Central: The defending NBA champion Bucks will be bringing back the same core of F Giannis Antetokounmpo, F Kris Middleton, PG Jrue Holiday, C Brook Lopez and kept C/F Bobby Portis. They also added guards George Hill, Grayson Allen and Rodney Hood to the core of young wing players they have in Donte DiVincnezo, Pat Connaughton and brought in a young big man in Semi Ojeleye making up a nice core. They have a good chance of repeating as Eastern conference champions but will be difficult to repeat against a tough West team in the finals.
The Pacers realized they made a mistake quickly by firing Nate McMillian for Nate Bjorkgren who they fired after one year as they failed to make the playoffs this year. McMillian was fired for not going far in the playoffs despite making it every year essentially when he was the coach so they hired Rick Carlisle(his second stint). This team has a nice young core of F Domantas Sabonis, C Myles Turner, G Malcolm Brogdon and even got G Caris LaVert for Victor Oladipo so now they have four players to lead this team to the playoffs. Their role players F TJ Warren, guards TJ McConnell, Justin Holiday and Torrey Craig, plus their draft picks make up good depth for this team as they will reestablish their consistency.
The Bulls made a huge roster overhaul that started at the deadline this past season by trading away a lot of their injured players who were not helping by getting All-Star center Nikola Vucevic, then they added DeMar DeRozan, guards Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso to help facilitate the ball to move the offense. All of these moves takes pressure off of G Zach LaVine from having to score all the points/jack up three pointers, plus he has a veteran presence of DeRozan to help him lead. They also have a nice young core in F Patrick Williams, guards Coby White, first round pick Ayo Dosunmu, C Tony Bradley, plus brought in veterans for the bench in Stanley Johnson and Derrick Jones Jr. for Lauri Markkanen. Head coach Billy Donovan finally has a good starting lineup and bench that help guide this team to their first playoff appearance in four seasons.
The Pistons did have the first overall pick in the draft but were not the worst team as they got better by drafting G Cade Cunningham to pair with G Killian Hayes to form a nice young core going forward. They also added veteran forwards Trey Lyles, Kelly Olynyk to replace the big men they lost, and they re-signed guards Corey Joseph, Rodney McGruder and Hamidou Diallo. They also still have forwards Jerami Grant, Saddiq Bey and drafted Luka Garza among their other draft picks. Head coach Dwane Casey didn’t imagine he would be in charge of a rebuild when he signed but will gladly take the opportunity to coach the start of these young talented players’ careers like Hayes and Cunningham.
The Cavaliers have a nice young talented backcourt of Collin Sexton and Darius Garland but they don’t fit with them being small. They made a smart decision the past two drafts by taking Isaac Okoro at SF to fill a hole and drafted PF Evan Mobley this year as that was the only open position. They are a team in rebuild but made moves of a playoff team in getting Ricky Rubio, Denzel Valentine, trade for Lauri Markkanen, and still have PF Kevin Love on the roster still. They still also have the same issue of having too many big men in Love, Markkanen, Mobley, Tacko Fall and signing C Jarrett Allen long term.
Atlantic: The Nets will be one of the favorites to win the East or the whole thing due to having a deadly big three in guards James Harden, Kyrie Irving and F Kevin Durant, but the issue will be like last year will all three be on the court at the same time due to injuries or personal reasons. The other issue will be can Steve Nash mix and match the other two starting spots for defense or shooting from the key bench players in James Johnson, Patty Mills, Joe Harris, LaMarcus Aldridge who is back from heart trouble and Blake Griffin. They also were smart for drafting five players on rookie deals for depth as most of their salary is committed to the big three, plus they still have Bruce Brown, Javon Carter and Nicolas Claxton which is their other young talent.
The Celtics will have to keep relying on their duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown now that PG Kemba Walker was traded, which is enough to have a top five seed in the East but not enough to win it all. They did bring back Al Horford, Enes Kanter to provide some front court presence that were missing last year and signed PG Dennis Schroder to fill the hole at PG, plus re-signed Robert Williams and Marcus Smart to keep that core intact. Adding Josh Richardson to their team to strictly be a bench player will help their depth too and take pressure off him, but can first year head coach Ime Udoka live up the hype surrounding him to push the Celtics back to the top of the East.
The Knicks were one of the surprise playoff teams making it for the first time in seven seasons due to Julius Randle putting up MVP numbers and the team buying into head coach Tom Thibodeau’s philosophy of playing hard, hustling, rebounding and playing defense. Coming off that season they added PG Kemba Walker, the New York native, G Evan Fournier and kept their core of PG Derrick Rose, Alec Burks, Taj Gibson and Nerlens Noel. You also can’t forget the young talent they still have in SF RJ Barrett, Obi Toppin, Mitchell Robinson, Kevin Knox and Immanuel Quickly, which means they have depth now so they could finish with a better record.
The 76ers had the best record in the East last year but they are the one team that will regress to the mean and might even drop out of the playoff race all together thanks to their handling of Ben Simmons. He hasn’t been traded yet and doesn’t want to play for them leaving a huge hole in their lineup as their best player C Joel Embiid, one of the best centers in the NBA cannot stay healthy hence needing Simmons or something in return. The rest of the team are just role players in Danny Green, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, Tobias Harris and inexperienced players in Matisse Thybulle, Tyrese Maxey, Shake Milton and Furkan Korkmaz. It will be a long season for Doc Rivers and company until they settle the Simmons saga.
The Raptors didn’t make the playoffs last year breaking their seven year streak of making the playoffs and are starting a new streak of not making the playoffs. They got worse this year as they said goodbye to another franchise stalwart in PG Kyle Lowry, veterans Rodney Hood and Aaron Baynes. All of their hopes are tied up in Fred Van Fleet, OG Anunoby, Gary Trent Jr., Goran Dragic who came in the Lowry trade, and PF Pascal Siakam which doesn’t scream playoff team. They are stuck in the wrong place of not good enough to make the playoffs and not bad enough for a lottery pick, as some evaluators think they made a mistake with their 1st round pick being a forward when they have plenty. Unless they trade Dragic and Siakam they will be stuck in the middle for some time.
Southeast: The Heat already were a good team with Jimmy Butler leading this young team of Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson to name some but got even better by trading for PG Kyle Lowry, signing PJ Tucker, Markieff Morris for toughness and re-signed Victor Oladipo. This is their division to lose but also they have a good chance of being a top three seed this year unlike last year.
The Hawks were another surprise playoff team making it for the first time in three seasons due to PG Tre Young’s incredible season and the mid-season firing of Lloyd Pierce, which led to Nate McMillian crafting the right lineups to guide them to the playoffs. They have a good balance of veterans and young players which is why they have one of deepest benches in all of the NBA. They kept John Collins, extended Clint Capela, re-signed Lou Williams, Solomon Hill and still have Danilo Gallinari, Bogdan Bogdanovic, De’Andre Hunter, Kevin Huerter and Cam Reddish. Not to mention getting Gorgui Dieng, Delon Wright and their first round pick Jalen Johnson.
The Wizards only were in the playoffs due to G Bradley Beal being one of the best players and they had PG Russell Westbrook to help them make the playoffs but it is another new era for them. Wes Unseld Jr is following in his father’s footsteps in taking the head coaching job and got a haul of players for the Westbrook and Moe Wagner trade as they got three starters in center Daniel Gafford, PG Spencer Dinwiddie, SF Kyle Kuzma, role players Aaron Holiday, Montrezl Harrell and Kentavious Caldwell Pope, which pushes Davis Bertans, Rui Hachimura and Deni Avdija to role players/bench players.
The Hornets are a fun team to watch because of last year’s rookie of the year PG LaMelo Ball and young player Miles Bridges making highlight plays, plus they still have Gordon Hayward. They did let long-time center Cody Zeller leave and traded away Devonte Graham their best player pre Ball, plus Malik Monk left. To fill the holes they made they brought in Mason Plumlee, Kelly Oubre Jr, Ish Smith and decided to extend Terry Rozier a PG to play SG. They did also draft well again with two first round picks G James Bouknight to back up Ball and C Kai Jones to potentially be their starting center.
The Magic should make it official they are in rebuild mode as Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic were at the deadline last year, they hired a new head coach in Jamahl Mosley and drafted two key first round picks this (one pick from one of the trades) in Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner. They now have four young guards-two they drafted in Suggs, Cole Anthony and ones in a trade in Markelle Fultz and RJ Hampton going forward. They do not have their front court really set up since Jonathan Isaac is out, Wendell Carter never stays healthy, Mo Bamba hasn’t really developed, Chuma Okeke is inexperienced, Moritz Wagner/Robin Lopez are veteran place holders.
Northwest: The Nuggets did their best in the playoffs without PG Jamal Murray who will miss sometime this year because of SF Michael Porter Jr stepping up his scoring to help MVP C Nikola Jokic. Those three when healthy will compete for a top spot in the West like they have been doing the past few seasons. This is due to their depth especially when they traded for F Aaron Gordon who gets to play PF not SF, and they still have guards Austin Rivers, Will Barton, Monte Morris, C Bol Bol, PF JaMychal Green, and they signed F Jeff Green.
The Jazz had the best record last year but that was fluke as this team is always good enough for a top seed in the West, but never does anything with it despite having C Rudy Gobert and SG Donovan Mitchell both of whom are All-Stars. They are always a well coached and disciplined team because of Quinn Snyder but it seems like they are missing a third star or at least a second scorer. They did re-sign PG Mike Conley Jr who is one of the most underrated players but not a star, and bringing in 35 year old Rudy Gay to pair with Joe Ingles and Bojan Bogdanovic, which gives depth and takes pressure of Jordan Clarkson (reigning sixth man of the year) but doesn’t push them over the top. They did add big men Eric Paschall and Hassan Whiteside to finally give them solid depth upfront.
The Trailblazers are always that team that barely makes the playoffs. It is PG Damian Lillard always doing it by himself since any help he gets is always hurt and he has no second star to help him. There is still a chance he gets traded or his teammate SG CJ McCollum could get traded because what they have is clearly not working, hence the firing of the head coach Terry Stotts and hiring former PG Chauncy Billups. They invested heavily in Norman Powell but him, F Robert Covington, C Jusuf Nurkic who never stays healthy, and G Anfernee Simons don’t put them over the top either. They lost big men Enes Kanter, Zach Collins, Derrick Jones Jr and SF Carmelo Anthony, but replaced them with Cody Zeller, Patrick Patterson, G Quinn Cook, G Dennis Smith Jr, G Tony Sell, G Ben McLemore and F Larry Nance, none of those moves make up for the players they lost expect Nance.
The Timberwolves make no sense since they have C Karl Anthony Towns and PG DeAngelo Russell two top players at their positions/former All-Stars, and have Anthony Edwards a top rookie from last season and still keep finishing at the bottom of the whole league. They traded PG Ricky Rubio who is also a great defender for a third string SF on this roster in Taurean Prince, didn’t have a draft pick this year and traded a former top 6 in Jarrett Culver for G Patrick Beverly who is good for a team that is capable of winning which this team cannot do. They are overpaying for Malik Beasley who had issues with the law and they have no guaranteed starter at both forward positions which means another lottery pick potentially for them.
The Thunder are keeping the trend of getting draft picks from other teams which they did in the Kemba Walker salary dump-trade which is how they got rid of Al Horford, a veteran they didn’t need. They also picked up Derrick Favors along with another draft pick, and will probably be like Horford who will barely play and they will flip him for picks too. They gave Shai Gilgeous-Alexander a max extension locking him in for awhile so good luck going forward when your team is just about acquiring draft picks. It will all be on you to lead this team and help the other young players develop as they just added four rookies to their team this year too.
Southwest: The Mavericks will keep being a top five seed in the West and will win this division every year going forward because they have G Luka Doncic one of the best young players in the league, plus he signed a max extension so he will be in Dallas for awhile. The issue is he has no second star to rely on since F Kristaps Porzingis can never stay healthy, and as good as he is at scoring/shooting threes Tim Hardaway is a complementary player not a second star. They don’t really have a set SF or center unless they actually use Boban Marjanovic. Their biggest offseason moves were getting Reggie Bullock who is a good role player, and former Knicks bust at PG Frank Ntilikina to be backup. I am excited to see how their new head coach Jason Kidd will work with Doncic hopefully unlocking his full potential.
The Grizzlies are slowly improving every year as PG JA Morant keeps progressing in his career so far and will only get better as they were a playoff team last year. They traded C Jonas Valanciunas who has been so key for them at center and replaced him with Steven Adams, so hopefully they don’t lose a step if so maybe they can play Jaren Jackson Jr at center. They are hoping their first round pick F Ziaire Williams will take the starting SF job away from Kyle Anderson or Desmond Bane to help form that young core. They also got Jarrett Culver to push Dillon Brooks at SG as this young team will continue to make strides going forward just not past the first round.
The Spurs will keep that steak of not making the playoffs three years straight this year as they lost DeMar DeRozan, Patty Mills, Rudy Gay, Trey Lyles and Gorgui Dieng, plus draft evaluators said they reached on their first round pick but have six guards already. Head coach Greg Popovich has his work cut out with this very young team led by guards Derrick White, Dejounte Murray, Lonnie Walker, Tre Jones, PF Keldon Johnson, and have veterans Doug McDermott, Thaddeus Young, Al Farouq Aminu, Bryan Forbes and Zach Collins who all could be dealt at the deadline.
The Pelicans will only go as far as their forwards Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram take them but also how well they play together since both have an injury history too. New head coach Willie Green has the task of unlocking all that potential in Williamson, figuring out who will be their facilitator since Lonzo Ball is gone, and which big man will work best alongside his forwards in Jonas Valanciunas, Jaxson Hayes and Willy Hernangomez. They added Garrett Temple and Tomas Satoransky who both can handle the ball and shoot threes, but the lead PG will be Devonte Graham who hasn’t been a PG in a few seasons. They did a good job in the draft getting a 3 & D wing in Trey Murphy who will help Williamson as he needs three point shooters and defenders.
This season will officially be a full rebuilding season for the Rockets as last year they traded G James Harden midseason and this year drafted four teenagers. G Jalen Green has the most potential to be a scorer like Harden, have two of the best international prospects, get a full season of Kevin Porter Jr who they got from Cleveland, and still have their first round pick from last year in Kenyon Martin Jr. They brought in Daniel Theis to replace Kelly Olynyk to help Christian Wood, one of the most underrated players in the league down low, re-signed David Nwaba, and still have Eric Gordon, DJ Augustin and Dante Exum for veteran presence.
Pacific: The Lakers decided it was best to get the band back together to help SF Lebron James get another championship. The issue is all the players they brought in make them the oldest team and they are already fragile with C Anthony Davis. They gave up most of their team for PG Russell Westbrook (Kuzma, KCP, Harrell), who joins Lebron and Davis as most of their salary cap. So they brought back PG Rajon Rondo, C Dwight Howard, G Kent Bazemore, SF Trevor Ariza, G Wayne Ellington, added Lebron’s buddy F Carmelo Anthony, C DeAndre Jordan, and even signed two young players guards Kendrick Nunn and Malik Monk, who will play key roles as they have the young legs to play more minutes in the regular season. They also lost big men Andre Drummond, Markieff Morris, guards Alex Caruso and Dennis Schroder, which means they lost some of their young players but also some of their top defenders. It will be championship or bust since this team is old but will get through the regular season healthy so Lebron actually has help in the playoffs.
The Suns finally made the playoffs for the first time in ten years where they finished second in the Western conference standings, and made a trip to the NBA finals, but it will be tougher this year for both things they accomplished to happen again. The questions will be can PG Chris Paul stay healthy all season with all the extra games they played in the playoffs as he is 36, and will C Deandre Ayton build off his postseason success where he can take the next step in his progression or will he revert to his old ways. SG Devin Booker will always be someone you can count on for all the scoring, and having Jae Crowder’s toughness, and SF Mikal Bridges keeps getting better. Their bench got better this offseason as they added G Landry Shamet, G Elfrid Payton, F Chandler Hutchinson, C JaVale McGee to pair with Cameron Johnson, Abdel Nader, Fran Kaminsky and Cameron Payne.
The Warriors will hopefully get SG Klay Thompson back from injury which they didn’t get last year due to an Achilles injury to pair with PG Steph Curry and F Draymond Green, which might push them into the 8th seed. Another season but with a real training camp will ultimately help C James Wiseman‘s development, Andrew Wiggins can be their fourth or fifth best player if Thompson is out there. They brought back F Andre Iguodala, added Otto Porter Jr, Nemanja Bejlica, and Avery Bradley which will make this great three point shooting team better plus some defense out of Bradley and Iguodala. They also drafted two players who can help them now and for the future in the draft with Jonathan Kuminga being one of the best prospects, and Moses Moody who helps out their depth in case of injuries.
The Clippers will be without their best player Kawhi Leonard for most if not the whole season due to an ACL tear, and still re-signed him to a max deal of four years which will be the reason they don’t make the playoffs. Paul George has been a good player on both ends of the floor as he is an All-Star but he will not carry this team all season in the West to the playoffs, and without Rajon Rondo or Patrick Beverly their replacements aren’t amazing either. Reggie Jackson, Eric Bledsoe, Terrence Mann and Luke Kennard don’t scare anyone. Marcus Morris, Serge Ibaka and Nicolas Batum are nice role players upfront but health is an issue with two of them, but Ivica Zubac is a nice center. To replace Leonard they added Justice Winslow and drafted three wing players in the draft, but none of those moves again scares anyone in the west.
The Kings keep taking steps back from when they were the nine seed on the outside looking in as the following two seasons they finished 12th. They remind me of the Timberwolves a bit. When you have PG De’Aaron Fox, F/C Marvin Bagley Jr, last year’s first round pick Tyrese Haliburton and G Buddy Hield you should be better even in the West. They even have a solid role player in Harrison Barnes, re-signed Richaun Holmes, Moe Harkless, added Tristan Thompson and Alex Len which should blend well with all of this young talent, but if it didn’t work the last two years I am unsure if it will work this year. They did have two draft picks this year but their first round pick is a guard and is pretty much set here, so that didn’t make sense unless they traded Heild?
