so they traded him away. They also lost Saddiq Bey to the Wizards but by having the #1 pick F Zaccharie Risacher who looks like a starting 3&D player he should be their starting SF to help out De’Andre Hunter. They have a nice front court of C Clint Capela, F Jalen Johnson and got F Larry Nance in the trade plus have C Cody Zeller and C Onyeka Okongwu. You almost forget they still have guards Bogdan Bogdanovic and Dyson Daniels who also came in trade in the backcourt. This team will only go as far as Young takes them so health and leadership/ability to make others better will be key if not he could also find himself out of Atlanta.
The Hornets will only go as far PG LaMelo Ball takes them since he has not been healthy for years now but at least he has two good players to play alongside him in forwards Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges who is back officially with a contract extension. They added some nice role players in G Seth Curry at the deadline last year(who they re-signed), G Josh Green, F Taj Gibson and still have guards Grant Williams, Cody Martin and Tre Mann. They even hired a new head coach in Charles Lee(who was an assistant with the Bucks & the Celtics) so they hope he can mold this young team going forward.
The Wizards still have G Jordan Poole and F Kyle Kuzma who both need the ball to succeed and will again be on a bottom tier team together. They did add veterans PG Malcom Brogdon, SF Saddiq Bey and C Jonas Valanciunas to solidify those positions. They drafted a big man in Alex Sarr with the second pick, a point guard and a wing player in hopes they can be building blocks for the future. Also kept their interim head coach to be their full time head coach in Brian Keefe to lead this rebuild. Maybe they will trade F Richaun Holmes, C Marvin Bagley and the other veterans to keep the rebuild going.
Northwest:
Any team that has C Nikola Jokic a three time MVP, PG Jamal Murray, F Aaron Gordon and SF Michael Porter Jr always has a chance to be a top seed in the West and maybe even win it again. The Nuggets again lost a key role player in back to back off seasons, this time it was Kentavious Caldwell Pope, plus Reggie Jackson. They did bring in PG Russell Westbrook and F Dario Saric, but their depth will be an issue again for head coach Mike Malone.
The Thunder jumped up to being the top seed with All-Star PG Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leading the way. They only got better by adding G Alex Caruso and C Isaiah Hartenstein to provide more defense and veteran leadership. Their young core still has G Luguentz Dort, F Jalen Williams, C Chet Holmgren, G Aaron Wiggins and F Jaylin Williams, so expect them to compete for a championship for a while.
The Timberwolves went to the conference finals last year which was a huge improvement from previous seasons, but they decided to change things up again. They traded their franchise player Karl Anthony Towns for F Julius Randle and G Donte DiVincenzo. They still have PG Mike Conley and big men Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid. They did add F Joe Ingles but also have G Nickeil Alexander-Walker for the bench. Head coach Chris Finch and All-Star G Anthony Edwards will have a lot of work to figure out how things will jell without Towns.
Well the Jazz did not trade F Lauri Markkanen like many thought, so they extended him. Their core isn’t that bad since it has guards Jordan Clarkson, Colin Sexton, F John Collins and C Walker Kessler plus G Patty Mills. They also drafted three players in the draft so they have more depth.
Things didn’t go so well last season for the Trailblazers having the worst record in the West, but what do you expect from a rebuilding team? It will be another long season for head coach Chauncy Billups and his core players like guards Scoot Henderson, Anfernee Simons, F Jerami Grant, C Deandre Ayton, guards Matisse Thybulle and Shaedon Sharpe. They biggest additions were getting F Deni Avdija, a really good defender and facilitator, and drafted a rim protecting center with the 7th pick in Donovan Clingan because they do not know when C Robert Williams will play.
Pacific:
The Suns will always be talented but will they play enough games together for their big 3 of F Kevin Durant, guards Bradley Beal and Devin Booker? This team did get better by getting PG Tyus Jones so they have a real point guard and added G Monte Morris, C Mason Plumlee and re-signed C Bol Bol, guards Royce O’Neale and Damion Lee. Their defense will be anchored by G Grayson Allen and C Jusuf Nurkic. They fired their head coach Frank Vogel in favor of Mike Budenholzer so we will see if that changes anything.
The Kings will be better than a play-in seed by adding F DeMar DeRozan, G Jordan McLaughlin plus re-signed G Malik Monk. Their core of PG De’Aaron Fox, F Keegan Murray, G Kevin Huerter, F Trey Lyles and C Domantas Sabonis will take them pretty far if you’re adding DeRozan at SF to alleviate the pressure in crunch time.
The Lakers will keep being a play in team due to not helping out F LeBron James and C Anthony Davis, since they both can’t keep carrying this team to just lose in the first round. There is talent between guards Austin Reeves, D’Angelo Russell, F Rui Hachimura, G Gabe Vincent, F Jarred Vanderbilt, C Jaxson Hayes and C Christian Wood but who will show up when it is needed in the playoffs? They did draft a guard in the first round who might contribute but the headlines were they drafted Lebron’s son Bronny in the second round plus hired former guard JJ Reddick to coach with no experience.
The Clippers are again a team full of good role players who are doing their best to keep them afloat until their two stars are healthy but guess what? Paul George has left and they have no idea when F Kawhi Leonard will be back. Head coach Tyron Lue has his work cut out for him since they also lost Russell Westbrook, Mason Plumlee and Daniel Theis too. They still have G James Harden, C Ivica Zubac both of whom were re-signed, F Nicolas Batum, F Derrick Jones, guards Kevin Porter, Kris Dunn, C Mo Bamba, guards Terrance Mann, Norman Powell, Amir Coffey, Bones Hyland and F PJ Tucker.
The Warriors have said goodbye to a franchise stalwart in Klay Thompson leaving just G Steph Curry and F Draymond Green for head coach Steve Kerr. Chris Paul and Dario Saric are out as well but in are G Buddy Hield, F Kyle Anderson and G De’Anthony Melton. They hope to keep getting more out of F Jonathan Kuminga, G Brandin Podziemski and F Moses Moody. The rest of their team is still F Andrew Wiggins, C Kevon Looney and G Gary Payton anchoring their defense with Green.
Southwest:
The Mavericks got to the finals but were definitely out matched by the Celtics who played as a team. The issue with the Mavericks and something that head coach Jason Kidd has to worry about is you cannot win relying on two players to keep taking turns scoring, in guards Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. They also do not play any defense which puts lots of pressure on the front court in Daniel Gafford, Dereck Lively, PJ Washington and Maxi Kleber. They also added Klay Thompson to be their starting small forward to shoot three’s and play defense. Their bench has G Spencer Dinwiddie, forwards Dwight Powell, Markieff Morris and G Quentin Grimes.
The Pelicans core of forwards Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram will always make people wonder if they will stay healthy enough to live up to the team’s potential. G CJ McCollum is a good leader on this team and they finally have a real PG in DeJounte Murray who they traded for pushing Jose Alvarado to the bench. The biggest issue is they do not have a center with Valanciunas and Larry Nance gone, they are turning to Herb Jones to be their center which is odd. They also added C Daniel Theis to help F Trey Murphy off the bench.
Head coach Taylor Jenkins has his work cut out for him trying to get back to the playoffs and it will start for the Grizzlies if PG JA Morant is healthy and not having off the court issues. They re-signed G Luke Kennard; still have guards Desmond Bane, Marcus Smart, F Brandon Clarke and G Scottie Pippen Jr. Another big thing will be if F Jaren Jackson Jr. is healthy who was a defensive player of the year award winner, and they drafted Zach Edey with the 9th pick to shore up the frontcourt.
Well Greg Popovich is going to keep guiding rookie of the year C Victor Wenbanyama for the Spurs and this time he will get help from PG Chris Paul and SF Harrison Barnes for veteran leadership. Their role players are improving in F Jeremy Sochan, guards Devin Vassell, Tre Jones and C Zach Collins, plus they drafted Stephon Castle a guard with the 5th pick.
This will be year two of Ime Udoka coaching the Rockets and it is going to be hard again being in the West and being in this division as well. Their core is C Alperen Sengun, F Jabari Smith, G Jalen Green and F Amen Thompson, plus this year’s 1st round pick G Reed Sheppard. They also have some veterans guards Fred Van Fleet, Dillon Brooks, Aaron Holliday, C Steven Adams and F Jeff Green they could trade.