2018-19 NBA Off-Season Review/Season Preview

This was the first time in many years that the National Basketball Association (NBA) was in the headlines during the summer months. A flurry of trades, free agent signings and massive player movement as all 30 teams really focused on this upcoming season. For the defending back-to-back defending from the “Bay Area” their focus is simple, winning another third straight title. For the teams from “Clutch City” and “Beantown,” and whose mantra has been “We the North,” their focus is about dethroning the champs and capture what they have. For the teams from the city of “Brotherly Love” and “Hollywood” the moves they made were focused on being in position to compete for the Larry O’Brien trophy, hopefully this season. Teams from the “Valley of the Sun,” “Beal Street,” the “Alamo City,” “Big D,” and the “Big Apple” who focus is to use this season as a stepping stone to getting back to the postseason and eventually be title contenders down the road.  That is what will be tackled in the J-Speaks 2018-19 NBA Off-Season in Review, Season Preview?

Abbreviation Key, which represents statistics from this season: ppg-points per game; rpg- rebounds per game; spg-steals per game; bpg-block shots per game; FG%-field goal percentage; 3-Pt.%-three-point percentage; opp.-opponent’s, and T-tied.

Eastern Conference 

Atlanta Hawks: 24-58 (5^th Southeast Division; missed the playoffs) 16-25 at home, 8-33 on the road. 

-103.4 ppg-25^th; opp. ppg: 108.8-23^rd; 41.9 rpg-25^th

Three years removed from authoring a franchise record and Eastern Conference-best 60 wins and making the playoffs 10 consecutive seasons, the Atlanta Hawks office fell off the map in 2017-18 and came to the conclusion that it was time to rebuild. Hawks’ General Manager Travis Schlenk, who came on board in May 2017 bought out the contracts of two veteran players at the February trade deadline. At season’s end they said goodbye to the head coach that won NBA Coach of the Year just three years ago. The focus of the team of the “ATL” entering this season is to develop the young core that is in place and be entertaining while they take their lumps in learning how to win. 

In his first draft as Hawks GM, Schlenk used the blueprint that helped create the dynasty that is now taking place in the “Bay Area” with All-Stars in two-time league MVP Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. Players who can shoot pass and play cohesively together. 

So, with the No. 3 overall pick they selected the best international prospect in years in guard Luka Doncic at No. 3 overall. Then the Hawks dealt his draft rights to the Dallas Mavericks for the draft rights to last season’s electric player in Trae Young, the No. 5 overall pick out of University of Oklahoma, while also netting a protected 2019 First-Round pick. 

“The have such a great organization there. I can’t wait to get there,” Young, 19 said about being drafted by the Hawks. “I see myself fitting in very well with this roster. A lot of the guys, we’ve known each other since high school. There’s a lot of really good chemistry already and I think there’s a lot of different pieces from wings and bigs, and even guards.” 

Bringing in consistent shooting became the focus for the rest of the Hawks draft as they selected guard Kevin Huerter with the No. 19 overall pick out of the University of Maryland, who averaged 14.8 points a season ago and his 73 triples tied him for fifth most in a single-season for the Terps. 

At No. 30 overall, the Hawks chose forward Omari Spellman from the two-time defending champion Villanova Wildcats. The 2017-18 Big East Freshmen of the Year averaged 10.9 points and eight boards last season for the Wildcats and was one of four players in Division I with 50 blocks and 50 made threes a season ago. 

The Hawks also in this draft took care of gathering assets for the future as they dealt the draft rights to the No. 34 overall in point guard Devonte’ Graham out of the University of Kansas to the Charlotte Hornets for two future Second-Round picks. 

Schlenk admitted during the draft that the Hawks’ war room was split evenly down the middle on both Young and Doncic draft prospects, but what sealed the deal in them making the trade with the boys from “Big D” was netting that First-Rounder next June. 

Young, the 2018 Big 12 Freshmen of the Year certainly brought a jolt to College Basketball a season ago becoming the first player in Division I history to be first in scoring (27.4) and assists (8.7) per game, while connecting on 36 percent of his three-pointers.

His ability to make threes seemingly from the arena parking lot and to make the toughest of passes look easy drew fans from all across the Sooner country to see him in action. 

He was drawing comparisons to two-time league MVP and three-time champion of the Warriors Stephen Curry for his ability to make shots from unknown distances. 

Young said that he has patterned a lot of his game after Curry, especially his ability to shoot the ball. His ball-handling he patterns after Boston Celtics All-Star guard Kyrie Irving and now Charlotte Hornets All-Star guard Tony Parker’s uncanny ability to finish at the basket. Young’s all-time favorite player is future Hall of Famer Steve Nash, who is all three of the prior mentioned elite NBA point guards rolled into one. 

To compare how good Young was this past season to Curry’s freshmen year at Davidson University back in 2008-09, the 19-year-old Young made 118 threes, while a 19-year-old Curry made 122 threes, while he averaged 21.5 points hitting 41 percent of his triples but averaged just 2.8 assists.  

As hot as he was to start, he really cooled down in the second part of last season. His shot selection and accuracy from distance started to raise eyebrows and not in a positive way as before. He went from a player that made the spectacular to a player that you waited for the train wreck to happen. 

It does not help that Young comes in small in stature in terms of his size and that he is not the greatest at the defensive end. Also, the idea of him being the next coming of Jesus to Hawks basketball is a very big stretch. He has a lot to learn, but he will be given every chance to succeed and it is up to him to put in the work.

Even when the late great “Pistol” Pete Maravich and Hall of Famer and now Hawks broadcaster Dominque Wilkins were at the height of their powers, they could never draw in people like magnets in a town that is dominated by college football programs of University of Georgia Bulldogs and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets respectably. 

With the drafting of Young, it was as clear as day that the days of last season’s leading scorer Dennis Schroder were numbered because of his inability to keep out of trouble off the court and to develop chemistry with his teammates on the hardwood. 

The Hawks in a three-way deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Sixers dealt Schroder to OKC and in return acquired perennial All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony, who the team bought out of the final year of his contract, forward/guard Justin Anderson and a 2022 Lottery-protected First-Round pick.  

The Hawks in another off-season deal acquired lead guard Jeremy Lin from the Brooklyn Nets, who missed all but one game a season ago because of injury as well as received their 2025 Second-Round pick and the right to swap picks with the Nets in 2023. 

One new addition that will definitely have something to prove is the No. 5 overall pick in 2013 center Alex Len (7.2 ppg, 6.5 rpg w/Suns), who the Hawks signed to a two-year, $8.5 million deal in late July. 

The team also in the off-season picked up the player option on center Dewayne Dedmon (10.0 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 52.4 FG%, 35.5 3-Pt.%). 

With such a young cast of Hawks, the front office of Schlenk and principal owner Tony Ressler added some serious veteran power to the locker room in eight-time All-Star and 1999 Kia Rookie of the Year Vince Carter, who will be entering his 21^st season in “The Association.” 

He along with future Hall of Famer of the Dallas Mavericks Dirk Nowitzki will tie fellow future Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett, former Hawk Kevin Willis, and former Celtic great Robert Parrish for most seasons in the NBA. They surpassed the second most seasons in “The Association” of 20 by Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and future Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant

He will provide the necessary voice for the Hawks’ young core in an upcoming season in which some of them will experience more losses than they have had in their entire high school and short collegiate careers.

What will be just as important to the continued rebuilding of the Hawks is the continued development of the remaining core players like 2017-18 All-Rookie Second-Team selection John Collins (10.5 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 57.6 FG%), who really worked on his ability to make three-point shots this off-season. An ever improving Taurean Prince (14.1 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 38.5 3-Pt.%), who improved both his scoring and rebounding a season ago; DeAndre’ Bembry and Kent Bazemore (12.9 ppg, 1.5 spg-Led team, 39.4 3-Pt.%), who has to pick up his play after shooting just 42 percent overall from the floor a season ago. 

The Hawks showed that belief in Collins, Prince and Bembry by exercising their contract options for the 2019-20 season. 

Unfortunately for Collins he had a non-surgical procedure done on his left ankle on Oct. 8 that will shelve him to start the season, according to NBATV. He will be re-evaluated on Oct. 22.  

When Schlenk and Ressler came into the front office, it was a matter of not if they would give then head coach Mike Budenholzer the axe, but when? 

That came this off-season and in his place the Hawks on May 11 hired longtime assistant coach Lloyd Pierce, who had been with the Philadelphia 76ers the past five seasons. 

The 42-year-old’s work with the Sixers in the development of 2018 Kia Rookie of the Year Ben Simmons and Kia Defensive Player of the Year candidate in All-Star Joel Embiid played a big role in him getting his first opportunity to be a head coach. He also played a big role in the development in some of the best in the game today like four-time Kia MVP LeBron James when he was with the now four-time defending East champion Cleveland Cavaliers from 2007-10. With Curry, Thompson and Green when he was with the Warriors in 2010-11 and Mike Conley and Marc Gasol when he was with the Memphis Grizzlies from 2011-13. 

“As we set out to find a new head coach for our team, it was critically important to find a dynamic teacher who could connect with and develop our young core while instilling the culture and high standards we feel are necessary in a successful program,” Schlenk said in a statement released back in May. “Lloyd Pierce checks every box, and we couldn’t be more excited to have him leading the Atlanta Hawks into the future.   

When the Hawks began to rebuild under then GM Danny Ferry, it began with a painful 13-win season back in 2004-05. That became a 10-year streak of playoff appearances, which culminated in a franchise record 60 wins and a Conference Finals appearance in 2014-15. 

With three First-Rounders in 2019, their own and the ones they acquired from the Mavericks and Cavaliers, that are Top 5 and Top 10 protected and as many as five Second-Round picks, the Hawks hope their embryonic stage of this rebuild under Schlenk and Reesler reaches that point but includes trips to the NBA Finals.  

Best Case Scenario: The Hawks win north of 25 games. Coach Pierce’s philosophy takes shape. Young is in the running for either the First or Second All-Rookie Team. Prince and Collins take another step in their maturation and the veterans provide a steady presence in the locker room and on the court. 

Worst Case Scenario: The Hawks struggle to crack the 20-win mark. Young’s play is erratic and Coach Pierce’s squad struggles mightily at the defensive end.  

Grade: C-

Boston Celtics: 55-27 (2^nd Atlantic Division; No. 2 Seed East) 27-14 at home, 28-13 on the road. Defeated the No.  Seeded Milwaukee Bucks 4-3 in East Quarterfinals. Defeated the No. 3 Seeded Philadelphia 76ers 4-1 in East Semifinals. Lost to the No. 4 Seeded Cleveland Cavaliers 4-3 in Conference Finals. 

-104.0 ppg-20^th; opp. ppg: 100.4-3^rd; 44.5 rpg-8^th

The 2017-18 Boston Celtics came up one game short of being the first team to eliminate a LeBron James led from the postseason in Game 7 of the Conference Finals last spring. That magical carpet ride was the result of a handful of young players who emerged after the loss of two key All-Stars, that were signed in the summer of 2017. With the return of said All-Stars; the best player arguably in the NBA gone out West, the Celtics focus this season is to integrate their deep roster and represent the East in The Finals. 

The boys from “Beantown” lost All-Star swingman Gordon Hayward to a broken left ankle minutes into their season opener at the four-time defending Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers in Oct. 17, 2017. 

“When you’re down and you can’t play, you can’t even walk or run, or anything that’s a terrible feeling,” Hayward said to ESPN’s “NBA: The Jump” host Rachel Nichols about the effect the injury had on him mentally. “Internally you have to find some sort of motivation to go in each day… You have to find a way to get through it.” 

He said about his health entering training camp to NBATV/TNT’s Kristen Ledlow at Media Day on Sept. 24, “Well I think just a little bit of explosion on my left leg, especially when I’m jumping single leg. I think that’s the last piece that everyone has told me and I can kind of feel it a little bit too. That will come with time but for the most part I feel really good out there playing.”

All-Star lead guard Kyrie Irving (24.4 ppg, 5.1 apg), who shot career-highs of 49.1 percent from the floor and 40.8 percent from three-point range had surgery on his left knee that shelved him including the playoffs the final 34 games of 2017-18. The surgery was to remove two screws that had been infected. 

“All I was thinking like push through, push through, push through and it caught up to me finally,” Irving said to Nichols about what led to him getting the surgery to fully fix his knee. 

He added by saying to Ledlow, “I’m great, I’m great. I’m just happy to be healthy at this point. It was a long, long, long kind of last few months of dealing with things that were uncontrollable.” 

“I’m happy to be here. Happy to experience it with my teammates finally again and move forward.”

The C’s two All-Star pillars put in a lot of work in their rehabilitations to the point that they were able to get some serious work in during the off-season to where they will be on the court in time for the regular season, which is very good news for GM Danny Ainge and head coach Brad Stevens. 

With Irving in the lineup during the 2017-18 regular season, the C’s went 41-19 averaging 105.2 points and had a per game differential of +4.3. They were 14-8 during the regular season with their starting lead guard averaging 100.7 points and had a per gam differential of +1.5.  

The reason for the Celtics glistening optimism is that their young core players of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Terry Rozier and Marcus Smart took their games up several notches to the point where they played toe-to-toe with some of the more talented teams in the East and nearly pulled off the impossible of making it to The Finals. 

Tatum (13.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 47.5 FG%, 43.4 3-Pt.%-8^th NBA), the No. 3 pick in 2017 was asked as a rookie to win games by being the leading-man at the offensive end and he rose to the challenge without hesitation.

How good was the rookie out of Duke in the 2018 postseason? In the Semis against the 76ers, he went from averaging 15.4 points in the C’s seven-game series win versus the Milwaukee Bucks to a 23.6 scoring average in their five-game series win against the Philadelphia 76ers in the Semifinals. 

“It’s was confirmation on something that I knew myself but I feel like I had to show everybody that I belong here,” Tatum, who finished third in the 2017-18 Kia Rookie of the Year balloting said to Ledlow. “That I deserve to be in the NBA and try to become one of the best players.”

Brown (14.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 46.5 FG%, 39.5 3-Pt.%) took a major leap in his second-year where he showed that he can take and make perimeter shots consistently just as well as he can defend some of the best perimeter players in “The Association.” 

Irving’s understudy Terry Rozier (11.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 38.1 3-Pt.%) really took his game up a notch averaging 16.5 points, 5.7 assists and 5.3 rebounds in the postseason. In the Celtics 112-96 win in Game 7 of the First-Round versus the Bucks, Rozier had 26 points, with nine assists and six rebounds on 10 for 16 from the field, including 5 for 8 from three-point range. 

Without the presence of Irving and Hayward, the veteran leadership on the floor fell to All-Star center Al Horford (12.9 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 4.7 apg, 48.9 FG%, 42.9 3-Pt%), who provided that steady voice in timeouts and on the hardwood. 

“We’ve had a lot of players through here that have given, put in a lot of sweat equity and it’s been fun to be a part of the growth of that,” Coach Stevens said to Ledlow. “To watch guys, want to compete together and then we’ve just been fortunate.” 

That encouragement and focus is what allowed the young core of the Celtics who were 23 years of age or younger to produce 46 percent of their scoring a season ago.

As great as the Celtics were at the offensive end, ranked No. 2 in three-point percentage at 37.7 percent; ranking 10^th in attempts from distance at 30.4 and tied for No. 6 in makes at 11.5, despite the absence of Irving and Hayward, what helped the Celtics be within one game of The Finals was that since Stevens has come to “Beantown,” they have made their bread and butter the defensive end. 

Including last season, where they finished No. 1 in opponent’s three-point percentage at 33.9 the Celtics ranked in the Top 5 in opponent’s three-point percentage the last 11 seasons. 

To bring that point into context, none of the other 29 teams in the NBA ranked in the Top 5 more than five times and 12 other teams finished in the Top 5 just once in those 11 seasons. 

Only the Chicago Bulls ranked in the Top 5 in that category of defense, which they did five times under now Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau, the architect of the C’s top ranked defense at the start of this streak as an assistant for now Los Angeles Clippers head coach Glenn “Doc” Rivers. 

That defense is how the Celtics were 29-1 when leading by 15 points or more a season ago. It also was how with a 15-20 mark tied the Toronto Raptors (15-17), the back-to-back defending champion Golden State Warriors (15-19) and the New Orleans Pelicans (15-27) for most wins after trailing by double-digits. 

The Celtics posted the best mark for an East team against the rival Western Conference going 22-8 and along with the Detroit Pistons beat both the Houston Rockets and previously mentioned Warriors, the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the West respectably last season. 

That defensive effort is how the Celtics stayed in the game in Game 7 of the Conference Finals versus the Cavs on May 27, despite their struggles from three-point range, where they shot a dismal 7 for 39 in the 87-79 loss. 

Despite that loss, the Celtics have really grown by leaps in each of the first five seasons under Coach Stevens going from 25 wins in 2013-14 to 40, 48, 53 and 55 wins, and making the Conference Finals the last two years. 

If the Celtics win 56 games in the 2018-19 regular season, Stevens will be just the fourth coach in NBA history to improve his win total as a head coach in five straight seasons. 

While the main priority this off-season was about getting Irving and Hayward healthy and ready to go for the upcoming season, the C’s did have some business to handle in terms of their roster. 

They had to make a decision on restricted free agent guard Marcus Smart (10.2 ppg, 4.8 apg). While he can be streak at the offensive end, his ability to defend and make plays that do not show up in the box score earned him a new four-year contract for a reported $52 million. 

The Celtics also re-signed backup center Aron Baynes to a new two-year, $10.6 million deal and signed guard Brad Wanamaker, who has played the last few seasons overseas to a one-year deal. 

While Ainge and the Celtics’ front office flirted with the idea of acquiring All-Star and perimeter defensive ace Kawhi Leonard. Those talks led nowhere as the Spurs wanted either Tatum or Brown, or both and unfortunately for them Leonard was dealt to their Atlantic Division rival the Toronto Raptors, more on that later. 

One big reason the Celtics wanted Leonard was his ability to guard multiple positions, which is how he won Kia Defensive Player of the Year in 2015 and 2016. 

With no lottery pick in this year’s draft-as the generous gifts provided by the Brooklyn Nets five years back ran out-the Celtics used the No. 27 overall pick on center Robert Williams out of Texas A&M University. 

While Williams is a talented player that has great physical tools like a long wingspan and has great instincts at the defensive end as he led the South Eastern Conference (SEC) in blocks shots per game in 2017-18 at 2.6, while also averaging 10.4 points and 9.2 rebounds. 

The 2016-17 Defensive Player of the Year and 2017-18 Co-Defensive Players of the Year could be part of the C’s rotation if he is willing to play at a high level each game and be more mature, which he struggled as a collegian. 

He did not get his NBA career off to a good start missing his flight and the first practice in advance of the start of Summer League back in July. He also overslept and missed his introductory news conference the day after the 17-time NBA champions drafted him.

What will give him a solid chance is having the likes of Horford, Irving, and Hayward to show him the new ounces of how to be a professional athlete. 

The only thing that can get in the way of that is their ability to be selfless in terms of their play on the court and not sacrificing some of their individual game for the benefit of the team. 

On top of that there is the upcoming free agency of Irving, who is in the last year on a five-year $94 million deal he signed back in 2014. His backup in Rozier will also be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end. 

Irving put the fans of “Beantown” at ease for now when he said in the early part of October at a Celtics event at TD Garden that he intends to re-sign with the Celtics and not join the Knicks as it has been reported over the last couple of months in free agency in summer of 2019. 

“If you guys will have me back, I plan on re-signing here,” he said. He added, “I’m glad I can share this this with the Boston fans and everybody there. I was just happy to get it done with. I just have ever intent to sign back. I just wanted to clear that up.” 

The Celtics the last two springs have had their championship dreams end at the hands of LeBron James and the Cavaliers. With the four-time Kia MVP gone to the West Coast, the return of Irving and Hayward to a stack squad, the Celtics’ dream of winning their 18^th Larry O’Brien trophy can become a reality. They also have a chance of being the first team since the 2014-15 Hawks to win 60 games in the East. The Raptors, 76ers, and possibly the Washington Wizards though might have something to say about that. 

“I think that it’s a hard league to win in,” Stevens said to Ledlow. “You have to play at a great level every night to have a chance to win and we’ve been fortunate enough to have that. We’ll see if were fortunate enough to win a few games again.”

Best Case Scenario: The Celtics win north of 55 games and are the No. 1 or No. 2 Seed in the East. Kyrie Irving is in the Kia MVP conversation. Coach Stevens wins Kia Coach of the Year. Brown is in the running for Kia Most Improved Player Hayward returns to full form by mid-season. The young players continue to perform at a high level on both ends. The Celtics make it to the NBA Finals and give the reigning back-to-back champion Golden State Warriors a run for their money. 

Worst Case Scenario: The Celtics fall in the Conference Finals to the Raptors or 76ers. 

Grade: A

Brooklyn Nets: 28-54 (5^th Atlantic Division; missed the playoffs) 15-26 at home, 13-28 on the road. 

-106.6 ppg-14^th; opp. ppg: 110.3-28^th; 44.9 rpg-9^th    

Back in the summer of 2013 the Brooklyn Nets traded draft picks to acquire future Hall of Famers Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce in hopes of making a championship run. Those championship dreams never came to fruition and seriously damaged their ability to move forward but them in NBA draft jail and eventually turned the C’s into a championship contender. The Nets under the direction of general manager Sean Marks since 2016 have signed and acquired young talent and bad contracts in the hopes of collecting First-Round picks. The focus for the Nets this season is to put themselves in the best position to be a major player in free agency in the 2019 off-season. 

The Nets 2017-18 season was set back by injuries to then starting guard Jeremy Lin, who season was finished after injuring his knee on opening night.

His backcourt mate D’Angelo Russell (15.5 ppg, 5.2 apg), who the Nets acquired before the 2018 draft from the Los Angeles Lakers missed 34 games because of a vary of injuries, including knee surgery.  

When the No. 2 overall pick in 2015 out of Ohio State did return in late January he looked more comfortable on the floor in “Pace and Space” offensive system of head coach Kenny Atkinson. 

Russell has always had the talent to be good in the NBA, the biggest question for him was could he play at the lead guard spot and make his teammates better. 

This is a guy who when he came to the Lakers was a teammate of future Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant, who like Russell came into the NBA at age 17, but he worked his tail off to be the great player he became and understood when to play and when to work. 

Russell’s maturity level was nowhere near Bryant’s, which is why he was dealt last summer to the Nets and while he has shown flashes he understands what it takes to be great on the hardwood he has not put it all together.

The loss of Lin and Russell for much of last season meant that Coach Atkinson need to go to other places for production and he got it from guard Spencer Dinwiddie, who finished third in the Kia Most Improved Player voting, thanks to career-highs averages of 12.6 points and 6.6 assists. 

The Nets to show how valuable Dinwiddie was, there was a 10-win difference with the team a season ago between the two as the Nets won 18 with Dinwiddie starting at the lead guard spot and just 10 with Russell. 

Second-year guard Caris LeVert (12.1 ppg, 34.7 3-Pt.%) really grew a season ago becoming a better catch-and-shoot player that thrived in the open court and upgraded his ability to make plays for his teammates. The Nets rewarded LeVert by exercising the team option on his contract for next season. LeVert will earn $2.6 million in the 2019-20 season. 

Veteran forward DeMarre Carroll (13.5 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 37.1 3-Pt.%), who struggled in his last season with the Toronto Raptors in 2016-17 had a productive first season with the Nets regaining his shooting touch and perimeter defensive prowess. Unfortunately, Carroll will start the season on the shelf after having arthroscopic surgery on his ankle. There is no timetable on when he will return. 

Former First-Round pick Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had a breakout third season with career-high averages of 13.9 points and 6.8 rebounds on 47.2 percent garnering 12 double-doubles a season ago after a combined 10 in his first and second seasons.

Every single trade, free agency signing and draft pick was done by Marks and the Nets front office with the future in mind. That is what happens when you cannot improve your team through the draft with a Top 10 pick. 

The Nets through some shrewd wheeling-and-dealings acquire some late First-Round picks the past four Junes. In the Carroll deal, the Nets also acquired a First-Round pick, which they used to draft at No. 29 overall pick in June forward Dzanan Musa a 19-year-old from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Nets at No. 40 overall picked forward Rodions Kurucs from Latvia. They also had the No. 45 pick, which they selected guard Hamidou Diallo, who they traded his draft rights to the Oklahoma City Thunder. 

The players the Nets took flyers on the last two off-seasons in Allen Crabbe (13.2 ppg, 37.8 3-Pt.%), Dinwiddie, and sharp shooter Joe Harris (10.8 ppg, 49.1 FG%, 41.9 3-Pt.%), who turned his career-year into a new two-year, $16 million deal this off-season have become major contributors under Coach Atkinson and the Nets coaching and player-development staff of Jacque Vaughn, Chris Fleming, Bret Biermaier, Travon Bryant Pablo Prigioni, and Adam Harrington. 

To illustrate the kind of impact Dinwiddie, Harris and Crabbe had on the Nets offense after the New Year, their offensive output per game went from 110.3 in January to 106.7 in February and 110.1 in March/April.  

To create the necessary cap space for the summer of 2019, the Nets acquired former All-Star center Dwight Howard from the Charlotte Hornets for fellow center Timofey Mozgov and the remaining two years and $32 million left on his deal, avoiding a $16.7 million hit to their salary cap in 2019-20. They eventually bought Howard out of his deal making him an unrestricted free agent.

The Nets then dealt Lin to the Hawks in another salary shredding move, along with their Second-Round pick in 2025 as well as the right to swap pick with the Hawks in 2023. In return, the Nets acquired the Hawks’ future Second-Round pick and the draft rights to Isaia Cordinier. 

The Nets then dealt reserve guard Isaiah Whitehead to acquire the expiring salaries of forwards Kenneth Faried and Darrell Arthur, and the Nuggets’ 2019-protected First-Round pick (1-12) and their 2020 unprotected Second-Round pick. 

The Nets dealt Arthur to the Phoenix Suns for veteran sharp shooting forward Jared Dudley and a 2021-protected Second-Round pick. 

In the early stages when the Nets were strapped for assets, the Nets used their salary cap room to acquire assets-draft picks from teams that wanted to trade away bad contracts, or young prospects if picks were not available. 

Two summers ago, the Nets acquired a 2017 First-Round pick from the Washington Wizards to get then forward Andrew Nicholson’s deal off the Wizards payroll. That pick became center Jarett Allen (8.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 58.9 FG%), whose option was exercised, where he will earn $2.4 million in 2019-20 season. The Nets flipped Nicholson to the Portland Trail Blazers for Allen Crabbe (13.2 ppg, 37.8 3-Pt%), who they also signed to an offer sheet three summers prior. 

Allen in his first season in the league really improved his ability to rebound; his ability to block shots and as a rim runner. He still has to get a lot stronger and his offensive awareness has to improve. 

He should get better with the additions of Faried and ex-Trail Blazers’ forward/center Ed Davis, who along with guard Shabazz Napier signed one-year and two-year deals for $4.4 and $3.7 million respectably. They also signed former Hornet Treveon Graham to a two-year deal. 

Davis, who led all NBA reserves with 7.4 boards last season will bring a hardhat, rugged mentality to the Nets lineup, while Napier, who averaged career-highs of 8.7 points on 37.6 percent from three-point range a season ago will provide stability and floor spreading shooting off the bench. 

The one move that might give Marks nightmares came last summer when the Nets dealt center Brook Lopez for Russell and a 2017 First-Round pick, which became Kyle Kuzma, the steal of the draft for the Lakers. 

It will be an interesting summer in the New York area as both the Knicks and Nets will have millions in their war chest to throw at some of the top names in the NBA’s free agent market in the summer of 2019. While it does not come close to the might Yankees and little brother Mets, it will be a brawl in the borough that will be something to see. 

One thing is for sure, the Nets have the right GM in Marks, who worked a miracle in getting the Nets back to respectability to make these decisions. They also have the right man in Coach Atkinson and his staff turned players that were throwaways from other teams and made them into major contributors. This season will go a long way in deciding what will be the future for the Nets, who have not made the playoffs since 2015. 

Best Case Scenario: The Nets win North of 30 games. The likes of Crabbe, Hollis-Jefferson, LeVert, Allen and Harris have another year of improvement, along with Russell. The team grow even more with another season in Coach Atkinson’s “Pace and Space” offensive system, while improving at the defensive end. 

Worst Case Scenario: There Nets take a serious step back in their maturation as a team.   

Grade: B

Charlotte Hornets: 36-46 (3^rd Southeast Division; missed the playoffs) 21-20 at home, 15-26 on the road.

-108.2 ppg-10^th; opp. ppg: 108.0-19^th; 45.5 rpg-T-3^rd  

Under achieving draft picks, new additions via trade and free agency that have been busts and under achieving coaching is why the Charlotte Hornets have only made the playoffs three times since 2004-05. As a result, owner Michael Jordan, fired the general manager, the head coach and said goodbye to its biggest acquisition from last summer. With a new crop of draft selection; the hiring of a former North Carolina Tar Heel as GM; a new head coach from one of the most stable franchises in “The Association,” along with a lead guard that help them win four titles, the focus for the Hornets entering their 30^th season is to stabilize the franchise, while convince their two-time All-Star guard not to bolt in free agency next summer. 

The first change for the Hornets took place on Apr. 8 when Jordan hired fellow Tar Heel and long-time Los Angeles Lakers executive Mitch Kupchak to be President of Basketball Operations and general manager, replacing the fired Rich Cho.

His first move was hiring Spurs’ assistant coach James Borrego as the 12^th head coach in franchise history. 

His first go-around as a leader on the sidelines was a rough 10-20 lesson as interim coach of the Magic back in 2015. Hopefully he learned from that experience and from his former boss Gregg Popovich of the five-time champion Spurs. 

Borrego will be helped this go around as fellow Spur and future Hall of Famer in guard Tony Parker (7.7 ppg, 3.5 apg, 45.9 FG% w/Spurs) signed a two-year, $10.2 million deal to join the Hornets.

While he may be 36-years-old and on the back nine of his career that will land him in the Hall of Fame and his No. 9 jersey in the rafters of AT&T Center in San Antonio, TX, Parker has been around winning teams as a Spur and overseas for the French national team will bring that leadership and work ethic to win to the Hornets locker room.

A work ethic that will hopefully help the Hornets in close games unlike a year ago where they went 2-8 in games decided by fewer than five points in the last five minutes. 

“The Spurs offered me the same thing [contractually] as Charlotte but it was more about the role…I did not want to finish as an assistant coach and that was the role the offered me when I want to play,” Parker said upon his signing. “And when Michael Jordan called me, my idol, I thought let’s go. For me I feel like the closing the loop to finish my career in his club, it’s something special for me because it’s him that made me want to play basketball.” 

He added to NBATV during Media Day on Sept. 24 about knowing JB ahead of the rest of the Hornets roster, “So it’s funny because I have a little advantage over my teammates because I know the coach better than they do.” 

One player that is very excited to have Borrego and Parker in the “Queen City” two-time All-Star lead guard Kemba Walker (22.1 ppg-Led team, 5.6 apg-Led team, 38.4 3-Pt.%).

The 28-year-old said to NBATV’s Ro Parrish earlier this month that he and Parker’s first interactions have been “A1.” That he is eager to learn every trick of the trade on what it takes to win and especially his efficiency to score in the paint with is ability to make high floaters amongst bigger players that try to deny you in the lane. 

In terms of his feelings about Coach Borrego, Walker said that he has established a real healthy culture that has brought communication amongst the team front-and-center and he is really excited about that adjustment. 

“I think last season that’s what we lacked,” Walker said. “We didn’t communicate enough. So, this year, I think a lot of the focus is going to be on our communication and our comradery.” 

If the Hornets’ front office had that kind communication in the early stages of the last decade, maybe the franchise would have made better draft choices then they did last decade. 

In 2004 and 2012, the Hornets had the No. 2 overall pick where Dwight Howard, who ironically enough played for the them last season and Anthony Davis were take No. 1. 

The Hornets No. 2 overall picks those seasons in Emeka Okafor and current forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (9.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg) did and have not materialized into the face of the franchise or made an All-Star appearance. 

Two summers back, the Hornets handed out some big-time contracts to players that in reality are roles players that are now being paid like starts. 

Swingman Nicolas Batum (11.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 5.5 apg) since his big payday of a new five-year, $120 contract in the summer of 2016 has authored two very poor season, shooting just 40.3 and 41.5 from the field and 33.3 and 33.6 percent from three-point range respectably.

While he got paid like a star player with a five-year, 54.5 million deal two summers back, 32-year-old forward Marvin Williams (9.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg) despite shooting well from the floor last season at 45.8 percent, and 41.3 from three-point range has performed nowhere close to a featured star or co-star of a team.

Before the draft in June, the Hornets dealt last season’s leading rebounder in Howard to the Nets for center Timofey Mozgov, who coincidentally was given a four-year, $64 million deal by Kupchak when he was with the Lakers; a 2018 Second-Round pick, which turned into guard Hamidou Diallo out of Kentucky; a 2021 Second-Round pick and cash. 

This right here is a prime example of getting rid of a bad contract from your salary cap and replaced it with another as Mozgov has two years and $32 million left on his deal. 

While the Hornets were able to unload Mozgov’s deal in a three-team deal with the Bulls and Hornets, they again took on more salary with the addition of center Bismack Biyombo (5.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg w/Magic), who never panned out in his first go-around with the Hornets when they drafted him No. 7 overall in 2011. 

In a twist of irony, Biyombo will be earning over the next three seasons $17 million per after he did not have his rookie deal extended after the 2013-14 season. 

One other past lottery pick that got noteworthy contract extension is backup forward/center Cody Zeller (7.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 54.5 FG%), who two years ago averaged 10.3 points and 6.5 rebounds, on 57.1 percent shooting, and really excelled in pick-and-roll situations offensively with Walker. The issue with Zeller during his first five season is that he has not been healthy, missing 49 games a season ago because of a left knee injury. If he can remain healthy, he would bring and added dimension to the Hornets offensive attack as can backup center Willy Hernangomez, who was acquired from the Knicks at the Feb. 8 trade deadline. 

It would also help if the Hornets could get more consistent offensive production from the No. 9 overall pick in 2015 in forward/center Frank “The Tank” Kaminsky (11.1 ppg, 38.0 3-Pt.%). 

When he was drafted, the Hornets had visions of him being an elite pick-and-pop guy who could make jump shots, especially from three-point range in his sleep. That has not been the case so far in his young career as he shot just 41.2 percent overall from the floor last season.  

In the draft, the Hornets in a deal with the Los Angeles Clippers acquired the draft rights to the No. 12 pick in forward Miles Bridges out of Michigan State and two future Second-Round picks for the draft rights to guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the No. 11 overall pick.

Bridges last season averaged 17.0 points and 7.6 rebounds on his way to being selected unanimously to the All-Big Ten First-Team selection and consensus Second-Team All-American. 

While he will be physically ready for his first season in “The Association,” will he bring a consistent level of focus to play, which was a major weakness of his in his time with the Spartans and head coach Tom Izzo.  

“I’m a big fan,” Walker said to Parrish about his first impressions of Bridges. “The thing that impresses me the most is his work ethic. Every time I come to the gym he’s here.” 

“When you tell him something, he immediately tries to do it. Tries to add it to his game and I think that’s really impressive.”

If Bridges came really develop a consistent jump shot, he has a chance to be a serious part of the Hornets rotation because as mentioned some of the wings on the roster have really not separated themselves like the previously mentioned Batum and Williams.

No. 11 overall pick in 2016 out of Kentucky Malik Monk (6.7 ppg) simply put struggled shooting just 36.0 percent from the field overall and just 34.2 percent from three-point range. He did finish 2017-18 strong with an average of 20.4 points on 48.0 percent from the floor and 41.3 from distance. 

The one consistent wing player that was productive for the Hornets a season ago was reserve Jeremy Lamb (12.9 ppg, 45.7 FG%, 37.0 3-Pt.%).  

In another deal with the Hawks, the Hornets sent their division rival Second-Round picks in 2019 and 2023 for the draft rights to No. 34 overall pick in point guard Devonte’ Graham. The Hornets with the No. 55 pick in June chose forward Arnoldas Kulboka from Italy.

Charlotte, NC will be the site of the 2019 NBA All-Star Weekend where once again the head of the welcoming committee to the NBA’s biggest stars will be Mr. Jordan. The question is, will the playoff basketball be in site for the Hornets?

For that to take place, Coach Borrego’s main priority those is to design a system that will get the most out of this year’s draft picks in Bridges and Graham; past lottery picks in Monk, Kaminsky, and Zeller to improve and core players in Batum, Williams, Kidd-Gilchrist to show serious production, especially offensively. 

“I know JB has a precise idea on what he wants to do and what he wants to accomplish on the court,” Parker said. “So, my job is to try and help him out, and try to bring a lot of credibility with a lot of success with the Spurs. But you can’t take everything and duplicate everything. So, we’ll take a little bit and all the ideas JB wants to do to try to be successful in Charlotte.” 

The other big question for the Hornets in 2018-19 is will Walker, the sixth highest paid player on the Hornets’ roster at $12 million this season be traded at the Feb. 2019 trade deadline or role the dice to see if they can re-sign him when he becomes an unrestricted free agent in the summer?

“I hope so. I hope so,” Walker, who is in the final year of a four-year, $48 million deal said to Parrish. “I don’t know yet but you know, going to go through the season. Play my butt off just like I do each and every night and whenever the time comes we’re going to get it right.”

Best Case Scenario: The Hornets win north of 35 games and are in the hunt for a lower seeded playoff spot in the wide-open East. Walker is an All-Star again and is possibly signed to a contract extension. Bridges, Graham, Zeller, Monk and Kaminsky have solid seasons. Borrego and Parker establish a culture of winning. 

Worst Case Scenario: The Hornets miss the playoffs again. Walker is dealt at the trade deadline and the rebuild commences.  

Grade: C-

Chicago Bulls: 27-55 (5^th Central Division; missed the playoffs) 17-24 at home, 10-31 on the road.

-102.9 ppg-26^th; opp. ppg: 110.0-27^th; 44.7 rpg-6^th     

When the front office of a professional sports team has clear plan to draft and sign players that can be quickly identify as the core pieces of a rebuild for the future and have a head coach that can turn them into a winning basketball team, that gives reason for optimism for better days ahead. The Chicago Bulls seemed to have that in place. Their focus entering this season for the boys of the “Windy City” is to put it all together to where they can become a playoff perennial again. 

The Bulls beginning of their reconstruction began a season ago with the trade of All-Star Jimmy Butler for guard Kris Dunn the draft rights to forward Lauri Markkanen. 

Markkanen (15.2 ppg-Led team, 7.5 rpg-Led team, 36.2 3-Pt.%), the No. 7 overall pick out of the University of Arizona in 2017 quickly became the Bulls top offensive option thanks to his ability to score down low and make three-point shots. 

The 145 connections from three-point range a season ago by the Finland native and 2018 All-Rookie Second-Team selection broke the franchise’s single-season of 144 by rookie guard Kirk Hinrich in the 2003-04 campaign. 

Unfortunately, Markkanen will be on the shelf to start this season as a high-grade lateral sprain to his elbow will keep him on the shelf for 6-8 weeks. 

“It’s really a tough injury,” Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg said to NBATV’s Casey Stern, Steve Smith, and Carlos Boozer earlier this month. “I feel terrible for Lauri. He put so much time and effort in his off-season program and really bought into the weight room.” 

“That was a big thing for Lauri coming off his rookie season. Making gains and making strides in that area, and he put on a lot of size and strength and was playing really, really good basketball.”

While the two-year, $40 million offer sheet that the Bulls offered to the No. 2 overall pick in 2014 and Chicago native Jabari Parker (12.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 48.2 FG%, 38.3 3-Pt.% w/Bucks) seemed like a reach because of the two ACL tears and lengthy rehab he went through.

That gamble looks like a stroke of genius with the injury to Markkanen makes this move of signing him to a two-year, $40 million, with a player option on the second-year move a stroke. 

On top of that, he will be more than motivated to prove that he can play at the high level he did prior to his second ACL surgery and the Bulls are hoping that is the case, especially without Markkanen. 

“The thing about injuries as you guys know it’s a part of the game and the guys that get the opportunity to go in there have to go out and produce, and show what they can do,” Hoiberg said to NBATV’s Casey Stern, Steve Smith, and Carlos Boozer earlier this month. 

After a difficult rookie season in the “Twin Cities,” Kris Dunn bounced back big time in his new digs increasing his scoring from his first season from 3.8 to 13.4 and his assists from 2.4 to a team-leading 6.0, while also leading the Bulls with two steals per game. 

When the Bulls flirted with postseason contention with a 10-6 mark in the final month of 2016, the play of the No. 5 overall pick out of Providence University was a major reason why as he averaged 14.9 points, eight assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals. 

A concussion in January put a roadblock on Dunn’s progress and his never played to that same level the rest of the season and neither did the Bulls. 

“Coming into Year 2 it was really fun to see him make strides as a player as the season went on and I feel he was playing as well as any point guard in the Eastern Conference in that stretch where we we’re playing so well,” Hoiberg said about the improvement of Dunn. 

The Bulls also acquired from that trade with the T’Wolves was guard Zach LaVine, who began last season on the shelf recovering from ACL surgery. 

In the 24 games he played for the Bulls, LaVine led them in scoring at 16.7 making 34.1 percent of his triples. 

When the restricted free agent signed to a seismic offer sheet by the Sacramento Kings, which raised a lot of eyebrows around “The Association.” It got the Bulls attention and they eventually matched the offer of a four-year deal, worth $78 million.

Signed and sealed, the 23-year-old LaVine now has to show he can turn that remarkable athleticism which made him a two-time All-Star Weekend Slam Dunk Contest champion into consistent perimeter shooting with a mix of being able to rebound and make his Bulls teammates better. 

Hoiberg said to NBATV’s earlier this month about LaVine is that by having an off-season that did not consist of rehab, he really worked to get himself in great shape. That in training camp he really was putting the ball in the hoop at a high rate; moving up-and-down the floor with great speed and how he is really trying to improve at the defensive end. 

“So, with Zach, I love the way he’s playing going into the season. He’s playing with a lot of confidence,” Hoiberg said. 

What helps the Bulls though is they do have multiple playmaking ball handlers in Dunn, Cameron Payne (8.8 ppg, 4.5 apg 38.5 3-Pt.%) and Justin Holiday (12.2 ppg, 35.9 3-Pt.%) to pick up that slack.

As rough of a season the Bulls had, things might have been a lot worse, especially after a fight in the early where then forward Nikola Mirotic suffered broken bones in his face as well as a concussion in a fight with teammate Bobby Portis during a practice in October 2017. 

In what could have been a major issue for the team and head coach Fred Hoiberg, it was not as Mirotic eventually did get back on to the court and he and Portis we able to mend fences.

Mirotic played so well, to the tune of 16.8 points and 6.4 boards after coming back from a 23-game absence from the injuries sustained in that fight he put the Bulls in a serious pickle as he had a player option of $12.5 that was due next season. 

The front office of GM Gar Foreman and team president John Paxson traded Mirotic to the New Orleans Pelicans for a late First-Round pick, but also took on the hefty salary of center Omer Asik, who is in his second stint with the Bulls. 

The Bulls added to their young core of talent selecting sharp shooting center Wendell Carter, Jr. and forward Chandler Hutchison at No. 7 and No. 22 overall out of Duke University and Boise State University respectably. 

In Carter, the Bulls are getting a very smart player, who can get down and dirty in the paint with his ability to score with either hand, finish strong at the basket, rebound as well as make perimeter shots, even from three-point range. 

He averaged 13.9 points and 9.1 boards on 56 percent from the field, with 16 double-doubles in his only season for the Blue Devils, making the All-ACC Second-Team and being a unanimous All-ACC Freshmen. 

Carter, who bypassed going to Harvard University, which shows that his IQ is very high finished second all-time amongst Duke freshmen in rebounds, block shots and double-doubles. 

“You got to fail to succeed, you know,” Carter, Jr. said to NBATV’s Sam Mitchell in June on what he expects in his rookie season in NBA. “You’re not going to win every game. You’re not going to go out and beat teams by 20 and 30 [points] like we was doing at Duke. But I know losing is going to be a part of growing.” 

“I know that coming in as a rookie I have to get very familiar with the NBA life on-and-off the court but I’m a quick learner in my opinion. So, I should be all right.”

The 22^nd pick, which the Bulls acquired in the Mirotic deal from the Pelicans in Hutchison, the Bulls got the swiss army knife of the draft who can score, rebound, pass, and is very athletic. 

The 2017-18 Mountain West Player of the Year, who became the Bronco to be drafted since Roberto Bergerson in 1999 help lead the Broncos to 87 wins in his four years, tied for the most in school history. 

The 22-year-old Hutchison, who averaged 20.0 points and 7.7 rebounds last season became the first player in program history to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists and steals for a season. 

While his addition creates a load in the front court, especially at the forward spot with Portis (13.2 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 47.1 FG%, 35.9 3-Pt.%), Denzel Valentine (10.2 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 38.6 3-Pt.%), and centers Robin Lopez (11.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 53.0 FG%) and Cristian Felicio. 

The teams that rebuild themselves correctly have their front office, coaching staff and roster moving in unison. A young roster that will feature a rotation projected to be 24 years old or younger, with a manageable salary cap of $61 million available before the start of free agency, the Bulls have the look of a team that is going to get better with time. 

If everything comes together, the Bulls brass can look back at the summers of 2017 and 2018 where the turnaround began. But is all about staying healthy because the trio of Markkanen, LaVine and Dunn only played a total of 12 games together, a total of 255 minutes a season ago.

“The biggest thing is we want to see growth out of our team every day and I thought we made a lot of strides last season after a very rough start to the season,” Hoiberg said. “The biggest thing for us is making strides, continuing to grow everyday and hopefully come together quickly.” 

Best Case Scenario: The Bulls win north 30 games. The trio of LaVine, Dunn, and Markkanen play more together than the 12 games they did last season. Carter, Jr., and Hutchison become huge parts of the regular rotation.  

Worst Case Scenario: The Bulls have another 25-win season with no improvement. 

Grade: B

Cleveland Cavaliers: 50-32 (1^st Central Division; No. 4 Seed East) 29-12 at home, 21-20 on the road. Defeated the No. 5 Seeded Indiana Pacers 4-3 in East Quarterfinals. Defeated the No. 1 Seeded Toronto Raptors 4-0 in East Semifinals. Defeated the No. 2 Seeded Boston Celtics 4-3 East Finals. Lost to the No. 2 Seeded Golden State Warriors 4-0 in NBA Finals.

-110.9 ppg-4^th; opp. ppg: 1079.9-26^th; 42.1 rpg-23^rd 

Despite an up-and-down 2017-18 regular season, the three-time defending Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers got back to The Finals behind a stellar season from their four-time Kia MVP. They magical carpet ride ended in a four-game sweep in The Finals for the second straight June. That was followed by another goodbye to the future Hall of Famer other perennial All-Star and future Hall of Famer, although this departure was under better circumstances unlike what took place eight summers prior. Behind their lone remaining All-Star and their newest edition via the draft, the focus of the Cavs is to make this new start one that is a bridge towards a solid future. 

Four-time league MVP LeBron James was at the top of his game at age 33 finishing runner-up to James Harden of the Houston Rockets for Kia MVP in 2017-18. 

His stellar play was a huge reason the Cavs were 39-0 a season ago when they led after three quarters and had the second-best mark in the league of 41-5 when leading by double-digits. In the playoffs, they were 11-1 when they had the lead going into the fourth quarter, with the only loss coming in Game 3 of the opening round at the Pacers. 

James did this in the midst of head coach Tyronn Lue taking a leave of absence late in the season because of health issues. New additions Dwyane Wade, Isaiah Thomas and Derrick Rose had disappointing brief stints before being dealt at the Feb. 8 trade deadline.

He took his level of play even higher in the postseason constantly bailing out the Cavs with his heroics in the opening round taking down the Pacers and then the Raptors in the Semis in seven and four-games respectably. 

When the dust settled the Cavs were good enough to overtake the Celtics in seven games to reach The Finals for a fourth year in succession, but after blowing Game 1 on the home turf of the Golden State Warriors in overtime, the Cavs were no match as they were swept 4-0.

James left in free agency, opting out of the final year of his contract. Unlike his first exit from essentially his home of Northeast Ohio, the Akron native did not see his jersey getting burned in the streets. Cavaliers’ Owner Dan Gilbert did not react impulsively with a scathing letter to Cavs nation. Also, this departure did not come out of left field like in 2010 when he announced to then Jim Gray of ESPN that he was going to sign with the Miami Heat. 

One major reason James was able to move on in a diplomatic manner is that he fulfilled his promise of bringing a title to “The Land,” which he did in 2016 when the Cavs beat the Warriors in seven games. 

“We know how important LeBron is to this franchise and winning a championship in 2016,” head coach Tyronn Lue said at Media Day on Sept. 24. “Winning the Eastern Conference four years in a row and we’re very thankful for that.”

While the stress of having to be in the mix of winning a championship has left Northeast Ohio with James, his departure still will have a seismic deflation that will set the franchise back. The sights of local and national celebs, appearances on national television and the stellar business of ticket scalpers along with trips to the championship round represents the kind of lifestyle shift that will take place this upcoming season. 

The other issue for the Cavs though is that the cupboard of assets to improve the team was very bare because two summers back gave rich extensions to JR Smith (8.3 ppg, 37.5 3-Pt.%), who gave away the Cavs best chance to win Game 1 of The Finals back in early June and center Tristan Thompson, who battled injuries throughout last season and was out of the rotation for long periods have hoarded a roster spot that could have been used for a young player to develop and be a pillar for the future.

On the other hand, the Cavs made it to four straight Finals and won it all two years ago with the likes of Smith and Thompson, and made it back to The Finals late in the spring a because of the small at times, but value contributions from Jordan Clarkson (13.9 ppg, 45.1 FG%, 35.2 3-Pt.% w/Lakers & Cavs); George Hill (10.0 ppg, 46.0 FG%, 41.5 3-Pt.% w/Kings & Cavs), Larry Nance, Jr. (8.7 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 58.1 FG% w/Lakers & Cavs), who signed a four-year, $44.8 million contract extension on Monday; Rodney Hood (14.7 ppg, 38.1 3-Pt% w/Jazz & Cavs), who re-signed on a one-year, $3.4 million qualifying deal and Channing Frye, who re-joined the Cavs on a one-year, $2.4 million deal. 

“Just because people come in and out don’t mean the goal has to change. The goal stays the same-try to win a championship,” Smith said in late September. 

To put the kind of impact James the last four seasons, the Cavs were ranked No. 2 in the league in three-point percentage, only trailing the Warriors. James in those four seasons made or assists on 1,621 of the 3,754 threes the Cavs made during that stretch. Sharp shooter Kyle Korver (9.2 ppg, 45.9 FG%, 43.6 3-Pt.%-T-6^th NBA) had 97 percent (215/222) field goals overall assisted on. 

It is just that the Cavs and general manager Koby Altman are paying the piper for those deep playoff runs into June as the Cavs did not have any draft picks and barely any cap space through this upcoming season at least. 

That made it very curious why the team re-signed their lone All-Star player left in forward/center Kevin Love (17.6 ppg, 9.3 rpg-Led team, 45.8 FG%, 41.5 3-Pt.%) to a four-year, $120 million extension in late July. 

“This is a pretty momentous moment in my life but for the Cavaliers organization,” Love said of his extension.

Even for a five-time All-Star like Love, making that kind of commitment is eye-raising, especially if he does not return to the form he was with the Minnesota Timberwolves, where you can pencil him in for 20-plus points and 10-plus boards every night he took the floor. 

It was a sign that they wanted to keep the team competitive in the post-James rebuilding early years. Also, it was a wise move from the standpoint that Cleveland is not a destination that prime-time free agents are looking to relocate. 

That made it even more wise for the Cavaliers to nab that prized No. 1 pick of the Nets in the Irving deal in the summer of 2017. It was the trump card in their deck in case James left in free agency. 

That card turned into guard Collin Sexton, who the Cavs picked No. 8 overall in the draft in June out of the University of Alabama. 

Depending on whose scouting report you want to trust, the 2017-18 South Eastern Conference (SEC) Freshmen and Newcomer of the Year was the one guard prospect whose game spoke in a clear way “NBA ready.” So, basically the Cavs surrendered an unhappy, but proven Irving, who Rachel Nichols, host of ESPN’s “NBA: The Jump” said many times they did not have to trade with one year left on his deal for a 19-year old who they hope turns into something special. 

Sexton brings athleticism and a competitive spirit that was harnessed under the guidance of former NBA lead guard and Crimson Tide head coach Avery Johnson. He averaged 19.2 points and had three games of 30-plus last season in college. His 632 points a season ago set a new Crimson Tide freshman single-season scoring record.  

If nothing else for the Cavs, Sexton wanted to be in Cleveland, even without James. He embraces the opportunity to be a major part of the Cavs rebuild. 

In a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers, the Cavs acquired forward Sam Dekker, the draft rights to Renaldas Seibutis and cash considerations for the draft rights to Vladimir Veremeenko.   

Dekker, who has barely gotten off the pine in his first two stops with the Houston Rockets and Clippers has a chance to be a major part of the rotation as Jeff Green left in free agency to sign with the Washington Wizards. The same can be said for reserves Ante Zicic, Cedi Osman and newest edition David Nwaba (7.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 47.8 FG% w/Bulls).  

Over the past four seasons, the Cavaliers, who will only play on national television twice this season with LeBron James achieved the fifth best mark in the NBA with a 211-117 record, making it to The Finals the last four years in a row, with a championship in 2016, the first in franchise history and the first pro sports title for the city of Cleveland in 52 years. 

The trade of Irving the summer of 2017 signaled the inevitability of the Cavaliers might rebuild. It became a reality when James signed with the Lakers this off-season. While on the surface the Cavs, who had zero max cap space this summer to try to improve the roster seem better equipped to deal with the departure of James this time around as opposed to 2010. How this rebuild goes depends on how well Sexton plays in his rookie season and how well Love can handle the loaded responsibility of being the Cavs best player. It hopefully will be nowhere close to the 97-215 mark, the worst in the league from 2010-14 after James left the first time. 

“I think we have a new challenge, a new chapter as far as young guys, old guys mixing to be a good team,” Coach Lue said. 

“So, I don’t see this as a rebuild or anything different. I think we got a mix of young guys and older guys that can help each other, and I’m very excited for it.”

Best Case Scenario: The Cavs are fighting to get into the playoffs as a lower seed. Love comes close to the offensive player he was with the T’Wolves in the early part of his career. Sexton has a solid rookie season.  

Worst Case Scenario: The Cavs are the worst team in the league record-wise. Sexton has more lows than highs.  

Grade: D

Detroit Pistons: 39-43 (4^th Central Division; missed the playoffs) 25-16 at home, 14-27 on the road.

-103.8 ppg-22^nd; opp. ppg: 103.9-8^th; 43.7 rpg-16^th 

Marginal production from their lottery picks, the inability of their head coach to be consistently productive both in the front office and on the sidelines along with other bad decisions is why boys of the “Motor City” have missed the playoffs in three of the last four seasons. Not even the blockbuster acquisition of a perennial All-Star could not help the Detroit Pistons salvage another disappointing season. With a new head coach eager to prove himself; a new executive in the front office; a hopeful return to health of their starting lead guard and the start power forward and center with a full training camp, the focus for the Pistons simple, make the playoffs. 

In late January, the Pistons made a big-time trade with the Los Angeles Clippers receiving five-time All-Star forward Blake Griffin (21.4 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 5.8 apg w/Clippers & Pistons), who averaged a team-leading 19.8 points with 6.6 boards and 6.2 assists in 25 games with the Pistons. While he and fellow All-Star center Andre Drummond (15.0 ppg, 16.0 rpg-Led NBA, 1.6 bpg-6^th NBA, 1.5 spg-Led team) had their moments together as a solid frontcourt tandem, the Pistons could not build any serious momentum to at least make the postseason going 11-14 with him as a starter. 

“We want to make the playoffs. There’s no more foundation building…,” Griffin said to NBATV’s Ro Parrish about the goal for the Pistons this season. So, it’s time to make the playoffs.” 

He added about him and Drummond having a full training camp together, “I’m very excited. I consider myself fortunate to play with a guy as good as DeAndre [Jordan] and now I get to play with a guy just as good in Andre.” 

“So, whether its defense, rebounding, blocking shots, you know I always have somebody back there to protect me.”

It also did not help that for the second straight season that starting lead guard Reggie Jackson (14.6 ppg, 5.3 apg), who was acquired by the Pistons at the trade deadline in February 2015 played in 45 games last season because of a serious ankle injury, and a total of 67 games missed the last two seasons. 

When Jackson was in the lineup a season ago, the Pistons went 27-18. When he was absence as mentioned because of injury, the team went just 12-25. To bring this point into clearer context, Jackson and Griffin were on the floor for aa total of 47 minutes a season ago. 

That resulted in billionaire owner Tom Gores making the tough decision to axe Stan Van Gundy both as head coach and team president in early May. Van Gundy went 152-176 in his four seasons on the Pistons’ sideline. 

There was also a change in the front office as Gores hired on May 24 longtime NBA executive Ed Stefanski as senior advisor. 

The pickle the Pistons find themselves in can be traced back to some decision they made four seasons back. 

When the Pistons hired Van Gundy in the summer of 2014, it was around the same time that longtime GM Joe Dumars, who helped the Pistons win back-to-back titles in 1989-90 was stripped of power. SVG wanted to not only coach the team, but the control of the personnel to bring in the kind of players that he felt comfortable coaching and trusted his philosophy of coaching on both ends of the hardwood. 

The Pistons gave him both jobs, which only Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich and Clippers head coach Glenn “Doc” Rivers had at that time. 

Unfortunately, the Pistons failed to make the postseason in three of four seasons under Van Gundy and were swept in their only appearance by the reigning four-time East champion Cavaliers 4-0. 

While he did not walk into the best of situations, Van Gundy’s performance in both roles was spotty at best. All the acquisitions the Pistons made under his watch, with the exception of Griffin not one materialized into one that one could consider the foundation of the franchise. As good of a rebounder and finisher at the rim Drummond was, he was a draft pick of Dumars, and his game is limited by his poor foul shooting and offensive arsenal.

The biggest acquisition made under Van Gundy, before Griffin was Jackson, who has been healthy for just one of his three seasons in the “Motown,” missing a total of 67 games the last two seasons. 

Being healthy for the first time in the last three seasons, Griffin had a chance to work on his game over the summer and feels that the most important thing for him and the Pistons this season offensively to have consistent ball and man movement. 

“When the ball slows down or I’m stuck with the ball I think our offense is going to be worse,” he said in late September to “The Athletic.” “I think the more that the ball moves and the quicker decisions we make, the better off we’ll be. It’s important.”

The Pistons draft selections have been a major whiff, starting with the No. 8 overall pick in 2015 Stanley Johnson (8.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg), whose has just been an abysmal shooter so far in his career, making just 38.6 percent of his shots overall from the floor and 28.6 from three-point range a season ago. 

The No. 18 overall pick in 2016 power forward Henry Ellenson has yet to get minutes on a regular basis in his first two seasons. 

The No. 12 overall pick last June in shooting guard Luke Kennard (7.6 ppg) shot pretty well from three-point range a season ago at 41.5 percent, shot just 44.3 percent overall from the field and still trying to find his niche with the “Red, White and Blue.” 

While they gave up their No. 1 draft choice in the acquiring Griffin, the Pistons selected did well in the Second-Round drafting two solid guards in Khyri Thomas at No. 38 out of Creighton and Bruce Brown, Jr. at No. 42 out of the University of Miami. 

Being cap-strapped because of the huge contracts of Griffin, Jackson, and Drummond, the came into this summer’s free agent looking for bargains and came away with additions to their bench and maybe spot starters in center ZaZa Pachulia and guard Jose Calderon to one-year deals at $2.3 and $2.4 million respectably. They also signed guard/forward Glenn Robinson III, the youngest of the three free agents at age 24 to a two-year, $8.3 million deal.

Those players alongside the likes of Reggie Bullock (11.3 ppg-career-high, 48.9 FG%, 44.5 3-Pt.%-2^nd NBA) Leuer, Johnson, Kennard, Ellenson, Brown, Thomas, and guard and Ish Smith (10.9 ppg, 4.4 apg, 48,6 FG%, 34.7 3-Pt%) will be in competition for minutes alongside the “Big Three” of Griffin, Drummond, and Jackson.  

One player the Pistons hoped to build their foundation with was Tobias Harris, before he was dealt to the West Coast in the Griffin deal, yet they signed forward Jon Leuer and now former center Boban Marjanovic to ridiculously high contracts. 

After Van Gundy was given his walking papers, Gores chose to keep the positions of head coach and team president separate, hiring longtime NBA executive of nearly two decades with the Memphis Grizzlies, Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers and then New Jersey Nets Ed Stefanski to be the Pistons’ senior advisor. 

When it came to the head coaching vacancy, Gores wanted to take his time and pick the right person for the job. His patience paid off as the Pistons hired former Raptors head man on the sidelines Dwane Casey, who became available because his biggest failure was the Raptors inability to take down four-time league MVP LeBron James and the Cavaliers in the playoffs. 

The 2018 NBA Coach of the Year, who led the Raptors to a franchise record 59 wins and capturing the No. 1 Seed in the East, the Raptors were swept in the Semis 4-0 by the Cavs, bringing their skid versus the four-time defending champs in the postseason to 10 straight setbacks. 

Casey brings two very important traits to the Pistons. His amazing ability to communicate as well as being able to put a system in place that gets the best out of the team he coaches. 

He right from the jump said what his expects from the Pistons this season when he said about making the playoffs earlier this summer, “The time is now.”

Griffin concurred by saying to Parrish that this training camp under Coach Casey was different but fun and productive and that the Pistons will be “ready to hit the ground running.”

As an assistant with the Dallas Mavericks, he devised a defensive game plan against James and the Miami Heat seven years ago that played a major role them earning their first ever NBA title in 2011. 

At their best, the Pistons along with the Celtics were the two teams to beat both the now defending back-to-back champion Warriors and the No. 1 Seeded Rockets a season ago. The flip side of that, they went 0-5 in 2018 in overtime, going a dismal 12 for 43 (27.9 percent) in the extra period in 2017-18. 

The Pistons enter as a team looking to move past the lost Van Gundy seasons, where they compiled 32, 44, 37 and 39 wins and as mentioned made the playoffs just once. Bringing in Casey as coach was a great start. 

For the Pistons transition to have some legs, the trio of Griffin, Drummond and Jackson must stay healthy and build cohesion on the floor together and really learn Coach Casey’s offensive and defensive philosophy. 

To a man the Pistons from the front office to the players said making the playoffs is top priority and they have no more excuses to why they will not make it this spring. 

“The time is now,” Drummond said to Parrish. “We have every piece that we need to be a great team. So, there’s no more reasons why we can’t be a top team in the East and a top team in the NBA.”

Best Case Scenario: The Pistons win right at 45 games and make the playoffs in the bottom half of the East. Drummond, Griffin and Jackson remain healthy and productive. The Pistons newest draft selections and former lottery picks grow dramatically under Casey. 

Worst Case Scenario: The Pistons miss the playoffs again. Griffin has another non-impact year and Jackson struggles again with injury. 

Grade: C-

Indiana Pacers: 48-34 (2^nd in Central Division; No. 5 Seed in East) 27-14 at home, 21-20 on the road. Lost to the No. 4 Seeded Cleveland Cavaliers 4-3 in East Quarterfinals. 

-105.6 ppg-17^th; opp. ppg: 104.2-9^th; 42.3 rpg-22^nd  

Every prognosticator had the Indiana Pacers slotted for the 2018 NBA Draft Lottery even before the start of the season because of the forced trade of their All-Star and franchise swingman. Yet it was the boys from “Hoosier Country” that would have the last laugh as they not only made the 2018 postseason but pushed the eventual four-time Eastern Conference champs to the brink of elimination behind a breakout season from the player they acquired and felt very comfortable in the place he played basketball collegiately. Behind some precise off-season moves; a well-deserved contract extension for their head coach and another year under his system, the Pacers are focused on proving that last season was a first step in their ascension as a top tier team in the East. 

Former Indiana Hoosier Victor Oladipo, who was acquired from the Thunder last summer for All-Star Paul George saw this as an opportunity to become the player his draft slot at No. 2 overall in June 2013 many hoped he would. The 2017-18 Kia Most Improved recipient got in the best shape of his life the prior summer and it resulted in a breakout fifth season with career-highs averages of 23.1 points (Led team), 5.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.4 steals (Led NBA), on 47.7 from the field and 37.1 from three-point range.

Forward/center Domantas Sabonis after a rough rookie season did a complete 180 in his second season averaging 11.6 points, and a team-leading 7.7 rebounds on 51.4 percent from the field and 35.1 from three-point range. 

When Pacers GM Kevin Pritchard swung the deal on July 6, 2017 sending George to the Thunder for Oladipo and Sabonis was being laughed at by every analyst both on television and the radio. 

This summer he looks like a pure genius who basically got 50 cents on the dollar for a player in Oladipo who signed a four-year, $84 million contract extension on Halloween 2017. 

Pritchard looked even smarter after what the 2017-18 All-NBA Third Team selection and the Pacers did in pushing the four-time defending East champion Cavaliers to the brink before falling in seven games. For the series, Oladipo averaged 22.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, six assists and 2.4 steals. 

How competitive were the Pacers against the Cavs in the postseason last spring? They outscored the Cavs in those seven games by 40 points, which was the best point differential for a team that lost a series since the opening round went to a best-of-seven format in the First-Round in 2003. 

In the three Pacer wins, they won by a total of 54 points but in the four losses the Cavs won by a total of 14 points. The Pacers in those four losses were a +10 in the 150 minutes Oladipo was on the floor and a -24 with him on the bench. 

“We[‘re] just focused on ourselves and focused on improving,” Oladipo, the 2017-18 Kia Most Improved Player recipient said to NBATV’s Ro Parrish during Media Day on Sept. 24 about the Pacers attitude heading into this season. 

“We still feel like as though we’re not really respected. We really don’t really feel like guys are really concerned about us, which is fine It is what it is… So, we’re really looking forward to the challenge of this year and just taking it one day at a time and living in the moment.” 

“We’re not really worried focused on the past or focused on the present. We’re just focused on today and if we do that one day at a time the skies the limit for us.”

During the 2017-18 regular season, the Pacers were one of the best teams in “The Association” when they play in front going 37-5 when leading by double-digits, with only the aforementioned Cavs and Rockets having better marks. 

On top of that, they showed a propensity to come back with the second most victories after trailing by 15 points or more last season with eight. The Pacers along with the Hornets won three games after trailing by 20 points or more a season ago. 

How does Pritchard and the Pacers’ front office top what they did last season? Do not do what most teams in their position prior have, overplay your hand as well as do not overthink things. 

For starters they signed head coach Nate McMillan to a multi-year contract extension. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

“I’m really excited to have an opportunity to continue to work with the Pacers team and organization,” he said to Pacers.com on Sept. 4. “I’ve always enjoyed working with Kevin. We see things a lot the same as far as the direction that we want to try to take the organization.” 

“I know how passionate he is about this organization and trying to make improvements and bring improvements to the organization to give us an opportunity to win.”

In free agency and the draft, the Pacers made additions that would ease the scoring burden of Oladipo, while contributing in other areas of need.

With the No. 23 overall pick in June’s draft, the Pacers selected guard Aaron Holiday out of UCLA. 

It is very rare a rookie lead guard has a chance to start for a playoff team, especially for a one making a pick in the middle of the First-Round. That said, Holiday, a 2018 First-Team All-Pac 12 selection and AP Honorable Mention All-American will bring an all-around game to the Pacers that will give him that chance. Along with his ability to not just score, especially in the paint, he can create shots for others as well as for himself. He can also defend at a high level. 

If nothing else, he comes from great NBA stock as his two older brothers in All-Star guard Jeru Holiday of the New Orleans Pelicans and guard Justin Holiday of the Bulls have had solid careers to this point. 

He will start this rookie season likely as the understudy of Darren Collison (12.4 ppg, 5.3 apg, 49.5 FG%, 46.8 3-Pt.%-Led NBA), who through no fault of his own has always seemed to fight for his right to start at the lead guard spot in his career and whenever he has earned it, he has to fight like the devil to keep it. 

In his first stint from 2010-12 with the Pacers it was against George Hill, now with the Cavs and in his second go-around starting last season it was former Spurs backup guard Cory Joseph (7.9 ppg, 35.3 3-Pt.%), who had his player option picked up this summer. 

If nothing else, the Pacers know they have depth and experience in place at point guard with Collison, Joseph, and Holiday. 

The Pacers prize catch in free agency was guard/forward Tyreke Evans (19.4 ppg, 5.2 apg, 5.1 rpg w/Grizzlies), on a one-year, $12 million who went from a player that was often injury prone to the player that won the 2010 Kia Rookie of the Year. Last season, Evans made a career-high 114 three-pointers on 39.9 percent of his attempts. 

He will provide the Pacers another ball-handler and offensive creator who proved last season he can make plays for himself or others in the clutch. The question is though, can he stay healthy for a major part of the 82-game schedule was in the 2014-15, where he played 79 games for the Pelicans.

“I am looking forward to the challenge of playing both on and off the ball,” Oladipo said of playing with the new additions of Holiday and Evans. “So, it’s going to be great man. I think those guys will fit in just fine. Just perfect. It think the skies the limit for us, if we just like I said take it one day at a time and keep getting better.”

To further illustrate this point of the importance of the new additions, before the All-Star break a season ago, Oladipo averaged 24.4 points on 38.1 percent from three-point range, committing just 2.8 turnovers per game. After the All-Star break, Oladipo’s production dipped to 20.3 points per contest on 34.2 percent from three-point range, committing 3.1 turnovers. 

To provide even more marksmanship from three-point range, where the Pacers were tied for No. 9 in percentage (36.9) a season ago signed sharp shooter Doug McDermott (7.8 ppg, 46.7 FG%, 42.6 3-Pt.% w/Knicks & Mavericks) on a pricey three-year, $21 million deal. 

For much of his career, the No. 11 overall pick in 2014 has been a specialist that has been a spot role player in his first four seasons with the Bulls, Thunder, Knicks, and Mavericks. 

If McDermott can show he can handle perform as a prime rotational player he gives the Pacers along with Bogan Bogdanovic (12.4 ppg, 37.8 3-Pt.%), Oladipo, Collison, Joseph and Sabonis a plethora of shooting from distance, especially off the penetration from the Pacers guards. 

The Pacers also added depth to their front court with the addition of forward/center Kyle O’Quinn (7.1 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 58.0 FG%), who will bring a physical rebounder and interior defense. 

He will backup starting center Myles Turner (12.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.8 bpg-3^rd NBA, 47.9 FG%, 35.7 3-Pt.%), who is looking to bounce back to the form he had the year prior where he looked like the next star of the Pacers prior to Oladipo’s arrival. 

Like Oladipo did the summer prior, Turner really got his himself in great shape by getting in the weight room and really improving his body to the point that he will not sustain the kind of injuries that shelved him for 17 games a season ago. 

The way today’s NBA is, he should not only be scoring the ball at a high rate inside as well as outside, his ability to move his feet on the perimeter should enable him to be a top-flight rim protector and dominant player in the pick-and-roll on both ends. 

The Pacers showed confidence that will become a reality by signing Turner to a multi-year contract extension. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

Turner along with the addition of O’Quinn to the Pacers' front court, which also still has veteran forward Thaddeus Young (11.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.7 spg, 48.7 FG%), who like Joseph had his player option picked up this summer. 

With the subtractions of center Al Jefferson, guard/forward Glenn Robinson III and the aforementioned Stephenson, there will be opportunities for the youngsters on the Pacers squad to earn some playing time like the previously mentioned Holiday, forwards T.J. Leaf, Alize Johnson, the No. 50 overall pick out of Missouri State and center Ike Anigbogu. 

Most teams that had the surprising success like the Pacers did a year ago would take the cheese and think they have arrived as a playoff perennial. The Pacers did not fool themselves and as a result put themselves in position to prove that last season was only the start of bright future. 

With LeBron James gone to the Western Conference, the Celtics, Sixers, and Raptors are expected to battle tooth and nail for their place atop the East. 

While the Pacers, with half of their first 20 games against the eight playoff participants out of the West a season ago will not take anyone by surprise, they are team that will have a say in how things play out in the East this season if they stay healthy, humble, and hungry. Their biggest test early in 2018-19 will be from Nov. 3-7, a three-game homestand versus the Celtics, Rockets and 76ers.  

The other incentive they have to be even better this season is 10 of the 18 players that were at Media Day in late September do not have guaranteed contracts for next season aside from Oladipo and McDermott. 

“It’s a season. So, there’s going to be some ups and some downs,” Oladipo said to Parrish about the upcoming season. “We just have to maintain our level of confidence and our level of belief in each other, and if we continue to do that there I think we’ll be just fin.”   

Best Case Scenario: The Pacers win a little north of 45 games and are fighting for home court advantage in the East playoffs race. Oladipo earns his second straight All-Star selection. Evans and McDermott have impactful seasons, while Holiday makes one of the two All-Rookie teams. 

Worst Case Scenario: The Pacers make the playoffs as a lower seed in the East and have an early exit.  

Grade: B+

Miami Heat: 44-38 (1st Southeast Division; No. 6 Seed in East) 26-15 at home, 18-23 on the road. Lost to No. 3 Seeded Philadelphia 76ers 4-1 in East Quarterfinals. 

-103.4 ppg-23^rd; opp. ppg: 102.9-4^th; 43.5 rpg-T-18^th 

While most teams made a lot of additions to their rosters during the summer, the Miami Heat brought most of their roster back because most were under contract and they had no draft picks or salary cap space to allow themselves to improve themselves. The focus for the Heat this upcoming season is to stay healthy, continue to grow from within and send off the best player in franchise history that brought you three Larry O’Brien trophies with another playoff appearance. 

The one big question for much of the off-season in South Florida was would 36-year-old future Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade (11.4 ppg, w/Cavs & Heat) return for a 16^th season, his 14 with the Heat? It took time but he the future Hall of Famer did decide to return for what his final season, signing in the middle of September a one-year, $2.4 million veteran minimum deal in the middle of September. 

“I think for me just listening to a lot of my fans, my family, my friends, and I think everybody wanted me to say goodbye, and a piece of me to say goodbye too,” the Heat’s all-time leader in points, assists, steals and games played said to Parrish about why he came back for one more season. 

“If you have the opportunity to go through your last year kind of play on your own terms and for me to be back in Miami at the same time doing it. I wanted to get the opportunity to just go through this year and give a chance to salute, and say my thank you[s], and say goodbye to all the people that supported me through these 16 years.”

Wade did have the option of playing overseas as he was offered a three-year, $25 million deal to play in China for the Zhejiang Golden Bulls, according to Chinese media reports. However, the Heat.  

Whatever he may lack physically, Wade will make up for with his smarts and leadership and above all he will be an example of what it means to be a member of an organization led by Hall of Fame president and eight-time champion as a coach and executive Pat Riley. 

This season may also be the last for the other remaining player from the Heat’s three championships teams in forward/center Udonis Haslem, who re-signed on a one-year, $2.4 million deal. 

“It’s great to have our captain back,” Riley said back in September when Haslem’s signing became official.

Haslem, who along with Wade have been a part of the Heat for nearly half of the franchise’s existence echoed those same sentiments of his longtime teammate and business partner, who he shares a few off-court endeavors like a pizza chain saying of his coming back, “My mindset has always been for us to finish it together.” 

“I want us to do a whole season together. Experience the road, dinner on the road, go through that whole process. I want us to experience that together.”

With no draft picks for the second time in the last three off-seasons and being strapped in salary cap space, other than re-signing Wade and Haslem the Heat had enough cash in their war chest to re-sign sharp shooter Wayne Ellington (11.2 ppg, 39.2 3-Pt.%-career-high) to a one-year, $6.2 million deal. 

To put the kind of season the nine-year vet out of North Carolina had, he joined Damon Jones (225) and Tim Hardaway, Sr. (203) as the only players in franchise history to make 200-plus threes in a single-season, setting the single-season franchise record for triples with 227. His 218 threes off the bench last season set an NBA record and led the league in threes made in the second (74) and fourth periods (77) respectably. 

The Heat were able to retain Ellington thanks to a mild free-agent market. That will not be the case next summer as if he has another stellar season could strike it rich in an NBA where finding a long-range sniper will be in high demand. 

To further illustrate the financial pickle the Heat fine themselves, the total salary for the active roster for the 2018-19 season is $131.1 million. Their dead cap is $1.5 million, with a $5.9 million cap hold, totaling $132.7 million with a cap space of -$30.8 million. 

After signing a new four-year, $52 million contract, which he earned in the summer of 2017, guard Dion Waiters Waiters (14.3 ppg, 3.8 apg) has had the last two seasons cut short by injury. An ankle injury in December 2017 reduced his season to just 30 games.

The reigning Southeast Division champion Heat were also hindered at times last season by the continued maturity issues by their other high-paid center in Hassan Whiteside. 

While he put up respectable numbers last season of 14.0 points, 11.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks on 54.0 percent shooting from the field, he dealt with injuries that shelved him for 28 games last season and scoffed at his reduced offensive role, and the fact that he rarely played in fourth quarters in the regular season and in the playoffs. 

His dissatisfaction really showed in the First-Round five-game setback to the Sixers where his counterpart in All-Star center Joel Embiid outplayed and outclassed Whiteside, who averaged an embarrassing 5.2 points and six boards for the series.

To further illustrate how bad things got, swingman Justise Winslow played the center spot over Whiteside when the Heat used small lineup combinations against the Sixers in the 2018 opening-round of the playoffs. 

It seemed that the Heat and Whiteside were headed for a divorce at the start of this summer. While the Heat weighed the option of trading the talented by disgruntled big man but being owned $52.5 over the next two years of the four-year, $94 million deal he signed the prior off-season proved a tall task. 

Instead Whiteside Coach Spoelstra got together to iron things out and they seemed to reach and understanding for now at least.     

Speaking of Winslow (7.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg) the No. 10 overall pick in 2015 who was signed to a multi-year contract extension on Saturday. Terms of the deal per Heat policy were not disclosed. 

Winslow now must stay healthy and prove his ability to perform offensively can catch what he can do defensively. He shot just 42.4 percent during the 2017-18 regular season and an abysmal 35.7 in the playoffs against the Sixers, where he did average 9.8 points and 6.6 rebounds in the five-game series. 

The Heat also need forward/center Bam Adebayo (6.9 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 51.2 FG%) to take a major step in his development in his second season in the NBA.

Besides signing Waiters and Whiteside to high priced contracts they also signed to high priced deals to forward James Johnson (10.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 3.8 apg, 50.3 FG%) to a four-year, $60 million; forward/center Kelly Olynyk (11.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 49.7 FG%, 37.9 3-Pt.%)-four years at $50 million; guard Josh Richardson (12.9 ppg, 45.1 FG%, 37.8 3-Pt.%)-four-year, $42 million deal and guard Tyler Johnson (11.7 ppg, 36.7 3-Pt.%), whose four-year, $50 million offer sheet from the Nets was matched by the Heat in summer 2016. 

The one eye-opener of all those deals is Tyler Johnson’s contract, which expires the following summer. Because of a balloon structure in the NBA’s current Collective Bargaining Agreement, he will receive a combined $40 million for this season and next, which is good for him but not so for the Heat’s salary cap flexibility.

While he may not be a household name, Heat starting lead guard Goran Dragic (17.3 ppg, 4.8 apg, 37.0 3-Pt.%) has been very steady for head coach Erik Spoelstra and team president Pat Riley since being acquired from the Phoenix Suns a little over three-and-a-half years ago. Last season he was named an All-Star for the first time in his career. 

The acquisition of Dragic in Feb. 2015 cost the Heat two First-Round pick-one this past June and another in the summer of 2021. 

In the last 10 seasons, the Heat have authored the best record in the East at 484-320, a .607 winning percentage, which includes the four seasons they had the dynamic trio of future Hall of Fame trio of James, Wade and Bosh.

Since the departure of James in the summer of 2014 and the impending retirement of Wade, the Heat are still in search of a pillar to lead their franchise on the hardwood forward. 

One thing that can be set in stone is the Heat will be in the mix in the wide-open East to make the playoffs, especially with Riley and Spoelstra leading the way in the front office and on the sidelines and in the aforementioned final season for Wade. 

The Heat in 2017-18 played in a league-high close games that were within five points in the last five minutes, compiling a 29-24 mark in those games. They also compiled a 9-8 mark against the Raptors, Celtics, 76ers and Cavs, the Top 5 teams in the East last season.

While the state of the team influx at the moment due to a collection of solid, but not move the needle game-changing players who are occupying cap space, there will be an opportunity in two years to reach the top of the NBA mountain again. The question though will Riley, who will be 74 in March 2019 still be around? 

In the meantime, Heat nation as well as the NBA fans around the country will have one more season of seeing the best player in franchise history in Dwyane Wade. 

“In my last year, I want to make sure I leave something that these young guys are going to remember,” Wade, whose team will play 11 of their first 20 games in the comfy confides of the American Airlines Arena said to Parrish. 

“When you you’re in the position where you went from a championship organization into a rebuilding situation and you have a lot of young guys you depend on you want to see them get better individually and as an organization.” 

Best Case Scenario: The Heat win north of 40 games and are competing between the No. 6 or No. 8 Seed in the East. Wade gets a solid send-off in his final season. Whiteside gets his game and his mind in the right place, while Richardson, Winslow, Adebayo, and the Johnson duo provide more consistency at the offensive end. Dragic is in the running for another All-Star selection.

Worst Case Scenario: The Heat miss the playoffs for the second time in the last three seasons.  

Grade: C+

Milwaukee Bucks: 44-38 (3^rd Central Division; No. 7 Seed in East) 25-16 at home, 19-22 on the road. Lost to the No. 2 Seeded Boston Celtics 4-3 in East Quarterfinals.

-106.5 ppg-15^th; opp. ppg: 106.8-16^th; 39.8 rpg-30^th 

Last season the Milwaukee Bucks’ star player took another step in his maturation generating consideration for Kia league MVP thanks to his arsenal of skills that should continue to make him a supreme force for opposing defenses in the NBA to tangle. Unfortunately, the Bucks again lost in the opening round because the rest of the supporting cast did not play at an elite level around “The Greek Freak,” especially in the playoffs. On top of that, the front office to axe their then head coach in the middle of the season. With a new head coach in place along with some under the radar additions, and the opening of their new arena, the focus for the Bucks is to finally get pasted the First-Round for the first time in nearly two decades.  

When the Bucks hired newly enshrined Hall of Famer Jason Kidd three years ago from the Nets, he was seen as the long-term answer at head coach and mentor to rising star Giannis Antetokounmpo. 

While the aforementioned “Greek Freak” had another stellar season in 2017-18 finishing tied for No. 4 in “The Association” in scoring at 26.9; and leading the Bucks in rebounding at 10.0, while also averaging 4.8 assists and 1.5 steals, the Bucks still hovered around the .500 mark and did not seem to be gaining any traction in the East. 

So, this off-season, the All-NBA Second Team selection, whose scoring averaged was the most since Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar averaged 30.0 in the 1974-75 season worked out with future Hall of Famer of the Lakers Kobe Bryant over the summer. He got the team together in New York to work out together and bond.  

Antetokounmpo in talking with Bucks’ longtime play-by-play analyst for FOX Sports Wisconsin Jim Paschke felt this off-season was about setting small goals like trust your teammates; work hard every day; hold one another accountable; play cohesively on defense and be the best offensively in the East.  

Individually Antetokounmpo said to Paschke that he really worked on his jump shot, which has been really the only hole in his game over the summer. 

He believes doing those small things will hopefully lead to the big goal for this season for the Bucks the goal for the Bucks, getting past the First-Round of the postseason this spring.

“We haven’t been in the Second-Round period,” the two-time All-Star said Bucks’ play-by-play commentator for FOX Sports Wisconsin Jim Paschke. “We got to do better. We got to play better and hopefully we can accomplish it.” 

“If we don’t accomplish it, [we] got to go back. Got to go back, work harder again, and again, and again until we accomplish it, and we make a step extra, and the next year a step forward, and you win a championship.”  

So, the Bucks on May 17 hired 2014-15 NBA Coach of the Year Mike Budenholzer, who was given permission by his former employer the Hawks to interview for the open position when it was made clear he was not in their plans to rebuild. 

With the blessing of Antetokounmpo, Bucks’ GM Jon Horst hired Budenholzer, who replaced recent Hall of Fame inductee Jason Kidd, who was given the axe and replaced by assistant Joe Prunty for the final 37 games of the 2017-18 regular season and the postseason. 

The Bucks hope that the fourth head coach the team and their star player will be under in the last five seasons and the 16^th head coach in franchise history is the one that can take them to the next level that is long overdue. 

“I’m extremely grateful to the Bucks ownership group and Jon Hurst,” Budenholzer, who a went 213-197 in five seasons on the Hawks’ sidelines said in May. “We have a tremendous opportunity to take the Bucks to the next level. I look forward to working with our group of young and exciting players and helping us evolve in many ways to succeed on the court…The tremendously supportive fans in Milwaukee and throughout Wisconsin are waiting and ready. Now it’s up to us to put all the pieces together, and I can’t wait to get started.” 

Budenholzer’s livelihood depends on how his systems of moving the ball on offense is able to maximize all the talents and skills of Antetokounmpo while incorporating the rest of the supporting cast which has a lot to prove. 

That is why when Budenholzer’s hire became official he and Khris Middleton for breakfast early in their off-season. Antetokounmpo said to Paschke that it was important to have that initial meeting to learn what he will bring to the table and what he expects from them. 

“He’s one of the best coaches in the league. He’s won in the past. He took a team that did not have enough talent and got them to 60 wins,” Antetokounmpo said. “So, I can’t wait to see what he can do with our team.”

Last season, the Bucks acquired guard Eric Bledsoe (17.7 ppg, 5.0 apg, 47.3 FG%, 33.7 3-Pt.%) from the Phoenix Suns early last season and averaged 17.8 points and 5.1 assists in his 71 appearances. In the seven-game setback to the Celtics, he only averaged 13.6 points and was seriously outplayed by Celtics’ lead guard Terry Rozier. 

The 28-year-old, who is in the last year of his contract will have to show Coach Budenholzer that he is capable of running the offense as well as being in offensive cohesion with Antetokounmpo during his prime years. 

Last season, the Hawks were tied for No. 8 in assists per game at 23.7; No. 15 in three-point percentage 36.0 and finished No. 9 in three-pointers made per game at 11.2, as they set a franchise record with 917 triples.

The Bucks in contrast were No. 14 in assists per game 23.2; 22^nd in three-point percentage at 35.5 and No. 27 in three-pointers made per game a season ago at 8.8. 

Coach Budenholzer will also need for Bledsoe to develop better offensive cohesion with the team’s second-best player in Khris Middleton, who averaged career-highs of 20.1 points, 5.2 boards, four assists and 1.5 steals during the regular season of 2017-18, on 46.6 percent shooting from the floor and 35.9 percent from three-point range. 

He really rose his production in the seven-game setback in the opening round against the Celtics with averages of 24.7 points and 5.1 rebounds on 59.8 percent from the field and 61.0 from three-point range.

To tailor the roster to fit Budenholzer’s system on both ends of the court, the Bucks in free agency signed forward Ersan Ilyasova (10.9 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 45.2 FG%, 36.0 3-Pt.% w/Hawks and 76ers) to a three-year, $21 million deal. 

In his second go-around with the Bucks, the team hopes Ilyasova can bring his floor spacing shooting and ability rebound on both ends that he brought off the bench for to the Sixers, which was key during their playoff run to the Semis a season ago.

Three years ago, center Brook Lopez (13.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 46.5 FG%, 34.5 3-Pt.% w/Lakers) was a functional big man in the league who can give you 20-plus points and improved his ability to make long jump shots especially from three-point range. 

As the NBA has changed to a more of a perimeter outside-in style of so-called “pace and space,” Lopez fetched a one-year deal for $3.4 million from the Bucks after spending two seasons with the Lakers. 

The good news for Lopez is that Coach Budenholzer’s offensive system is predicated on having the power forward and center ability to make jump shots, especially from three-point range. That is what Celtics’ All-Star center Al Horford did in his final two seasons for the Hawks. 

The Bucks hope Lopez, who feels the Bucks could make it to The Finals this spring shot 3 for 31 in his first eight seasons from three-point range. Through hard work in the gym and having the trust of a couple of coaches he had in his last season with the Nets and with the Lakers a season ago has gone 246-712 from three-point range.

With their only pick in the 2018 draft, the Bucks selected at No. 17 overall Donte DiVicenzo from the National Champion Villanova Wildcats. 

In DiVicenzo, the Bucks have a player who can make an impact in very few minutes as he demonstrated in winning the Big East Sixth Man of the Year this past season. The Most Outstanding Player of the 2018 NCAA Final Four saved his best for last in the NCAA title game versus Michigan scoring 31 points, tying former Kansas Jayhawk Danny Manning (1988) and former Michigan Wolverine Glen Rice (1989) for the second most points in an NCAA National Championship Game since 1980. The most was 35 scored by John Morton for Seton Hall in 1989 against Michigan.

DiVicenzo, whose nickname is “The Big Ragu” brings great size at 6-foot-5 to the guard position and will bring an ability to strike a match from the perimeter if he can crack the rotation which will consist of the aforementioned Ilyasova, Lopez, Middleton, and Tony Snell (6.9 ppg, 40.3 3-Pt.%). 

The Bucks perimeter attack will also be aided by guards Malcolm Brogdon (13.0 ppg, 48.5 FG%, 38.5 3-Pt.%) and Matthew Dellavedova, who both missed a chunk of games in the middle of the season because of injury. 

The other area the Bucks will need to get better when it comes to the defensive end is rebounding, which they were tied with Sacramento Kings for 28^th in rebound differential at -2.9, as well as defend the paint, where they ranked 23^rd in points allowed at 47.4 per game in 2017-18.

While the addition of Ilyasova alongside Antetokounmpo should help improve the Bucks rebounding on both ends, they will also need centers John Henson (8.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 57.2 FG%) and Thon Maker, who had his moments in the postseason against the Celtics to rise to that level. 

Perhaps the most important thing on the Bucks to-do list if they want to advance in the postseason in April is create a serious homecourt advantage in their brand spanking new arena, the 17,500-seat Fiserv Forum which opened in September. 

Since coming within one-game of the NBA Finals in 2001, losing to the Sixers and Hall of Famer Allen Iverson, the Bucks have reached the playoffs eight times, including the last two in succession, but have gone home early in the First-Round.

The Bucks will have a new arena. The front office feels they found the long-term answer at head coach in Budenholzer. The Bucks have a superstar in Antetokounmpo, who should be in the conversation for Kia MVP. The hope that GM Jon Horst and owners Wesley Edens, Marc Lasry and Jamie Dinan have is that the small additions they made in free agency and the sharp shooter they drafted is enough to get them at least to the Semis in a wide-open East.

“It takes a lot to go to the Second-Round,” Antetokounmpo said to Pachske on what he learned from last year’s Game 7 lost at the Celtics. “It’s not going to be easy. You got to fight to the last moment and I think my team did. I think we played great against Boston. I thought we were the better team but at the end of the day, they went to the Second-Round. We didn’t. We got to learn from it and move forward.”

Best Case Scenario: The Bucks are a Top 4 team in the East. Antetokounmpo makes a serious run for Kia MVP. The Bucks supporting cast brings consistency under Coach Budenholzer on both ends. 

Worst Case Scenario: Bucks are fighting to make the postseason at No. 7 or No. 8 again. Antetokounmpo carries the offensive load with a continued inconsistent jumper and the Bucks struggle again defensively

Grade: C-

New York Knicks: 29-53 (4^th Atlantic Division; missed the playoffs) 19-22 at home, 10-31 on the road. 

-104.5 ppg-18^th; opp. ppg: 108.0-20^th; 44.0 rpg-13^th

Instability with the roster; at head coach and in the front office is why the New York Knicks have not made the playoffs since 2013. The front office in the “Big Apple” was stabilized with a new general manager and an executive being moved to team president in summer of 2017. However, the team’s best player injured his knee in February as there is no timetable for him to return this upcoming season. With a new head coach; a couple of draft picks that have some serious potential, the focus for the Knicks this season is to put themselves in the best position to really improve the team in the summer of 2019.  

At the conclusion of last season, Knicks’ General Manager Scott Perry felt it was time to bring in the head coach. So, he fired Jeff Hornacek minutes after their 2017-18 season concluded and hired David Fizdale on May 7, signing him to a four-year deal. 

The 44-year-old former assistant with the Heat, became the 11^th head coach since now NBA on ESPN/ABC TV color analyst Jeff Van Gundy resigned in 2001-02 from the “Orange, White and Blue.” 

Fizdale, the 29^th head coach in Knicks franchise history cut his coaching teeth first as an assistant coach with the Miami Heat, where he became a popular man on the sidelines during the “Big Three” era of future Hall of Famers LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh got first shot as head coach with the Memphis Grizzlies a year and a half ago. 

Unfortunately, that time only lasted just 101 regular season games and six playoff games as a conflict with All-Star center Marc Gasol in a game last season versus the Nets got him the axe. 

Most head coaches after a shortcoming like that do not get a second chance so quickly, but of all the 11 candidates the Knicks front office brass interviewed, Fizdale checked all the boxes. The most important box he checked is that he can deal with a demanding fanbase and eye-catching hungry local news media. 

One thing he will bring to the Knicks sidelines is a passion to win and commitment to the team as he demonstrated in his presser after a Game 2 loss at the Spurs in the opening round.

The then Grizzlies head coach in one of the greatest sound bites after a game said, “We don’t get the respect that these guys deserve because Mike Conley doesn’t go crazy. He has class and he just plays the game. But I’m not going to let them treat us that way.” 

“I know Pop [Coach Popovich] has pedigree and I’m a young rookie but they are not going to rook us. That’s unacceptable. That was unprofessional. My guys dug in that game and earned the right to be in that game, and they did not even give us a chance. Take that for data.”  

Along with that fire vibrato, Fixdale will have a great assistant coaching staff in Keith Smart, Jud Buchler, Pat Sullivan, and Royal Ivey. 

Fizdale and his staffs No. 1 priority is making sure that the Knicks franchise player Kristaps Porzingis (22.7 ppg-Led team, 6.6 rpg, 2.4 bpg-Led team, 39.5 3-Pt.%) gets healthy and can be productive when he returns to the floor. 

The No. 4 overall pick in 2015 back on Feb. 6 versus the Bucks tore the ACL in his left knee, which required surgery.

Individually, Porzingis prior to the season-ending knee injury had a total of 11 games where he scored 30-plus points. He had just a total of three in his first two seasons. 

While he has done his rehab back in his native land of Latvia over the summer, there is no timetable for him to return to the court because this injury is so unusual to a player of his size at 7-foot-3. 

According to reports this month, Porzingis has been involved in team practices as they get a feel for Coach Fizdale and the way he wants to play, the Knicks are going to be very cautious as he makes his way back. If that means him sitting out the entire 2018-19 season, where there are no expectations for them to win so be it. That is especially true when Porzingis is due for an extension this summer of $157 million. 

All indication are that the Knicks will wait to take that on and Porzingis’ camp wants to wait as well to see what the team looks like when he has to make that choice to sign that deal if it is offered to him. 

Knicks’ management wants to wait as well considering that Porzingis has had a little bit of an injury history in the early stages of his career missing a total of 26 games entering last season and the final 34 games of 2017-18 with as mentioned the knee injury. 

The good news for the Knicks is that Coach Fizdale has visited Porzingis in his native land of Latvia and their working relationship has gotten off to a great start. 

The other priority for the Knicks’ new coaching staff and the front office is to decide who will be their lead guard for this season and moving forward. 

No. 8 overall pick last June in guard Frank Ntilikina showed flashes that he can defend some of the best perimeter players in the league as a rookie, but he struggled greatly at the offensive end averaging 5.9 points and 2.4 assists on 36.4 percent from the field. 

Trey Burke (12.8 ppg, 4.7 apg, 50.3 FG%, 36.2 3-Pt.%), who signed in the final two months of the season really displayed his ability to score the ball and shoot it with range, but his ability to run the whole team where he created offense for others was subpar. 

Emmanuel Mudiay (8.6 ppg w/Nuggets & Knicks), who was acquired from the Denver Nuggets at the Feb. 8 trade deadline since coming into the NBA as the No. 7 overall pick like Ntilikina has struggled to shoot, making only 38.8 of his shots from the field a season ago. He is very talented, but it takes more than talent to make it in the NBA. 

If the Knicks have any plans on being a playoff perennial, either Ntilikina, Burke or Mudiay have to play to a level where they are an extension of Fizdale. Who can run the offense he designs effectively? Can grasp the system on both ends the quickest and can gain trust from the rest of the squad? 

Ntilikina will have a real shot at winning the job as the Knicks exercised their third-year team option on his contract for the 2019-20 season, earning $4.9 million next season. 

Because he came onboard late in July 2017, GM Perry was not in the hot seat when it came to drafting players or meeting with free agents that the Knicks were interested in signing last summer. He got that roll-up-your-sleeves, make tough decision pressure cooker moments this past summer.

With the No. 9 overall choice in the 2018 draft, the Knicks chose forward Kevin Knox out of the University of Kentucky. With the No. 36 overall pick, the Knicks selected center Mitchell Robinson. 

While he became the latest Wildcat to be selected in the Top 10 during the John Calipari era, the 19-year-old Knox never really stood out in his only season having to find a role in a talent laden team. 

The SEC Co-Freshmen of the Year led the Wildcats in scoring at 15.6 and made 57 three-pointers last season. 

“I was really impressed with the way he absorbed film sessions. The way he competed in the workouts. I love the fact that he wanted to be at Kentucky. That he wanted to be a Knick,” Fizdale said of his first impressions of Knox during his pre-draft workout with the Knicks in late June to WNYW FOX 5’s sports anchor Tina Cervasio.  

The 6-foot-9 forward opened a lot of eyes during Summer League with his ability to attack the basket, along with his ability to take charge on the court.

While it is still a question of what he did during the Las Vegas Summer League, where he averaged a league-leading 21.3 points and 6.5 boards will transfer into his rookie season, Knox showed he will crack Fizdale’s rotation, especially if he brings the kind of competitive focus he did over the summer.

“I came into Kentucky at 17 years old, so it prepared me really well,” Knox said on draft night on June 21 to Cervasio. “Coach Cal pushed me every day, just like the NBA is going to push me.” 

“So is playing on a national stage here at Madison Square Garden… So, I’m looking forward to it. I think I’m ready for it. I’m ready to get started.”  

Robinson’s road to being chosen by the Knicks in the draft was a checkered one having not played a single came collegiately after deciding to forego going to Western Kentucky. 

When he did last play in high school though, he put up great numbers averaging 25.7 points, 12.6 rebounds and six blocks per game in 2016-17. 

The young 7-footer showed some of the ability that made him dominant in high school also at Summer League with is ability to run the floor and to score around the basket. 

While he will be raw and unpolished having not played any organized ball in a year, Robinson may earn his way into the Knicks rotation this season if he can bring the kind of intensity he showed in July. 

Wanting not to screw with the war chest of millions the Knicks will have to use in free agency in the summer of 2019, the Knicks took a cautious approach to this summer free agency. They said goodbye in free agency to Michael Beasley and Kyle O’Quinn.

The only big free agent signing by the Knicks was taking a one-year, $6.5 million flyer on the Croatian Mario Hezonja (9.6 ppg w/Magic), the No. 5 overall in 2015 by the Orlando Magic when Perry was on their front office staff in the summer of 2015.

While Hezonja had some flashes, he never shined in Disneyworld despite not having much competition for minutes at the small forward spot, which is why he was let go in free agency with no contract extension.

He will have his work cut out for him cracking the Knicks’ rotation, especially with Knox and Tim Hardaway, Jr. (17.5 ppg) at the swing positions. That said, if he can perform to the level he did in the second half of last season, where he averaged 11.4 points per game following the All-Star break can become a solid contributor off the bench.  

They also signed forward Noah Vonleh to a one-year deal, while picking up the player options forward/center Enes Kanter (14.1 ppg, 11.0 rpg-Led team, 59.2 FG%), reserve guard Ron Baker and forward/center Luke Kornet.

The Knicks also have to decide if the likes of forwards Lance Thomas, and Isaiah Hicks, and guards Emmanuel Mudiay, Damyean Dotson and Courtney Lee (12.0 ppg, 45.4 FG%, 40.6 3-Pt.%) are just roster-fillers for this season that can be traded at the trade deadline or they are important parts of the Knicks going forward.

One player that will not be a part of the Knicks future is center Joakim Noah as he was waived in over this past weekend with two years and $37.8 million left on a four-year, $72 million deal he signed in the summer of 2016. 

The 33-year-old New York native had been away from the Knicks since he clashed with Hornacek last season. His $18.6 million salary this season will count against the Knicks’ salary cap and it will be stretched out the final the previously mentioned remaining two years. 

The idea of the Knicks being a destination franchise has been overrated for nearly the last two decades. With the exception of the signing of Amar’e Stoudemire eight summers back or the acquisition of 10-time All-Star Carmelo Anthony on Feb. 21, 2011, the Knicks have not capitalized on having either salary cap space or assets to acquire a franchise changing player. 

The Lakers’ front office showed LeBron James a game plan and they had the young talent that he saw could be special. 

That is what Perry and Knicks’ President Steve Mills are going to have to show if they want any chance of landing any of the potential A-List free agents in summer of 2019 like Kevin Durant, Marc Gasol, Kemba Walker or Goran Dragic to name a few. 

The lure of the “Big Apple” and the $38.5 million in cap space that will be available just will not cut the mustard. 

They will need to show that there is a legitimate chance for whoever they sign that the Knicks will turn around their misfortunes of not just the five straight seasons with less than 40 wins and winning just one playoff series since the 2000-01 campaign. 

“In our circles that we travel and the people that we talk to, we know that there is a change in how people perceive us…,” Mills said about the team’s perception at a Knicks’ Town Hall event on Sept. 17.   

He added about plans on improving the roster going forward, “We’re going to build this team the right way and what we’re not going to do is trade away assets to get a guy we can go get on our own later.”

Best Case Scenario: The Knicks win south of 30 games. Fizdale gets the team to play at a high-level night in and night out. Knox makes the All-Rookie Second-Team; Porzingis either comes back healthy or is close to doing so. Knox and Ntilikina have solid season. 

Worst Case Scenario: The Knicks have another long season full of long losing streaks. Knox struggles, while Ntilikina regresses. 

Grade: D

Orlando Magic: 25-57 (4^th Southeast Division; missed the playoffs) 17-24 at home, 8-33 on the road. 

-103.4 ppg-24^th; opp. ppg: 108.2-21^st; 41.6 rpg-26^th

The ghost of All-Star center Dwight Howard and former head coach Stan Van Gundy continue to haunt the Orlando Magic has gone six straight seasons with no playoffs, the longest in the East. The organization has been stuck in a perpetual pattern of rebuilding thanks to questionable acquisitions via trade, draft picks, and free agents. With another new head coach, the selection of a very raw draft prospect, the focus for the Magic front office in their second off-season together is to create some stability in the franchise’s 30^th season.  

General Manager John Hammond and President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman in this off-season decided to axe Frank Vogel as their head coach and hire a head coach who was here during better times in Steve Clifford. 

The 14^th head coach in Magic history spent five years as an assistant on Van Gundy’s staff that went 259-135 from 2007-12. That mark included four straight seasons of 50-plus wins; three straight Southeast Division crowns from 2007-10 and an appearance in The Finals in 2009, where they lost to future Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers 4-1.

Clifford has spent the last five seasons as the head man on the sidelines for the Hornets, where he compiled a 196-214 mark. He led the Hornets to the postseasons twice in his five seasons after the team formally the Charlotte Bobcats made the playoffs just once in the previous decade.

He arrives after a somewhat turbulent final season in 2017-18 where he dealt health issues that forced him to take a leave of absence.

While his hiring did raise some eyebrows around the league, he somehow convinced the Magic front office that his health is great and those issues should not be a major issue going forward.

With the No. 6 pick in June’s draft, the Magic selected center Mohamed “Mo” Bamba out of the University of Texas. 

By his measurables of 7-foot-10 wingspan that can stretch from one end of Florida to the other, the former Longhorn is a freak of nature. 

To bring that into context, the longest wingspan in the history of the NBA belongs to the late Manute Bol of 8-foot-6. Bamba’s 7-foot-10 wingspan set a new NBA Scouting Combine record. 

In his only season with the Longhorns, the All Big 12 Second-Team selection and AP Honorable Mentioned All-American averaged 12.9 points, 10.5 rebounds and ranked second in Division I with 3.7 blocks.

“If you look at the track record of our organization you got Dwight and you got Shaq [Shaquille O’Neal] obviously and if my career can go anything as well as there’s I’d be doing something pretty special,” Bamba said to NBATV’s Ro Parrish at Media Day on Sept. 24. 

In today’s NBA where the concentration of most team’s offense is at the rim or the three-point line. Bamba’s ability to block shots at a high rate will be a great value to the Magic. 

While his nowhere close to be defined at the offensive from having great footwork in the low-post or overall strength, the 20-year-old has time to refine that part of his game, which he said to Parrish that he has been working on during the lead up to his rookie season. 

The team is are already buzzing about the potential of him and last season’s No. 6 overall pick Jonathan Isaac out of Florida State, who rookie season was setback by injuries. 

The hope is that the 6-foot-10 Isaac, who has a lot of ability on both ends got healthy and stronger so he can show what he is capable of in his sophomore season.  

“We have the tools to be great rim protectors. It’s just a matter of getting out there and doing it,” Bamba, who averaged 8.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.3 block shots in Summer League said to Parrish. 

One man that they drafted that really showed some serious improvement a season ago was fourth-year forward Aaron Gordon. The No. 4 overall pick in 2014 out of the University of Arizona averaged career-highs of 17.6 points and 7.9 rebounds on a career-best 33.6 percent from three-point range, while racking up 17 double-doubles and two games of 40-plus a season ago. That is how the 22-year-old earned a new four-year, $84 million contract this off-season, despite missing 25 games because of number of injuries.

When Clifford first got the job, the first person he challenged to be great under his leadership was Gordon, who on Media Day made it clear he will be an even better player this season. One that has a balance of shooting jumpers and attacking the rim.

“I got to bring it every night,” Gordon, who hit 115 threes a season ago said. “Coach Cliff was telling me that some nights I would bring it if it was an All-Star or if it was a First-Team, Second-Team or Third-Team type player. But if it wasn’t that I wouldn’t bring it. I would be taking the night off.” 

“So, every night I got to bring it. To me I got to defensive rebound better and the one thing I talked about that he didn’t really care about so much I need to up my steals. The amount of steals, off steals I get.”

The Magic hope that last season was a sign of things to come from Gordon, who missed 25 this past season because of injuries. If he can and that he can mesh well with Bamba and Isaac in what has the makings of a very athletic frontcourt.   

A frontcourt that still has center Nikola Vucevic (16.5 ppg, 9.2 rpg-Led team, 47.5 FG%), who hopes to be healthy and productive in the last season of his contract as opposed this prior one where he missed 25 games because of injury. 

Also hoping for a comeback season is guard Terrence Ross (8.7 ppg), who missed the last 58 games because of a sprained MCL and non-displaced fracture in his left knee. 

His absence allowed last year’s addition in free agency Jonathon Simmons to get some minutes, and he averaged a career-high averages of 13.9 points and 3.5 rebounds, on 46.5 percent from the field. 

He really stood out with a then career-high of 34 points with seven rebounds in the Magic’s 116-98 win versus the then three-time defending East champion Cavaliers on Feb. 6. He set a new career-high of 35 points going 11 for 22 from the field, including 7 for 12 from three-point range as the Magic won versus the Bucks 126-117 on Mar. 14.  

While the Magic kept Gordon in toe, they said goodbye to another former lottery pick in Mario Hezonja, who was signed by Knicks on a one-year deal. 

Another player that was shown the exit was reserve forward/center Bismak Biyombo, who the Magic dealt to the Hornets in a three-team deal two years after signing him to a four-year, $72 million deal during the NBA’s wasteful spending summer of 2016.

The Magic in return acquired point guard Jerian Grant (8.4 ppg, 4.6 apg w/Bulls) from the Bulls and Timofey Mozgov from the Hornets.

In another deal, the Magic acquired center Jarell Martin (7.7 ppg, 4.4 rpg w/Grizzlies) and cash considerations from the Memphis Grizzlies for forward Dakari Johnson, who the Magic got in a trade from the Oklahoma City Thunder for Rodney Purvis.   

While those additions were the result of maintaining a low salary cap, Grant may end up playing a big role for the Magic, especially when they dealt starting lead guard Elfrid Payton at the Feb. trade deadline.  

Veteran D.J. Augustin (10.2 ppg, 3.8 apg, 45.2 FG%, 41.2 3-Pt.%), who is supposedly at this point in his career a reserve is the only true point guard on the roster. 

Grant could also be a big help to his potential sidekick in the starting backcourt in Evan Fournier (17.8 ppg-Led team, 45.9 FG%, 37.9 3-Pt.%), who to missed 25 games a season ago because of injury. 

The Orlando Magic have not made the playoffs in six years, the longest drought in the East. The have not had an All-Star since 2012 when Howard made the East squad. The hope for Magic fans is that Hammond and Weltman can make this restart with a head coach in Steve Clifford who has seen the Magic when they were a serious player in the East.

If nothing else, they will at least play hard every game they take the floor as opposed to last season where they were 1-38, tied with the Memphis Grizzlies in games they trailed by 15 points or more and were 18-49 in games where they did not have a back-to-back.

“We’re going to be a tough every single game,” Gordon said about the team the Magic will be this season. “We’re going to bring it every single game. They’ll be no nights off. We’ll give no team no passes and when they see that they have Orlando on the schedule they know there gonna have a fight.”

Best Case Scenario: The Magic win south of 30 games. The frontcourt of Gordon, Bamba, and Isaac are healthy and mesh well. Clifford’s team philosophy of playing great defense and not turning the ball over takes shape.

Worst Case Scenario: The losing pile up one losing streak after another. There is no chemistry between Gordon, Bamba and Isaac and the Magic struggle on both ends.   

Grade: D

Philadelphia 76ers: 52-30 (3^rd Atlantic Division; No. 3 Seed in East) 30-11 at home, 22-19 on the road. Defeated the No. 6 Seeded Miami Heat 4-1 in East Quarterfinals. Lost to the No. 2 Seeded Boston Celtics 4-1 in East Semifinals.  

-109.8 ppg-7^th; opp. ppg: 105.3-11^th; 47.4 rpg-1^st     

After a long slog back to respectability, the Philadelphia 76ers’ rebuild dubbed, “The Process” into high gear in 2017-18 behind the longest winning streak in franchise to close the regular season. Behind their up-and-coming 1-2 punch that was finally healthy and very productive, especially in their first playoff series win since 2012. They were brought back down to earth in the Semis losing in five games. The focus for the Sixers in 2018-19 is turn “The Process” into progress. 

After starting their NBA careers on the shelf because of injury, former lottery picks in center Joel Embiid and swingman Ben Simmons sure made up for lost time and took the NBA by storm. 

Simmons (15.8 ppg, 8.2 apg-5^th NBA, 8.1 rpg, 1.7 spg-8^th NBA, 54.5 FG%), the No. 1 overall pick in 2016 captured the 3017-18 Kia Rookie of the year via his amazing court vision and 6-foot-10 frame to author 38 double-doubles, which was twice as more than any other rookie a season ago. Only Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson had more triple-doubles as a rookie with 26 than the 12 triple-doubles by the Australian Simmons.

After multiple foot and knee injuries shelved him for two seasons and limited him to 31 games in his unofficial rookie season in 2016-17, Embiid, the No. 3 overall pick in 2014 had a stellar season leading the Sixers in scoring (22.9), rebounding (11.0-T-6^th NBA) and block shots (1.8-4^th NBA) and making the first of what will hopefully be many All-Star appearances. He was also a finalist for Kia Defensive Player of the Year and if he remains healthy can win that honor as well as be Kia MVP one day.

“I want to win the MVP,” the All-NBA Second Team selection said in a conference call for the NBA Africa at the start of August. “I feel like at the end of the day it might be an individual award but when I play better, the team does also.”  

The Sixers really hit their stride at the end of the season where they won a franchise record 16 straight games to close the 2017-18 regular season, with Embiid being down for eight of those games because of facial injury he sustained on Mar. 28 versus the Knicks. 

The Sixers road that momentum into the playoffs and took down the Heat in the opening round in five games. Their magical carpet ride ended though in the Semis as their most hated conference rival the Celtics beat them in five games. 

That series exposed the flaws of the lack of perimeter shooting by Simmons and the inability of Embiid to make plays consistently down low against the Celtics. Simmons will also have to improve at the foul line, where he shot just 56 percent a season ago.

“This summer was great for me, just putting up shots,” Simmons said on Media Day to NBATV’s Jared Greenberg about working on his perimeter game. “I’ve never been on a team where I needed to put up shots. Honestly, I’ve never needed to shoot. I’ve never had somebody to teach me to shoot.” 

“So, this is really the first summer where I’ve had the time to practice and work on my shot, which has given me a lot of confidence.” 

The other weakness in the Semis versus the Celtics was the Sixers inability to make plays against the constant ball pressure they face. Consistently the Celtics got into the ball handlers of the Sixers and that resulted in bad shots and turnovers. 

A perfect example of this is Sixers’ forward Dario Saric in the first three games of the Semis scored a total of 27 points. In Games 4 and 5 where he punished any small Celtic that guarded him in the low-post he averaged 26 points.   

The hopes of the Sixers having a quiet off-season as they tried to build on the momentum they gained from a 24-win improvement from the prior season, the fifth highest increase in the last decade was not so. 

The drama began with the ouster of their general manager Bryan Colangelo on June 7 because his wife Barbara Bottini created about to three to five fake Twitter accounts that contained information where disparaging remarks were made about former GM Sam Hinke as well as Embiid and former Sixer Jahlil Okafor. 

Head Coach Brett Brown was named GM on an interim basis and it took until late September when the position was filled by former Sixer Elton Brand. 

“The goals are to develop this young core,” Brand said on Sept. 20 about the Sixers plans this season and moving forward. “It was Joel’s first time in the playoffs. It was Ben’s first time in the playoffs.” 

He added about finding that third star to go alongside Embiid and Simmons, “We talk about adding a third superstar. We might have that third superstar in this room right now and fourth.”

The drama of the off-season even took place on draft night when the family reunion between the No. 10 overall pick in Mikal Bridges, whose mother Tyneeka works as the Sixers’ Vice President of Human resources was broken up when he was dealt to the Phoenix Suns for the No. 16 overall pick in forward Zhaire Smith out of Texas Tech, while also snagging the Heat’s 2021 First-Round pick. 

Unfortunately, Smith who set the UTT freshmen record for points in a single-season with 417 will start the upcoming season on the shelf after sustaining a Jones fracture in his left foot at a developmental camp in Las Vegas during the summer. It is the same injury that sidelined Simmons the prior season, which means he could possibly be on the shelf the entire season.

Armed with salary cap room and stellar building blocks in Embiid and Simmons, the Sixers trying took aim at snagging four-time Kia MVP LeBron James or acquire disgruntled All-Star Kawhi Leonard from the San Antonio Spurs. 

They missed on both as James chose Hollywood instead of Philly cheesesteaks, which was not a surprising but plans to acquire Leonard fell through when the Spurs reportedly wanted Simmons and the two-time Kia Defensive Player of the Year was dealt to the Raptors. 

The Sixers also lost two key parts of their team in free agency as sharp shooters Ersan Ilyasova and Marco Bellinelli signed free agent deals with the Bucks and Spurs respectably this off-season. 

They did re-sign veteran sharp shooter JJ Redick (17.1 ppg, 46.0 FG%, 42.0 3-Pt.%), on a one-year, $12.2 million deal, bringing back his ability to space the with his three-point shooting and the great leadership he provided to the Sixers’ locker room in 2017-18.  

Redick along with Saric (14.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 45.3 FG%, 39.3 3-Pt.%), starting small forward Robert Covington (12.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.7 spg-9^th NBA, 36.9 3-Pt.%), reserve guard TJ McConnell will be relied on even more to make up for that perimeter shooting that left the city of “Brotherly Love.” 

The Sixers also added veteran swingman Wilson Chandler (10.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 35.8 3-Pt.% w/Nuggets) from the Nuggets in a trade, that also netted them a future Second-Round pick for cash considerations. In Chandler, the Sixers have an under the radar player his entire career that will be consistent and reliable on both ends of the court. 

In a three-team deal with the Thunder and Hawks, the Sixers acquired big man Mike Muscala (7.6 ppg, 45.8 FG%, 37.1 3-Pt.%) from the Hawks, providing another floor spacer with his ability to make three-point shots. 

Even with all those additions, the one player the Sixers are really counting on this season is the No. 1 overall pick from 2017 Markelle Fultz (7.1 ppg, 3.8 apg) out of the University of Washington, who only played in 14 games in 2017-18 because of a mysterious shoulder injury. 

The summer was supposed to be a fresh start for a player who spent much of this off-season trying to recapture his shooting touch. 

While he did not play in Summer League, he spent a lot of time in the gym working on his shot and regaining his confidence, which according to reports he has. 

So much so that he has been in the starting lineup for the entire preseason and Coach Brown has said that will go into the start of the regular season. 

“I’m normal. I’m back to being myself,” the 20-year-old, who had a triple-double of 13 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists off the bench in the Sixers 130-95 win versus the Bucks on Apr. 11 said to Greenberg. “Off-course shot wise I’m not 100 percent. I don’t think anybody’s shot is 100 percent. I’m just putting in the work every day and that’s all I can ask for.” 

“I’m confident enough and I feel like I have what I need to help this team in the ways I want to help them.”

What has really helped Fultz during this period is that his teammates as well as the organization has said he has been nothing but a great teammate and tireless worker, and he will put to rest any doubts of his future being nothing but bright. 

In this June’s draft the Sixers selected Landry Shamet at No. 26 overall out of Wichita State. He is a combo guard like Fultz very tall at 6-foot-5, who can play the point or off-guard spot and can make perimeter shots. 

The Sixers also in June gathered more assets during the 2018 draft in trading the draft rights of guard Khyri Thomas, No. 38 overall to the Pistons for two future Second-Round picks. In a deal with the Dallas Mavericks, the Sixers acquired the draft rights to the No. 54 overall pick in forward Shake Milton out of Southern Methodist University for the draft rights to the No. 56 overall pick Ray Spalding out of the University of Louisville and the No. 60 and final overall pick forward Kostas Antetokounmpo out of Dayton University.

It was an eventful off-season that consisted a lot of change for the 76ers both to the roster in terms of the supporting cast and the front office. The goal however of becoming an NBA champion has not. Aside from the Celtics, on paper, the East with LeBron James no longer around is wide open. 

“The Process” has gotten the Sixers, who will not play in the Mountain or Pacific time zones until December back to respectability and now they have to turn that into consistent results, which is hopefully a chance at the Larry O’Brien trophy over the next five-plus years.  

“When my season ended, there was a lot of talk about adding guys. I literally did not care because I want to get better,” Embiid said about the Sixers needing to add another A-List player. “I want to get better than those guys…if I’m not already better than them.”

Best Case Scenario: The Sixers win north of 55 games. Simmons, and Embiid become All-Stars. Embiid is a serious MVP candidate. Fultz has a better second-year. The Sixers reach the Conference Finals. 

Worst Case Scenario: The Sixers have an early playoff exit. 

Grade: B

Toronto Raptors: 59-23 (1^st Atlantic Division; No. 1 Seed in East) 34-7 at home, 25-16 on the road. Defeated the No. 8 Seeded Washington Wizards 4-2 in East Quarterfinals. Lost to the No. 4 Seeded Cleveland Cavaliers 4-0 in East Semifinals. 

-111.7 ppg-4^th; opp. ppg: 103.9-T-6^th; 44.0 rpg-14^th  

They won a franchise record 59 games in and were the No. 1 Seed in the Eastern Conference for the first time in franchise history. Unfortunately, for the third year in a row the Toronto Raptors had their championship dreams end at the hands of LeBron James and the Cavaliers, who swept in the Semifinals for the second year in succession. That led to the ouster of their head coach and the breakup of their dynamic All-Star backcourt. The focus for the Raptors entering the 2018-19 season is to rally behind their new head coach; their major acquisition who is eager to prove himself and make it to The Finals for the first time in franchise history. 

After being bounced in the Semis for the second straight postseason, Raptors’ President Masai Ujiri on May 11 fired head coach Dwane Casey, the 2017-18 NBA Coach of the Year and replaced him with assistant Nick Nurse, whose only NBA coach experience was with the G-League where he won Coach of the Year and led the Iowa and Rio Grande teams to championships in 2011 and 2013 respectably.  

Nurse, who was Casey’s assistant the last five seasons was the architect behind the overhaul of the Raptors offensive game plan that put a serious emphasis on ball movement, where the Raptors finished No. 6 in assists per game at 24.3 and three-point shooting. While the Raptors were No. 18 in percentage from distance at 35.8 a season ago, they were No. 3 a season ago in three-point attempts at 33.0 and were No. 4 in makes at 11.8.

That change in offensive philosophy was a big reason the four-time Atlantic Division champs the past five seasons compiled a 35-2 against teams under .500 in 2017-18, while posting a winning mark of 24-21 against the 18 +.500 teams. Their 34-7 mark at Air Canada Centre tied the Rockets for the best home mark in “The Association” a season ago. They also were a team that found a way to win games when trailing as they went 15-17 when trailing by double-digits a season ago. Those 15 wins tied the Celtics, Warriors and Pelicans.   

At the end of the day though, it is about results and the Raptors could not get passed James and the Cavs as they blew Game 1 of the Semis losing in overtime 113-112 on May 1. They were destroyed on their home floor in Game 2 48 hours later 128-110. They had their hearts broken in Game 3 105-103 on May 5 when James sank a one-handed runner off the glass to win the game in the final seconds. In Game 4, the Raptors simply quit as their season concluded in a 128-93 loss on May 7. 

In the Semis, the Raptors top notch defense during the regular season went completely south in the Semis as the Cavs averaged in the four-game sweep 121.5 points hitting 41 percent of their three-point field goals. 

That was one specific why the Raptors acquired two-time All-Star and two-time Kia Defensive Player of the Year Kawhi Leonard (16.2 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.0 spg, 46.8 FG% w/Spurs) on July 18 from the Spurs along with sharp shooter Danny Green (8.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 36.3 3-Pt.%) for fellow All-Star DeMar DeRozan and backup center Jakob Poeltl.

Leonard missed all but nine games a season ago due to a right quad injury that was confounding to the Spurs and led to a level of distrust between a player or has head coach Gregg Popovich referred to as Leonard’s “people” and the Spurs medical staff. 

While the extremely quiet star did not say a word, his actions spoke loudly and clearly as he did not bother to sit on the bench for the Spurs five-game setback in the opening round against the defending champion Warriors, electing to remain in New York to rehab.

On paper, this was a trade you make 10 out of 10 times, especially when he can solidify a starting quintet that consists of All-Star Kyle Lowry (16.2 ppg, 6.9 apg-Led team 5.6 rpg, 39.9 3-Pt.%); second-year forward OG Anunoby, who started 62 games in his rookie season; forward Serge Ibaka (12.6 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 48.3 FG%, 36.0 3-Pt.%) and center Jonas Valanciunas (12.7 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 56.8 FG%-8^th NBA). 

Leonard was in rare form when at Media Day on Sept. 24 when asked by a reporter what people would like to know about he answered flanked by Ujiri and Lowry “I’m a humble guy.” 

“Obviously I love the game of basketball. I just can’t give you a whole spiel. I don’t even know where you’re sitting at.”  

He and Coach Nurse did have a long conversation in their first meeting according to a report from The Toronto Star in late July. 

When Raptors management kept knocking on the door of the room they were conversating, Nurse said, “‘A couple more minutes.’”

Like the move to fire Casey though, Ujiri, a former Executive of the Year and widely hailed as one of the brightest front office minds in the NBA faced questioned by outside critics as well as heard doubts by the “We the North” faithful for the first time in his solid career after those two moves. 

It was nothing compared to the side-eye he got from the most popular player in Raptors history in DeRozan, who all he wanted to do was spend the rest of his career in a place that he helped go from a cellar dweller to a true title contender. 

He especially wanted to come back after what ended up being his last two games as a Raptor where he had just eight points on 3 for 12 shooting in Game 3 and was on the sidelines the entire fourth quarter of 105-103 loss where James broke their hearts with a floating banker at the buzzer. In their 128-93 season-ending loss in Game 4, DeRozan’s official last game as a Raptor, he was ejected after committing a Flagrant 2 foul on Jordan Clarkson in the fourth period.  

No one was more disappointed in seeing DeRozan leave than his backcourt mate in fellow All-Star Kyle Lowry, who he built a very close relationship with.

He was so distraught about the trade that he did dodged calls from Ujiri and Nurse all summer and did everything to dodge questions about the deal with reporters at Team USA training camp in July. 

“Kyle is close to DeMar and he’s going to be sensitive,” Ujiri said earlier this summer about the breaking up of their starting backcourt. “That was a blow to him. I think basketball-wise Kyle is always ready. He’s always going to be ready. He’s training hard, and he’ll be ready.”  

DeRozan would still be with the Raptors if not for the self-inflicted drama of Leonard in the “Alamo City,” which led to him being shopped to the highest bitter by the Spurs front office. 

On top of that, the word for much of the off-season was that the former San Diego State product wanted to play for the hometown Lakers or Clippers when he becomes an unrestricted free agent in summer of 2019, which indicates that this season in Toronto is just a stopover. 

Having a chance though to get a top tier player who can impact the game on both ends of the floor was something Ujiri did not want to pass up, even at the risk of disappointing Lowry and angering DeRozan, the best player aside from Vince Carter in franchise history. 

In Leonard, besides getting a player who can get you 25 points or more on a given night, he can put the clamps on the opposing team’s best perimeter player. Just ask LeBron James, who he outplayed in the 2014 Finals when the Spurs took down the Heat in five games to earn their fifth title in franchise history. He has also improved his three-point shooting each season and prior to what took place last season, Leonard has been as low-key of a star player you will ever see in pro sports today. 

This season the Raptors will get the very best from Leonard, who finished third for Kia MVP in 2015-16 because he will be a heralded unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2019. However, he said to NBATV’s Steve Smith at Media Day that it is all about this season, which he said he is coming into 100 percent heeled and focused. 

“That’s not for me to talk about,” Leonard said about his impending free agency next summer. “That’s for you guys to mention on TV. But for me, myself, my family we’re all focused on being in Toronto and this season and I can’t look past that or I’m not going to play well. So, I’m focused on this team and getting us to where we got to go.” 

To further illustrate this point, if things go well and Leonard re-signs with the Raptors, he is projected to make an average salary of $37.9 million if he signs a projected five-year, $189.7 million deal. If the Raptors flop and Leonard gets his first ticket out of town to sign possible either with the Lakers or Clippers he would make an average salary of $35.2 million on a four-year, $140.6 million deal.

The addition of Green gives the Raptors another solid sniper from the three-point line and a solid defender at the wing position alongside the likes of second-year player OG Anunoby.

If Green comes off the bench, he will be part of arguably the top second unit in “The Association” a season ago with Kia Sixth Man of the Year runner-up Fred VanVleet (8.6 ppg, 41.4 3-Pt.%), who earned a new two-year, $18.1 million deal over the summer; center Greg Monroe, who also was signed this off-season on a one-year, $2.2 million deal; sharp shooting swingman CJ Miles (10.0 ppg, 36.1 3-Pt.%); guard Delon Wright (8.0 ppg, 46.5 FG%, 36.6 3-Pt.%); forward Pascal Siakam (7.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 50.8 FG%); fellow guard Norman Powell. 

“If we do what we’re capable of doing I think he’ll want to be here for as long as he can as long as they can continue to show that they can win, he’ll be here,” Green said to Smith about Leonard remaining in Canada past this season.

The Raptors have the best mark in the East the past five seasons going 263-147. That is seven wins more than the Heat (290); 18 more wins than the Pacers (278); 28 more wins than the Cavaliers (268) and 35 more wins than the division rival Celtics (262). There issue has been their inability to climb Mount LeBron in the postseason, losing their last 12 games to the four-time defending East champion Cavs.

They went for broke in acquiring one of the best players in the game at both ends when healthy. They bring back one of the most productive benches in the league a season ago with a couple of solid veteran additions. The only question is Nurse ready for the challenge of leading this stacked team to The Finals. Other than the head coach, the Raptors have no more excuses of not being able to make it to The Finals. If not now, when?

Best Case Scenario: The Raptors win north of 55 games and are in the Top 3 team in the East. Leonard returns to All-Star form and is in the Kia MVP conversation as well as for Defensive Player of the Year again. They reach the Eastern Conference Finals, possibly the NBA Finals. Leonard serious considers re-signing with them this summer. 

Worst Case Scenario: They have another postseason exit in the Semis. Leonard bolts in free agency for Hollywood. Lowry is traded and the rebuild is on. 

Grade: A+

Washington Wizards: 43-39 (2^nd Southeast Division; No. 8 Seed in East) 23-18 at home, 16-25 on the road. Lost to the No. 1 Seeded Toronto Raptors 4-3 in East Quarterfinals. 

-106.6 ppg-5^th; opp. ppg: 106.0-15^th; 43.1 rpg-21^st 

Injuries, inconsistency, indifference amongst the team about their individual roles and a lack of depth are the key reasons the Washington Wizards were at the bottom of the East a season ago and were bounced in the opening round of the postseason. They have been one of the true enigmas of “The Association” and are wasting the prime years of their starting backcourt, who have not always seen eye-to-eye on the hardwood. The Wizards’ focus entering the 2018-19 season is to make solid use of the new additions including a former All-Star and Defensive Player of the Year and play their individual roles to their maximum to create better team harmony and success. 

When healthy and focused, the starting backcourt of All-Stars John Wall and Bradley Beal are in the Top 5 in terms of production in the NBA. 

That was not the case a season ago as Wall, who went from posting career-high of 23.1 and 10.7 (2^nd in NBA) in 2016-17 to 19.4 points and 9.6 assists (Led team) last season played in just 41 games last season being shelved for 28 games Jan. 27 to Apr. 3 due to arthroscopic surgery he had on his left knee in late February. 

The Wizards held their own in the first 13 games without their All-Star lead guard going 10-3 with a point differential of +5.0, shooting 49 percent from the field with an average of 30.2 assists. When the competition got a little stiffer over the next 15 games, the Wizards were just 5-10 with a point differential of -3.9, shooting 46 percent from the field averaging 26.9 assists. In the 41 total games Wall was out because of injury a season ago, the Wizards mark was 20-21. 

Beal became the go-to guy offensively for the Wizards and he pushed the boundaries of stardom as the first time All-Star selection led the Wizards in scoring at 22.6 with career-highs in rebounding at 4.4 boards and 4.5 assists on 46.0 percent from the field and 37.5 from three-point range. 

As good as Wall and Beal have been at times on the court, they have lacked the ability to at times co-exist with each other and their teammates. While head coach Scott Brooks has seen growth from the two in terms of their leadership, he feels there is another step they need to take in that area. 

“I think it takes time to be a good leader and I think the last two years he’s really developed in that area,” Brooks said of Wall’s ability to be a leader. “He’s a terrific player. He’s an All-Star for a reason. He does a lot of incredible things. I think the that I’m excited about his growth in the locker room and he’s really matured into a player you can really talk to him and players can ask him about experiences that he’s gone through now entering his eighth year.” 

Coach Brooks added by saying about Beal, “I think we got a good back court that can really do a good job of growing in that are in leadership.”

Last season, the first of his new four-year, $106 million deal he got in restricted free agency, starting small forward Otto Porter, Jr. responded with career-highs of 14.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, and a team-leading 1.5 steals, on 50.3 percent from the field and 44.1 from three-point range, which was third overall in the NBA. 

To put the former Georgetown Hoyas’ growth in to perspective, he shot 19 percent from three-point range as a rookie in 2013-14 to the fourth leading three-point shooter based on percentage the last two seasons. 

Outside of those three, who are the three highest paid on the Wizards, head coach Scott Brook’s squad struggled to get any consistent from the rest of the roster.

A serious lack of depth, especially in the frontcourt where the production was very scarce outside of starting power forward Markieff Morris (11.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 48.0 FG%) and reserve Kelly Oubre, Jr. (11.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 34.1 3-Pt.%), who had a breakout season in 2017-18. 

Starting center Marcin Gortat, who had been a solid man in the middle for the boys of the nation’s capital really struggled a season ago and his rift with Wall that was headline news all of last season was a major distraction in the locker room.

That lack of depth coupled with their immaturity was a big reason the Wizards went 3-9 to close last season and sustained 15 losses to teams below .500 a season ago. The 15^th loss at the Orlando Magic on Apr. 11, the final night of the 2017-18 regular season dropped the Wizards to the No. 8 Seed. 

To further illustrate the highs and lows of 2017-18 Wizards, they had a +114 differential in the first three quarters but were a -63 differential in the all-important fourth and final quarter. 

During the off-season, the Wizards did their best to resolve their depth issues, despite their low salary cap space by signing All-Star center Dwight Howard (16.6 ppg, 12.5 rpg-3^rd NBA, 1.6 bpg 55.5 FG% w/Hornets) to a two-year, $11 million deal, with the second-year being a player option. They also signed forward Jeff Green (10.8 ppg, 476.7 FG% w/Cavs) to a one-year, $2.5 million deal. 

The Wizards acquired guard Austin Rivers (15.1 ppg, 37.8 3-Pt.%), who opted into the final year of his three-year deal worth $12.65 million from the Los Angeles Clippers for Marcin Gortat, who should give some solid scoring punch to the second unit. 

“He’s coming off a career-year and his stability to create offense for himself and others will help our second unit and allow us to play a variety of lineups throughout the season,” Wizards’ owner Ernie Grunfeld said in a statement in June when the trade was announced. 

The Wizards also picked up center Thomas Bryant, who was waived by the Los Angeles Lakers this summer. A hyperextended left knee though will shelve him to start this season.

Those additions will allow the other secondary players like sharp shooter Jodie Meeks, who exercised his $3.5 million contract option to remain in D.C. and center Jason Smith, who got their player options in their contracts picked up during the summer; forward/center Ian Mahinmi and guard Thomas Satoransky (7.2 ppg, 3.9 apg, 52.3 FG%, 46.5 3-Pt.%) to play their roles without having to do too much. 

There was a time where the addition of Howard would have been headline news in the NBA because he was a game-changing player, especially at the defensive end with his ability to rebound and block shots, and a player who can finish at the basket with the best ever in the history of the game. That is how he became an eight-time All-Star; three-time Defensive Player of the Year; a seven-time All-NBA selection and five-time NBA All-Defensive Team selection. 

Since the 32-year-old, who set a Hornets single-season record with 53 double-doubles a season ago has left the Orlando Magic six seasons back, the goofy, aloof, funny personality has been a hinderance with the Lakers, Houston Rockets, Hawks, and last season with the Hornets. 

Howard is a sure lock to make it to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame when he wants to retire and anyone who questions that is just jealous. He did lead the Magic to the 2009 NBA Finals, where they lost to Bryant and the Lakers in five games and for a seven-year stretch was one of the game’s impactful players. 

For him to succeed in DC, he has to come to grips with the fact that in today’s position-less NBA, he has to be comfortable being a lob-threat at the rim; running the floor and hitting the offensive glass to score his points and be an impact blocking shots and getting nearly every defensive rebound. 

“I think for any team to be successful, any group of people, you got to have positive people around because we’re really going to go through things as individuals and we’re going to go through things as a team, and I think the best way to get through it is by staying positive and bringing the right type of energy every single day because the NBA season is a grind,” Howard, who may be on the shelf to start the season with an ailing back said in late September. 

“It’s not going to be easy. There’s going to be some dog days but for myself, I just try to always stay positive. Always smile and I never let people see me down.” 

According to NBA.com, the Wizards chose not to trade Oubre, Jr. even though with the signings created a log jam at the swing positions. This bears watching because he is do for a contract extension next summer. 

With Wall signing a four-year, $170 million extension last summer under the Designated Player Veteran Exception, which will fetch him an incredible $207 million in total through 2023 that begins in 2019-20; Beal’s five-year, $127 million deal he signed the summer before and the previously mentioned four-year deal that the Wizards matched by the Nets to keep Porter, Jr. last summer the Wizards cannot afford to keep both Porter, Jr. and Oubre, Jr.

If the Wizards decide to trade one or the other at the Feb. 2019 trade deadline, if the right deal presents itself, the Wizards covered themselves with the draft selections of forward Troy Brown, Jr. at No. 15 overall out of Oregon and guard Issuf Sanon at No. 44 overall from the Ukraine. 

Brown, 19 brings to the Wizards a solid handle and a court vision to find open people, but it will be very hard for him to crack the playing rotation given the quality depth chart the Wizards have. That might change though by the second month of the new year though. So, he just needs to be ready if or when that moment comes. 

Since 2012-13 when Beal and Wall became the starting backcourt, the Wizards have won made it as far as the Semifinals but have yet to reach Conference Finals. Also, they have not won 50 games or more in a regular season since 1978-79 as the Bullets, losing in The Finals to the then Seattle Supersonics. 

With LeBron James has taken his talents to the Western Conference is about as wide open as the Grand Canyon. 

That confidence, which has not always been backed up was in full effect recently when Morris said recently his twin brother Marcus’ squad has never been better than his.

With better depth on the roster thanks to the free agent signings and draft selections, all be it not spectacular or blockbuster, the Wizards, who have made the postseason four of the past five years should be in the mix in the East as long as they stay healthy and focused. 

The clock is ticking on Wall and Beal, who are 27 and 25 years of age respectably. All they have to do is look at the team that knocked them out in the Raptors and how team resident Masai Ujiri broke up his prolific All-Star backcourt of DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry this summer. That is how quickly patience from a front office can run out when you fall short of expectations. 

“We know me and Brad are going to have the ball. So, we can get out shot, but to make sure Otto is more involved. Then in the fourth quarter those guys have confidence and rhythm then need to take a big shot their comfortable doing it,” Wall said. 

“I can get my shot anytime I want to. It’s just making sure everybody’s comfortable. Everybody’s happy in their position.”

Best Case Scenario: Wizards win north of 45 games and capture the Southeast Division for the second time in three seasons. Wall and Beal stay healthy and are All-Stars again. Wizards reach the Eastern Conference Finals. 

Worst Case Scenario: Wizards have another early playoff exit. Wall and Beal miss time again because of injury. The supporting cast struggles.   

Grade: C

Western Conference

Dallas Mavericks: 24-58 (4^th Southwest Division; missed the playoffs) 15-26 at home, 9-32 on the road. 

-102.3 ppg-30^th; opp. ppg: 105.4-12^th; 41.3 rpg-27^th  

Last season, the Dallas Mavericks tied their third lowest win total in franchise history. It did not help matters that an explosive story by “Sports Illustrated” exposed how their business side of the organization had been extremely toxic for female employees with rampant sexual harassment and how supervisors in that department did not report it. The addition of one of the most hyped rookies out of Europe in recent years; a prized free agent signing and a hopeful improvement from last season’s No. 1 draft choice, the Mavericks are focused on getting back to the playoffs in for the first time in two seasons in what could be the final season for the best player in franchise history.

Lead guard Dennis Smith, Jr. (15.2 ppg, 5.2 apg), the No. 9 overall pick in 2017 out of North Carolina State showed some great promise, especially with how he was able to attack defenders off the dribble going to the basket. The No. 9 overall pick in 2017 did struggle shooting wise connecting on just 39.5 percent of his shots and just 31.3 from three-point range. 

The 2017-18 All-Rookie Second-Team selection said to NBATV’s Allie LaForce at Media Day on Sept. 24 that he worked on his jump shot over the summer by shooting closer shots and really fine tuning his mechanics to where he felt more comfortable going out to the mid-range area and then to the three-point line. 

Smith, Jr. should be able to become a better shooter with the addition of the No. 3 overall pick out of Europe in guard Luka Doncic, who the Mavs acquired from the Hawks in exchange for the draft rights to the No. 5 overall pick guard Trae Young and a protected 2019 First-Round pick.  

To put into context the franchise changer the Mavericks acquired, Doncic, 19 signed his first professional contract at age 13 with Real Madrid and averaged 14.5 points, 5.2 boards and 4.6 assists in 61 games for them a season ago. 

Last season he won the EuroLeague Rising Star Award, while also being named All-Euro League First-Team. He was the Final 4 MVP and won EuroLeague MVP in 2017-18, the Youngest ever to do so. He led Real Madrid to the 2018 Spanish League LIGA ACB title as he averaged 12.8 points and 6.8 rebounds in the four games.

“It’s another level NBA,” the 19-year-old said to LaForce. “For me it’s everything new again. So, they have all these superstars here and it’s tough to play. So, you need to adjust to it.”

At 6-foot-8, Doncic brings size and a maturity beyond his young years and the Slovenian really displayed the uncanny ability to see the floor; make shots at a respectable rate, especially from deep; making plays for others and took over games, even though he was the youngest player on the hardwood.

He also has had experience playing against some of the best in the league like 2017 league MVP Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder last preseason. 

While he may lack true athleticism, Doncic brings to the table a fundamentally sound game and deceptive quickness that should transfer well to “The Association,” and should be an ideal fit alongside Smith, Jr., who has been very impressed with what he has seen from the rookie during pick up games during the summer. 

“He’s a really high IQ player,” Smith, Jr. said to LaForce about his first impressions of Doncic. “He understands the game well. So, I think we can compliment each other really well this season.”

The Mavericks added some depth at the point guard spot drafting at No. 33 overall Jalen Brunson from the two-time NCAA champion Villanova Wildcats.

The son of former NBA player Rick Brunson will provide the Mavericks an ability to create for his teammates and provide leadership to the second unit because of a maturity that comes with playing in college for four years. Those things will more than make up for his lack of great size and a shooting accuracy that still needs to improve. 

The Mavericks on draft night acquired the draft rights to the No. 56 overall pick in forward Ray Spalding out of Louisville along with the No. 60 and final pick of the 2018 draft in forward Kostas Antetokounmpo out of Dayton, the younger brother of Bucks’ two-time All-Star Giannis from the Sixers. The Mavericks sent the draft rights to the No. 54 overall pick in guard Shake Milton to Philadelphia. 

After reneging on his verbal agreement to a four-year, $80 million deal in the summer of 2015, free agent center DeAndre Jordan (12.0 ppg, 15.2 rpg-2^nd NBA, 64.5 FG%-2^nd NBA), a Texas native decided this time around after opting out of the final year of his contract with Clippers worth $24.1 million and signed with the Mavs in the off-season on a one-year, $22.9 million deal.

The former Texas A&M Aggie, who is a two-time NBA All-Defensive First-Team selection and two-time NBA rebounding leader will provide the paint presence and lob-finishing off passes from Smith, Jr. and Doncic at the basket that has been seriously lacking for the Mavericks and head coach Rick Carlisle the past couple of seasons.

“I think those guys have tremendous upside,” Jordan said to LaForce about playing with Doncic and Smith, Jr. “Luka is a great floor general. He sees a ton of things that I didn’t see when I was 19 years old and Dennis is a very explosive, exciting young player who I think is going to have another great year this season.” 

To put the impact Jordan will have for the Mavericks into context, He was fourth in paint points in 2017-18 with 769 and third in offensive boards with 329.  

The other free agent business the Mavs took care of was picking up the player option on guard Wesley Matthews (12.7 ppg, 38.1 3-Pt.%), the final year of his deal; re-signed future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki (12.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 45.6 FG%, 40.9 3-Pt.%) to a one-year, $5 million deal and brought back for a second stint guard Devin Harris (8.4 ppg, 34.8 3-Pt.% w/Nuggets & Mavericks) on a one-year, $2.4 million deal.

When the 2018-19 season tips off for the Mavericks, it will the 21^st and likely final one for Nowitzki, the German native who help turned the Mavericks from doormats in the league in the 1990s, into a playoff perennial with 15 appearances in his first 19 seasons, which includes leading the Mavs to an NBA championship win in six games eight seasons back over the Heat, garnering Finals MVP. 

Along the way, the 40-year-old made himself into an MVP winner in 2006-07; a 13-time All-Star and 12-time All-NBA selection. Over the course of this season, the future Hall of Famer with 31,187 points will be moving up the NBA record books as he is 233 points away from passing the late Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlin into No. 5 on the all-time scoring list. With 1,918 career three-pointers, he is 61 connections away from passing Joe Johnson into 10^th on the all-time list as he is the only 7-footer in the Top 10 in threes made. Also, with 1,471 games played, all with the Mavericks, Nowitzki is six games away from passing Hall of Famer Karl Malone into fourth place on that list. 

Unfortunately for Nowitzki, he will begin the season on the shelf as he continues to rehabilitate from surgery he had on his ankle in April. 

He mentioned to LaForce though at Media Day that he is all about the team and that a farewell tour for as mentioned his last season possibly is not important and that it is all about winning games. 

“I hope we’re looking at an NBA MVP one day. I think he has the potential for it,” Nowitzki said to LaForce. “It’s been fun to watch in scrimmage but the NBA season is a long grind and he’s got a long way to go, but we like what he brings and the skies the limit for him.”

After signing Nowitzki, Matthews, and Harris the Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wanted to close their wallet and not jeopardize their salary cap space for the summer of 2019. 

That meant that the likes of guards Kyle Collinsworth, Seth Curry, and Yogi Ferrell; forward Doug McDermott and center Nerlens Noel needed to find new teams in free agency.   

That means that the likes of Harrison Barnes (18.9 ppg-Led team, 6.1 rpg-Led team, 44.5 FG%, 35.7 3-Pt.%), who made a career-high 119 threes a season ago; Dwight Powell (8.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 59.3 FG%), who averaged 10.1 points and 6.8 boards after the All-Star break Dorian Finney-Smith. Salah Mejiri, and Maximilian Kleber will have even more a chance to prove that they belong as a part of the Mavericks equation going forward alongside Smith, Jr., Doncic and hopefully Jordan. 

Barnes, who won a ring with the Warriors in 2015 of all the young core players that will carry the Mavericks forward once Nowitzki does walk off into the sunset has to raise his level of leadership where when he talks, the rest of the team listens. 

Three areas the Mavericks core of the future will have to get corrected from last season is closing out games better when leading by 10-plus points; handling business close games and staying in games. They were 20-21 in games they led by double-digits a season ago. A league worst 3-49 when they trailed by double figures and 12-38 in games that were within five points in the last five minutes. 

Perhaps the Mavericks most important focus this off-season was to clean up the sexual harassment and domestics abuse mess that has been a serious dark cloud hanging over the Mavericks since February after the story came out in “Sports Illustrated.” 

New CEO Cynthia Marshall, a former AT&T executive has been fast at work trying to rectify things which began with a 100-day plan that consisted of training sessions and one-on-one meetings with all Mavs employees. 

At a press conference when Cuban introduced Marshall as the team’s new CEO, she said in response to a question about the toxic situation she was brought in to deal with, “I got this.” 

Cuban agreed to contribute $10 million to women’s causes and domestic violence awareness as part of the NBA’s investigation into workplace conditions with his franchise. 

The NBA has said it reviewed their policies and procedures in relation to respect in the workplace and required all the other 29 teams to do the same. The league also established a confidential hotline for all team and league employees to report any misconduct in the workplace. 

At the start of the new century, the Mavericks made the postseason 12 straight years from 2000-12, which includes winning the franchise’s first title in 2011. For 11 straight seasons in that 12-year stretch, they won 50 games or more. Only the Lakers from 1979-91 and Spurs from 1999-2017 had longer streaks. The Mavericks the last two seasons have missed out on the playoffs going 57-107 at that time.  

The Mavericks hope that an 18-game stretch from Nov. 2 to Dec. 12 with 12 games at the American Airlines Center can get them off to the kind of start that can give them confidence because after that they play nine of 11 on the road from Dec. 18 to Jan. 5, 2019. 

The additions of Doncic and Jordan, the first true center they have had since Tyson Chandler, and an improved Smith, Jr.  can elevate themselves into a playoff contention and prove to possibly send Nowitzki off into the sunset possibly the right way.  

Best Case Scenario: The Mavericks win north of 35 games but miss out on the playoffs. Doncic battles Suns’ rookie DeAndre Ayton for Kia Rookie of the Year. Doncic, Jordan and Barnes become the Top 3 of the Mavericks moving forward. Nowitzki has a strong end to his career.

Worst Case Scenario: The team struggles through another rough season.

Grade: B-

Denver Nuggets: 46-36 (5^th Northwest Division; missed the playoffs) 31-10 at home, 15-26 on the road. 

-110.0 ppg-3^rd; opp. ppg: 108.5-22^nd; 44.5 rpg-7^th 

With seven straight wins, the Denver Nuggets put themselves in position to make the Western Conference playoffs for the first time in five straight seasons. They lost their regular season finale 112-106 in overtime at the Timberwolves, who claimed the No. 8 and final playoff spot. The focus for the Nuggets for this season is for those potential stars that really took a big step a season ago to continue that development, while taking a serious step at becoming a better defensive team. 

Three players who really emerged for head coach Michael Malone a season ago and got them within one game of the playoffs are starters at center Nikola Jokic and starting guards Jamal Murray and Garry Harris, all 23 years of age or younger.

For three straight seasons, Jokic has increased his scoring average from 10.7, to 16.7 to a team-leading 18.5. He recorded 16 double-doubles as a rookie, to 39 in 2016-17 to 38 a season ago. Perhaps the biggest improvement from Jokic’s first season was as passer going from 4.9 the season prior to a team-leading 6.1 a season ago, which led all centers in “The Association.” 

That steady improvement earned big man with a five-year, $146.5 million contract extension, keeping him off the potentially crowded free agent market next summer. 

“I want to be an All-Star,” is what Jokic said was his goal individually for this season at Media Day in late September. He added that the goal for the team is to win a “championship.”

Murray also raising his game in his second season going from averaging 9.9 points in his rookie season to 16.7; raising his overall field goal percentage from 40.4 to 45.1 and three-point percentage from 33.4 to 37.8.  

His backcourt mate Gary Harris, who earned a four-year, $84 million contract extension last summer was the Nuggets second leading scorer at 17.5 and their leader is steals at 1.8, while making 39.6 percent of his triples. 

If there is one thing that has become a real juggling act for teams, especially this off-season for the other 29 NBA teams, aside from the back-to-back defending champion Warriors is hitting a home run in the draft; hitting the mark in free ageny market, especially on players who are suddenly devalued, and signing them on the cheap, and hopefully hiding their weaknesses on the court. The Nuggets took all those avenues this summer. 

With the No. 14 pick in this June’s draft, they selected forward Michael Porter, Jr. out of Missouri. At No. 58, they selected center Thomas Welsh out of UCLA. Via trade, the Nuggets traded the draft rights to forward Justin Jackson, the No. 43 overall pick out of the University of Maryland along with a future Second-Round pick to the Magic for forward Jarred Vanderbilt out of the University of Kentucky. 

Two years ago, Porter, Jr. was one of the best high school players in the nation and was a serious prospect to go No. 1 overall in the draft. An unfortunate back injury, which required a second surgery in July took him out for all but a couple of games in his only season with the Tigers. 

When he did return he did flash his capabilities with 12 points and eight boards in 23 minutes off the bench on Mar. 8. In his only appearance in the NCAA Tournament for the Tigers, Porter, Jr. had 16 points, 10 rebounds and three steals. 

The good thing about where he got drafted is that he does not have to play right away with the Nuggets’ roster being so stacked. 

“My path was a little different then everybody else’s but I’m going to make sure this pick is this organization’s best pick they ever made,” the 19-year-old, 6-foot-10 Porter, Jr. said to ESPN’s Maria Taylor on draft night on June 24. “I’m not entitled to this. Everything’s a blessing and I’m so excited.” 

He added about when asked by Taylor about the concerns many have of him having a long and productive NBA career, “I have no concerns. I’m just happy to be with a team that believes in me. I’m happy to be a Denver Nugget.”

Along with signing Jokic to a contract extension, the Nuggets retained sharp shooting swingman and Sixth Man of the Year candidate Will Barton (15.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 4.1 apg, 45.2 FG%, 37.0 3-Pt.%), who thanks to a career-year scoring wise, which was No. 9 off the bench a season ago, while improving his shot selection and three-point percentage the past three seasons in the “Mile High” city earned a new four-year, $53 million deal. They also re-signed forward/guard Torrey Craig to a two-year, $4 million deal.

In free agency, the Nuggets signed former MVP candidate and two-time All-Star Isaiah Thomas (15.2 ppg, 4.8 apg, w/Cavs & Lakers), who played for Coach Malone when was head coach of the Kings in 2013-14 to a one-year, $2 million deal. 

The Nuggets with the new additions and their re-signings should keep them in the Top 10 in three-point percentage, where they finished No. 7 at 37.1 percent. 

Thomas like Porter, Jr. is a victim of being injured at the worst possible time as a hip injury sustained in the 2017 playoffs as a member of the Boston Celtics blocked his path to a big payday of earning at least $25 million per year. 

Two teams later going from being traded to the now three-time defending East champion Cavs to the Lakers, Thomas sat on the market, no doubt angry and confused. He did not ask for or deserve the place he found himself in. However, if there is any team that he could go to that he can have an impact on, off the bench it is with the boys from “Mile High.”  

He will be part of a second unit that will feature the previously mentioned Barton, possibly Porter, Jr., and Craig; forwards Trey Lyles (9.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 49.1 FG%, 38.1 3-Pt.%) and Juan Hernangomez, center Mason Plumlee (7.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 60.1 FG%), and guard Malik Beasley.

Another player looking to have a bounce back season is last summer’s prized free agent signing in forward Paul Millsap (14.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 46.4 FG%), who missed 44 games after wrist he underwent nearly midway through last season. 

With Jokic and Barton getting rich and well-earned extensions in their deals along with the other signings, the Nuggets pushed themselves in the luxury tax. To cut that salary down, they said goodbye to three players that were part of the rotation in the past but did not figure into their future. 

The first Nugget to be dealt was forward/guard Wilson Chandler, who the Nuggets dealt along with and a future Second-Round pick to the Sixers for cash consideration. That deal saved the Nuggets according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks $50 million in combined salary cap and luxury cap space. 

Former starting forward Kenneth Faried and forward/center Darrell Arthur were traded to the Nets along with a 2019 protected First-Round pick (1-12 range) and a 2020 unprotected Second-Round pick for guard Isaiah Whitehead, who they waived. 

The Nuggets this season like the last couple should be fine offensively with the loaded roster they have from the starters to their reserves. If they have any plans on breaking this five-year playoff drought they first must improve their road record, where their 16-win difference between their home and road mark a season ago and play better at the defensive end. 

While the Nuggets ranked No. 2 in rebound differential for the second straight season tied with the Thunder at +2.9, they were dead last, No. 30 in opponent’s field goal percentage at 47.6 percent and three-point percentage (37.8), where they have ranked in the bottom five in each of Coach Malone’s three seasons on the sidelines. 

The Nuggets also need to play better in back-to-backs. While they went 42-26 with one day of rest in 2017-18 with one day of rest and 10-0 when their opponent had a game the night before and they did not, they were just 4-10 in the second of back-to-backs.

The Nuggets, who along with the Celtics and Timberwolves have increased their win total the last three seasons but have missed the playoffs by one game the last two. 

In the last 24 seasons, the Nuggets have gotten past the opening round of the playoffs twice. In 1994 when they became the first team to get passed the First-Round as a No. 8 Seed defeating the Supersonics 3-2 and in 2009 where they lost in the Conference Finals to the eventual back-to-back champion Lakers in six games. 

With more consistently at the defense end; good health and continued cohesion between Jokic, Murray, Harris, Millsap, Plumlee and Lyles, the Nuggets, who play 15 of their first 19 games this season at Pepsi Center hope they can finally make it back to the postseason in a very loaded Western Conference. If Thomas and Porter, Jr. make can have an impact, that playoff dream has an even better chance of becoming a reality. 

Best Case Scenario: The Nuggets win north of 45 games and make the playoffs after a five-year absence. Jokic is on the bubble of making his first All-Star selection and earns All-NBA nod.

Worst Case Scenario: The Nuggets defensive struggles and road woes continue and they miss the playoffs for a sixth straight season.

Grade: B-

Golden State Warriors: 58-24 (1^st Pacific Division; No. 2 Seed in West) 29-12 at home, 29-12 on the road. Defeated the San Antonio Spurs 4-1 in West Quarterfinals. Defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 4-1 in West Semifinals. Defeated the Houston Rockets 4-0 in Conference Finals. Defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 4-0 in The NBA Finals.

-113.5 ppg-1^st; opp. ppg: 107.5-18^th; 43.7 rpg-17^th 

The dominance of Golden State Warriors continued in 2017-18 as they swept the four-time Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers 4-0 to win their second straight title and third in the last four seasons. It did not come easy as they had to battle injuries, a sense of boredom during the regular season, and a serious challenge in the Conference Finals from the No. 1 overall seeded Houston Rockets. The Warriors enter this season with their All-Star “Core Four” still intact and unexpected made a big splash in free agency without having to break the bank. The focus for the Warriors entering this season is incorporate their newest All-Star addition and be in position to win their third straight championship. 

The Warriors success begins and ends with the All-Star “Core Four of” former Kia MVPs in Stephen Curry (26.4 ppg-T-Team lead, 6.1 apg, 5.1 rpg, 1.6 spg-Led team, 49.5 FG%, 42.3 3-Pt.%) and Kevin Durant (26.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 5.4 apg, 1.8 bpg-5^th NBA, 51.6 FG%, 41.9 3-Pt.%) and fellow All-Stars Klay Thompson (20.0 ppg, 48.8 FG%, 44.0 3-Pt.%-T-4^th NBA) and Draymond Green (11.0 ppg, 7.6 rpg-Led team, 7.3 apg-7^th NBA). 

Last season though, all four missed time due to injury with Curry being on the shelf the most for 31 games because of multiple injuries. Curry even missed the opening round series against the Spurs but came back in Game 2 of their Semifinal tilt with the Pelicans and the “Core Four” got it done again. 

Leading the way was Durant, who averaged 29.0 points, 7.8 boards and 4.7 assists in the postseason overall, but he was especially magnificent in the 2018 NBA Finals averaging 28.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 2.3 blocks earning his second consecutive Finals MVP in the Warriors four-game sweep of the Cavaliers. The four-time scoring champion capped his brilliant series with his first playoff career triple-double in Game 4 with 20 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists with three block shots in the 108-85 win on June 8.

“I think at this point in my career I just want to continue to fine tune the small things in my game from shooting one dribble pull ups or shooting left handed layups,” Durant said to NBATV’s/TNT’s Ros Gold-Onwude at Media Day on Sept. 24.  

Curry, who made the 2017-18 All-NBA Third Team averaged 25.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.7 steals during the 2018 playoffs saved his best for last as well in that Game 4 win with a game-high 37 points with six boards, three steals and three block shots on 12 for 27 shooting, including 7 for 15 from three-point range. 

“To be honest this is one of the best summers I’ve ever had in terms of kind of my preparation,” Curry, who with wife Ayesha welcomed their third child, son Canon said about his preparation for the season. “For me, the same concepts in terms of getting healthy obviously. Letting your body rest, but then in terms of skill work trying to do what I do now great even better. Whatever I try to do out there on the floor I’ll be prepared.”

Thompson as he has done throughout his career playing alongside his fellow “Splash Brother” in Curry was solid averaging 19.6 points in the postseason hitting 46.5 percent of his shots and 42.7 of his attempts from three-point range had his moment in Game 6 of the Conference Finals versus the Rockets where he had 35 points with six boards and four steals on 13 for 23 shooting, including 9 for 14 from three-point range in the 115-86 win on May 26 to tie the series at 3-3. The Warriors won Game 7 101-92 two nights later in Houston, TX to win the series 4-3 and advance back to The Finals.   

As good as the Warriors have been offensively during this four-year run of success, ranking in the Top 5 in three-point percentage each of the last nine seasons their ability to defend is a major reason they have won three titles in the past four seasons. 

They led “The Association” in block shots per game at 7.5 in 2017-18. While their opponent’s three-point percentage rose from a league leading 32.4 percent in 2016-17 to 35.7 percent during the 2017-18 regular season, it was still good enough for 10^th in the league. 

That all changed in the 2018 postseason as the opposition managed to connect on 31.3 percent of their three-point attempts. To put that into clearer context, three of the four worst three-point shooting games in the 2018 playoffs were by the Spurs, New Orleans Pelicans and Houston Rockets happened against the back-to-back defending champions. 

The Warriors, especially in the 2018 postseason really took charge in the third quarter outscoring their opponents by a +153, as opposed to a +57 in the other three quarters. 

The “Core Four” return intact again as Durant re-signed a two-year, $61.5 million deal, with a player-option for the second year. If that was not enough for the rest of the NBA to tangle with, the Warriors made another chess move in signing All-Star DeMarcus Cousins to a one-year, $5.3 million deal on July 6 which sent shivers and made the other 29 teams shake their heads in disbelief as the back-to-back champs distanced themselves again with the additions of a guy who last season averaged 25.2 points, career-highs of 12.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists, with 1.6 steals and 1.6 blocks on 47.0 percent from the field and 35.4 percent from three-point range, making a career-best 104. 

Signing Cousins, a four-time All-Star below market value came about because the former Sacramento King and New Orleans Pelican tore his Achilles injury on Jan. 26 versus the Rockets, ending his 2017-18 season 48 games in. 

His chance of signing a long-term contract in free agency went up in smoke and Cousins figured why not with the Warriors, who will give him the necessary time get healthy and be a major factor in their drive to three-peat. 

“I’m all heeled,” Cousins said to NBATV’s/TNT’s Ros Gold-Onwude at Media Day on Sept. 24 about his Achilles. “I haven’t had any setbacks and right now, it’s just about building strength. So, it’s any day now. We’ll figure that out eventually. We’ll come together and pick out that return date.”

This will mark the second time in recent years that the Warriors took a major gamble on a player trying to come back from a serious injury. Six years back Curry who was dealing with recurring sprains to his ankle. So, the two-time Kia MVP signed a team-friendly deal which allowed the Warriors to sign Andre Iguodala and add two other pieces that jump started the dynasty that seems to be nowhere close to ending for now. 

At the end of that deal, Curry was a two-time league MVP as mentioned, with is second one coming via unanimously, he went from being the fourth highest paid player on his own team to becoming the first player in the league to sign a supermax deal that was a five-year, $201 million extension. 

The only downside to Cousins has been his demeanor on the court. He has racked up technical fouls and suspensions for much of his career, especially in his early years with the Sacramento Kings, who had no direction or order and have not made the playoffs since 2006. 

He did soften up in his time in the “Big Easy,” playing alongside fellow All-Star and former Kentucky Wildcat Anthony Davis and in their short period of time together played well as a front court tandem. 

“I’m always going to be myself no matter what,” Cousins said Gold-Onwude. “I think that’s what make having a team so special. Everyone’s able to be there self and you have to learn to accept everybody for who they are. So, with that being said, it’s not about stepping on anybody’s toes. Our job is to come in here and win games and I think everybody has the same mindset coming in. We want to win a championship. So, that’s the ultimate goal.”

The Warriors do not need Cousins for the regular season. He can rehabilitate to the point where he can be ready for when they really need him for the stretch run in March to hopefully June, which Warriors GM Bob Myers wants for him more than anything. 

While the Pelicans made it to the playoffs last year, Cousins because he was injured was not out there as they swept the Trail Blazers in the opening round for their first playoff series win in a decade. 

“Every great player deserves to do that. He hadn’t gotten to do that,” Myers said to ESPN’s “NBA: The Jump” host Rachel Nichols and Scottie Pippen on Tuesday about when he talked to Cousins about where he talked to him. He added when he talked to Cousins, “Whatever decision you make get to the playoffs.” 

“For him I think he made a decision at this point in his life he’s made a lot of money and he probably will make a lot more money but I want to go win and be in a place where I want to play, have fun and play with guys I know and like. So, I think that’s what went into it.”

That means they will likely play even fewer games than the 29 that were within five points in the last five minutes a season ago, which tied the Utah Jazz for fewest clutch games. 

If nothing else, he is an upgrade over prior centers the Warriors have had in JaVale McGee, who signed a one-year deal with the Lakers this off-season; ZaZa Pachulia, who signed a one-year deal with the Detroit Pistons as well summer and Andrew Bogut, who played their roles well, but were on the bench at crunch time for head coach Steve Kerr. 

In June, the Warriors selected with the No. 28 overall pick guard Jacob Evans out of the University of Cincinnati, who helped the Bearcats to the No. 2 Seed in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. 

The First-Team All-AAC selection brings size at 6-foot-5 and length to the wing position as well as the ability to score as he averaged 13.0 points in his junior season, hitting 37 percent of his three-pointers. 

He is the next project of the Warriors’ player development program, that has turned the likes of center Kevon Looney, who was re-signed during the off-season; last season’s rookie in power forward/center Jordan Bell; center Damian Jones and Quinn Cook (9.5 ppg, 48.4 FG%, 44.2 3-Pt.%) and Patrick McCaw, who remains unsigned into major parts of the Warriors bench. 

The Warriors also in free agency added some more long-range shooting and athleticism to their bench with the signing of forward Jonas Jerebko (5.8 ppg 46.6 FG%, 41.4 3-Pt.% w/Jazz) on a one-year, $2.1 million deal.  

He along with Evans will be a very important part of the Warriors second unit that still has the veteran presence of swingman Andre Iguodala, guard Shaun Livingston and the previously mentioned Bell, Cook, Jones and Looney. 

Winning in the NBA does not last forever and a lot of things have ended the kind of success the Warriors have had these past four seasons with money being one of them. This upcoming season, Warriors will be paying with the luxury tax a total of $204 million and in the 2019-20 season a salary of $325 million, with $146.8 million of that coming from Curry ($40.2 million); Durant ($38.2 million) if he opts in; Thompson ($32.7 million); Green ($18.5 million) and Iguodala ($17.2 million), with $132 million of that in luxury tax. 

Curry has three years and $129 million left on his deal. Both Thompson and Green are set to be unrestricted free agents over the next two summers. Thompson has not indicated that he plans on going anywhere and he reiterated that to Nichols saying, “It’s cool being able to be the franchise leader. The focal point of a franchise but I’m just so happy to be a part of this team I want to keep this train running for as long as I can.”

“We got such a great thing going. It’s like a once in a decade type thing. That’s why it would be hard to replicate anywhere else.”

For Green it is all comes down to the money as back in June he according to ESPN’s Chris Haynes when he will turn down an offered contract extension of three years for $72 million. The reasoning behind that is if he earns Kia MVP, which is highly unlikely, Defensive Player of the Year or All-NBA Team honors in 2018-19, he will be eligible for a super-max deal of five years, $226 million. 

“Well this is a business. So, you have to always explore those options and see what makes sense and what doesn’t,” Green, who has one-year left on his contract for $18.5 million said about how he will handle his upcoming free agency. 

“I’m confident I’ll be here for a very long time. So, it’s not something I’m going into the season thinking about.” 

For Durant, who can opt out of his contract in the summer of 2019 is interesting. He has been an important part of the Warriors last two titles and has found the success that has eluded him with the Oklahoma City Thunder, all be it has not come without it share of criticism from fans outside California. 

The good thing for the Warriors is they will be opening a new arena, The Spectrum Center in the 2019-20 season, which will be a serious cash-cow, giving them the flexibility to continue to pay their “Core Four” of Durant, Thompson, Curry, and Green, who are all between the ages of 28 and 30 and keep this title run going.

To put into context the historic run the Warriors have been on the last four seasons, only 1.7 percent of all the players that have played in the NBA have won three titles or more. Of the 4,269 players that have played in the NBA all-time, 89 of them have won three or more titles according to the Elias Sports Bureau. 

The Warriors, who are the only team this season that will make the famed “Texas Triangle” road trip enter this season as the clear-cut favorite to win it all again, especially with the addition of Cousins. Barring injury, the Warriors should join the Celtics, Bulls and Lakers as the only teams in NBA history to win back-to-back-to-back titles. Some of the Warriors like Curry Thompson, Green, Iguodala, and Livingston would join the 0.9 percent of players, 40 in total players all-time that have four titles or more. 

That is why Coach Kerr and his team are trying to enjoy the ride while putting in the work to continue their greatness. 

“It’s rare. We know we have a bigger window than most teams do in this position…This has been an incredible run that’s going to be very difficult to match,” Kerr said in the middle of September. “But we want to just keep going for as long as we can.”

Best Case Scenario: The Warriors make it back to The Finals for a fifth consecutive year and win their third straight Larry O’Brien trophy and fourth in five seasons. Durant, Curry and Thompson make the All-Star team again. Cousins fits in like a glove and helps the Warriors win their fourth title.

Worst Case Scenario: They lose in The Finals to the Celtics or Raptors.  

Grade: A+

Houston Rockets: 65-17 (1^st Southwest Division; No. 1 Seed in West) 34-7 at home, 31-10 on the road. Defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 4-1 in West Quarterfinals. Defeated the Utah Jazz 4-1 in West Semifinals. Lost to the Golden State Warriors 4-3 in Conference Finals.

-112.4 ppg-2^nd; opp. ppg: 103.9-T-6^th; 43.5 rpg-T-18^thThey set a franchise record with 65 wins in the regular season and earned the No. 1 Seed in the West. They got their wish to take on the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals and had them on the ropes leading after five games 3-2. Unfortunately, they lost their starting lead guard in their Game 5 victory and could not close the deal losing Games 6 in the Warriors’ building and Game 7 on their home floor. While they added a perennial All-Star, who they tried to acquire from the “Big Apple” as season ago, their off-season was more about the two subtractions from their roster in free agency as well as a key assistant coach. The focus for the Rockets heading into this season is to put themselves in the same position as last season and this time around beat the Warriors.

The arrival of nine-time All-Star lead guard Chris Paul (18.6 ppg, 7.9 apg-6^th NBA, 5.4 rpg, 1.7 spg-Led team, 46.0 FG%, 38.0 3-Pt.%) via trade from the Clippers the prior summer provided the necessary intangibles the Rockets did not have the past three postseasons like leadership, accountability, and late-game intelligence. 

The initial question with Paul’s arrival last season was could he and fellow All-Star James Harden co-exist together in the same backcourt?

The answer, a resounding YES! The marriage on the court was remarkable as Harden, who signed a record four-year, $228 million extension through the 2022-23 season led the NBA in scoring at 30.4 in 2017-18 and finished third in assists at 8.8, while grabbing 5.4 rebound and 1.8 steals (7^th NBA) won his first Kia MVP after finishing in the Top 3 the last two seasons. 

The addition of Paul, who re-signed on a four-year, $160 million deal was a big part in the Rockets going a league leading 53-5 a season ago when leading by double-digits. They also had a stellar 25-10 mark in games that were within five points in the last five minutes and equaled the Warriors with a 10-4 mark in the back end of back-to-backs. 

The Rockets dreams of advancing to The Finals for the first time since 1995 came crashing down on them when Paul injured his hamstring in the closing moments of their 98-94 win in Game 5 on May 24 that gave them one-game lead in the Conference Finals against the Warriors 3-2. 

Two dismal second-half performances in Games 6 and 7 without their nine-time All-Star floor general put an end to this championship dreams as the Warriors went on to the NBA Finals were they swept the Cavs 4-0 to win their second straight championship.

The most glaring thing about the 101-92 loss at home in Game 7 on May 28 was the most prolific three-point shooting team for a single-season making an NBA record 1,296 during the regular season, beating their own record of 1,181 the prior season shot an awful 7 for 44 from three-point range, which included 27 straight misses.  

To put this into perspective, the Rockets attempted an NBA record, 50.2 percent of their field goals during the regular season from the three-point line. They outscored their opponents from distance by an average of 15.6 during the regular season.

Both Paul and Harden are stinging from last season’s disappointing finish and are eager to get back to where they were a season ago and finish the deal. 

“Tough,” is how Paul described last season’s finish with LaForce at Media Day. “But no one is going to feel sorry for us or even me. “Took a couple of weeks to heel up, get healthy and it was right back to work.” 

“You got to try to have a short memory. I always remember what happened but had to get back to work.” 

The other question about head coach Mike D’Antoni’s squad last season is did they have that third consistent scorer that fit the mold of a “Big Three” that any team in today’s NBA needs to seriously win. On the surface the answer was no but starting center and Kia Most Improved Player candidate Clint Capela sure did his best to answer that question as he averaged career-highs in points at 13.9; rebounds at 10.8 (8^th NBA); blocks at 1.9 (2^nd NBA) and field goal percentage at 65.2 (Led NBA). 

While took most of the off-season due to the soft summer market for big men, the reigning Southwest Division champs re-signed Capela to a five-year contract extension worth between $80-$90 million in late July. 

The Switzerland native provided solid rim protection and consistently finished at the rim off of dives to the basket off the pick-and-roll with Harden or Paul, that resulted in a league leading 213 dunks a season ago. They also re-signed sharp shooter Gerald Green to a one-year, $2.4 million deal.

When Harden, Paul and Capela were in the lineup during the 2017-18 regular season, the Rockets went 42-3.  

Kia Sixth Man of the Year candidate Eric Gordon (18.0 ppg, 35.9 3-Pt.%), who won the honor in 2017 had another stellar season providing major offensive punch off the bench for the Rockets especially from three-point range. 

That second will have some new parts in Brandon Knight and forward Marquese Chriss (7.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg), who were acquired in a trade that sent the huge contract of sharp shooter Ryan Anderson trading him along with the draft rights to guard De’Anthony Melton to the Phoenix Suns. 

While the No. 8 overall pick in 2016 never developed in the “Valley of the Sun,” he is only 21 years of age and his athleticism will be a welcome addition to the Rockets if he can bring a consistent focus to practice and game action. Knight, the No. 8 overall pick by the Pistons in 2011 missed all last season after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee while playing basketball close to his home in South Florida that required surgery. The Rockets hope he is healthy because if so, he will be a solid addition who can cut down the work load of Paul and Harden.

The greatest trait of Rockets’ GM Daryl Morey is he is willing to take risk to keep the Rockets in title contention in the James Harden era. When he added Dwight Howard a few years ago did not pan out, that did not reserve his ability to take chances. He brought in Paul and they came as mentioned within one game of having a chance to compete for the Larry O’Brien trophy.

He has taken that chance again by signing Carmelo Anthony, who after agreeing to opt in on the final year of his five-year contract worth $27.9 million that he signed with the Knicks in summer of 2014 was traded in a three-team deal to the Hawks from the Oklahoma City Thunder. 

He accepted a $2.4 million buyout with the team from the “ATL” that essentially cleared him to sign a veteran’s minimum deal of that same amount with the Rockets. 

The hope is that Anthony can accept a role as the third banana with Harden and Paul, his very good friend than he did last season with the Thunder and the All-Star tandem of Russell Westbrook and Paul George. 

Last season with the Thunder, Anthony’s role was as a stretch power forward, who was asked to spot up in the corners to shoot threes and was asked to serve as a decoy in late-game moments. 

It is safe to say things did not pan out well as Anthony, who made a career-high 169 threes on a 35.7 percent clip averaged career-lows in points (16.2) and field goal percentage (40.4).

On the surface, Anthony teaming up with Harden and Paul should work but it will only happen if he can accept being the third option. 

This also represents a chance for him to change the perception that he and Coach D’Antoni had while with the Knicks where their inability to work together led to the current Rocket head coach’s resignation on May 14, 2012. 

“It was good for us, me, myself and D’Antoni to have a real conversation” Anthony, who had 28 games with 20-plus points a season ago with the Thunder said to LaForce. “Being in New York can cause a lot of tension itself and a lot of stresses. But for the most part it was good to have that dialogue with him, and kind of get that out the way first, and now we can just focus on winning a championship. That’s it.”

The addition of “Melo” became necessary after the Rockets lost perimeter defensive stallworths Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute, who signed with the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Clippers respectably in free agency. 

Why did Ariza leave for a team that was one healthy Paul hamstring from possibly being in The Finals for a team in the Suns that are rebuilding and are nowhere close to a title contender? Well, the Suns gave him $15 million reasons on a one-year deal why. 

New Rockets owner Tillman Fertitta said during the off-season he had no issue going into the luxury tax to keep Mbah a Moute and Ariza particularly.

But in one off-season, the Rockets not only lost two players in their rotation who can make three-pointers consistently, but who are the two main reasons along with Paul and sharp shooting forward PJ Tucker (6.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 37.1 3-Pt.%) why the Rockets became a better defensive team. 

Losing Ariza and Mbah a Moute, along with assistant coach Jeff Bzdelik, who coached Anthony at the start of his NBA career with the Nuggets in 2003-04 could have serious consequences for the Rockets at that end of the court, especially for Anthony who has never been known as a great defender. 

They hope that the other new additions in point guard Michael Carter-Williams, the 2011 Rookie of the Year, who signed a one-year, $1.5 million deal, and forward James Ennis (7.1 ppg, 47.4 FG% w/Grizzlies & Pistons), who signed a two-year deal can make up for those losses. 

“[The media] reports we’re going to be worse defensively,” Coach D’Antoni said to The Houston Chronicle in late September. “[The players] read and they put a lot of emphasis into it and we’re not going to be worse. We’re going to be better.”

Ennis feels the same way and echoed that by saying to “The Athletic” in early September of their defense and overtaking the Warriors in the postseason, “Yes we can. A lot of fire power. A lot of defensive power. Bringing in Carmelo Anthony who is an offensive threat. Michael Carter-Williams is a good guard. He can score the ball, his length. If everyone is healthy, we’ll definitely beat them.”

Keeping a championship contender focused on the ultimate prize is a very difficult task. It is especially hard in an era where the defending champion Warriors can throw five All-Stars on the hardwood with their addition of DeMarcus Cousins. Morey, Coach D’Antoni had a lot of work to do this off-season and while the team has changed some of its supporting cast, the main players are all back in Harden, Paul, Capela and Gordon. 

The Rockets to their credit at least on paper put themselves in position to be a serious threat to the Warriors at least in the West for the 2018-19 NBA campaign. Perhaps the most important thing for the Rockets this season is to stay healthy, especially Paul, whose averaged just 64 games played the last three seasons. 

“I’ve got an amazing team around me,” Paul said of the Rockets’ athletic trainers, sports performance and rehab staff of Jason Biles, Joe Rogowski, Keith Jones and Javair Gillett. “With the way the league is now there’s really no off-season So, it’s conditioning, eating right and hopefully to a healthy season this year.”

To bring into context how important it is the Rockets make a serious run again at the championship this season, Harden, Paul and Capela salaries over the next four seasons make up 80, 85, 86 and 90 percent, equating to $81, $93, $100, and $107 million respectably. In the last year of his contract, Paul will be earning $44 million. 

With Paul, a rejuvenated Anthony and reigning Kia MVP in Harden, the Rockets hope to get exactly another legitimate chance to meet the Warriors in the Conference Finals and finish what they did not a season ago and make it to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1995 when they won their second straight Larry O’Brien trophy. 

They will really find that out from Mar. 3-13, 2019 where in a six-game stretch they will play at the Celtics and the Rockets, while hosting the 76ers and Warriors. 

Best Case Scenario: The Rockets win north of 55 games and are the No. 1 Seed in West again. Anthony flourishes as the third wheel offensively behind Paul and Harden. The bench has a major impact. The Rockets overtake the Warriors in the Conference Finals and take down either the Raptors, Celtics, or Sixers in The Finals to win their third title in franchise history. 

Worst Case Scenario: Rockets fall in the Conference Finals again to the Warriors. 

Grade: C  

Los Angeles Clippers: 42-40 (2^nd Pacific Division; missed the playoffs) 22-19 at home, 20-21 on the road.  

-109.0 ppg-9^th; opp. ppg: 109.0-24^th; 43.9 rpg-15^th   

In the span of seven months, the Los Angeles Clippers said goodbye to the three pillars of their “Lob City” era. They dealt their lead guard in the summer of 2017 to “Clutch City”, followed by their All-Star forward in late January to the “Motor City.” Then this summer, the third pillar opted out of the final year of his contracted and moved on to “Big D.” The focus of the Clippers entering the 2018-19 season is to find a new identity, while figuring out what they have currently on their roster so they can identify what they need in the summer of 2019 where a lot of cap space will be at their disposal. 

With the trades of nine-time All-Star guard Chris Paul to the Rockets last summer, and the trade of Blake Griffin in mid-January to the Rockets and Pistons respectably, the Clippers were without a true headliner as well as a go-to player offensive, particularly at the end of games. 

Reigning Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams did a remarkable job in picking up the slack with a career-high averages of 22.6 points and 5.3 assists on 35.9 percent from three-point range. 

How good was the 13-year veteran last season? He scored 30 points or more 17 times a season ago, which included four games of 40-plus. The best of those games was his career-high of 50 in leading the Clippers to a 125-106 win on Jan. 10 at the back-to-back defending champion Warriors on ESPN. He was 16 for 27 from the field, including hitting a career-high 8 threes in 16 tries and went 10 for 10 from the charity stripe. 

That great season earned Williams, who has bounced around the league playing for Sixers, Hawks, Raptors, Lakers, and Rockets in his career earned a three-year, $24 million contract extension. Including last season, the 31-year-old Second-Round pick in 2005 at the end of this contract with a $1.5 million partial guarantee in year three, Williams earned a new four-year, $31 million extension. 

Still the Clippers missed the postseason for the first time since 2011 and reverted back to the No. 2 NBA squad in terms of basketball bragging rights in the “City of Angels” to the Lakers, who signed four-time Kia MVP LeBron James in the off-season, more on that momentarily. 

This off-season, starting center DeAndre Jordan, affectionately know as “Mr. Clipper” for being the all-time leader in games played (750); grabbing the most rebounds (7,988); blocks (1,277) and field goal percentage (67.3) in franchise history was encouraged to opt out of the final year of his deal to return to Dallas, TX to sign with the Mavericks. 

The only remaining member of the best run in Clippers’ history is head coach Glenn “Doc” Rivers, who was stripped of his role of making decisions with the personnel on the roster at last off-season, which essentially was the beginning of the end of the “Lob City.

GM Michael Winger, Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank and consultant Jerry West felt that the core of the Clippers went as far as they could and felt it was time to make massive changes to the team roster wise, but still kept Rivers as head coach because he proved he can still win games even with a roster that dealt with injuries and rapid change. 

Another big change included the trade of Rivers’ son Austin, who had a breakout season in 2017-18 really improved as a player, but the brought an awkward vibe to the locker room was dealt to the Wizards in exchange for center Marcin Gortat (8.4 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 51.8 FG%), who should instantly slide in as the starting center replacing Jordan. 

“I truly believe that I’m a good shooter up to 15-to-17 feet. But I’m not going to shoot threes,” Gortat said of sticking to what made him have a solid NBA career back in late June. “I want to go into the paint. Body people. Be physical, Get scratches. Bleed”

In June’s draft the Clippers acquired the draft rights to the No. 11 overall pick in guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out of University of Kentucky for the No. 12 overall pick in Miles Bridges out of Michigan State. 

With the No. 13 pick, the Clippers selected the purest scorer in the draft in guard Jerome Robinson out of Boston College, who was just one of five Eagles to ever earn an All-American honor. 

Gilgeous-Alexander, the All-SEC Freshmen Team selection and Second-Team All-SEC selection in 2017-18 averaged 14.1 points, 5.1 assists and 1.6 steals hitting 40.4 percent of his threes last season brings great height at 6-foot-6 and versatility to play both the lead guard and shooting guard spots. 

While SAG really did not shine until January for the Wildcats and head coach John Calipari, he played at a high level during the SEC Tournament earning MVP honors. 

He looked very impressive in his stint in Summer League, where he displayed his smooth ball-handling and good instincts at the defensive end. 

The Clippers believes he can be better than some of his fellow rookies in Colin Sexton of the Cavs or Trae Young of the Hawks. 

That all depends if he can squeak out minutes ahead of returning guards Patrick Beverly (12.2 ppg, 1.7 spg, 40.0 3-Pt.%); Milos Teodosic (9.5 ppg, 4.6 apg, 37.9 3-Pt%), who exercised his $6.3 million player option back in June along with guard Avery Bradley (14.3 ppg, 36.9 3-Pt.%), who re-signed on a two-year, $25 million deal. Beverly, Bradley and Teodosic will be eager to prove themselves after missing a combined 155 games because of injury. SAG will also compete with guard Sindarius Thornwell, last year’s rookie for minutes off the bench. 

Gilgeous-Alexander’s playing time will also depend on his ability to improve his marksmanship from three-pointer range, which was not his strength and how willing Rivers is to let him play through his rookie miss steps on the floor.  

Robinson, who increased his scoring in each of his three years for the Eagles should see big minutes immediately off the bench with his ability to make shots. 

Two players who think prominently for the Clippers this season are their versatile forwards in Danilo Gallinari (15.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg) and the major piece in return from the Griffin trade Tobias Harris (18.6 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 46.0 FG%, 41.4 3-Pt.%). 

Gallinari in his first nine seasons with the Knicks, Nuggets and the Clippers last season has just been unable to remain healthy. He missed 61 games in 2017-18 with a multitude of them. 

When he has been healthy he has shown he can be one of the best outside shooters at the forward position with the ability to put the ball on the floor. 

For Harris, this season will be his chance to earn a big lengthy paycheck from either the Clippers or someone else as he will be an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2019. 

To maintain that healthy cap space for next summer, the Clippers biggest free agent splurge was signing Bradley to a two-year, $24.9 million deal. That was followed by the re-signing of center Montrezl Harrell (11.0 ppg, 63.5 FG%-3^rd NBA), who had a solid season off the bench to a two-year, $12 million deal. 

They signed sharp shooting big man Mike Scott (8.8 ppg, 52.7 FG%, 40.5 3-Pt.%) and defensive forward, back for a second tour of duty in Luc Mbah a Moute (7.5 ppg, 48.1 FG%, 36.4 3-Pt.%) to one-year deals at $4.3 million respectably. 

The last year-plus has been one of change for the Clippers where they said goodbye to Paul, Jordan, and Griffin who helped to author the best six-year run since the team moved to L.A. in the middle of the 1980s. They never got further than the Semifinals though, as they have never reached the Conference Finals in their 48-year history. 

Their reinvention will continue this season as they search for a new identity, while keeping their war chest of cash at the ready for summer 2019 to wine and dine the stellar free agent class of the 2019. 

“We’re building a sustainable high-performing organization that wants to compete for championships for a long time,” Frank said to ESPN’s Cassidy Hubbarth on the June 19 edition of “NBA: The Jump” about the pitch they will make to free agents next summer. 

“So, I think it starts with our owner, with Steve Ballmer. He’s the wealthiest owner in all of professional sports and I think everyone sees the enthusiasm, and engagement. But it’s his humility. His honesty and accountability.” 

“We have a championship coach in Doc Rivers and I think everything revolves around our players and I think when you look at our players overall, their competitive, tough, hard playing, high I.Q. guys.”

Best Case Scenario: The Clippers win north of 35 games but miss out on the playoffs. Harris has a career-year entering free agency. Gilgeous-Alexander and Robinson really show out in their rookie seasons.  

Worst Case Scenario: The Clippers have a few losing streaks of five games-plus and ruin their chances of landing a prized free agent next summer.

Grade: C

Los Angeles Lakers: 35-47 (3^rd Pacific Division; missed the playoffs) 20-21 at home, 15-26 on the road. 

-108.1 ppg-11^th; opp. ppg: 109.6-25^th; 46.4 rpg-2^nd    

The Los Angeles Lakers had a plan to devote the 2017-18 season to developing their young core of players while getting their ducks in order to make a big splash in free agency, which Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson, the team’s President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Rob Pelinka vowed to do when they took their respective jobs on Feb. 21, 2017 and Mar. 7, 2017 respectably. They nabbed the best in the entire free agency ocean but failed to nab another big fish and settled on catching a few guppies. With their first star signing in a little over 20 years, coupled with the young cast and eccentric role players, and draft selections, the focus for the Lakers this season to make it back to the playoffs and build themselves into a title contender once more.

Lakers’ Governor Jeanie Buss on Feb. 21 hired Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson and his famed 90-watt smile as President of Basketball Operations, and then on Mar. 7 hired longtime agent Rob Pelinka as the new GM. 

The 16-time NBA champions drought of landing a game-changing superstar in free agency concluded on July 9 when four-time league MVP LeBron James agreed to and eventually signed a four-year, $154 million deal. 

“It’s a perfect match and this city is built for stars. This city breeds stars and they breed winners and I’m a winner more importantly,” James, who passed future Lakers' Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant with his 12th All-NBA First Team selection this past season said on Media Day on Sept. 24 to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.

He follows a long line of one-name-only icons that have dawned the “Purple and Gold:” Elgin (Baylor), (Jerry) West, Wilt (Chamberlin), Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar), “Magic,” Shaq (Shaquille O’Neal) and Kobe (Bryant).

The only exception is that James had possibly a better career than those Laker legends. Also, he is one of maybe a handful of stars in league history that has transformed an average team into a title contender and eventually an NBA champion like he did for the Cavaliers leading them to their first ever title two years ago. 

Last season, his final one with the Cavaliers the 33-year-old James in Year 16 was on the top of his game where he played in all 82 games for the first time in his career, where he averaged 27.5 points (3^rd NBA), 8.6 rebounds and 9.1 assists (2^nd NBA) in 36.9 minutes (Led NBA) and authored a career-high of 18 triple-doubles during the regular season. Those numbers were raised in the playoffs to the tune of 34.0 points, 9.1 boards and nine assists in 41.9 minutes. 

His decision to join the Lakers goes beyond basketball as he wants to be an even bigger fixture in the entertainment industry. Of course, though, the Lakers are more interested in him leading them not just back to the postseason starting with the 2018-19 campaign, but to add another Larry O’Brien trophy to their case. 

“I’m a basketball player. I play ball,” James, whose been in The Finals the last eight years in a row said at his introductory presser. “That’s what I do. That’s what I live by and when I do it at the level I do it at everything else takes care of itself.”

While he shows no signs of slowing down-he will be 34 this December and Father Time has an unpredictable way of creeping up on you. 

Coming into this season, James enters as the No. 7 scorer all-time at 31,038 points. He is 150 points from passing Dirk Nowitzki for No. 6; 382 points away from passing the late great Wilt Chamberlin into No. 5 and 1,255 points away from passing the great Michael Jordan into fourth place all-time.  

The Lakers hoped to sign All-Star Paul George, but in a surprising move the Los Angeles native re-signed with the Thunder, while the Spurs refused the Lakers proposals for 2014 Finals MVP and All-Star Kawhi Leonard, who was dealt to the Raptors. 

If one of those signings took place along with the signing of James, the entire complexion of the team in the minds of a lot of analyst and gotten the full attention of the back-to-back defending champion Warriors. 

The Lakers hopes of making it back to the playoffs for the first time in five seasons an extremely competitive Western Conference hinges on how quickly second-year players in guard Lonzo Ball (10.2 ppg, 7.2 apg-Led team, 6.9 rpg, 1.7 spg-Led team), forward Kyle Kuzma (16.1 ppg-T-Team lead, 6.3 rpg, 36.6 3-Pt%) and Josh Hart (7.9 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 46.9 FG%, 39.6 3-Pt.%) third-year forward Brandon Ingram (16.1 ppg-T-Team lead, 5.3 rpg, 3.9 apg, 47.0 FG%, 39.0 3-Pt.%) adjust to the expectations of playing alongside James.

“I don’t know why people are kind of just ruling us out just because we’re young,” Kuzma said in an interview while visiting a group of close to 20 kids in his hometown of Flint, MI. 

“We’re hungry. We’re competitive. Anybody that watched us play last year, we’re in a lot of games. Adding one of the greatest players of all-time, that’s only going to raise what we do and raise our level of focus to an even higher level.”

That said, this will be the first time that Ball, Kuzma, Ingram and Hart where every move they make both on and off the court will be scrutinized and picked a part with a fine-tooth comb, especially if they have a three-game losing streak or longer. They have to learn how to deal with playing alongside LBJ from the perks that come with it to the pressure of having to play at an extremely high level from practice to game time.  

Before there was no expectation of winning 50-plus games a season and competing for championships. That is the difference the young Lakers will see and feel with James on board now. The level of intensity and the level of media attention that comes with LBJ’s presence will be a complete 180 degrees is something that you cannot be prepared for until you actually go through it.  

All four will at least have a two-year run at figuring it out as Ingram, Ball, Kuzma, and Hart had their contract options exercised for the 2019-20 season. 

“It’s the unknown. It’s unknown,” James said to McMenamin about the Lakers’ bar for success with this young and experienced group this season. “But it we prepare ourselves mentally and physical every day. You know me. You know how I prepare every day. I won’t accept anything less of trying to be great and wanting to be great every single day, so. But what’s the level of success for this year is unknown.”

To maintain their salary cap space for next summer, the Lakers decided to sign a handful of interesting veterans on one-year deals in All-Star guard Rajon Rondo (8.3 ppg, 8.2 apg-4^th NBA, 46.8 FG% w/Pelicans), at $9 million deal;  swingman Lance Stephenson (9.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg w/Pacers) at $4.5 million deal, center JaVale McGee at $1.4 million deal, and forward Michael Beasley (13.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg 50.7 FG%, 39.5 3-Pt.% w/Knicks) at $3.5 million deal. 

The Lakers also re-signed guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (13.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 38.3 3-Pt.%) to a one-year, $12 million deal.

The players the Lakers signed while talented bring a checkered history to the “City of Angels.” They also are not players James has played in the past with the Heat and Cavs. Veterans specialist that can make three-point shots. 

Of the five new additions, Rondo is the one that will have all eyes on him. He was critical to the New Orleans Pelicans a season, especially when a torn Achilles shelved Cousins the remainder of the season and he sparkled the opening-round four-game sweep against the No. 3 Seeded Trail Blazers. 

He will compete with second-year guard Lonzo Ball for minutes at the lead guard spot, which will be interesting to say the least. 

Will the lead guard of the 2008 champion Celtics be a willing mentor for a player who may eventually take his job? And if Rondo play more than Ball, you better believe that Lonzo’s father LaVar will be shouting his displeasure to anyone and everyone that will listen. 

If all goes well with this tandem, they will provide the secondary ball handling that will take a lot of pressure off James to be the consistent creator both in the open court and in the half court.  

For Ball, who had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in July cannot shoot from the field like he did a season ago where he made just 36.0 percent of his field goals, the worst shooting percentage by a rookie the last 50 seasons and expect to be on the floor in the clutch. He especially must finish plays at the rim more consistently when the opportunity presents itself.  

“Everybody is saying my jump shot [is] this new thing,” Ball said in late September. “To me it is not really changed a lot. I just think I got a lot stronger. So, I ain’t got to really fling the ball like I did last year.”

For most of his time with the Warriors, McGee was a benchwarmer due to matchup issues, but when he got minutes, like in the 2018 Finals he thrived. He may only be good for the Lakers in certain situations though, like ones that do not call for him to guard centers that can space the floor, which is what you mainly see in the NBA these days.  

Then there is the intriguing dynamic of James and Stephenson. I am sure we all remember in the Eastern Conference Finals some years ago between the Heat and Pacers that Stephenson famously blew in the ear of James. 

Hopefully that moment is water under the bridge and Stephenson can do what he has not done in prior stops other than his time with the Pacers, be productive. 

In the draft, the Lakers selected at No. 25 overall sharp shooting forward Moritz Wagner out of the University of Michigan, who scored in double-figures 31 times last season on his way to earning Second-Team All-Big 10 selection. With the No. 47 overall pick the Lakers selected guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk out of the University of Kansas.  

One specific area on the hardwood that the Lakers will have to clean up this season if they want to make it back to the playoffs is their free throw shooting, which was dead, 30^th last a season at 71.4 percent. 

They will need to be better at the defensive end, which they made major strides in doing going from No. 26 in 2016-17 at 37.0 to No. 3 last season at 34.6. 

Having to put all this together on the hardwood under an intense microscope will be head coach, who will be under a defining microscope having to coach two alphas and champions in James and Rondo.

In the first 65 seasons of the storied history of the 16-time NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers, dating back to their 12 seasons in Minneapolis, MN, they had a .618 winning percentage and a total of five missed trips to the postseason. In a 35-year period they won 74 playoff series.  

This five-year drought is the longest that the Lakers have not been in the playoff picture though have been a real stinker, which included four consecutive 50-plus loss seasons after having just three in total in franchise history. 

When “Magic” Johnson and Pelinka came to the Lakers front office a little over a year ago, they said it would take two summers to construct a contender. They took a big step in that direction with the signing of the best player in the league in James, whose enters this season having with another streak of winning 50 games or more in 11 straight seasons.   

James, who get a new feel for his new conference as the Lakers play their first nine games against West opponents paired with the youngsters in Ball, Ingram, and Kuzma and the eccentric cast of vets on one-year deals in Rondo, Beasley, McGee, and Stephenson will make for the boldest experiment, that will play 31 times on the national networks of ESPN, ABC and TNT this season. Lakers’ nation hopes this experiment results in making it back to the playoffs and eventually competing for a championship. 

“I don’t believe the only thing of success in marking the season is winning a championship,” James said about Laker expectations for the 2018-19 season. “There’s only one champion but that does not mean you’re not successful.” 

He added, “As far as the ball club, we’re all new to each other. So, we have to take our bumps and our bruises. There’s going to be good times. There’s going to be bad times and that’s what happens with a team that’s new but if we continue to work the process, and we continue to sacrifice for one another, and put in the commitment and the time to being great than everything else will fall into place.”   

Best Case Scenario: The Lakers win south of 50 games but make the playoffs in the middle of the stacked West. James will be a leading candidate for Kia MVP. Ball, Ingram and Kuzma thrive and Coach Walton has this team on the same page.   

Worst Case Scenario: The Lakers make the playoffs in the bottom have of the West and have an early exit. Ball, Ingram and Kuzma struggle in playing alongside James. Walton is ousted as head coach admits the struggles. 

Grade: B

Memphis Grizzlies: 22-60 (5^th Southwest Division; missed the playoffs) 16-25 at home, 6-35 on the road.  

-99.3 ppg-29^th; opp. ppg: 105.5-13^th; 40.5 rpg-29^th

Simply put, the 2017-18 season for the Memphis Grizzlies was a disaster. They lost their starting point guard to a season-ending heel injury. A friction between the then head coach and his starting center ended with his dismissal and a rough start to their season ended their seven-year playoff streak at Christmas 2017. With the return of their star guard; a promising rookie and hopefully a return to former from their big man, the focus of the boys from “Music City” is to make it back to the postseason in the loaded Western Conference.

Starting lead guard Mike Conley (17.2 ppg) two off-seasons ago became the highest-paid player in NBA history when he re-signed a new five-year, $153 million deal. A very bad heel hobbled Conley a season ago as he shot career-lows of 38.1 percent from the field, 31.2 from three-point range and averaged just 4.1 assists a season ago. His 2017-18 season ended after just 12 games after season-ending surgery on his heel. 

“I had never been in that situation before. I’ve never missed a season, especially that many games,” Conley said about what he went through last season to NBATV in late September. 

“But the recovery season has been great. The off-season has been efficient. We’ve gotten stuff done quicker than we’d even expected and I’ve been heeling at a very fast rate, and now I feel like I’m ready to go, and ready for training camp.”

Two seasons ago, Gasol averaged a career-high 19.5 points with 6.3 rebounds as well as a career-best 4.6 assists, while making a career-high 109 threes at a 38.8 percent clip. 

While he got his rebounding average up to 8.1 as season ago with 4.2 assists and made 109 threes, Gasol averaged just 17.2 points on a career-low 42.0 percent from the field.

Gasol’s season to forget was punctuated in a 98-88 loss versus the Brooklyn Nets, their eighth in succession when then coach Fizdale, now with the Knicks kept him on the bench while the team was cutting into a huge deficit in the fourth period that was at one point 19.

That eventually led to Fizdale’s ouster and he was replaced on an interim basis by assistant coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who made him the permanent head coach this off-season. 

“I feel like we started something,” he said. “We have started to build a culture. You want to be art of a group that you like. I think there’s going to be a tremendous jump next year, health permitting I would love to be part of that.”

There was the thought that the team would look on the open market for an experience head coach, but the organization was pleased enough by how the team responded, especially in a season where 24 different players suited up for the team, along with his solid relationship with Conley and Gasol that the front office led by GM Chris Wallace decided to take of For the Grizzlies to have a chance of making it back to the playoffs, they need their two franchise pillars in lead guard Mike Conley and All-Star center Marc Gasol to return to the form that they were two years ago when both had career seasons.   

“J.B. did an admirable job as interim head coach last season in what was a challenging set of circumstances,” Wallace said in a statement over the summer. “J.B. has connected with our players and earned their respect throughout his time in Memphis and we have been pleased with his role in developing our young players. We are excited to see him coach with a full off-season and a healthy roster next season.”  

Nearly a decade ago, the Grizzlies, their highest draft pick chose center Hasheem Thabeet at No. 2 overall out of the University of Connecticut. That pick was a complete thud. 

This time around, the Grizzlies selected at No. 4 overall very high-skilled forward Jaren Jackson, Jr. out of Michigan State University. 

In his one and only season for head coach Tom Izzo and the Spartans, the now 19-year-old earned the 2018 Big Ten Freshmen of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year with averages of 10.9 points; led the Big Ten with 3.0 blocks; made 38 three-pointers a season ago at a 40 percent clip and shot 80 percent at the charity stripe. 

He brings to the table skills that are prototypical of a versatile forward in today’s NBA. A long, springy forward who make long jumpers, especially from three-point range and can protect the rim at the defensive end. 

Jackson, Jr. also brings a maturity of a young man who has been around the NBA game his entire life. His father is Jaren Jackson Sr. played 13 seasons in “The Association,” which includes leading the Spurs to their first of four Larry O’Brien trophies in the strike shortened 1998-99 campaign, the year his son was born. His mother Terri is the Director of Operations for Player Personnel in the Women’s Basketball Association (WNBA). 

When asked by ESPN’s Maria Taylor on what his father has meant to his development as a man, as well as a basketball player he said, “Everything.” 

“My dad [has] been on me since day one. He loves me. He’s bee my coach, my mentor, my father and my mom [has] ben with me every step of the way.” 

With the No. 32 pick overall, the Grizzlies chose lead guard Jevon Carter out of West Virginia.  the two-time Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year out of West Virginia. 

The 2018 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, Grizzlies have a guy that will bring some of that “Grit-N-Grind” toughness with his ability to defend and create turnovers. 

In his four seasons with the Mountaineers, Carter became the all-time leader in the programs history in steals with 330 and is the fifth player in Division I history with 1,500 points, 500 boards, 500 assists and 300 steals. 

To add some veteran presence to the locker room, the Grizzlies in the middle of July acquired guard Garrett Temple from the Sacramento Kings for forward Deyonta Davis, guard Ben McLemore, a 2021 Second-Round pick and cash considerations. 

In another deal, the Grizzlies acquired forward Dakari Johnson, who they waived in September and the draft rights to 2015 Second-Round pick Tyler Harvey for center Jarell Martin and cash. 

Max contracts for Conley, Gasol and Parsons prevented the Grizzlies from chasing any major names in free agency this summer. So, they added some secondary players in restricted free agent forwards Kyle Anderson to a four-year, $37.2 million deal, which was not matched by the Spurs. They also signed Omri Casspi to a one-year, $2.3 million deal. They also added some insurance at the lead guard spot with the signing of veteran guard Shelvin Mack (6.9 ppg, 3.9 apg, 34.5 3-Pt.%).

While Anderson and Casspi are additions that make you jump out of your chair, they are wing players who are serviceable and have proven during their careers that they can fit in and do whatever their respective team before needed for them to do.

Plus, the team needed some help at the wing position since the addition of Chandler Parsons, who has two years and $49 million dollars left on his four-year, $94 million deal he signed two summers ago has been nothing but a failure. 

The Grizzlies according to multiple reports tried to unload the oft-injured swingman before the draft but could not find the right deal. That said, having Parsons, who brings the kind of size, shooting ability on the roster is ideal. He will not interfere with the development of Jackson, Jr., or the transition of Anderson. He will also allow Bickerstaff to experiment with some small-ball rotations that would not had been possible otherwise. The only issue with that is will he remain healthy enough for that to happen. 

The other hope for the Grizzlies entering this season is that youngsters Dillon Brooks (11.0 ppg, 35.6 3-Pt.%), who started 74 games as a rookie in 2017-18; Andrew Harrison (9.5 ppg), MarShon Brooks (20.1 ppg-Led team, 50.0 FG%, 59.4 3-Pt.%), JaMychal Green (10.3 ppg, 8.4 rpg-Led team, 45.7 FG%) and Ivan Rabb, along with McLemore and Selden can have impacting contributions, especially offensively.  

Last season the Memphis Grizzlies where they were singing the blues seeing their seven-year playoff streak, the third longest active streak in the NBA end. They hope to be singing a better tune this upcoming season with a healthy Conley; a focused Gasol; stellar first seasons from rookies in Jackson, Jr. and Carter that have all the tools to be major contributors out the gate and young players who hopefully can grow after receiving big minutes a season ago. They will need that and more in a Western Conference that will be as loaded and competitive as ever in 2018-19.

If things do not go well, then it is time to think about trading Gasol, who has one year left on his contract and could be a very attractive player for a team on the fringe of being special this season. 

Best Case Scenario: The Grizzlies win north of 40 games and are in a fight for either the No. 7 or No. 8 spot. Conley is healthy and back to form. Jackson, Jr. is in contention for Kia Rookie of the Year contention and Coach Bickerstaff for Coach of the Year. 

Worst Case Scenario: The Grizzlies win south of 35 games. They really consider trading Gasol at the Feb. 2019 trade deadline and back in the Draft Lottery again. 

Grade: B

Minnesota Timberwolves: 47-35 (4^th Northwest Division; No. 8 Seed in West) 30-11 at home, 17-24 on the road. Lost to the No. 1 Seeded Houston Rockets 4-1 in West Quarterfinals.

-109.5 ppg-8^th; opp. ppg: 107.3-17^th; 42.0 rpg-24^th

Thanks to a hard fought 111-106 victory in overtime on Apr. 11, the final night of the 2017-18 regular season, the Minnesota Timberwolves punched their ticket to the playoffs for the first time in 13 seasons. While their playoff run was short, there was a lot of reason for optimism entering this upcoming season, but it has been overshadowed by a disgruntled veteran, whose been unhappy with the effort and commitment to get better from the two pillars of the future. For the now fragile Timberwolves, their focus entering this season is to build on last year’s playoff run; for the front office to someway, somehow trade said disgruntled player. 

The core of head coach Tom Thibodeau’s squad is Karly-Anthony Towns (21.3 ppg, 12.3 rpg-4^th NBA, 54.5 FG%, 42.1 3-Pt.%), who earned his first of hopefully many All-Star selections a season ago and swingman; four-time All-Star Jimmy Butler (22.2 ppg-Led team, 5.3 rpg, 4.9 apg, 2.0 spg, 47.4 FG%, 35.0 3-Pt.%) and super talented swingman Andrew Wiggins (17.7 ppg). 

That core helped the T’Wolves get as high as the No. 3 Seed in the West at last season. The team after that took a nose dive when Butler got injured and the team had to fight right to the very end of last season to end their 13-year playoff drought, the longest active streak in the NBA. 

Their playoff run was short as the Rockets knocked them out in five games in the First-Round. 

Just before the start of training camp in September, Butler an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2019, who turned down a four-year, $110 million contract extension requested that be traded from the T’Wolves. Since that request the 2017-18 All-NBA Third Team selection has been a no show in camp and did not play at all in the preseason. 

“It’s not uncommon in the NBA. Jimmy [is] not the first guy to request a trade nor will he be the last,” Thibodeau said in late September at Media Day, adding, “our job is to seek out a deal that’s good for us. That can help us. So, we’ll do that but for our team, the important thing is to not get distracted. We’re starting training camp to be ready and whether Jimmy is with us we have to be ready to go.”

In the middle of last week though he came into practice and according to a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski really got after it and said to everyone from Towns, Wiggins, Coach Thibodeau that he is the most important player on the roster and he is vital to the team success both in the present and in the future. Butler specifically said to GM Scott Layden, “You [expletive] need me.” 

“You gotta think, I haven’t played basketball in so long and I’m so passionate, and I love the game and I don’t do it for any other reason except for to compete and go up against the best to prove that I can hang,” he said in an interview with ESPN’s “NBA: The Jump” host Rachel Nichols last Thursday. 

“All my emotion came out at one time. Was it the right way to do it, no. But I can’t control that when I’m out there competing like, ‘That’s my love of the game. That’s raw me. Me at my finest. Me at my purest.’ That’s what you’re going to get inside the lines.” 

Butler also said in that interview with Nichols that the situation came to a boil because the team as a whole has not put winning as the most important thing like it is to Butler.

Which is why Butler when the team lost in Game 5 in the opening round that ended their season he did not fly back to Minneapolis with the rest his teammates. Four days after he talked to Coach Thibodeau about how he really felt and did so each time he talked to “Thibs.” 

To really put into context how divided the T’Wolves were about how they felt about Butler, Wiggins brother Nick on his twitter page @Wiggys_WORLD said, “Hallelujah,” followed by emojis of a smile and hands in the air.

This has put Coach Thibodeau in the crosshairs, who as Butler said after that practice went into his office and had the biggest smile on his face because this is what he brought Butler was acquired a season ago, along with former Bulls Taj Gibson (12.2 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 57.7 FG%); 2011 Kia MVP Derrick Rose (8.4 ppg w/Bulls &T’Wolves), who was retained by the team signing a one-year, $1.5 million and Luol Deng (15.0 ppg, 6.1 rpg in his 14-year career) on a one-year, $2.4 million.  

The T’Wolves drive to make their first postseason appearance in 13 years was going smoothly until the team lost Butler to a meniscus injury in his right knee on Feb. 23 in a 120-102 loss at the Rockets on ESPN. 

In the 17 games that he missed, the T’Wolves went just 8-9 and were fighting just to make the playoffs, which they eventually did and then were taught the finer points of the postseason as they were taken down by the West runner up the Rockets in five games.

To put into context what the T’Wolves were with and without Butler in 2017-18, they were 37-22 with him with a per game differential of +4.4 and gave up an average of 105.1 points to their opponents. Without him, they were 10-13 with a -3.1 per game differential and allowed 112.8 points.  

Along with wanting to be appreciated, what Butler really wants beside complete honesty from the team across the board, he wants as mentioned earlier flat out commitment to winning, particular from the 23-year-old Wiggins and the 22-year-old Towns. 

“KAT” made some serious strides in his third season and staked his claim among the elite big men in the NBA. However, it has been reported that he was not going to sign his contract extension until Butler was dealt.

The 2017-18 All-NBA Third Team selection whose been a walking double-double, authoring 51, 62 and 68 in his first three seasons eventually signed that five-year, $190 million deal, that included according to Jon Krawczynski of “The Athletic” a 15 percent trade kicker.  

To put how productive Towns has been in his first three seasons in the league, all with the Timberwolves, only Hall of Famer and NBATV/TNT studio analyst Shaquille O’Neal had more double-doubles at 188 in his first three seasons (1992-95) than the 182 of Towns. Third with 171 was fellow Hall of Famer David Robinson (1989-92) and fourth is Tim Duncan with 154 (1997-00). 

In the case of Wiggins, whose entering the first year of a five-year, $146.5 million extension he signed last summer took a somewhat a step backwards a season ago. While his scoring declined from 23.6 in 2016-17 to 17.7 a year ago, mainly because of having to share some of the scoring responsibility with Butler, his defense regressed as did his shooting consistency dropped to 43.8 percent from the floor and 33.1 from three-point range a season ago.

For both Towns and Wiggins, they have the talent to be the pillars of the T-Wolves for years to come, especially since they have been called out publicly by Butler. For that to happen though, they have to take to the coaching of Thibs and respect what Butler is telling them, although that may not be for very long. 

In their five-game setback to the Rockets where Towns while he averaged 13.4 rebounds but averaged just 15.2 points. Wiggins only averaged 15.8 with 5.2 boards and shot just 44.1 percent from the floor. 

For the most part, the T’Wolves’ front office led by Thibodeau, GM Scott Layden and owner Glen Taylor made just a couple of minor moves. 

With the No. 20 overall pick in June’s draft, the T’Wolves selected guard Josh Okogie out of Georgia Tech. While the 20-year-old is raw offensively, he brings an athleticism and ability to defend multiple positions, which sold earn him time in Thibodeau’s rotation. 

With the No. 48 overall pick, the T’Wolves selected Keita Bates-Diop out of Ohio State. The 6-foot-8 forward, whose won Big-Ten Player of the Year and was a Second-Team All-American selection averaged a league leading 19.8 points with 8.7 rebounds and shot 36.3 percent from three-point range. 

While Okogie may have a chance to crack the rotation because of his defensive versatility, Bates-Diop will have a tough time finding minutes behind the likes of starting lead guard Jeff Teague (14.2 ppg, 7.0 apg-8^th NBA, 1.5 spg 36.8 3-Pt.%), reserve guard Tyus Jones, center Gorgui Dieng, and new addition in veteran forwards Anthony Tolliver (8.9 ppg, 46.4 FG%, 43.6 3-Pt.% w/Pistons), who signed a one-year, $5.7 million deal for his second stint in the “Twin Cities.” 

Last season, the Timberwolves ended the longest current playoff drought in “The Association” at 13. The front office and Coach Thibodeau want this group to grow. The question is can they grow even with some dissention within the locker room, especially with the Butler trade request floating around them. 

If Butler stays and the friction in the locker room can be repaired, then the Timberwolves chances of making it back to the playoffs improves. If Butler is dealt, the ownness will fall on Towns and Wiggins to really lead them to the postseason ago.

“Our goal is to seek out the best opportunity for us,” Thibodeau said on Media Day on Sept. 24 about Butler being traded. “If something’s good for us, then we’re interested in doing it. If not, we’re ready to move forward another way.” 

Best Case Scenario: The Timberwolves win north of 45 games and make it back to the playoffs. Towns is an All-Stars again, with Wiggins teetering on being selected for the first time in his career. They become a better defensive team. Butler remains.  

Worst Case Scenario: They miss out on the playoffs because of their continued defensive struggles. Butler is eventually traded.

Grade: D

New Orleans Pelicans: 48-34 (2^nd Southwest Division; No. 6 Seed in West) 24-17 at home, 24-17 on the road. Defeated the No. 3 Seeded Portland Trail Blazers 4-0 in West Quarterfinals. Lost to the No. 2 Seeded Golden State Warriors 4-1 in West Semifinals. 

-111.7 ppg-3^rd; opp. ppg: 110.4-29^th; 44.3 rpg-10^th

For the first time in three years, the New Orleans Pelicans were in the postseason as their star player led them to the playoffs for just the second time in his career. Led by him and their starting backcourt, they advanced to the Semis for the first time in 10 years. Their high-octane wide-open style they implemented after the loss of their other All-Star big man in late January. While their magical carpet ride ended in the Semis against the eventual back-to-back champions, it was a triumphant season that reawakened a franchise and saved the bacon of their head coach and general manager. As they enter the 2018-19 season, the focus of the Pelicans is to integrate at warp speed their newest additions at power forward and lead guard; keeping their MVP candidate healthy and getting off to a great start in a loaded West. 

Leading into January, the Pelicans were making some serious headway in the West behind the consistency of All-Star duo of DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis. 

Things changed drastically when Cousins he ruptured his Achilles on Jan. 26 versus the Rockets and was lost for the season. It was not just the fact that 25.2 points, 12.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.6 blocks was gone from the lineup the final 34 games of the regular season, but that head coach Alvin Gentry had to now change the style of play. The question was would it work? 

Thanks to the uptick in Anthony Davis’ play it did. The All-NBA First-Team selection and MVP candidate rose to the occasions posting career-high averages of 28.1 points (2^nd NBA) 11.1 rebounds (5^th NBA), with 2.6 blocks (Led NBA) and 1.5 steals on a career-high 53.4 percent from the floor. 

The one place Davis’ game really rose in 2017-18 was getting to the free throw line, attempting eight foul shots during the regular season, and making a career-high 82.8 percent of those opportunities. The other area was the Pelicans scoring average in the paint, which led the NBA a season ago at 52.4. 

The Pelicans reached the postseason for the first time since 2015 thanks to an NBA leading nine wins after trailing by 15 points or me and with seven victories in overtime a season ago. They also had a 30-20 mark in games that were within five points in the last five minutes. After the Cousins’ injury, the Pelicans finished the 2017-18 regular season with a 21-13 mark. 

Last summer, the Pelicans re-signed All-Star Jrue Holiday to a five-year $126 million deal. The former UCLA Bruin responded with his best season since being named an All-Star five season back with averages of 19.0 points, six assists, 4.5 boards and 1.5 steals on 49.4 percent from the field.

Two other players that were key in the Pelicans resurgence were veteran guard and NBA champ Rajon Rondo and sharp shooting forward Nikola Mirotic (15.6 ppg-career-high7.4 rpg, 44.7 FG%, 37.7 3-Pt.%), who was acquired from the Bulls when they lost Cousins and played huge with averages of 14.6 points and 8.2 rebounds in his 30 games in the “Big Easy.” 

That quartet was huge in their four-game sweep of the Trail Blazers, the Pelicans first postseason series win since beating the Mavericks 4-1 in the opening round a decade ago. They lost to the Spurs in the Semis in seven games. 

That postseason run is when the nation was reintroduced to the greatness of Anthony Davis, who averaged 33.0 points, 11.8 rebounds, 2.8 blocks and 1.8 steals on 57.6 percent from the floor against the Northwest Division champs, sweeping them 4-0 in the First-Round. 

Holiday and Rondo were not only spectacular with how they performed offensively but how they really put the clamps on defensively on the dynamic Trail Blazers backcourt of All-Star Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. 

The Pelicans luck ran out against the eventual champion Warriors who took them down 4-1, just like they did in the opening round three seasons back sweeping them 4-0. 

Davis enters this season more motivated than ever to not only motivated to lead the Pelicans back to the postseason in a loaded West but to win Kia MVP in 2018-19.

“My goal is to win MVP. I fee like I’m the best player in the league,” the 25-year-old Davis said via @dribble2much and @freshfocussports on Twitter.” 

“It’s a lot of hard work. That’s why I’m here every day, trying to get better. Trying to work on my game to go out there and be the best player in the world.” 

After making some lavish, yet reckless decision in free agency giving fat contracts to average-at-best role players like Omer Asik, who was traded to the Bulls for Mirotic; backup center Alexis Ajinca; and fellow reserves in forward Solomon Hill, and E’Twaun Moore (12.5 ppg-career-high, 45.7 FG%, 37.0 3-Pt.%), who made a career-high 128 three-pointers a season ago.

Pelicans’ GM Dell Demps first order of business was trying to keep Cousins in the fold without putting the franchise in another financial hole as mentioned had an unfortunate Achilles injury, which in most cases is a career-ender or career crippler, especially for big men. 

Demps decided to give him a short-term deal, which Cousins turned down and signed with the Warriors on a one-year, $5.3 million deal. They did not even offer Rondo a contract and he signed with the Lakers in the off-season.

In free agency, the Pelicans re-signed reserve guard Ian Clark (7.4 ppg) to a one-year, $1.7 million deal and picked up the player option on Mirotic. Their biggest catch that was unexpected signing of forward Julius Randle (16.1 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 55.8 FG% w/Lakers) to a two-year, $17 million deal. They then signed power forward/center Jahlil Okafor and guard Elfrid Payton (12.7 ppg, 6.2 apg, 49.3 FG% w/Magic & Suns), who grew up in the Gertna, LA and played collegiately at Louisiana-Lafayette. They also added veteran guard Jarrett Jack (7.5 ppg, 5.6 apg, w/Knicks).

In Randle and Payton, the Pelicans signed their likely starting power forward and point guard who they are expecting a lot from with the losses of Cousins and Rondo. 

Payton, the No. 10 overall pick four June’s back by the Magic did never established himself as their lead guard of the future and was dealt to the Suns at the Feb. 8 trade deadline. 

While the 24-year-old continued struggles to consistently make perimeter shots, but his ability to make shots in the paint as well as find the open man and rebound gives the Pelicans an added dimension they hope pays dividends. 

On nights that Payton may not have it, Jack, 35 can bring to the forefront his 13 years of experience that can help the Pelicans get by. 

It still is nothing compared to the comfort that Rondo brought to Coach Gentry to where he was like having an assistant coach on the floor. Not only did Rondo bring championship experience and leadership, but he could take a game plan drawn up on a locker room whiteboard and help orchestrate where the Pelicans could just read and react on both ends.

Randle at first glance does not seem like a good fit next to Davis as he is not the floor spacer that Cousins was, but he showed especially in the second half of last season he can be a force in the paint. If can be anything close to that with the Pelicans, they should be okay. Plus, if they need a floor spacer to make threes, that is why they kept Mirotic. 

It was quite telling that the Nets of all teams did not want to re-sign the 22-year-old Okafor, who crashed and burned with the Sixers after they drafted him No. 3 overall in 2015 out of after leading Duke University to the national championship. 

For Okafor, this possibly last chance can go one of two directions. He flames out and will bring to light all the questions of his work habits, is poor defense and funky attitude he had or, he can become that solid understudy behind Davis and resurrect his underachieving career to this point. If not now when? 

They made it back to the playoffs for the first time in three seasons. They won their first playoff series for the first time in 10 seasons. They have a Top 5 player in “The Association” who is motivated to be the No. 1 player in the league. The dreams of Davis winning Kia MVP hinges on the play free of new additions in Okafor, Payton, and Randle, who are all 24 years of age or younger. 

The Pelicans hope those additions can compliment Davis and Holiday in getting the Pelicans back into the playoffs in the stacked West. 

Why is that vital? Davis, who fired his long-time agent and signed with Rich Paul of “Klutch Sports,” the agency that represents Lakers’ four-time Kia MVP LeBron James is the one player that can moved the needle for a team to a serious threat to the Warriors. 

Best Case Scenario: The Pelicans win north of 45 games and make the playoffs in the middle of the West. Davis is in serious consideration for Kia MVP. Payton, Randle, and Okafor have a serious impact on the team. 

Worst Case Scenario: The Pelicans struggle and are on the outside of the West playoffs bracket looking in. Davis is possibly traded at the Feb. 2019 trade deadline to the Lakers.

Grade: C+

Oklahoma City Thunder: 48-34 (2^nd Northwest Division; No. 4 Seed in West) 27-14 at home, 21-20 on the road. Lost to the Utah Jazz 4-2 in West Quarterfinals. 

-107.9 ppg-12^th; opp. ppg: 104.4-10^th; 45.1 rpg-5^th   

Last summer, the Oklahoma City Thunder made two blockbuster trades that brought in two All-Stars to take the load off their perennial All-Star lead guard and reigning Kia MVP. After a rough start, the Thunder behind their “Big Three” found their footing but their season ended in the opening round to the more complete team from Salt Lake City. In the off-season they said goodbye one member of their big three while re-signing the other and making a few other moves. The focus for the Thunder coming into the 2018-19 season is to make up for that meltdown in the postseason. 

In the early stages of last season when the Thunder were struggling as the “Big Three” of perennial All-Stars in Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony were trying to learn how to perform with each other on the hardwood. 

After going 22-20 to begin the season, the then 2017 Kia MVP kicked it into high gear averaging a triple-double for the second straight season with 25.4 points (7^th NBA), 10.1 rebounds (10^th NBA), 10.3 assists (Led NBA), along with 1.8 steals (5^th NBA). He registered a league leading 25 triple-doubles a season ago and led the league in assists for the first time in his career. 

As good a season as Westbrook had, skeptics in the media did not vote him First-Team All-NBA as he made the Second Team.

When the Thunder acquired George (21.9 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.0 spg-2^nd NBA, 40.1 3-Pt.%) on July 6, 2017, it was thought that the four-time All-Star forward Paul George would just be there for one season and then bolt in free agency to return home to L.A. and sign with the Lakers and team up with LeBron James.  

Behind the budding relationship of the 2017-18 All-NBA Third Team selection built with Westbrook, who signed a super max extension of five years at $205 million on Sept. 29, 2017, he did not even take a visit to see the Lakers or any other team in free agency. Instead George, who finished second to Harden with 244 threes made and steals average a season ago re-signed in OKC on a four-year, $136.9 million deal. 

This was a clear victory for the Thunder and general manager Sam Presit, who lost the other pillar of their franchise in All-Star forward Kevin Durant three summers back. 

“The relationship that I gained with Russ, with ‘Dre [Andre Roberson], with Steven [Adams], with Billy [Donovan], with Sam Presit,” George, who had party thrown for him by Westbrook when to announce he’s agreed to re-sign with the Thunder said on Media Day to NBATV’s Antonio Daniels.

“Those was relationships that I felt that I’ve known those guys for years. It wasn’t something that I felt like just developed or it was a rushed relationship. I felt I really had the time to know and to know their families. So, I think we felt comfortable here. Myself, my family, we felt really good being in the situation and it ultimately felt like home here.”

Westbrook though might not be ready for the start of the season after undergoing some arthroscopic knee surgery he had in the middle of September which kept him out all of preseason and there is a possibility he may begin the 2018-19 season on the shelf. 

If there is one silver-lining in this situation, Westbrook, who turns 30 next month has recovered well after his first three knee operations. Has played 80, 81 and 80 games over the past three seasons. The Thunder hopes he will recover quickly again after being re-evaluated within four weeks and be ready for the Oct. 16 season-opener at the back-to-back defending champion Warriors on Oct. 16 at 10:30 p.m. on TNT. But hearing him on Media Day, it would take the jaws of life to keep him from being in the lineup for that contest. 

When asked by a reporter on Media Day on Sept. 24 of when he will return to game action Westbrook replied, “What did you read?” The reporter said the press release, which said Westbrook would be re-evaluated in four weeks, which he said with a smile, “There you go, I’m sticking to whatever comes out.”  

The other blockbuster deal the Thunder made came on Sept. 25, 2017 acquiring 10-time All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony from the Knicks. 

The 34-year-old struggled as the third option all last season where he became a stretch-four who was relegated to shooting basically three-pointers. The straw that broke the back of this camel came in their six-game loss in the opening round versus the Jazz when he was benched in the Thunder’s Game 5 come-from-behind victory 107-99 on Apr. 25, where he lashed out at assistant coach and recent Hall of Fame inductee Maurice Cheeks. 

During the off-season, GM Presti and the Thunder front office had to decide what to do with Anthony, who opted in to the final year of his deal worth $27.9 million that he signed worth $120 million in the summer of 2014 with the Knicks, which brought the payroll for this season to a historic $310 million. 

The Thunder decided to trade Anthony along with a Lotter-protected 2022 First-Round pick to the Hawks in a three-team deal that also involved the 76ers. That saved eliminated $107 million off the team’s payroll and tax bill for the 2018-19 season. 

With much of the Thunder’s 2018-19 payroll taken up by Westbrook, George, and starting center Steven Adams (13.9 ppg-career-high, 9.0 rpg, 62.9 FG%), Presti had barely any salary cap space to make any more major additions. 

There addition first came through June’s draft where they selected at No. 45 guard Hamidou Diallo out of the University of Kentucky. At No. 53, the Thunder selected guard Devon Hall out of the University of Virginia and four picks later selected forward Kevin Hervey out of University of Texas-Arlington. 

In the Anthony deal, the Thunder got in return guard Dennis Schroder (19.4 ppg, 6.2 apg w/Hawks) and swingman Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot. 

In free agency, they re-signed reserve forward Jerami Grant (8.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 53.5 FG%) to a three-year, $27.3 million deal and reserve guard Raymond Felton (6.9 ppg, 35.4 3-Pt.%) to a one-year, $2.3 million deal. They added some depth to their front court with the signing of forward/center Nerlens Noel to a two-year, $3.7 million deal.

Of all the new additions, Schroder, who has three years and $45 million left on his current contract is the most interesting because at his best he is guard who is one of the best at getting to the hole behind a quick first step and nifty ball handling skills. He is very streaky with his ability to make jumpers; is very susceptible at the defensive end and his ability to make plays for other, which will not make it easy for Coach Donovan to play him and Westbrook together. 

If he can play at the level where he was one of three players to register a game with at least 15 assists and no turnovers last season, that will go a long way for a team that was tied for 28^th in assists per game a season ago at 21.3. 

The Thunder were also in the middle of the pact in threes made per game at 10.7, which was 15^th in the NBA a season ago, making the 24^th ranked percentage of their shots from distance at 35.4. They were also 29^th in free throw percentage at 71.6.  

Two years back, Noel received a lucrative four-year, $70 million contract extension from the Mavericks, which he turned down, electing to take the $4 million qualifying offer to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. The free agent market, in combination with Noel coming off thumb surgery last season limited his options, and he took the deal the Thunder offered him, which included a player option. 

While he brings to the table the ability to block shots, Noel’s slender-frame, who is neither an inside presence on the block nor a knock down shooter has not allowed him to find a comfort zone in today’s pace-and-space NBA. He is still young at 24 who can develop some aspect of his game, if he is willing to take the time to do so.

Luwawu-Cabarrot, who is also goes by “TLC” is a good prospect for the Thunder’s player-development program as he brings good-size at the small forward and shooting guard spot at 6-foot-6 and energy. That might allow him to get minutes in the back end of the rotation at some point this season. 

The new additions along with Adams, Felton, Grant, forward Patrick Patterson and guards Corey Brewer, and Alex Abrines gives head coach Billy Donovan more options to work with alongside Westbrook and George heading into this season.

The one player the Thunder are looking forward to seeing this season perimeter defensive ace in guard Andre Roberson who was re-signed on a three-year, $30 million deal last summer. 

With the 2017-18 All-Defensive Second Teamer on the court, the Thunder were not just a good defensive team, they were an elite unit. His season was cut short at 39 games in the team’s 121-108 victory at the Pistons on Jan. 27 when he ruptured his left patellar tendon following when he jumped for a lob pass late in the third quarter.  

Roberson’s loss crippled the Thunder’s ability to use George as a freelance defender from the weakside and create deflections, steals and turnovers. 

Last season, the Thunder led the NBA in points off turnovers at 18.7 and in second chance points at 14.9. With Roberson in the lineup for 39 games, the Thunder averaged 9.5 steals and opponents against the Thunder shot 45.4 percent from the floor, and 35.6 from three-point range. In the 43 games that followed without him, the Thunder averaged 8.4 steals and teams shot 46.4 percent from the field and 38.3 from the three-point line. 

Unfortunately, the No. 26 overall pick in 2013 out of the University of Colorado will not be available any time soon as irritation from a suture in the early part of October required another procedure on that patellar tendon will keep him out another two months according to a report from Brett Dawson of the Athletic. 

For nearly a decade, the Thunder have been a relevant despite being in a small market. Behind GM Presti, the Thunder managed to sign Westbrook and Adams to contract extensions and re-sign George and with Schroder all signed through 2021 they have a chance to continue that run. 

The question is will that run be towards a Larry O’Brien trophy in a now loaded West? Also, if with another early playoff exit, will that put Coach Donovan on the hot seat? 

How the Thunder do to start the season with eight of their first 11 games against teams that were over .500 a season ago will tell a lot. That also includes playing six games against the Phoenix Suns, Kings and Knicks. We shall see. 

Best Case Scenario: Thunder win slightly south of 50 games and are a Top 4 Seed in West. Westbrook and George become All-Stars again. New additions Schroder, TLC along with Grant have major impacts in the Thunder getting at least to the Conference Finals.

Worst Case Scenario: The Thunder are a lower playoff seed and have another early exit.  

Grade: B

Phoenix Suns: 21-61 (5^th Pacific Division; missed the playoffs) 10-31 at home, 11-31 on the road. 

-103.9 ppg-21^st; opp. ppg: 113.3-30^th; 44.1 rpg-12^th

The Suns 50^th season of basketball in 2017-18 was one to forget as their playoff drought reached eighth consecutive season, the longest in franchise history and the second longest active streak in the NBA. The lottery selections by the front office brass in owner Robert Sarver and the then general manager Ryan McDonough have not panned out as well as they hoped as they lost 27 of their final 31 games in 2017-18. With the arrival of a once in a generation No. 1 overall pick along with other draft selections; a new head coach; a couple of veterans and locking up their one proven asset, the focus coming into this season in the “Valley of the Sun” is a new the trek that hopefully will lead to consistent postseason births.  

In the early stages of the off-season, the Suns signed their 18^th head coach in franchise history in longtime NBA assistant Igor Kokoskov, who becomes the first the first European native to be named head coach in “The Association.” 

He replaces interim head coach Jay Triano, who replaced then head coach Earl Watson, who lasted just three games into 2017-18 all losses.  

Kokoskov, who spent the last three seasons as the top assistant on head coach Quinn Snyder’s staff with the Jazz. Prior to that, he was member of Larry Brown’s staff on the 2004 title team with the Pistons. He worked with now coach Alvin Gentry from 2001-03 and was an assistant with the Suns from 2008-13. 

When he first got the job, Kokoskov said, “It doesn’t matter if you’re an international or American coach. All that matters is can you get it done? Can you coach?”

With the No. 1 overall pick in this past June’s draft, the Suns selected out of their own backyard center Deandre Ayton out of the University of Arizona, the first player in the history of the Wildcat basketball program to be the top overall pick.

To put into context the player the Suns chose with their first No. 1 overall selection in franchise history, Ayton authored 24 double-doubles, which not only tied for first in the NCAA a season ago but tied former Kentucky Wildcat Julius Randle, now with the Pelicans for second most by a freshmen in NCAA Division I history. Only former Kansas State Wildcat, now Laker Michael Beasley had more with 28 back in the 2007-08 season.

The Most Outstanding Player in the 2018 Pac-12 Tournament Player brings the ability to score facing the basket, with an ability to make things happen in the low-post. He can make free throws, has great footwork; can pass out of the post and can block shots at the basket defensively. He can also defend in space. 

He will have the great advantage of learning from one of the best big men to ever play in center Tyson Chandler (6.5 ppg, 9.1 rpg-Led team, 64.7 FG%), who helped the Mavericks win a title in 2011. 

“Coming in, I just want to win,” Ayton said at Media Day in late September about his rookie season ahead. “I’m not really thinking about what the media says. I’m just coming in trying to win as much games as possible this year and have fun as well.”

“They take this hoop life very serious. It’s really a job, you know. You really have to take care of your body every day. You got to watch what you’re doing both off the court as well and you know, just always be responsible.”

The Suns front office hopes that Ayton, who looked really good at the 2018 Las Vegas Summer League with averages of 14.5 points and 10.5 rebounds on 59.5 percent shooting can join the list of impactful players they have had in their franchise like Hall of Famers in the late Connie Hawkins and Charles Barkley, and Alvan Adams, Tom Chambers and Amar’e Stoudemire.

On draft night back in the June, the Suns hope they acquired hopefully another franchise-shifting player in swingman Mikal Bridges for the guard Zhaire Smith, the No. 16 overall pick and a 2021 First-Round pick from the Heat. 

The No. 10 overall pick from the two-time NCAA champion Villanova Wildcats (2016, 2018) was not thrilled at first to be traded from the team that was right smack in the middle where he played as a collegiately and his mother Tyneeka Rivers is the Vice President of Human Resources for the 76ers. 

Bridges, the ninth four-year player to be drafted in the Top 10 and the fifth to be selected in the Top in the common draft era will be able to play heavy minutes right out of the gate, allowing him time to develop into a shot making, defensive stand out like was in college. 

The 2018 Julius Erving Award Winner as the NCAA best small forward went from redshirting when he came to Villanova to a Sixth Man of the Year winner to a captain for a National Champion. In 2017-18 Bridges made 104 three-pointers at a 44.3 percent clip as he averaged 17.7 points and 5.3 boards. 

The Suns also added some backcourt depth in the draft with the selections of Elie Okobo at No. 31 overall, who played for Pau Orthez in France last season and shooting guard George King at No. 59 overall out of the University of Colorado.

It made the signing of forward Trevor Ariza (11.7 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 36.8 3-Pt.% w/Rockets) in free agency for one-year at $15 million kind of head scratching on the surface, especially with last season’s No. 4 overall pick Josh Jackson (13.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg), who averaged 18.7 points after the All-Star break last season and forward TJ Warren (19.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 49.8 FG%), who is in the first of a four-year, $50 million contract extension from the summer of 2017 also on the roster. 

The Suns’ biggest win this off-season was re-signing their proven cornerstone they have is sharp shooter Devin Booker (24.3 ppg-Led team, 4.7 apg, 4.5 rpg, 38.3 3-Pt.%) to a five-year, $158 million contract extension in early July. 

Booker however will likely start this season on the shelf after having surgery in the middle of September to repair an injury to the fifth metacarpophalangeal joint of his right hand.

“I’m supposed to be back before Game 1. So, minor surgery and quick recovery,” the 2018 Three-Point shooting champion at All-Star Weekend last February, who has been working out on the court using his left hand said at Media Day. 

While the Suns rewarded Booker for his continued development, the Suns showed some of his former teammates of their previous youth movement in Tyler Ulis, Alex Len, Alan Williams and Marquese Chriss the door, as well as veterans Jared Dudley, Elfrid Payton and Brandon Knight via trade or just did not re-sign them. 

On Aug. 31, the Suns sent Chriss and Knight to the Rockets in exchange for sharp shooting veteran forward Ryan Anderson (9.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 38.6 3-Pt.% w/Rockets), who has two years and $41.7 million dollars left on his contract and guard De’Anthony Melton, the No. 46 overall pick out of USC. 

Anderson and Ariza besides bringing their veteran savvy having either won a title in the case of Ariza with the Lakers in 2009 to a young Suns squad, but also providing the kind of outside shooting that Jackson and Warren do not, especially from three-point range. 

Through other trades with the Sixers and Nets respectably, the Suns acquired forwards Richaun Holmes (6.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 56.0 FG% w/Sixers) and Darrell Arthur.   

All of these moves will hopefully get a rise out of forward Dragen Bender (6.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 36.6 3-Pt.%), a very talented young forward, who has been slowed by injuries and inconsistency in the early stages of his NBA career. He will be eligible for a contract extension, so he has every incentive to have an impact for the Suns on the floor this season. 

One person that will not be involved in that matter is GM McDonough as he was just axed at the start of last week. 

Sarver said to 98.7 FM Arizona of his decision to fire McDonough nine days before the start of the 2017-18 season, “We discussed a number of opportunities. I felt like were realistic in terms of what progress would look like and, ultimately for me, there rate of progress wasn’t there where I thought it needed to be…I didn’t feel we achieved all what we sat out to achieve [this offseason].” 

Vice President of Basketball Operations and former Suns’ player James Jones, who reportedly has inside track towards the vacant GM position will handle the oversight of the coaching staff and the players, while Assistant GM Trevor Bukstein will handle the general manager duties of player transactions on an interim basis. Bukstein's first player transaction was the signing of former Kia Sixth Man of the Year in veteran guard Jamal Crawford (10.3 ppg w/Timberwolves) on Monday. 

Led by two-time league MVP Steve Nash, who was enshrined at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Sept. 7 and All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire, the Suns won 67.5 percent of their games from 2004-10, reaching the Western Conference Finals three times. 

They have as mentioned earlier missed the postseason for eight consecutive seasons, winning just 39.5 percent of their games. They have not won more than 25 games in any of the last three years and have seen most of their high Draft picks they stockpiled from all that losing be complete bust. 

Last year, Sarver made it known publicly that his impatience during the Suns rebuilding process in the four seasons McDonough has been the GM. Well he put the nail his coffin by firing him, but will he allow Jones if he is risen up to the GM position the room to properly improve this roster.  

They signed Booker to a contract extension; drafting Ayton No. 1 overall along with the acquisition of Bridges; signed and acquired vets like Ariza, Anderson, and Arthur. The Suns actually have hope for better days ahead, but if their front office is not on the same page with the rest of the organization, that bright and shiny future can go dark very quickly. 

Best Case Scenario: Suns win north of 30 games. Ayton win Kia Rookie of the Year, while Bridges is on either the All-Rookie First or Second Team. Booker is in the running for either the All-NBA Second or Third-Team. 

Worst Case Scenario: Another 55-plus loss season for the Suns, consisting of three or four long losing streaks. Ayton has more low points than high ones in his rookie season. Kokoskov is out of his element in his first year as head coach.  

Grade: B

Portland Trail Blazers: 49-33 (1^st Northwest Division; No. 3 Seed in West) 28-13 at home, 21-20 on the road. Lost to the No. 6 Seeded New Orleans Pelicans 4-0 in West Quarterfinals.  

-105.6 ppg-16^th; opp. ppg: 103.0-5^th; 45.5 rpg-T-3^rd 

Behind their elite starting backcourt, the Portland Trail Blazers won the Northwest Division for the first time in three seasons and nearly won 50 games. In the playoffs though they were swept 4-0 by the Pelicans in the opening round. With limited salary cap space thanks to billionaire owner Paul Allen opening his check book to re-sign and sign a few players who were average at best two off-seasons back limited the Trail Blazers ability to really improve the roster and they lost some key parts of their team a season ago. The focus for the Trail Blazers entering the 2018-19 campaign is with bas same cast with a couple of new additions is to make it back to the playoffs and hopefully end their playoff skid. 

The starting backcourt of three-time All-Star Damian Lillard (26.9 ppg-T-4^th NBA, 6.6 apg-Led team, 4.5 rpg, 36.1 3-Pt.%), who was an All-NBA First-Team selection for the first time in his career, while finishing fourth for Kia MVP and CJ McCollum (21.4 ppg, 39.7 3-Pt.%). 

As good as head coach Terry Stotts’ squad was during the 2017-18 regular season, where their 33-1 mark a season ago when leading by at least 15 points, their overall performance in the opening round against the Pelicans was subpar as they were swept 4-0 and saw their playoff losing streak extended to 10. 

While McCollum, Lillard was held in check by Jrue Holiday and Rajon Rondo as he only averaged. 

“For me I look at such a great season last year and then we had a terrible postseason performance,” Lillard, who averaged just 18.5 points on 35.2 percent from the field and a dismal 30.0 percent from three-point land in that four-game sweep said at Media Day on Sept. 24. “So, for me as a competitor I’m thinking to myself I want to get back to the playoffs and have a better performance.” 

McCollum, who averaged 25.3 points for the series on 51.3 percent from the floor and 42.3 from three-point range in the postseason echoed those same sentiments by first saying, “I haven’t been an All-Star but I’ve had individual success, He’s had individual success, been an All-Star. You’re judged on what you do in the playoffs. Winning and advancing. So, that’s what our main focus and our main goal is going forward…That’s how you’re remembered.”

Despite having a prolific offensive backcourt of Lillard and McCollum, the Trail Blazers a season ago were third worse in assist-to-turnover ratio and dead last in assists per game at 19.5.

They hoped that center Jusuf Nurkic (14.3 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 50.5 FG%) would be that consistent third scorer when they acquired him in February 2017 from the Nuggets.  

After finishing the prior season on fire before he got hurt late in 2016-17, he had an up-and-down 2017-18 in his contract year and his inconsistency showed the continued lack of balance between the backcourt and front court.  

If anything, the Trail Blazers can blame their misfortunes of last spring from what took place in the summer of 2016 when they flushed their war chest of salary cap space down the toilet on role players like Evan Turner (8.2 ppg), Maurice Harkless (6.5 ppg, 49.5 FG%, 41.5 3-Pt.%) and Meyers Leonard, who have been nothing but disappointments in their time in “Rip City.” 

Those re-signings by the boys from “Rip City” and President of Basketball Operations/GM Neil Olshay put them in position where they said goodbye via free agency to key reserves in sharp shooting swingman Pat Connaughton; beloved, well-respected, hard-working forward/center Ed Davis and Lillard’s understudy Shabazz Napier who signed with the Bucks and Nets respectably. 

In a soft free-agent market, the Trail Blazers were only able to re-sign Nurkic, a restricted free agent to a new four-year, $48 million deal. 

Hopefully by getting a new deal, Nurkic will play at a consistent level to where he can be that legitimate No. 3 scorer alongside Lillard and McCollum inside that will balance the rest of the squad. Above all, he must be a better rebounder and rim protector. 

The little money the Trail Blazers did have available, they signed guards Seth Curry and Nik Stauskas to one-year deals at $2.7 million and $1.6 million respectably. 

In June’s draft, the Trail Blazers with the No. 24 and No. 37 picks overall respectably chose guards Anfernee Simons and Gary Trent, Jr. out of Duke University. 

While Curry and Stauskas will bring much added three-point shooting off the bench for the Trail Blazers, these are two players who have had their trials and tribulations in the early stages of their careers in “The Association.”

Curry, whose had to play in the shadow of his brother in two-time Kia MVP Stephen Curry had a solid year for the Mavericks with a career-high of 12.8 points per contests on 48.1 percent from the field and 42.5 from three-point range, but a stress fracture of the tibia in his left leg shelved him for 2017-18. If he is healthy he will bring a solid shooting stroke off the bench for the Trail Blazers. 

Since being chosen No. 8 overall out of the University of Michigan in 2014, Stauskas has been a major disappointment in California’s capital city and in his other two stops with the Sixers and Nets. This chance in the Pacific Northwest may be his final one to show that he can be a major part of a team’s rotation. 

Curry and Staukas will need to be as the Trail Blazers saw nearly close to 20 percent of their three-point makes from a season ago in the combined 156 of their 845 triples walk out in free agency with the losses of Connaughton and Napier.

When the Trail Blazers drafted Simons, who last played any organized ball as a senior at IMG Academy in Florida they took a flyer on a very well-rounded basketball prospect who is wise and mature than his age of 19. That said, he turned down a chance to play college ball at the University of Louisville after the basketball program was rocked by scandal that cost head coach Rick Pitino his job. 

Trent, Jr., whose draft rights were acquired by the Trail Blazers on draft night in June from the Kings for two future Second-Round picks and financial considerations, last season with the Blue Devils averaged 14.5 points, while hitting a freshmen record for a single-season 97 triples.

It is difficult to imagine both players being nothing more than pet projects for the Trail Blazers’ player development program. If they make it their business to put in the work with assistant coaches David Vanterpool, Nate Tibbets, Rod Strickland, Jim Moran, John McCullough, Dale Osbourne, Jim Moran, and Chris Stackpole they have a chance to be what former Trail Blazers’ Allen Crabbe and Will Barton have blossomed into for the Nuggets and Nets respectably.  

For the Trail Blazers though to not miss out on the playoff this season, they will need major contributions from not only Nurkic, Harkless, Leonard, and Al-Farouq Aminu (9.3 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 36.9 3-Pt.%), who must stay healthy and shoot better making only 39.5 percent of his shots a season ago. He really awoke in the playoff against the Pelicans averaging 17.3 points and 9.3 boards in the four-game sweep.

They will also need to get accelerated development from second-year center Zach Collins, who showed signs last season and forward Caleb Swanigan, who barely got off the bench as a rookie. It would also be nice if the Trail Blazers could get something out of forward Jake Layman off the bench and possibly Wade Baldwin IV. 

Earlier in July, Lillard, whose scoring average last season was the highest since the 25.0 of Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler in 1991-92 said to reporters at NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, NV he wanted to be known someday as “the best Trail Blazer ever.” 

He added in an interview with “The Athletic” at the NBA 2K launch in New York, NY in early September that it “would be an honor to be a lifetime Blazer.” 

“Not a lot of guys get to play for one organization for their entire career. Obviously, I love playing for the Blazers… But as we know this it’s a business and a lot of times organizations have other plans, and sometimes players change their stance on that. But to be a lifetime Blazer, that would be great. I’m all on board for it.”

Lillard, whose eligible for a super-max extension of $188 million if he earns All-NBA this season has helped the Trail Blazers make the playoffs for five straight seasons, but they have only made it to the Semis twice in 2014 and 2016 and were defeated by eventual NBA champion Spurs and the West champion Warriors in five games respectably. 

After starting the season 31-26, the Trail Blazers kicked it into high gear in late February-to-mid March with a 13-game winning streak that won them the Northwest Division and the No. 3 Seed in the West. They went down as mentioned earlier in flames in the playoffs getting swept by the lower seeded Pelicans. 

Being stagnant in the West with basically all 15 squads stacked is not the place you want to be. That is where the Trail Blazers are and if they do not get it right this spring, that dynamic backcourt of Lillard and McCollum might be broken up, just like the All-Star backcourt of DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry of the Raptors this off-season. 

“We’ve come and been a Three Seed in the playoffs and we underperformed,” Lillard, whose team plays 15 of their first 20 games against teams with winning records from last season said to NBATV’s Ro Parrish. “Now it’s we got to be able to backup that type of performance in the regular season but elevate ourselves in the playoffs.”

Best Case Scenario: The Trail Blazers win a little north of 45 games and make the playoffs at the bottom of the West. Lillard, and McCollum continue to lead the Trail Blazers scoring wise, while getting more consistent scoring from Nurkic, Aminu, Harkless and Curry.  

Worst Case Scenario: The Trail Blazers miss the playoffs for the first time since 2013. There is serious talks about trading Lillard or McCollum in the summer of 2019. 

Grade: C-

Sacramento Kings: 27-55 (4^th Pacific Division; missed the playoffs) 14-27 at home, 13-28 on the road. 

-98.8 ppg-30^th; opp. ppg: 105.8-14^th; 40.9 rpg-28^th 

Last summer the Sacramento Kings front office, led by Vice President of Basketball Operations Vlade Divac tried to build the team with a blend of veterans and young core players. The result, the 12^th straight season missing the playoffs, the longest current drought in the NBA. With the team now full of young players, including one rookie who they hope is a transformative one, the focus for the Kings for the 2018-19 season will be one of patience and persistence with their talented up-and-coming youngsters.

While newcomer Zach Randolph (14.5 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 47.3 FG%, 34.7 3-Pt.%) brought leadership, poise and grit to the Kings, fellow vet guard George Hill pouted from the moment he stepped into the capital city of California and was eventually dealt to the Cavs at the February trade deadline. 

Another veteran Vince Carter served as a great inspiration of how being a perfectionist at your craft can allow to have a long career in the NBA.

As good as having those types of vets goes around to show head coach Dave Joerger’s young squad the ins and outs of being in the NBA, all three very simply were too old to have a real impact on turning the Kings around. It did not help that they lacked a volume scorer and go-to-guy in close games, which costed them many nights. 

What was even more worrisome is the fact that former First-Round picks the last two June’s in forward/center Willie Cauley-Stein (12.8 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 50.2 FG%), Skal Labissiere (8.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 44.8 FG%, 35.3 3-Pt.%) and Justin Jackson (6.7 ppg) have not grown to where they consistently performed night in and night out. 

Last season’s rookies in Bogdan Bogdanovic (11.8 ppg, 44.6 FG%, 39.2 3-Pt.%) and lead guard De’Aaron Fox (11.6 ppg) had their moments, but like most rookies were inconsistent. 

Bogdanovic unfortunately will have the start of his second-year in “The Association” delayed after having minor arthroscopic surgery on his left knee with a recovery time of 4 to 6 weeks. 

The Kings, who made a lottery selection for an NBA record 12^th straight season, chose at No. 2 overall forward Marvin Bagley III out of Duke University. 

In his only season playing for head coach Mike Krzyzweski and the Blue Devils, all Bagley III did was set the school’s freshmen record for points, rebounds, double-doubles and 20-point games behind averages of 21.0 points and 11.5 rebounds. 

His 22 double-doubles last season were a new Atlantic Coastal Conference (ACC) record for a freshmen and was one of four players to average 20-plus points and 10-plus boards in 2017-18 and became the first Blue Devil to do so since the 1979-80 NCAA season. 

The great skill that Bagley will add to the Kings, besides his ability to rebound and score in the low-post is his work ethic. He never took a play off on the court as a collegian and changing ends of the floor seemed like a breeze for him.   

That will be a huge help offensively to the Kings, especially Fox, who really struggled shooting the field a season ago connecting on 41.2 percent of his shots and only 30.7 percent of his three-pointers. 

With some salary cap space available, the Kings gave restricted free agent guard Zach LaVine a four-year, $78 million offer sheet, which the Bulls eventually matched. 

A bold move indeed, but for a team that is unlikely to get serious interests from key free agents, overpaying for a mid-level player with a lot of potential is the only way for the Kings to get players of that caliber or higher to their front step. 

Even if the Kings had scored LaVine, that would have cut into the minutes and growth of Bogdanovic and reserves guard Buddy Hield (13.5 ppg, 44.6 FG%, 43.1 3-Pt.%) and Frank Mason III (7.9 ppg, 36.0 3-Pt.%). 

In striking out on LaVine, the Kings settled on bringing back guard Ben McLemore, their former No. 1 pick (No. 7 overall) in June 2013 in a deal with the Grizzlies in exchange for veteran guard Garrett Temple. The Kings also got forward Deyonta Davis, a 2021 Second-Round draft pick and cash considerations. 

While McLemore’s value is in his expiring contract at the end of this season, the Kings made some solid additions in forward Nemanja Bjelica (6.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 46.1 FG%, 41.5 3-Pt.% w/T’Wolves), on a three-year, $20.4 million deal in the off-season and guard Yogi Ferrell (10.2 ppg, 37.3 3-Pt.% w/Mavericks), who signed a two-year, $4.1 million deal. 

Bjelica and Ferrell should bring solid scoring and shooting off the bench for the Kings, who also picked up the player options on reserves forward Kosta Koufos (6.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 57.1 FG%) and veteran guard Iman Shumpert.

The other bonus for the Kings this off-season is that they will be getting forward Harry Giles back on the court when the new season begins. 

The 20-year-old No. 20 overall pick out of Duke missed all of his rookie season recovering from serious knee injuries stemming back from his days in high school. 

He got a chance to play in Summer League and Giles looked impressive and most of all had no pain in either of his knees. 

When the Minnesota Timberwolves ended their 13-year playoff drought this past spring, the Kings moved into the dubious top spot of the NBA’s longest streak of missing the playoffs at 12 straight seasons. 

The Kings hope that Bagley III develops into the face of the franchise and the likes of Bogdanovic, Hield, Giles, Fox, Cauley-Stein, and Jackson develop into a core that can makes the Kings a playoff contender in a couple of years. That is the hope of the Kings’ and Divac.

Best Case Scenario: The Kings have at least a five-game improvement from 2016-17. Bagley III is the Rookie of the Year. Fox, Bogdanovic, Jackson and some of the other key young players make serious leaps in their second seasons. The Kings play better in their second season at the Golden 1 Center. 

Worst Case Scenario: Another 50-plus loss season. Bagley III has more low moments than high ones. Another season of teasing in terms of the growth from some of the young players. 

Grade: C-

San Antonio Spurs: 47-35 (3^rd Southwest Division; No. 7 Seed in West) 33-8 at home, 14-27 on the road. Lost to the No. 2 Seeded Golden State Warriors 4-1 in West Quarterfinals. 

-102.7 ppg-27^th; opp. ppg: 99.8-T^-1st; 44.2 rpg-11^th

There is one word to best describe the five-time NBA champion San Antonio Spurs, stable. They remarkable have avoided the pitfalls that the other 29 NBA teams have gone through. That is how they tied the Trail Blazers (1982-2003) for second all-time in consecutive playoff appearances with their 21^st in a row. This off-season, the boys from the “Alamo City” will look completely different having traded their supposed next leading star to Canada and saying goodbye via retirement and free agency to the last two pillars of their past four titles. The Spurs focus entering the 2018-19 season is to acclimate their new All-Star acquisition and makeup for the loss of their starting lead guard and his understudy backup lead guard as they usher in a new era of Spurs basketball that will hopefully continue with another playoff appearance.  

Last season represented the first time the Spurs did not win 50 games since the 1996-97 season, which was the last time they missed the playoffs after going 20-62. It was also the last time they did not have a winning road record.

The absence of 2014 Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, who played all but nine games last season due to a mysteriously persistent right quadriceps injury, which had the Spurs’ head coach Gregg Popovich, his staff, the players, the front office of GM R.C. Buford, owner Peter Holt, and Spurs fans shaking their heads.

This was a team dating back to Hall of Famer David Robinson when they drafted him in the late 1980s that prided itself on having a stable, professional, and solid working relationship with their star(s). Which is why it is unfathomable to understand how things went way left so instantly with the team and their star of the future. 

The trust between the Spurs and the 2014 Finals MVP came to ahead on Jan. 5 when Leonard sustained a partial tear in his left shoulder after playing eight games. Then on Jan. 17 the team announced that the two-time All-Star and back-to-back Kia Defensive Player of the Year in 2015 and 2016 was going to be out indefinitely due to that aforementioned quad injury. 

On Feb. 21 Leonard was cleared to play by Spurs team doctors, but the three-time NBA All-Defensive First-Team selection never played another game the rest of the season.  

The Spurs being who they have been for over two decades found a way to get the job done on the hardwood thanks to six-time All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge (23.1 ppg, 8.5 rpg 51.0 FG%) carrying the load at the offensive end and the strong play by the contingent of the rest of the Spurs. 

How good was LaMarcus Aldridge a season ago? The prior season he had only 18 double-doubles. He had 27 double-doubles in 2017-18 and had 21 games with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds. 

After their early exit at the hands of the eventual World Champion Warriors in five games, a lot of prognosticators in the NBA circle wondered what was next on the horizon for the Spurs and how long would their transition period be before they were a serious title contender again? 

The first shoe to drop during the off-season was the painful and what be the regretful trade of Leonard, who was as mentioned projected as the team’s next lynchpin after Robinson and Tim Duncan, who retired two summers ago. 

On July 18, Leonard was traded was traded to the Raptors along with guard Danny Green for four-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan (23.0 ppg, 5.2 apg, 45.6 FG% w/Raptors), second-year center Jakob Poeltl (6.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 65.9 FG% w/Raptors) and a 2019 Draft Lottery-protected First-Round pick (1-12). 

DeRozan, who made the All-NBA Second Team last season unlike Leonard was not thrilled about leaving the one team he had played his entire nine-year career with and was a huge part in them becoming a legitimate title contender the past two seasons.

“We are happy to turn the page,” Aldridge said at Media Day on Sept. 24 about the Spurs moving on from Leonard. “DeMar is here. He’s happy and he’s motivated.”

Former Spur Steven Jackson, who was an important part of their 2003 title team said echoed those same sentiments when he said on the Sept. 25 edition of “NBA: The Jump,” “One player don’t stop the show in San Antonio.” 

“Tim Duncan can leave. Ginobili can leave. Everybody could leave. We have a championship attitude. We come to win games. We[‘re] professional. We carry ourselves the right way every year regardless whose here.”

While he is nowhere the defender or perform in the pressure cooker like Leonard, DeRozan is a legitimate scorer, who can get to the foul line very consistently; possesses a consistent mid-range jump shot and has really improved his ability to make shots from three-point range. 

“The hunger and eagerness to win at the highest level, especially being in the great Western Conference with great players every single night,” DeRozan said on Media Day in late September to NBATV’s Jared Greenberg on his motivation to play well for his new team. 

“Just going out there every single night and just playing at the highest of highest levels and competing against the best of the best. I think this time around it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

The key for DeRozan with the Spurs, where he is under contract for the next three seasons is to develop chemistry with Aldridge after developing a great vibe with his backcourt mate in recent seasons in All-Star Kyrie Irving with the Raptors. 

In Poeltl, the Spurs acquired a 7-footer, who was a huge part of the Raptors bench a season ago and playing alongside veteran big-man Pau Gasol (10.1 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 45.8 FG%, 35.8 3-Pt.%) might quicken his development as long as he does not become just a big that just sets screens to get his teammates open, which has been the one and only job of most NBA big men. 

As mentioned at the beginning, the Spurs said goodbye to two other key members of nearly two decades in Manu Ginobili, who retired after 16 seasons in the league, all with the Spurs. Long time starting floor general Tony Parker, the 2007 Finals MVP who played 17 seasons for the “Silver and Black,” signed in free agency with the Hornets. 

Parker’s departure is part due to that he is not the same player he once was. Also, the Spurs’ had a desire to groom their young guards in Dejounte Murray (8.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg) and Bryn Forbes (6.9 ppg, 39.0 3-Pt.%), who was re-signed on a two-year, $6 million deal.  

“It’s difficult to put into words how important Tony Parker has been to the Spurs’ franchise over the past two decades. From his first game in 2001 at age 19, T.P. has impressed and inspired us day-after-day, game-after-game, season-after-season with his passion, dedication, and desire,” Coach Popovich said of Parker earlier this summer. “We are grateful to Tony for 17 years of truly amazing memories.”

The Spurs also said goodbye to forward Kyle Anderson as they did not decide to match the four-year $37.2 million offer sheet he received from the Grizzlies. 

Those goodbyes were nothing compared to the human loss of Erin Popovich, Coach Popovich’s wife of 40 years who passed away on Apr. 18 after a long battle with an undisclosed illness. She was 67 years old and is survived the couple’s two kids Jill and Mickey and two grandchildren.  

The next player the Spurs hope can develop under their program is the No. 18 pick of this June’s draft in guard Lonnie Walker IV out of the University of Miami. 

The 6-foot-4 guard from Reading, PA is a lively player that will for sure make the NBA’s All-Hairstyle squad before he plays one second in “The Association.” His hairstyle aside he will be the next pet project for the Spurs’ player development program in hopes he and Murray will become the Spurs starting backcourt tandem down the road.

Unfortunately, those dreams will be put on hold to start the 2018-19 campaign as Walker IV underwent surgery on Oct. 8 after an MRI exam revealed a tear of the medial meniscus in his right knee and there is no timetable for his return. 

The Spurs will also be without Murray, who was lost for the season after tearing the ACL in his right knee in their preseason tilt versus the Rockets on Sunday.

“I assume he misses the entire season. You just carry on,” Coach Popovich said after the diagnosis of the NBA All-Defensive Second-Teamer was released. “He’s going to be out. Devastating injury for him, for the team. But life goes on. Everybody will pick up and do the best job we can to carry forward without him.” 

The understudy to Murray Derrick White has a plantar fascia tear in his left foot. Coach Popovich initially told reporters last week that White could miss 6-to-8 weeks, but later said it could be just 2-4 weeks.  

That made the signing of sharp shooter Marco Bellinelli (12.1 ppg, 37.7 3-Pt% w/Hawks & Sixers) to a two-year, $12 million deal for his second stint with them all that more important now.

His addition should make the Spurs a better three-point shooting team, where they went from No. 1 in the league two seasons back at 39.1 percent to No. 26 last year at 35.2. 

Bellinelli and reserve guard Patty Mills (10.0 ppg, 37.2 3-Pt.%) will share time at the lead guard along with Forbes until White returns or the Spurs find a new point guard on the free agent market. 

“It’s on us as leaders now, and me, to make sure we get everybody that’s going to fill into Dejounte’s shoes ready,” Mills said. “We’re going to need them.” 

The Spurs also re-signed forward/guard Rudy Gay (11.5 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 47.1 FG%), who turned down an $8.8 million salary on the back end of a prior two-year deal to sign a one-year, $10 million deal, and signed veteran guard Quincy Pondexter, while retaining forward/center Davis Bertans on a two-year, $14.5 million deal. 

While the Spurs may be different from past years at the offensive end, they have always been under Coach Popovich a great defensive team. Last season was the sixth consecutive season and 22^nd in the last 29 the Spurs had a Top 5 defense ranking No. 6 in opponent’s field goal percentage at 45.3 percent; No. 4 in opponent’s three-point percentage at 34.8 and block shots per game at 5.6 and No. 6 in rebound differential at +1.7.

“Principles how we do things or with the process usually is will probably stay the same,” Popovich said on Media Day in late September. “But there are tweaks every year. Whether it’s a tweak on offense or defense, or administratively you know this group of guys might want to do something a little bit different.”   

In one off-season the five-time champion San Antonio Spurs as we knew them for so long changed. Gone are the “Big Three” of future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan and just this summer Parker and Ginobili, as well as Leonard. Only three current players that played with the “Big Three” are Aldridge, Bellinelli and Mills. 

The one constant is been head coach Gregg Popovich, also known as “Pop.” He’s been around the Spurs for 23 seasons, the longest run not just in “The Association” but the four major North American pro sports leagues. The fifth winningest coach in NBA history with 1,197 with 14 more wins will surpass Hall of Famer Pat Riley, who has 1,210 career wins. With 24 more victories, he will move past another Hall of Fame coach in Jerry Sloan. The difference between Popovich, who is second to Hall of Famer Phil Jackson (.704) in winning percentage all-time at .689 and Riley and Sloan, all his victories came with the Spurs.

If there is any coach that will have his team ready despite the loss of key players in the rotation it is him. That means do not count them out of tying the 76ers of 1949-71 for the longest streak of playoff appearances with 22. Though it will not be easy continuing that great streak in the loaded West. 

“He’s such a smart guy that I feel like he sees this new team, this new makeup a chance to be a new challenge for him,” Aldridge said to Greenberg about the Popovich’s feelings of the team heading into the new season. 

Best Case Scenario: The Spurs win north of 45 games and make the playoffs for a 22^nd straight season as either the No. 5 to the No. 7 Seed. DeRozan and Aldridge play with cohesion on both ends. The plays at an All-Star level as the Spurs survive the injury bug at the lead guard spot.   

Worst Case Scenario: The Spurs miss out on the playoffs for the first time since the 1996-97 season. 

Grade: B-

Utah Jazz: 48-34 (3^rd Northwest Division; No. 5 Seed in West) 28-13 at home, 20-21 on the road. Defeated the No. 4 Seeded Oklahoma City Thunder 4-2 in West Quarterfinals. Lost to the No. 1 Houston Rockets 4-1 in West Semifinals.   

-104.1 ppg-19^th; opp. ppg: 99.8-T-1^st; 43.3 rpg-20^th   

After a loss at the Hawks on Jan 22, the Utah Jazz were 19-28 and looked every bit like a team that was headed for the NBA Draft Lottery. A stellar season from their No. 1 draft choice; the return to health of their starting center; the sharp shooting of their lead guard and a dominant defense, the Jazz won 29 of their final 35 games of the 2017-19 regular season and for the second straight season advanced to the Semis. The focus for the Jazz entering this season is to elevate their level of play even higher from what they did a season ago and remain healthy. 

“More than anything, I’m just really proud of our guys,” Jazz head coach Quin Snyder said to reporters before their last game of the 2017-18 regular season at the Trail Blazers. “What these guys did collectively to get better…I don’t want to diminish what this group accomplished.”

The Jazz in their climb out of that early season hole in 2017-18 won seven games by 30 points or more, which includes three wins by 40 points or more. They are also the only team that defeated the back-to-back defending champion Warriors three out of four times by 30, 19 and 40 points, winning the regular season series 3-1.

The two pillars behind Utah’s turnaround were Kia Rookie of the Year runner-up Donovan Mitchell (20.5 ppg-Led team, 1.5 spg, 34.0 3-Pt.%) and 2018 Kia Defensive Player of the Year recipient Rudy Gobert (13.5 ppg, 10.7 rpg-Led team, 2.3 bpg-Led team, 62.2 FG%-Led team), who overcame knee injuries early in the season to be that defensive anchor in the paint and on the boards for the Jazz. 

When the Jazz acquired the draft rights to Mitchell, the No. 13 overall pick in 2017 out of Louisville from the Nuggets, they really did not know what they were getting. They thought they had a player that could come off the bench and provide a spark for head coach Quin Snyder’s squad. 

The 2018 NBA Slam Dunk Contest winner at All-Star weekend last February went from that to their go-to guy in the clutch where he initiated the offense at the end of games and won over head coach Quin Snyder, his coaching staff and even earned respect from not just his teammates but his peers around the league. 

Just ask the Pelicans, where he scored 29 of a career-high of 41 points in the second half, hitting 13 for 25 from the field, including 6 for 12 from three-point range in their 114-108 win on Dec. 1, 2017. On this night, he surpassed the 38 set by former Cardinal Darrell Griffith rookie mark of 38 back in 1981 and became just the seventh rookie in Jazz history to score 30 or more in a game. 

To further illustrate how good Mitchell was in his rookie season, he made 187 three-pointers setting a new NBA record. He joined Hall of Famers David Robinson (1989-90), Larry Bird (1979-80), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1969-70) and the late Wilt Chamberlin (1959-60), with Mitchell being the only guard to lead their squad in scoring and won 45 games or more. 

The Western Conference Rookie of the month For December 2017, January, February and March/April and the Jazz took that wave of confidence into the postseason where he was at times the best player on the floor that featured 2017 Kia MVP in Westbrook and perennial All-Stars in George and Anthony.

He had a double-double in his playoff debut of 27 points and 10 boards in the Game 1 116-108 loss on Apr. 15. He bettered that with 28 points in the Jazz’s 102-95 win to not the series at 1-1 three nights later. He helped the Jazz to a commanding 3-1 series lead with 33 points in their 113-96 win in Game 4 on Apr. 23, which surpassed the 31-point night of Hall of Famer Karl Malone on Apr. 20, 1986 against the Mavericks. He concluded strong with a new playoff career-high and new Jazz playoff record of 38 points on 14 for 26 shooting, including 5 for 8 from three-point range in the clinching 96-91 win four days later.

While the magical run in the postseason ended in the Semis to the eventual West runner-up Rockets 4-1, they and Mitchell did not go quietly into the night as Mitchell in the Game 5 loss had 24 points and nine assists before leaving in the middle of the fourth quarter with an injury. 

When the Jazz were at their best a season ago, Gobert was dominant as a finisher at the rim and on the offensive glass, and defensively was a bear on the defensive boards as well as a shot-blocker and rim protector. 

To bring this into context, in the 26 games the “Stifle Tower” missed because of knee injuries a season ago, the Jazz were only 11-15 and gave up 100 points or more in 20 of those games. In the 37 games he played after returning from injury the Jazz went 30-7, the second-best mark in the NBA. In their final 35 games of last season, the Jazz beside going 29-6 held the opposition to a league leading 42.8 percent from the floor in that span.  

He was a major reason the Jazz tied for fifth in opponent’s field goal percentage at 44.9; tied for No. 8 in block shots per game at 5.1; No. 4 in steals at 8.3 and tied for No. 5 in forced turnovers per game at 14.5. 

Just his presence in the paint made the Jazz that much defensively where their wings could take chances and funnel them into the paint where Gobert can turn them away or deter them from attempts shots at the basket. 

“It might sound crazy, but I knew we were going to have a chance,” Gobert said late last season to AT&T Sportsnet’s Kristen Kenney about his team. “When I saw the moves [that] we made this summer. The team we had you know, I was excited.” 

“I knew that we were going to be very good but injuries slowed us down, but when I came back we started to get rolling a little bit.”

Encouraged by that playoff run they re-signed some of their players and gave a couple of their new additions huge deals even though they have performed at an average level at best. Today, those deals look like a mistake as they have not been to the Semis since. 

The Jazz hope they are headed down a similar path especially with the improved level of competition in the West this upcoming season. 

In free agency, the Jazz decided to keep most of last year’s squad intact re-signing starting power forward Derrick Favors (12.3 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 56.3 FG%) to a two-year, $37.6 million; backup guards Dante Exum (8.1 ppg, 48.3 FG%) and Raul Neto to three and two-year deals at $33 million and $4.4 million respectably.

Exum’s first three seasons with the Jazz have been by knee and shoulder injuries, but when he has been healthy and played, he has only shown flashes of brilliance. In the playoffs though he showed signs of turning the corner, especially in the Semis against the Rockets when starting lead guard Ricky Rubio, who the Jazz acquired from the Timberwolves last summer was on the shelf because of injury. 

That made the Jazz hopeful that the 23-year-old Australian’s better days are ahead and this was not the time to cut the cord and if nothing else gives the Jazz an insurance policy at the lead guard spot.

The current starting guard for the Jazz is Rubio (13.1 ppg, 5.3 apg-Led team, 4.6 rpg, 1.6 spg), who came to the Jazz as a prolific passer and playmaker but was a reluctant jumper shooter. As last season progressed, he became a better scorer and shooter as evidenced by his scoring averages of 16.0, 15.6 and 17.0 in February, March, and April respectably on 50.0, 35.7 and 54.2 percent from three-point range. 

Rubio improved the major weakness in his game, which should give some perspective to Exum that you can get better if you are willing to put in the work.  

“I think the strength of this team is the team and that said is everybody give 100 percent effort every night,” Rubio said after the Jazz’s 112-97 win back on Apr. 8 that clinched their birth in the 2018 playoffs to NBATV’s “Gametime” crew of Casey Stern, Caron Butler and Sam Mitchell. 

“We don’t have just one star or two stars or the ‘Big 3.’ I think it’s the whole team. Off-course we have Donovan having a great season as a rookie but I think the whole team is stepping up.” 

In the case of Favors he was the beneficiary of a market that was not willing to put the price tag on him that he got from the Jazz. 

Like Exum, the No. 3 overall pick in 2010 has had moments of brilliance for the Jazz and there have been times he has injury issues particularly the two seasons prior to the last where he missed 20 and 32 games in 2015-16 and 2016-17 respectably. He has also had moments where his play has been inconsistent and has rode the pine late in games because his inability to matchup with some of opponent’s stretch-the-floor lineups like the Rockets. 

That said, the Jazz have invested time into Favors and he has been a solid compliment to Gobert as a defender and shot blocker, and while he is the longest tenured Jazz player, he is still young at 27-years-old. 

When you are a franchise like the Jazz that has made its bone in improving their team is through the draft and taking those picks and developing them. Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey has had an uncanny ability to find talent in other places that most front offices look. He hopes he found another gem in the No. 21 overall pick in this year’s draft in Grayson Allen out of Duke University. 

The 2017-18 AP Honorable mentioned All-American and Third-Team All-ACC selection considered entering the draft in 2017 but returned for his senior season after getting mild feedback from those associated with the NBA. 

The now former Blue Devil will bring solid shooting stroke to a team that was No. 13 in threes made and attempted a season ago. He will also bring an edginess that his teammates loved, got under the opponent’s skin, but also made him a target from criticism that could have been prevented. 

If he can earn his way into Coach Snyder’s rotation Allen and fellow sharp shooter Joe Ingles (11.5 ppg, 4.8 apg, 46.7 FG%, 44.0 3-Pt.%-T-4^th NBA), who proved he was worth every bit of that new four-year, $52 million deal he got when he re-signed last summer will give the Jazz the kind of floor spacing that will providing easy driving lanes for Mitchell to care up defenses. 

Some other key rotation players along with Exum and Ingles for the Jazz will include second-year forward Royce O’Neale, whose offensive game has to match what he brings on defense. Jae Crowder (9.7 ppg, w/Cavs & Jazz), who was acquired at the Feb. 8 trade deadline from the Cavs brought a spark on both ends. Ekpe Udoh, Alec Burks (7.7 ppg) and Thabo Sefolosha (8.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 49.2 FG%, 38.1 3-Pt.%), who is coming back after his season was cut short because of injury should provide some decent scoring and solid defense. 

For the second straight season, the Jazz advanced to the Semifinals and represented themselves well against a championship caliber opponent in the Rockets. They now need to show they can establish themselves as a serious contender in the rugged West with nearly the same cast. They have a style of play they are comfortable with and a star in the making in Mitchell who showed no fear as a rookie. Can he and his team take the next step and be great when he will now be the top priority on the other 29 teams scouting report.

When he scored 20 points or more a season ago as a rookie, the Jazz, whose first game against an Easter Conference opponent in 2018-19 is on Nov. 5 versus the Raptors were 31-15 and when he scored under 20 points, they were just 17-18. 

Best Case Scenario: The Jazz win north 50 games and finish in the middle of the pact in the rugged West. Mitchell is a borderline All-Star. Gobert is in the running for Kia Defensive Player of the Year again. Exum, Crowder, Burks, O’Neale and Ingles provide consistent scoring.

Worst Case Scenario: The Jazz are in the bottom of the playoff picture with about 45 wins. Gobert deals with injuries again. 

Grade: B+

Information, quotations, and statistics are courtesy of 4/8/18 6 p.m. Utah Jazz vs. Los Angeles Lakers on AT&T Sportsnet Rocky Mountain with Craig Bolerjack, Matt Harpring and Kristen Kenney; 4/9/18 1 a.m. edition of NBATV’s “Gametime,” with Casey Stern, Caron Butler and Sam Mitchell; 4/11/18 www.nba.com game previews; 5/24/18 www.nba.com’s  release if All-NBA First, Second and Third teams and All-Defensive First and Second Teams; 6/19/18 10 p.m. “NBA Draft On the Clock” on ESPN 2 with Cassidy Hubbarth, Adrian Wojnarowski, Bobby Marks, and Mike Schmitz; 6/20/18 2018 NBATV’s “2018 NBA Draft HQ” with Rick Kamla, Isiah Thomas, and Greg Anthony; 6/21/18 7 p.m. coverage of 2018 NBA Draft Presented by State Farm on ESPN with Rece Davis, Jay Bilas, Chauncey Billups, Mike Schmitz, Bobby Marks, Maria Taylor, and Adrian Wojnarowski; 6/24/18 10:30 p.m. edition of WNYW FOX 5’s Sports Soccer Extra, presented by Spectrum with Tina Cervasio; 6/26/18 www.nba.com article by Howard Fendrick of “The Associated Press;” 8/2/18 3 p.m. edition “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Ramona Shelburne, Amin Elhassan, and Royce Young; 8/6/18 www.nba.com’s 2018 NBA Offseason Rankings: The Top, Middle and Bottom 10 courtesy of NBATV’s/TNT’s David Aldridge; 7/30/18 & 8/6/18 www.nba.com’s “Eastern and Western Conference Mid-Summer Power Rankings,” by John Schuhmann; 7/30/18 3 p.m. edition “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Jorge Sedano, Mike Schmitz and Marc J. Spears; 8/13/18 www.nba.com story, “Schedule Notebook, First 20 Games Often Revealing,” by John Schuhmann; 8/13/18 3 p.m. edition “NBA: The Jump” with Jorge Sedano, Kevin Arnovitz, Kevin Pelton, and Royce Young; 8/30/18 3 p.m. edition “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Brian Windhorst, Chris Haynes and Nick Friedell; 9/1/18-9/30/18 www.nba.com’s “30 Teams in 30 Days,” by Shaun Powell; 9/3/18-9/9/18 2018-19 NBA Season Team Preview via www.nba.com, presented by Kia Motors by John Schuhmann, Sekou Smith, Jeff Case, and Shaun Powell; 9/5/18 3 p.m. edition “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN 2 with Rachel Nichols, Fran Fraschilla and Amin Elhassan; 9/6/18 3:30 p.m. “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Ian Begley, Bobby Marks and Chiney Ogwumike; 9/11/18 3 p.m. “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Jorge Sedano, Paul Pierce and Mike Schmitz; 9/13/18 3 p.m. “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Rachel, Amin Elhassan and Paul Pierce; 9/18/18 3 p.m. edition “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Royce Young, Zach Lowe and Jackie MacMullan; 9/19/18 8 p.m. NBATV’s “2018-19 Forecast: ‘Storylines,’” with Jared Greenberg, Isiah Thomas, and Steve Smith; 9/20/18 3 p.m. edition of “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Zach Lowe, and Jackie MacMullan; 9/20/18 8 p.m. NBATV’s “2018-19 Predictions ‘NBA Q & A,” with Jared Greenberg, Steve Smith, and Isiah Thomas; 9/24/18 3 p.m. “NBA: The Jump: on ESPN with Jorge Sedano, Brian Windhorst and Ryen Russillo; 9/25/18 3 p.m. “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Brian Windhorst and Stephen Jackson; 9/25/18-10/11/18 NBATV’s 2018-19 Team Preview of all 30 NBA teams hosted by Matt Winer, Ro Parrish, Rick Kamla, Casey Stern, Jared Greenberg, Kristen Ledlow, Ros Gold-Onwude, Allie LaForce, Kristen Ledlow, Isiah Thomas, Kevin McHale, David Griffin, Brendan Haywood, Drew Gooden, Greg Anthony, Mike Fratello, Steve Smith, Carlos Boozer, Derek Harper, Caron Butler, Antonio Daniels and NBATV’s “The Starters;” Tas Melas, JE Skeets, Leigh Ellis, and Trey Kerby; 9/25/18-10/11/18 www.nba.com’s “One Team, One Stat: All 30 Teams,” by John Schuhmann; 9/26/18 3 p.m. edition “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Brian Windhorst, Stephen Jackson, and Amin Elhassan; 9/27/18 3 p.m. edition “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Amin Elhassan, and Stephen Jackson; 9/28/18 6 p.m. edition “NBA: The Jump” on ESPNEWS with Rachel Nichols, Amin Elhassan and Stephen Jackson; 10/3/18 3 p.m. edition “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Kevin Arnovitz and Paul Pierce; 10/8/18 www.nba.com story “Suns Part Ways with GM McDonough; 10/9/18 3 p.m. edition "NBA: The Jump" on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Amin Elhassan, and Nick Friedell; 10/11/18 3 p.m. edition "NBA: The Jump" with Rachel Nichols, Amin Elhassan and Stan Van Gundy; 10/10/18 www.nba.com story “Utah Jazz Exercise Team Option on Donovan Mitchell;” 10/12/18 www.espn.com story “Spurs; Rudy Gay, Derrick White Out with Injuries,” by Michael C. Wright; 10/13/18 www.nba.com stories “New York Knicks Waive Veteran Big Man Joakim Noah” and by Brian Mahoney of “The Associated Press” and “Miami Heat Officially Sign Justise Winslow To Contract Extension;” 

10/15/18 www.nba.com story “Report: Jamal Crawford Agrees to One-Year Deal with Suns;” 10/15/18 www.nba.com story “Pacers Announce Multi-Year Extension for Myles Turner;” 10/15/18 www.nba.com story “Hawks Exercise Contract Options on Bembry, Prince, and Collins;” 10/15/18 www.nba.com story “Knicks Exercise 2019-20 Option on Ntilikina;” 10/15/18 www.nba.com story “Nets Exercise Contract Options on LeVert, Allen;” 10/16/18 www.nba.com story “Nets’ DeMarre Carroll Undergoes Successful Right Ankle Surgery;” 10/16/18 www.nba.com story “Lakers Exercise Options on Ball, Ingram, Kuzma, and Hart;” 10/16/18 www.nba.com story “Larry Nance, Jr. Staying Home with Cleveland Cavaliers, Signs 4-Year Extension;”  www.espn.com/nba/statistics; www.nba.com/draft/2018/teams#; ww.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23736393/nba-trade-tracker-players-picks-grades; www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23772604/nba-rumors-free-agency-trade-buzz-rumors-reports; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018-19_Brooklyn_Nets_season; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018-19_Portland_Trail_Blazers_season.