NBA 2017 Western Conference offseason grades
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NBA 2017 Western Conference offseason grades
by Kevin Pelton on 2017-08-22 07:01:00 UTC (original: http://insider.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/20214945/nba-2017-western-conference-offseason-grades)With July and the bulk of free agency in the books, now is a good time to look back at the moves teams have made to try to improve for the upcoming 2017-18 season and beyond.
Here are my grades for Western Conference teams based on how well they took advantage of the opportunities they had to add to their roster via free agency, the draft and trades. Teams are graded on what's in their control, not the decisions of free agents to go elsewhere.
So how did your favorite team grade out? Let's take a look.
Dallas Mavericks
: A
With other West teams loading up, Mark Cuban has been content to stand pat. The Mavericks used a trade exception to acquire Josh McRoberts from the Miami Heat in a deal that netted $5.1 million cash and haven't signed any outside free agents as they wait to come to terms with restricted free agent Nerlens Noel on a long-term deal.
So the most important part of Dallas' offseason has been the draft, and the Mavericks look to have gotten a steal at No. 9 in North Carolina State point guard Dennis Smith Jr. Smith was as impressive as any rookie at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas and could be the centerpiece of the next great Dallas team.
Denver Nuggets: A-
Quietly, the Nuggets added one of the most accomplished players to change teams this summer, signing All-Star Paul Millsap to a three-year, $90 million deal with a team option for the final season. Millsap's elite defense and ability to stretch the floor make him an ideal complement for budding star Nikola Jokic in the Denver frontcourt.
Alas, adding Millsap gives the Nuggets a crowd at power forward after they swapped the No. 13 pick to the Utah Jazz for young power forward Trey Lyles and the No. 24 pick, used to draft another 4 (Syracuse's Tyler Lydon). Still, Millsap's addition makes Denver a favorite to return to the postseason.
Golden State Warriors: A+
Thanks to Kevin Durant's willingness to take a pair of pay cuts for a combined $9.7 million less than his maximum salary, the defending champs were able to add to the core of the team that went 16-1 in last year's postseason.
The Warriors re-signed key free agents Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston and also brought back starting center Zaza Pachulia and reserves JaVale McGee and David West. To them, Golden State will add Omri Casspi and Nick Young, who provide upgraded shooting off the bench. Oh, yeah, the Warriors also re-signed Stephen Curry to the largest contract in NBA history, and did so without giving him a no-trade clause or a player option on the final season.
Houston Rockets: A+
A remarkable offseason has positioned the Rockets as perhaps the greatest threat to the Warriors this season. After Chris Paul passed on free agency, Houston was able to add the best player who changed teams all offseason via trade, pairing another top-10 star with MVP runner-up James Harden.
While trading for Paul cost the Rockets several key players, it maintained their midlevel exception, allowing Houston to sign swingman PJ Tucker. The Rockets also picked up Paul's former teammate Luc Mbah a Moute, adding another versatile defender, and re-signed valuable backup center Nenê. Houston is taking some risk that Harden and Paul are unhappy sharing the ball. If they can navigate that concern, the Rockets should be one of the league's best teams.
LA Clippers: B-
The Clippers bounced back from the news that Paul was headed elsewhere to put together a team that should remain competitive in the Western Conference. That started with landing three rotation players in the Paul trade, guards Patrick Beverley and Lou Williams and forward Sam Dekker. The Clippers also added Danilo Gallinari in a sign-and-trade that cost them a first-round pick, then signed longtime European star Milos Teodosic to help fill the void at point guard.
Long-term contracts for the injury-plagued Gallinari (who already injured his right thumb while punching an opponent during an exhibition for the Italian National Team) and Blake Griffin (five years at the max) could ultimately hinder the Clippers' flexibility, but for now they've built as good a team as could have been expected without Paul.
Los Angeles Lakers
: A-
The best part of the Lakers' offseason is how it sets them up to be players in the summer of 2018. The Lakers used D'Angelo Russell as a carrot to get the Brooklyn Nets to take on the contract of Timofey Mozgov, clearing nearly $20 million in 2018 cap space. To preserve that room, the Lakers used this year's space to sign shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to a lucrative one-year deal.
The Lakers will pair Caldwell-Pope in the backcourt with No. 2 pick Lonzo Ball, who lived up to the hype in Las Vegas. The Lakers also got great production from No. 27 pick Kyle Kuzma as they won the NBA Summer League championship.
Memphis Grizzlies
: C
Limited in spending by the looming specter of the luxury tax, the Grizzlies had tough choices to make this summer. They decided to let go of Grit 'N Grind stalwarts Zach Randolph and Tony Allen, the latter of whom remains unsigned.
Memphis made a decent-sized bet that Ben McLemore will be more effective outside, paying him $10.7 million over two seasons despite no track record of good NBA performance. The Grizzlies got good value with Tyreke Evans on a one-year deal for $3.3 million and should be able to re-sign starting power forward JaMychal Green at a reasonable price now that his options as a restricted free agent are limited.
Minnesota Timberwolves: A
The Timberwolves look like a good bet to end the NBA's longest playoff drought (13 seasons and counting) after trading Kris Dunn, Zach LaVine and this year's No. 7 pick to the Chicago Bulls for Jimmy Butler and the No. 16 pick. Dunn was ineffective as a rookie, and LaVine's poor defense meant Minnesota remained competitive without him last season, so Butler should be a huge upgrade.
Adding Butler made Ricky Rubio a poor fit in the backcourt, so the Timberwolves sent him to the Utah Jazz for a possible future first-round pick and signed Jeff Teague as a replacement. Minnesota's other signings look like worse values. The Timberwolves gave aging Taj Gibson $28 million over two years and signed Jamal Crawford with their room exception instead of a 3-and-D contributor who might have better complemented their starters. Still, the Butler trade was good enough that this was an A offseason as a whole.
New Orleans Pelicans: C-
After re-signing Jrue Holiday for up to $150 million over five years, including incentives, the Pelicans had little flexibility to stay under the luxury tax. Their biggest remaining contract went to point guard Rajon Rondo ($3.3 million for one year), a move that will likely mean playing Holiday frequently at shooting guard, where he's less effective.
New Orleans' only true wing addition so far has been Darius Miller, the team's 2012 second-round pick who's spent the past two seasons playing in Germany after washing out of the NBA. Miller's translated European statistics don't suggest he's likely to fill the Pelicans' need for 3-and-D wings.
Oklahoma City Thunder: A+
Dealing Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis to the Indiana Pacers for Paul George wasn't even really a risk for the Thunder, since Oladipo was fairly paid or even overpaid at $21 million a year and Sabonis was ineffective as a rookie.
Oklahoma City followed the stunning trade by filling out the roster with good values. Patrick Patterson is an ideal fit as a stretch 4 and a bargain at the taxpayer midlevel exception. Raymond Felton, signed for the veteran's minimum, should be a major upgrade as Russell Westbrook's backup. And a new three-year, $30 million deal for Andre Roberson is fair for an elite wing defender.
Phoenix Suns: C
Since drafting Josh Jackson No. 4 overall, the Suns have basically sat the offseason out. After being linked to veteran power forwards, they changed directions to focus on building around their youth, giving general manager Ryan McDonough a new, long-term contract and adding NBA veteran James Jones to their front office.
With center Alan Williams re-signing, Phoenix still has about $6 million in cap space remaining. That could increase if the Suns re-sign restricted free agent Alex Len to a deal that pays him less than his $12 million cap hold. If so, Phoenix would be in position to take advantage of a buyer's market for adding salary midseason.
Portland Trail Blazers: B-
Having started the summer scheduled to pay $40 million in luxury taxes, the Blazers were never going to be players in free agency after spending lavishly a year ago. Portland managed to cut that bill dramatically without using any draft picks by swapping Allen Crabbe to the Brooklyn Nets for Andrew Nicholson.
I was less enthused about the Blazers' trading the No. 15 and No. 20 picks to move up to No. 10 and take Gonzaga center Zach Collins, who struggled to make shots in summer play. Portland has a bit of a crowd in the frontcourt after drafting Collins and Caleb Swanigan in the first round.
Sacramento Kings: C
In contrast with past offseasons, the Kings managed to avoid any major missteps, but I'm still not sure this was a particularly strong summer. First, the good. I like that Sacramento continued to stockpile first-round picks. By virtue of trading down, the Kings now have six first-rounders from the past two years on their roster, the most in the NBA. Sacramento also got a good deal with point guard George Hill, who is guaranteed just $40 million as part of a three-year, $57 million contract.
That noted, the Kings spent heavily to add veteran mentors for their developing young players, spending a combined $32 million on Vince Carter and Zach Randolph. Those contracts will prevent Sacramento from adding additional picks by taking on salary. Additionally, while the Kings won the draft in terms of volume, their picks generally did not rate particularly well for where they were taken, by my projections.
San Antonio Spurs: D+
We've learned the hard way not to doubt the Spurs, but their offseason is difficult to understand. After Pau Gasol opted out, San Antonio had the ability to clear significant cap space. Instead, the Spurs operated over the cap and re-signed Gasol to a three-year, $49 million contract that looks like a significant overpay that cuts deeply into next summer's cap space.
In addition to having less future flexibility, San Antonio doesn't look like a better team now. While adding Rudy Gay could give the Spurs more ability to play Kawhi Leonard at power forward in small lineups, provided Gay recovers from a ruptured Achilles, San Antonio lost a capable wing defender in Jonathon Simmons. The Spurs are counting on Gay and rookie Brandon Paul to fill that role.
San Antonio also did not address point guard aside from re-signing Patty Mills, meaning either Dejounte Murray or rookie Derrick White will need to play rotation minutes until Tony Parker returns midseason. Neither was effective in summer league play.
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Utah Jazz: B-
As with the Clippers, I'm not factoring in Hayward's decision to sign elsewhere, only how the Jazz responded to it. With no reasonable replacement available, Utah split its cap space among reserves Jonas Jerebko, Thabo Sefolosha and Ekpe Udoh. All are favorites of ESPN's real plus-minus who should help the Jazz's depth and defense, and all have non-guaranteed salaries for 2018-19.
Add in Donovan Mitchell, who dominated defensively during summer league, and Utah looks to have upgraded a unit that ranked third in the league on a per-possession basis last season. The question for the Jazz is, who's going to score? Mitchell might be asked to take on a heavy possession load as a rookie. Utah also might regret paying Joe Ingles $50 million over the next four years, though a descending salary mitigates some of the long-term risk.
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http://insider.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/20214945/nba-2017-western-conference-offseason-grades
8/2/2017 8:32 AM