The offseason is nearly over in terms of additions and subtractions (although big pieces Jennings, Oden, Neal, etc. have yet to be signed). Yesterday, I started with the Eastern Conference teams and gave them their grade for the offseason. Today I'll grade teams in the Western Conference. Remember, each team was already graded on their draft nearly a month ago, but we know more about the entire roster now and have seen many of the rookies play in summer league.
Dallas Mavericks
Mark Cuban struck out. He struck out repeatedly I should say. His plan to remake the roster via free agency failed. The best free agent he managed to sign was Monta Ellis, but he's a ballhog, the opposite of a winner, and they overpaid him. The also signed/drafted about 20 guards/wings. They literally only brought in one big man, Samuel Dalembert, who is limited in ability. Dirk and Brandan Wright are the only other "bigs" on the roster. So recap, Plan A failed, and Plan B sucked.
The ONLY positive I see is that they have a lot of money coming off the books next summer, which means they can possibly rebuild in the awesome summer of 2014, especially if Dirk takes a pay cut like he says he might...
Overall Grade: D-
Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets were in a tough spot because they aren't that attractive of a market. That's the reason they lost Andre Iguodala. Losing Corey Brewer also hurt because now they have a gaping hole at SF unless Danilo can recover from his injury sooner rather than later.
They did bring in JJ Hickson, Nate Robinson, Darrell Arthur, and Randy Foye. I loved their drafting of Erick Green in the second round of the draft too. But I simply see them now as a team with a crap-load of role players that doesn't have a star player. That's the position they were in after Carmelo and before AI. Not what they had in mind, especially since they are basically capped out for the next couple seasons. Trades can only save them now.
Overall Grade: C-
Golden State Warriors
The Warriors were one of the most talked about teams this offseason when they jumped into the Dwight Howard discussion. Once they realized they were behind, they grabbed Iguodala out of nowhere. Great move! What's even better was in that move they dumped the salaries of Rush, Biedrins, and Jefferson. That kept them below the tax line and in decent shape headed forward. They were exciting in the playoffs last year, but this season they will be even better.
There is just a touch of bad news however, as they did lose key bench cogs Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry. That hurts for sure. But, they will move Barnes to the bench, have a more developed Draymon Green, and they added bench guys in Toney Douglas, Jermaine O'Neal, and Marreese Speights. That's not a bad recovery. Especially with all of your big stars returning too. Here's to hoping they avoid the injury bug.
Overall Grade: A-
Houston Rockets
Unless you live like a hermit (in which case you won't be reading this), obviously Houston landed Dwight Howard. This turned them into an instant contender in the conference. He and Harden will make a great tandem, and Howard will improve their defense dramatically. They also signed/resigned tons of role playing shooters which will open up the court and give them a little balance on offense. They did this and were able to keep Lin and Asik, which kept the core of last year's team together, and now provides more depth with Asik set to come off the bench.
The other amazing thing is that many of their deals were one year deals for vets or longterm cheap deals for their young assets. TRANSLATION: They helped themselves massively in the present without compromising the future. They can still be players next summer if they want, and they still hold a lot of good assets to trade if they want also.
Overall Grade: A
Los Angeles Clippers
I guess we're in the section of teams that really helped themselves, because like GS and Houston, I loved what LA did this offseason. It started by resigning Chris Paul, continued by acquiring Doc Rivers to coach, and escalated by completing a trade for JJ Redick and Jared Dudley. These moves created a dangerous lineup, one that Doc Rivers could contend in the West with.
But it didn't stop there... By resigning Matt Barnes it gave them toughness and defense off the bench that they'll need. By signing Darren Collison it gives them a great backup point guard since they parted with Bledsoe. By drafting Reggie Bullock it gave them a great young shooter that could turn into a very good player. And just recently they added Byron Mullins, who is a great backup big man that can stretch the floor for them. I now love the starters and the bench. They now have size, quickness, shooting, scoring, defense, and a coach that can get the best out of these guys. This summer turned them into my preseason West favorite.
For those that want negatives, they could use another defensive big man, and they don't have much flexibility for a couple seasons potentially, but they can always dump/trade Jamal Crawford.
Overall Grade: A
Los Angeles Lakers
The streak of high grades is over, because this LA squad didn't have a good offseason. Let's start with the obvious once again: they failed to retain Dwight Howard. And because last season sucked with him, it made their trade for him essentially worthless and it really set them back. Throw in the fact you waived veteran starter Metta World Peace and you will only have an injured Kobe for part of the year, things suddenly look bad in Laker land.
One of the reasons they struggled so mightily last year was because of depth... and at least they added some guys who could help in that regard. Wesley Johnson, Chris Kaman, Nick Young, and Jordan Farmar are all guys that can contribute here and there. Even second round pick Ryan Kelly could give good minutes. But it still is a far cry from replacing what was lost.
There are two other problems here also. Because they did add some bench help instead of just tanking, this team isn't bad enough to land a Top 5 pick in the loaded 2014 draft, which they could desperately use. And with Kobe a free agent next summer, much of the cap space they'll have will have to go to him. So can they create room for another star? And if they can, will anyone want to come there after they failed with Dwight?
Overall Grade: D
Memphis Grizzlies
Memphis was fairly quiet this offseason but they were sneaky good. First, they kept everyone in place by resigning Tony Allen to a fair deal. Second, they just added veteran Mike Miller at a great price which will give them some shooting off the bench. Third, they got a steal in the draft by selecting Jamaal Franklin in the second round. Fourth, they upgraded one of their backup bigs by trading Darrell Arthur for Kosta Koufos. So they were quiet, but efficient.
Overall Grade: B
Minnesota Timberwolves
Technically, Minnesota isn't done because Pekovic hasn't officially signed. But it's 99% certain he'll return. So I'm counting that as a done deal. On top of resigning him, they kept Chase Budinger who will really help stretch the floor for the big boys inside. And even though they lost Kirilenko, they dominated free agency by adding Corey Brewer, Ronny Turiaf, and Kevin Martin. They now have a solid core with Rubio, Martin, Love, Pekovic, and a slew of shooters/role players.
I also liked their draft. Shabazz Muhammad and Gorgui Dieng don't carry a lot of risk in my opinion. Each player has a high ceiling but won't be asked to do much this year with all the other contributors already there. They can simply sit back and learn. Lorenzo Brown was good value in the second round also. With everything this team did in the offseason and has returning, they honestly have a great chance at a playoff spot barring the injury trouble that hit them last year.
Overall Grade: B+
New Orleans Pelicans
Talk about a team going for it, New Orleans was extremely aggressive this year. They made waves on draft night by trading #6 and a 2014 pick for Jrue Holiday. It's not everyday you land a 23 year old All-Star that is still improving. Then they went out and stole Tyreke Evans from Sacramento. Anthony Morrow was a nice pickup too as he will help the bench a lot. And second rounders Pierre Jackson and Jeff Withey will help off the bench dramatically.
This team has 3 wildcards: First, they are a finalist for Greg Oden. That would complete a magical offseason. Second, they retained Eric Gordon and his big salary. That could payoff if he is finally healthy. He could be trade bait if not. Third, Austin Rivers had a very solid week in Vegas. If he becomes the player they drafted him to be, he'll make their bench strong. Depending on how things play out, New Orleans could improve by nearly 20 games and potentially make the playoffs. And if things aren't going well, they have some tradable pieces to try again next year.
Overall Grade: A-
Oklahoma City Thunder
I'm going to be very tough on the Thunder. They blew it this offseason. When so many elite teams across the NBA improved (offseason acquisitions plus getting healthy players back), OKC got worse. Last year, they were hurt by downgrading James Harden to Kevin Martin. This year they are downgrading Kevin Martin to NOBODY. They failed to bring in a player to be their third scorer and couldn't even convince a veteran shooter like Mike Miller to join them. Throw in the fact that Russell Westbrook will be coming off a serious injury, and I see OKC dropping back in the West quite a bit. Their only hope would be if Jeremy Lamb or Reggie Jackson have a breakout year, and that's not something I would want to bank on.
They did draft four players in the top 40 of the draft, but honestly they are all projects and years away from contributing. I thought they had a chance at #12 to select somebody who could help right away (Kelly Olynyk was one of my top options for them). Instead they went with a project in Steven Adams. Overall, I saw them as a team that went backwards, when they needed to jump forward to get over the hump and win a championship.
Overall Grade: F
Phoenix Suns
The Suns are a great example of a team that knows where they are at and what they need to do. They are rebuilding so they focused on simply that. They traded for Eric Bledsoe, one of the best available assets on the market. They also brought in a lot of talent via the draft (particularly Alex Len and Archie Goodwin). And when you look at their team now, you see a collection of young assets mixed with soon-to-be expiring deals, which means they can do some damage a year from now. They will also be bad enough again to "compete" for a top 5 pick in the loaded 2014 draft. They are trying through young players instead of established vets, which will benefit them in the long term.
Overall Grade: B+
Portland Trailblazers
With Lillard, Mathews, Batum, and Aldridge, Portland had some stars capable of leading them to the playoffs coming into the season. But they didn't have depth at all, which has continue to hold them back. That's why I loved their offseason. Inside, they replaced JJ Hickson with Robin Lopez and Thomas Robinson via trade. These are players that can help immediately as backups, and they still have very large upsides. Pretty cheap considering.
On the perimeter they replaced Eric Maynor with Earl Watson and Dorell Wright via free agency. What I said about the inside guys applies here too (cheaper, solid backups with upside). They also had a great draft bringing in CJ McCollum and Allen Crabbe. These are players that will add scoring instantly, and could develop into stars. With all of these assets, Portland can play things out and push for one of the last playoff spots, or they can be very active in the trade market this year and next. They have a lot of cap space opening the year after that also.
Overall Grade: B+
Sacramento Kings
Mixed feelings here. They did add an abundance of decent pieces, but note the word decent. These players include McLemore, McCallum, Landry, Mbah a Moute, and Vasquez. They lost Toney Douglas and Tyreke Evans. Those things probably cancel out or maybe they actually improved a little. But that's tough to tell at this point, with many of those players still young.
The real problem though is that they don't seem to have a plan going forward. They are iffy on signing Cousins to a long term deal, and any max type deal for him eliminates their chances of bringing in another top player. And who wants to come play there anyways based on recent team success?
Overall Grade: C
San Antonio Spurs
This had to be a long summer for the Spurs. They were seconds away from a championship, and instead they came up short. The good news is that everything essentially stayed intact after resigning Manu and Splitter. They switched Marco Belinelli in for Gary Neal. They added Jeff Pendergraph to replace DeJuan Blair. Like I said, essentially the same.
I liked what they did in the draft (Deshaun Thomas and Livio Jean-Charles) but those guys will mainly only contribute down the road as the team continues to age. The biggest question mark is can they still add Greg Oden. They are rumored to be one of the finalists for his services, and he could add youth to an aging frontline. And let's face it, this team is getting old outside of Green and Leonard.
Overall Grade: B-
Utah Jazz
The Jazz took an interesting approach this offseason... get worse seemingly on purpose. They took on three bad contracts just to meet the league minimum (Rush, Biedrins, R. Jefferson). They failed to resign A. Jefferson and/or Millsap, and that was after failing to trade them last year when they had total leverage.
But let's look at the positives... 1. They unloaded a lot of money and will unload a lot next summer all in the contracts they added. This will allow them to be aggressive in free agency. 2. They added multiple picks in the upcoming drafts, which look to be drafts filled with incredible talent. 3. They brought in two promising draft picks this year in Trey Burke and Rudy Gobert. 4. They still have their young core intact with Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, and Enes Kanter.
Overall Grade: C-
By: The Sports Guys
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