The Eastern Conference has been settled, with some other big moves including the Piston's locking up Reggie Jackson on a long-term contract and the Cavaliers signing Lebron James to a 2 year player option deal that will pay him over $23 million per year next season.
The West has been a lot more intriguing, and because of that the grades are a lot more reflective towards that. Some teams improved dramatically, some marginally, and others not at all, all over the course of the past couple weeks.
Here's what everyone in the West has done up to this point, their reflective grade because of these moves, and a little insight into where they stand in regards to next season.
Golden State Warriors (B)
The Warriors were by far the best team in the NBA last year. They rattled off 67 wins in the regular season and lost only four total times in the playoffs in large part due to their ability to play such effective small ball. The Warriors threw out lineups with no one over 6-foot-8 on the floor and dominated teams with it. The most integral part to those small ball lineups was Draymond Green. Despite his lack of overall height, he used his strength and passion for the game to dominate defensively, all the while providing a three point shooting stroke that was competent enough when Curry and Thompson needed to find someone else to score other than themselves. In terms of numbers, Draymond Green is overpaid. But in terms of overall value, the deal he received makes so much sense. He’s the essence of what this team is trying to do, and signing him makes the off season a success. The Warriors also went their separate ways with former all-star power forward David Lee by shopping him to the Boston Celtics for an old washed up veteran who won’t play a single minute this year most likely. Lee didn’t do much for the Warriors last year, and it was a classy move to give the guy a chance to play more minutes on a young up and coming Celtics roster. The Warriors did what they had to do in retaining Draymond Green, and for a team that was so dominate throughout the league last season, doing what you have to do is more than enough to receive a solid grade.
Houston Rockets ( C )
Last year the Rockets rode James Harden to the Western Conference finals, only to get themselves slaughtered by the Warriors. In this year’s offseason they haven’t done too much to improve at all. Resigning the defensive menace Patrick Beverley is important, as he will pay bigger dividends in the playoffs due to his ability to defend some of the premier point guards in the NBA. The Rockets missed him during their series with Golden State, and getting him back in the fold as a defensive compliment to James Harden for a relatively cheap price was a solid move. Houston also dished out money to their lengthy perimeter defending bench swing man Corey Brewer at a relatively low price yet again. The one move that makes the Rockets offseason a little bizarre so far is that they have yet to resign Josh Smith. In last years playoffs Smith established himself as a legitimate role player for that Rockets team. A team that if they retained all their parts, and with a whole other year to gain chemistry, could solidify themselves as a Western Conference contender. Instead, Smith and his unique skill set are still floating around on the free agent market and drafting Wisconsin’s Sam Dekker does not stiffen the potential loss of Smith to this Rocket’s team.
L.A. Clippers (A)
A week ago, the Clipper’s would’ve received an F. Deandre Jordan had verbally committed to the Dallas Mavericks, and the title window in Los Angeles seemed like it had closed. And then, in one of the most bizarre sequences of events in free agent history, Jordan called Doc Rivers and described his regret for choosing the Mavericks over the Clippers. Clipper’s representatives that supposedly included Chris Paul, Paul Pierce, Blake Griffen, and Doc Rivers met at Jordan’s home and convinced him to come back to Los Angeles. Jordan took back his verbal commitment, and signed with LA on July 9. Now that the Clips has Jordan, the other offseason moves they made look much better. In a trade with Charlotte, the Clippers acquired Lance Stephenson. Stephenson played horrendously for the Hornets last year, shooting 17 percent from three all the while taking away shots from Kemba Walker and Al Jefferson. However, the Clippers believe a stable locker room and respected coach can tame the often wild Stephenson into revisiting his form in Indiana, where he was an impact player for the Pacers during their years battling Lebron James’ Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference. If Lance can be tamed, he can provide some depth at guard that the Clippers desperately need. If not, they can lean on the veteran signee Paul Pierce a bit more. Pierce reunites with his favorite head coach Doc Rivers, and immediately adds even more wing depth to what has been an area of weakness over the years for the Clippers. In somehow retaining Deandre Jordan, all the while adding depth on the perimeter to a team that lacked it, the Clippers had themselves a successful and remarkably lucky off season.
(Must admit, I have used this image before, but it's just too necessary here as well).
Portland Trailblazers (D)
Nobody is really sure whether the Blazers believed that they would be tanking this year, but after what transpired they are going to have to consider that process. Not all was lost, as the Blazers and now franchise point guard Damian Lillard agreed to a five year max extension. They also snagged Mason Plumlee, Noah Vonleh and signed Al-Faroq Aminu and Ed Davis to establish what could’ve been a really solid array of young and talented big men to come off the bench. The offseason spiraled out of control once free agency began as Portland lost Aaron Afflalo and Robin Lopez to the Knicks, Lamarcus Aldridge to the Spurs (not fair), and Wesley Matthews to the Mavericks. They also traded away Nic Batum to Charlotte, and suddenly only one of the 6 most minute playing players on the roster was still on the team in Lillard. The Blazers actually acquired some young talent in this process, which is why their offseason isn’t an F. Plumlee has proven to be solid, Vonleh is young and developing, Gerald Henderson is very decent, and Ed Davis played well in spurts for the Lakers last year, but losing 4 of their 6 best players to free agency, and one via a trade, makes this offseason a horrendous one for Portland. Tack on that the Thunder matched their offer sheet to Enes Kanter, and the rebuild looks to be in full effect for Portland.
Memphis Grizzlies (B+)
The Memphis Grizzlies are another prime example of a good team that did what they had to do this offseason. Marc Gasol was a first team All-NBA player last season, who averaged 17 points, rebounded effectively, but most important patrolled a stingy Memphis defense that is depended on to scrap out wins against better offensive opponents throughout the NBA. Gasol captains that defense, and a 5 year max extension is exactly what the man deserved. Somehow Matt Barnes found himself on another contending team in the Western Conference, and will definitely get minutes on a team that lacks wing depth. They also signed Brandon Wright, a shot blocking big that can provide some solid role minutes for the team during the regular season and maybe even the playoffs. In the draft the Grizzlies took former Kentucky guard Andrew Harrison, who seems like a decent fit with Memphis’ play style. Netting Marc Gasol long-term had to be done, and now the Grizzlies are going to give their latest shot of attempting to bully their way through the Western Conference and into the NBA Finals using their hard-nosed defense and efficient inside out offensive style of play.
San Antonio (A+)
There are some organizations that you just have to tip your caps to. The Spurs have been a juggernaut since Tim Duncan has been drafted, as they have only NOT won 50 or more games just ONCE since he was drafted by the Spurs. After a crushing playoff loss to the Clippers in the best sporting event that happened on a day that included Mayweather vs. Pac and the Kentucky Derby, the Spurs knew they had an interesting offseason ahead of them. Even they couldn’t have predicted what happened though.
The beginning of the off season began with the Spurs shopping Tiago Splitter, but most importantly his over 9 million dollar salary to Atlanta to clear cap space. Once that happened, the Spurs resigned Kawhi Leonard to a 5 year max contract, retained sharp-shooting Danny Green for a decent price, and then reshaped everyone’s pre season NBA championship predictions by agreeing to terms with Lamarcus Aldridge to a long-term deal as well. To add insult to injury to the rest of the league David West, n one of the craziest and most respected moves in this year’s free agency, opted out of a deal that would give him around 12 million dollars to sign with the Spurs for the 1.5 million veteran’s minimum. In even more typical Spurs fashion, both Tim Duncan and Manu signed 2 year deals that offered them much less money than they deserve, which the two obviously accepted because it’s the San Antonio Spurs. Offseason success revolves around making a move that makes your team a legitimate contender to win a championship. The Spurs made that move in signing Lamarcus Aldridge, practically stole the still solid David West in the cheapest manner they could to compliment the starting big man tandem of Duncan and LA12, all the while retaining the core nucleus that has won multiple championships together. The Spurs had an amazing off season, and turned themselves from a team that many thought began to noticeably portray their old ages at points during the Clippers series, to a team that has a legitimate chance of being the NBA champions next year. And they did it in a team first way that no other organization could even think to do
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Dallas Mavericks (D)
A lot of this isn’t even the Mavericks fault. Cuban had Deandre Jordan verbally committed, and the Mavericks seemed as if they were about to sign the versatile, rim-protecting, rebounding machine that Cuban had already envisioned for his presence down low to allow for the floor spacing Mavs to take advantage of their strength as Jordan would roam the paint for offensive rebounds and kickouts, and even look to be featured more on the low block. However, Jordan spurned Dallas and now the Mavericks are left with a gaping hole at center after also losing Tyson Chandler in free agency. A hole that reports say might be filled by a man named Zaza (who actually is a very decent NBA role player but just nowhere near Deandre Jordan). Now the Mavericks are under a different approach that involves them signing Deron Williams to a cheap 2 year deal in hopes that he can retain at least some of the spark that made him the perennial number 2 ranked point guard in the NBA for a decent amount of years. At worst, the Mavs waste only 5 million. The deal was very low risk high reward, and could end up making their “D” grading look stupid if Williams has a comeback year. The Mavericks also got Wesley Matthews, one of the best two way shooting guards in the NBA. He’s also a player coming off a terrible injury as well. The Mavericks upped Matthews contract once they lost out on Deandre, and now go into next season with a bevy of outside shooters and an aged former all-star point guard to try and create shots for them. Drafting Virginia’s Justin Anderson gives them one of the more NBA ready wing players from this year’s draft, but his impact will not be anywhere near enough for this team to make the playoffs. What happened was a shame for a very respectable organization, but now the Mavericks must face the consequences, and they look to not be very good.
New Orleans Pelicans (A)
In an age of superstars leaving their teams via free agency at a fairly constant rate, the Pelicans made the absolutely necessary and somewhat surprising move of signing Anthony Davis to a max contract extension that will begin in the 2016-2017 season. The Pelicans secured potentially the league’s best player in a couple of years to a long-term deal, and should be extremely excited about that. They didn’t stop when it came to dishing out money to big men as they also resigned Omer Asik and Alexis Ajinca, and now have a ton invested on what seems to be the team’s long term solution in regards to the front court. The Pelicans also signed former Warriors assistant and Phoenix Sun’s head coach Alvin Gentry, to try and kickstart an offense that struggled mightily at times scoring last season. In regards to coaches on the market that could help get a struggling offense to reach their potential, Gentry was far and away the most qualified guy, and the Pelicans snagged him. Even though they got nothing but cash on draft night, the sole fact of retaining Anthony Davis for a long-term deal makes this a successful offseason for the Pelicans. Investing in their other young front court players, as well as hiring an offensive-minded coach simply add on to the success of the Pelican’s offseason.
Oklahoma City Thunder (B)
When the former MVP misses most of the season due to injury, and another player on your roster emerges himself as a potential candidate for league’s most valuable player, you know your team is in good shape. This was the case last season with the Thunder, as Kevin Durant missed a good portion of last season, and Russell Westbrook emerged as even more of a star than everyone thought. Since Durant, and even Westbrook at points, missed big time last season, the Thunder were able to get a lottery pick in this year’s draft, and used it on Murray State’s combo guard Cameron Payne. Many see Payne being a successful guard in the NBA, and he now comes into a situation where he can work with two of the best scorers in the game. The Thunder also plan to match the max offer sheet that the Trailblazers offered restricted free agent, and pleasantly surprising late season pick-up, Enes Kanter. When Westbrook, Waiters, Durant, Kanter, and Ibaka find themselves on the floor together, their offense should be one of the best in the league. Keeping Kanter in the fold was huge, drafting Cameron Payne could be a steal (but at the very least a solid backup PG to a team with an established starter), and now with a Durant return the Thunder should be contending for one of the top seeds in the Western Conference next season.
Phoenix Suns (B-)
The Suns missed out on the playoffs again last season, and have made some solid moves to try and combat that. First they got Brandon Knight to agree to a long-term deal, a big move for a team that has been trying to find the right guard combination for the past couple of years. For now, that combination is Eric Bledsoe and Knight, which is not a very bad combo at all. The Suns also got Tyson Chandler at a good price, especially in today’s market for quality rim protecting big men. Chandler is aging, and offensively provides nothing besides catching lobs, but his locker room presence, potential mentorship of young big man Alex Len, and still effective rebounding and defensive prowess make him a solid signing for the Suns. What should really excite the fans in Phoenix is the NBA draft. The Suns grabbed the lengthy sharp-shooting shooting guard/ small forward from Kentucky ( Devin Booker), and have now added another shooter to a lineup that contains a lot of them. Booker has been favorably compared to Klay Thompson by some scouts, and could become one of the better players from this year’s draft. He’s also still just 18 years old, and will need some time to develop, but the Suns can wait a little for that because of their array of wing shooters already on the roster. The Suns had a solid offseason, but didn’t make any moves to turn themselves into a contender in the Western Conference this season.
Utah Jazz (C-)
The Utah Jazz are one of the more up and coming teams in the Western Conference. They have an array of young talent, and added onto that on draft night by selecting Trey Lyles from Kentucky and Boston College’s Olivier Hanlan. Lyles and Hanlan are now pencilled onto the list of young talent on the Jazz that includes Gordon Hayward, Rudy Gobert, Alec Burks, Trey Burke, Dante Exum, and more, and in a couple years you can see this Jazz team sliding up into the playoffs and potentially going places. As for now, the Jazz didn’t add any proven players to their impressive young nucleus and that hurts their grade and will make a playoff bid tough very tough to come by next season. As for the future, this draft class should add two more young talented and potential trading pieces so that this team can try and acquire the veteran scorer it needs to take the next step.
Denver Nuggets (C)
Prior to and on draft night the Nuggets were reportedly shopping their young talent in attempts to start from scratch. Names such as Ty Lawson and Kenneth Faried were being discussed in multiple trade rumors, but Denver never pulled the trigger. Instead, on draft night, the Nuggets selected Emmanuel Mudiay. As many know, Mudiay was supposed to lace up for Larry Brown’s SMU squad this season, but changed his mind and played in China. Over in China Mudiay got hurt. When he did play he averaged 18 6 and 6 and was physically able to play with professional basketball players. In terms of how the business works, Mudiay has a leg up on his draft class. In terms of skill, he is more unknown. Some say he’s the next best thing. Others denounce his poor shooting. Either way, at pick 7, Mudiay was a steal. Now the Nuggets did nothing in free agency, and go into next season with a roster filled with spot up shooter and perennial 75 rated 2k players that won’t do a whole lot in a tough conference. Look for Lawson and Faried to be dealt either before or during the season, but also look for Mudiay to start to prove himself in the NBA as a rookie (to an extent).
Sacramento Kings……(Undecided)
The Kings had one of the most bizarre offseasons in recent history. Prior to the draft, Demarcus Cousins’ tossed in an emoji laden tweet that was supposed to reference “snakes in the grass”, a term that had been directed towards head coach George Karl, and an act that had been done on multiple occasions by former Karl players such as Carmelo Anthony, Andre Iguodala, J.R. Smith, and Ty Lawson via social media. With the Karl and Cousins controversy looming, the Kings went out on draft night and selected the perfect complimentary big man to Boogie Cousins. Willie “Trill” Cauley-Stein demonstrated his defensive prowess at Kentucky, and has showed the potential to be able to guard positions 1 through 5 at the college level. NBA caliber guards will provide an adjustment period for a defender used to SEC guards, but Willie can defend and provide rim protection on defense while Cousins makes use of his low post and mid range games on offense to give the Kings a solid young starting front court.
When the draft ended, and the dust settled between George Karl and Cousins, the Kings immediately tried to make some moves. They got turned down. And not only did they get turned down, but they got turned down for less money by Wesley Matthews and Tobias Harris respectively. At points during free agency, the Kings were the laughing stock of the league. The franchise looked like it was in a state of anarchy. However, once they started making signings, they made some potentially good ones. The Kings got Rajon Rondo for one year and less than 10 million. Rondo should be motivated to resurrect his career. However, the personality clashes that are already being envisioned between him and the franchise center could be poisonous. In this case it’s decently high risk, extremely high reward, and for the Kings it might be worth it. Sacramento also got San Antonio’s Marco Bellinelli to space the floor with his three point shooting, and added another young frontline piece in Kosta Koufos. With the Koufos signing, the Kings could look to shop the valuable big, or have him Cauley-Stein and Cousins combine together to make one of the scarier young front courts in the NBA. The Kings are undecided because it’s tough to assess their situation. At points they were the laughing stock of the NBA. They haven’t made many moves that make them anywhere near a clear cut playoff team, but they definitely improved their roster and for that it is difficult to judge their offseason.
Los Angeles Lakers (B-)
Last year the Lakers had a franchise worst 61 losses, and rode that horrendous season into the NBA draft lottery where they got the luxury of selecting 2nd overall. Leading up to the draft, many felt the Lakers would select Duke’s Jahlil Okafor to accompany young big man Julius Randle. On draft night though the Lakers selected Ohio State’s D’Angelo Russell to accompany 2nd year man Jordan Clarkson and Kobe Bryant. The goal for the Lakers was to try and snag a big name free agent this offseason, but they missed out on all of their big time targets. Instead of Aldridge and Deandre Jordan, they settled for last years 6th man of the year (Lou Williams) and Brandon Bass, and also acquired Roy Hibbert in a trade with the Pacers. The return of Kobe and Julius Randle, along with the other additions this team made should make the Lakers a much more competitive team than last year, but Kobe will have to drink heavily from the fountain of youth to make this team any sort of threat in the Western Conference with their current roster. The offseason helped, but the Lakers are definitely nowhere near a lock for this years playoffs with the moves they made, and because of that they only get a modest B- ranking for their efforts this offseason.
Minnesota Timberwolves (B)
The T-Wolves are one of the more interesting teams in the NBA. Last year they posted one of the youngest lineups in the association and it showed, as the team only won 16 games. Now that young roster is another year older, and has added another number one overall pick with Karl Anthony Towns. On draft night they also traded for Duke’s Tyus Jones, and now a quick glance at the roster shows a lot of young talent for this team to build upon for the next couple of years. In addition to that, the T-Wolves signed the former Minnesota superstar Kevin Garnett to a 2 year deal. Garnett’s on court play will be minimal, but his off court mentorship of this young roster should pay huge dividends in the long run. By making the right choice in Towns, obtaining Tyus to backup Ricky Rubio, and adding a veteran leader to this developing core makes this a successful offseason for Minnesota, even barring the fact that they didn’t add any big name free agents.
