The single biggest question heading into the offseason for the NBA's title contenders, based on Vegas odds. Odds courtesy of Action Network.
Los Angeles Lakers
+375
The team will mesh even better next year; this was the first year of LeBron James + Anthony Davis. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Rajon Rondo, Dwight Howard, and Markieff Morris all come off the books. What will they do to round out their bench? Is it bringing all the boys back to capture lightning in a bottle, or are they sick of having no third-best player?
Los Angeles Clippers
+425
The roster has fundamental problems. Now that we know Ty Lue is the new head coach, he has to answer how they reload this offseason. Being an inside hire is nice because he had a first-hand view all entire year of went wrong in 2019-20. The team underperformed, so what problem does Lue deem the most fixable? Will they introduce a Frank Vogel-like emphasis on being a defensive beast? The talent is there. Do they try and go after playmaking to maximize their two stars; offensive play styles? The offensive scheme was a disjunction all playoffs.
Milwaukee Bucks
+650
Either 2018-19 Coach of the Year Mike Budenholzer goes or the roster gets shaken up. You cannot run it back next year and expect different results. So which of the two is it? One thing I will say on Bud's behalf is that we don't often think of coaches as being able to improve year-to-year, and having up or down years. He has knocked it out of the park the past two regular seasons, and folded like a napkin the last two playoffs. If he can dedicate his time working on how to win 7-game series, the Bucks can still win a title with him. I highlighted 8 different 3rd stars they can add here.
Golden State Warriors
+750
What they do with the number 2 pick will tell us everything about their philosophy next year. Andrew Wiggins doesn’t get you a super great player, even when attaching that pick because it’s a tragic draft class. Do they like Wiggins enough to keep him around as a better Harrison Barnes? Do they swing for the fences on a high ceiling Blake Griffin-type of player, or play it safe and load up around Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green?
Brooklyn Nets
+1000
Spencer Dinwiddie and Caris LeVert. So technically two questions. How do Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving feel about damn good players that play very similar positions to themselves? They gave the front office the seal of approval to hire Steve Nash as head coach, so they must like his vision for the roster and scheme. What is that vision?
Side note: re-sign Joe Harris at all costs.
Boston Celtics
+1200
The center position. Daniel Theis is not the present nor the future for the Celtics’ center position. Neither is Enes Kanter. Gordon Hayward is in the last year of his deal and represents a large, movable contract. Is this the offseason that Myles Turner rumors are finally realized? Steven Adams? Clint Capela? Derrick Favors? James Wiseman? Onyeka Okongwu? They can get whoever they decide their guy is. They have three first-rounders and enough player assets.
Miami Heat
+1300
Do you even do anything? Victor Oladipo has been their most commonly linked name, but they can run this exact same roster back if they so please. A roster that went 12-3 through the East in its first year so assembled. They already fit together perfectly. Adding an Oladipo or someone else would likely cost them Jae Crowder and Goran Dragic, two expiring deals they wouldn’t be able to pay.
Toronto Raptors
+1700
First and foremost, a Fred VanVleet decision. They have about $60 million coming off the books this free agency, so they can afford to pay him whatever anyone else can. Do they break the bank for him, or Serge Ibaka for that matter? Marc Gasol has moved on to playing in Spain. This team was great in the regular season, but the gape Kawhi Leonard left is still there. They felt a star away from title contention all playoffs. Do they risk going after one?
Denver Nuggets
+2000
What do they think their window is? Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray are 23 and 25. They’re still two seasons away from their primes, and Denver has them locked up. Paul Millsap and Jerami Grant come off the books (Mason Plumlee too), and with them a max slot plus. Do they go after their own guys and try to improve around the margins, knowing the stars and Michael Porter, Jr. will improve? Or do they swing that cap space for the fences? They have enough to get a legit star like Bradley Beal, should he be available.
Houston Rockets
+2200
The new coach will tell us everything in their opening press conference. Their first question will be whether they plan to maintain the micro-ball approach that Mike D’Antoni said “Thanks, but no thanks” to when he parted ways with Houston after the playoffs. Will the new coach have seen enough of the 6’7” Or Less playstyle, or double-down, or blow it up (either a new build around the end of Harden’s prime, or something comprehensively different from last year’s team)?
Dallas Mavericks
+3000 (VegasInsider)
Tim Hardway, Jr.’s decision on his $19M player option looms large for their future. He’s their only real money that would come off the books besides Courtney Lee’s $13M. Still, their contracts are all ridiculously manageable, with 8 players making between $3.5 and $10.2M next season. They could turn their plethora of young-enough talent into cap space or a trade for someone proven whose timeline lines up with Luka and KP.
Philadelphia 76ers
+3000
Do you trade Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, or neither? The Tobias Harris and Al Horford contracts being immovable suggests that Simmons is more likely to stay around, because those two staunch presences overlap a lot more with Embiid’s skill set. If both stars stay in the building, what does end up changing with this roster that was doomed to fail for any coach? It costed Brett Brown his job, and Doc Rivers won’t let the same mistakes happen. He picked this job for a reason. We'll see what.
Portland Trailblazers
+3500
Lots of cap space, bad free agent class. What do you do? Serge Ibaka and Montrezl Harrell will be widely coveted, as will Jerami Grant and Christian Wood. Do you go the trade route? Khris Middleton, Gordon Hayward, and Kevin Love could be available. Otto Porter is a large expiring with great fit and decent upside. Paul Millsap maybe? They need defense and reliability more than anything. Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, and Jusuf Nurkic is a really, really good three. They have clear shortcomings, though, that need to be addressed with quality depth.
Utah Jazz
+4000
Rudy Gobert’s deal expires after next year, meaning this season could be his last in Salt Lake City. It’ll come down to whether Utah decides he’s worth a (maybe super)max deal or not. Are Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert a top 2 capable of winning an NBA championship? If they don’t think so, trading Gobert as soon as possible to get the best package in return will be everything to the state of the franchise.
Cover image courtesy of NBA India.
Kommentarer