The Cleveland Cavaliers won 51 games last season, made it to the NBA Finals for the third straight year and, as a result, are expected to compete for another championship in 2017-18.
The projections for Cleveland aren’t farfetched, even though they lost their most talented player not named LeBron James in the offseason.
Naturally, fans and pundits alike can expect dominant teams to continue leading their respective conferences, but from the outside looking in, it’s easy to forget that the Utah Jazz finished last season with just as many wins as Cleveland.
Years of scouting, drafting talent and developing players in Salt Lake City resulted in the most successful run the Jazz have had in seven seasons. And now, instead of building on it like the other contending teams, the Jazz have taken a step back — through no fault of their own — and their chances of even making the playoffs, let alone the semifinals, have diminished significantly.
Talent-wise, there hasn’t been much balance between the Eastern and Western conferences, as the latter has always been the umbrella for the league’s elite. This summer, though, it’s shifted even more, as multiple teams — some of which missed the postseason last year — either traded for or signed star players from the East, making the road to the playoffs that much more difficult for Utah.
Denver Nuggets
Key acquisitions: Paul Millsap, Tyler Lydon, Trey Lyles
If the Nuggets could go back in time, they would probably choose to keep Donovan Mitchell instead of swapping him for Tyler Lydon on draft night. At the time of the draft, the Nuggets looked to pair their star center, Nikola Jokic, with a forward capable of shooting from the perimeter. Enter Lydon.
The problem is, Mitchell could be the steal of a historically deep draft class, and the Nuggets found a way to sign one of the best stretch fours in the NBA, Paul Millsap, during the free agency period. Millsap, an All-Star in Atlanta, will exclusively play the power forward position with the Nuggets, leaving former Jazzman Trey Lyles and Lydon with scraps.
NBA general managers voted Millsap “the most underrated acquisition” of the summer. In a preseason opener against the Golden State Warriors, Millsap scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, providing a preview of the kind of production he’ll give the Nuggets all season.
A Northwest Division rival of Utah’s, the Nuggets have a versatile frontcourt; arguably the most impressive big duo in the league. Neither Millsap nor Jokic fit the mold of traditional bigs, as they often score from outside of the paint and have vision comparable to the NBA’s top guards.
Along with adding a top five power forward to their roster, the Nuggets will have some continuity going into the season. Wilson Chandler, Darrell Arthur, Jameer Nelson, Will Barton, Gary Harris, Emmanuel Mudiay and Jamal Murray — all of whom will be in Mike Malone’s rotation — are returning.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Key acquisitions: Jimmy Butler, Jeff Teague, Jamal Crawford, Taj Gibson
The last time the Timberwolves made the playoffs, Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake were performing at the Super Bowl halftime show.
It’s been 13 years, and barring any health issues, Minnesota’s playoff drought should end this season — at least according to Jazz point guard Ricky Rubio, who Utah acquired from the Timberwolves in the summer.
Karl-Anthony Towns, 21, and Andrew Wiggins, 22, were already on the cusp of becoming superstar players (some would argue that they’ve already reached that level). Towns, with just two years of NBA experience, has become virtually unguardable.
Averaging 25 points and 12 rebounds per game last year, Towns is virtually the only center in the NBA capable of doing, well, everything. Towns made almost 37 percent of his 3-point attempts on more than three tries from deep a game. For comparison, Rodney Hood shot the same percentage from three as Towns. Defensively, Towns is one of a handful of big men in the NBA who can switch onto guards without getting burned. He routinely switches screens, defending the likes of Russell Westbrook and John Wall.
Similarly, Wiggins has stood out in a league dominated by wing players. He averaged 23 points and four rebounds, which will earn him a five-year, $148 million extension soon. Wiggins has become someone NBA front offices look for in other players — a wing who can create for himself and defend the most prolific scorers.
All the Timberwolves were missing was a veteran star. Luckily for them, former Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau led a heist and snagged All-Star forward Jimmy Butler from his old team. The Wolves also agreed to a multi-year contract with former All-Star point guard Jeff Teague replacing Rubio, and Jamal Crawford, who’s been in the running for Sixth Man of the Year every season for about a decade.
The Timberwolves are stacked with talent that can play now and will only get better in the future. Out of the eight teams that didn’t make the playoffs in the West last year, the Timberwolves will have the greatest shot and should push for home-court advantage.
New Orleans Pelicans
Key acquisitions: Rajon Rondo, Tony Allen, Frank Jackson, Ian Clark
Casual NBA fans can look at New Orleans’ roster and probably expect them to win upwards of 50 games next season. The names are enticing — Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, Jrue Holiday and Rajon Rondo. But the fit is still questionable.
New Orleans will start both Holiday and Rondo together in the backcourt, both of whom are used to playing point guard and not off the ball. The combination isn’t ideal, especially since Rondo is historically one of the worst shooters at the position. And in the frontcourt, the problems are similar.
While both Davis and Cousins are All-Stars and arguably the best at their respective positions, neither have skill-sets that complement each other. Jokic and Millsap, for instance, can play together because they don’t occupy the same space. When Jokic is down on the block, Millsap can play outside, giving him the room he needs to operate. Davis and Cousins have expanded their range, but defenses will welcome perimeter shots from both.
Inadvertently, the Pelicans might’ve already laid out the blueprint for opposing teams. Last season (albeit mostly prior to the addition of Cousins), the Pelicans had the fifth least efficient offense in the NBA, ahead of just the Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, Orlando Magic and Philadelphia 76ers. When most teams played fast and small, the Pelicans weren’t able to match up. Offensively, the lack of shooting hindered the team’s spacing, making it a simple puzzle for other teams to solve.
But there is a “what if?” — a few of them, actually.
What if the Pelicans can put it together? What if the transition from on-to-off the ball isn’t difficult for Holiday, who was one three away from leading the Pelicans in 3-point shots made last season? What if Alvin Gentry can stunt the big men’s minutes enough to avoid playing them together all the time, allowing each to get an even number of touches? What if Rondo, who played with Cousins in Sacramento, regains his chemistry with the center and, with that, his value?
For more than any other team, training camp and preseason will be/has been vital for the Pelicans as it will be the only time they’ll have to answer the questions surrounding their team before the losses pile up.
Countless factors (health being the most important) will come into play during the regular season, but the Warriors, Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs can all essentially punch a ticket to the playoffs.
The Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Portland Trail Blazers and Jazz all made the postseason last year, but could end up losing their spots to the Denver Nuggets, New Orleans Pelicans or Minnesota Timberwolves. The Jazz will be one of the few clinging onto their spot, hoping one of the rising teams doesn’t snatch it.