The first huge wave of participant motion within the 2024 NBA offseason has come and gone, and some issues are beginning to crystalize. The Oklahoma City Thunder appear like the category of the West after including Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso to final 12 months’s No. 1 seed. The Boston Celtics stay a robust favourite within the East, however the New York Knicks with Mikal Bridges and Philadelphia 76ers with Paul George are able to push them.
Some groups have set themselves up for enchancment this offseason even when they aren’t on the high of the championship image. The Dallas Mavericks did properly so as to add extra capturing and protection round Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, and will probably be fascinating to see how Klay Thompson performs away from the Bay. The Orlando Magic gained’t sneak up on anybody this 12 months, and have an opportunity to be an rising Eastern Conference powerhouse.
Then there’s the groups who haven’t completed sufficient. While there’s loads of time left within the offseason to make strikes, these six groups needs to be feeling the warmth to do one thing or they’ll get left behind by their rivals.
Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets may have retained Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in free company in the event that they needed to. Instead, Denver was too afraid of looming penalties for coming into the ‘second apron’ of the posh tax, and determined it may substitute the veteran two-guard’s manufacturing with youthful gamers. Either that, or possession simply cheaped out.
This is the time that Denver needs to be going all-in round Nikola Jokic. The three-time MVP is within the prime of his profession at 29 years outdated, but the workforce round him continues to lose expertise over nothing however cash. The Nuggets misplaced Bruce Brown and Jeff Green final 12 months after profitable the 2023 championship, and now it’s misplaced a good greater contributor in KCP. This resolution places a ton of strain on Denver’s untested younger bench — Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Julian Strawther — to carry out at a excessive stage instantly. The Nuggets’ depth was already a difficulty final 12 months, and it’s an much more evident want now.
The Nuggets will nonetheless be superb. They could even nonetheless win the title. But the workforce obtained considerably worse by shedding Caldwell-Pope for no good purpose. The younger guys are going to need to take a significant leap, or the Nuggets have failed Jokic this summer season.
Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers have been a fairly good workforce final 12 months that solely gained one playoff recreation and by no means had a sensible likelihood of profitable the Western Conference. It would appear to behoove a workforce like that to make some main strikes within the offseason, particularly when it has three first spherical picks to commerce at its disposal. Instead, the Lakers have been content material to draft Dalton Knecht and Bronny James, and do nothing else.
Knecht will help the Lakers subsequent season as a rookie along with his off-ball capturing, however that gained’t be sufficient to make a significant push up the standings. LA is betting on inside improvement of their younger gamers, but when they make an actual veteran addition, chances are high they are going to be worse by proxy. LA obtained superb well being out of LeBron James and Anthony Davis final season, and who is aware of if that would be the case this 12 months. The West retains enhancing, and the Lakers are doing nothing as LeBron James units to enter his age-40 season.
The Lakers are making ready for all times after James as an alternative of going all-in whereas he’s nonetheless an elite participant. LA doesn’t need to commerce its future draft picks and tackle penalties from coming into the second-apron. The Lakers are type of simply chilling, and that shouldn’t be adequate after they make use of the famous person with the longest prime in league historical past.
Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks have been imagined to be a championship contender after buying Damian Lillard final season. Instead, the workforce appeared underwhelming out of the gates, fired first-year head coach Adrian Griffin to switch him with Doc Rivers at midseason, after which noticed Giannis Antetokounmpo undergo a season-ending harm simply earlier than the playoffs.
It feels prefer it’s now or by no means for the Lillard-Antetokounmpo pairing coming into the 2024-25 season, however the Bucks have completed completely nothing to enhance the workforce this summer season.
It’s true that the Bucks are capped out and light-weight on future belongings, however different groups have discovered a method to get artistic in related conditions. Milwaukee’s huge plan seems to be praying for good well being from their 4 veteran stars. That doesn’t appear to be a sensible transfer when the 76ers and Knicks went all-out so as to add top-end expertise, whereas the Celtics stay the category of the convention. If Milwaukee disappoints once more this season, it’s solely a matter of time earlier than Antetokounmpo commerce rumors pop up once more.
Miami Heat
The Heat missed out on Damian Lillard final summer season, they usually by no means had an opportunity at Donovan Mitchell this summer season earlier than he re-signed with Cleveland. Miami is a franchise identified for taking huge swings, but they’ve completed a complete lot of nothing heading into the 2024-25 season.
Jimmy Butler is coming into the ultimate 12 months of his contract with out an extension in place. Bam Adebayo is locked up on a long-term deal, and there are some good younger items on the roster in Jaime Jaquez, Nikola Jovic, Kel’el Ware, and Tyler Herro. For now, the Heat really feel like a workforce caught in two-timelines: one not adequate to win with Butler as a centerpiece this season, but with no foundational participant if he leaves in the summertime of 2025.
Miami could be sensible to take a look at Butler trades and prioritize their future, however this group usually doesn’t function that method. Unless the Heat can discover a method to make a transfer for an affect expertise, it appears like they’re caught on the backside of the East playoff image.
Los Angeles Clippers
This one is self-explanatory. The Clippers misplaced Paul George in free company with out getting belongings again for him. LA responded by making some cut price signings in Derrick Jones Jr., Kris Dunn, Nic Batum, and Mo Bamba, however these guys aren’t going to make up the lack of an All-NBA caliber participant like George.
The Clippers nonetheless have Kawhi Leonard and James Harden on the roster, however that isn’t a dependable duo at this level of their careers. The scary factor for LA is it doesn’t management its personal first spherical decide till 2030. Right now, this appears like a low-end Western Conference playoff workforce at greatest with the arrow pointing downhill and only a few belongings to course right.
Phoenix Suns
At least the Phoenix Suns didn’t low-cost out. Despite a large luxurious tax invoice looming, the Suns re-signed Royce O’Neale to a $44 million contract. Phoenix additionally added Mason Plumlee to bolster its entrance courtroom depth. We’ll applaud these strikes on the margins, nevertheless it isn’t sufficient to essentially make a distinction for a workforce that simply obtained swept out of the primary spherical of the playoffs.
Phoenix was imagined to be competing for championships when it acquired Kevin Durant. The all-in transfer for Bradley Beal final summer season has backfired, and now Phoenix has an unlimited payroll, three ill-fitting stars, and 0 tradable future draft picks till 2031.
If the Suns don’t look nice to begin the season, it’s in all probability solely a matter of time earlier than they should begin interested by buying and selling Kevin Durant. At that time, Devin Booker’s future would change into a significant level of hypothesis, too. The Suns don’t have many strikes left to make, and their workforce nonetheless isn’t adequate.
