NBA Team Outlook

Atlanta Hawks:

The Hawks had a pretty bad season if we consider the smaller picture. A meagre 20 wins; nearly dead-last in the weaker, top-heavy Eastern Conference; draft picks that didn't quite pan out the way they would've hoped in Deandre Hunter and Cam Reddish. But somehow this is more or less where they would've wanted to be, 2 years into this rebuild around Trae Young. Voted in as an All-Star starter in just his sophomore season in the league, the sniper guard is poised to take the league by storm. Many are comfortable calling Young the best guard in the East, bar maybe Kemba or a healthy Kyrie. So why hasn't this reflected in the team's record? 

The Hawks have one of the youngest starting squads in the league today, all drafted into the team within the last 3 years, except for Clint Capela, who they traded for earlier this season. The young guns are growing and improving as they go, with each passing game the team seems to get better and there seems to be a clear direction and goal the organization is working towards, something we cannot really say about the Knicks, with their jumbled roster composition, or the Cavs, who have had questionable picks in the last few drafts. 

While it may not sound like an honest compliment, the Hawks should feel proud of the fact that they are the best amongst the worst in the league, especially with a superstar like Trae Young in their midst. I would go so far as to say that they only thing standing between them and a playoff spot, is a running mate for Trae.  I see a couple direction the Hawks can take to accomplish this. Considering the extenuating circumstances this season, drafting a star, especially out of the top 3, would be a gamble. Considering the young-bloods in the roster already, the Hawks can look to take the next step and trade away their pick in exchange for a superstar. I was fantasizing about a Donovan Mitchell-Trae Young backcourt when it seemed like things would fall apart between Gobert and Mitchell in Utah, but that seems like an unlikely option, especially if the Jazz make it past the first round. The Hawks need to strongly consider Devin Booker and Bradley Beal as first-tier options that they can shoot for, by giving up their pick and another young stud from their depth chart. Both superstars seem to be giving in and looking for possible destinations they can head to. While this may seem like a defensive liability, backcourt defence is dying even as I write this. Quick, hot-shooting guards are the future, and with a 3-point wizard already on the squad, they need someone to share the burden with him. A low hanging fruit they could gun for would be Buddy Hield, creating a possible Splash Brothers 2.0 over in the ATL.

Boston Celtics:

Maybe Kyrie was the problem after all...

The Celtics look amazing this season. Led by the surge in Jayson Tatum's game, the team is looking like a well-oiled machine, and in general just a happier and by far, a less troubled team than they looked last season under Irving. Without his locker-room antics and constant sound bites, the team has managed to live up to the expectations set for them after they drafted Tatum and had that dreamlike run to the Eastern Conference Finals. 

With Jaylen Brown's contract situation sorted out, he seems like a more committed player and has managed to play up to the massive number next to his name, much to the surprise of many critics who condemned Danny Ainge for giving in and signing Brown to the max. 

Kemba Walker looks more relaxed and seems to be having fun out there on the court, almost a throwback to his UConn and early Hornets days. The weight of the world seems to be finally off his weary shoulders after carrying the Hornets year-in and year-out with no signs of respite or even respect from his own front office. Not offering Kemba the contract he wanted, even after taking multiple pay-cuts is something the Hornets may or may not come to regret, but one thing is for sure- Kemba is a heck of a player and has found himself a befitting home at the TD Garden, where he can play alongside a team and a franchise that is looking to do one thing: WIN.

We cannot talk about the Celtics without bringing up Marcus Smart, however. The defensive bedrock for the squad, he is a jack-of-all-trades type of player on the offensive end, who is ready to play the role required of him, be it starting or coming off the bench. The glue that holds this team together, his impact on the roster, both on and off the court cannot be overstated. Through everything that franchise has seen, from the IT days to the Kyrie fiasco, Danny Ainge has made it clear that Marcus Smart is here to stay and for very good reason.

It seems like the Celtics have finally figured it out and are well on their way to a championship, however, the field has never looked tougher than it is today, with multiple teams eyeing a run. The Celtics won't have an easy path to the Finals, having to go through the defending champions Toronto, who I believe is the only team out East who can rival the team-building and chemistry developed by Brad Stevens. If they do manage to make it all the way through, it would be a testament to the importance of having a cutthroat front office who makes all the right moves at all the right times.

Brooklyn Nets:

Something about the Nets just doesn't sit right with me. On one hand, they managed to reel in 2 of the biggest superstars in free agency, much to the angst of their in-town rivals, the Knicks. But on the other, it seems like Brooklyn was quick to give up everything that made them one of the more exciting teams to watch last season. The arrival of KD and Kyrie has catapulted the team into the championship stratosphere, but give Sean Marks a truth serum and he would tell you that this wasn't the direction he saw the team taking, even just a couple of weeks before free agency. Building around D'Angelo Russell seemed like the ideal thing to do. Imagine if they pulled it off after almost everyone in the league and media, berated the Nets for bringing in a 'toxic presence' into the locker room.

Turned out the D-Lo was anything but toxic in Brooklyn, helping to build the identity of one of the most fun-to-watch benches in the league, with his 'water dance' alongside Jared Dudley, Theo Pinson and Hollis-Jefferson going viral. The team in 2019 seemed to exemplify the fun, hip-hop heavy attitude in Bed-Stuy and personified the Coogie they wore on court.

Going into Free Agency, people knew that signing Kyrie or KD would come with its share of controversy, media scrutiny and locker-room trouble, which as I detailed before, the Nets did not have to deal with last season. Going from a team that is second-fiddle in its own city, to being one of the top franchises in the league, is an astronomical jump, one that needs to be handled with extreme care, by an experienced, championship-winning head coach and a well-run front office. 

Now I don't have an issue with Sean Marks, but I do feel that he is a little inexperienced and could lose control of the situation in a jiffy if things don't go according to plan, once KD gets on the court. But the major issue here is the head coaching position. Again, I agree that Sean Atkinson was not the right man for the job. However, I feel like that's something an organization must consider before bringing is such massive superstars, especially those that are volatile. The constant state of flux that the franchise finds itself in, does not bode well for the future. I would not hop onto the Nets bandwagon, I do not have a good feeling about how this one will end.

Word on the street is that the front office is looking to woo Greg Popovich to come in and coach a 'championship ready' squad. I honestly see Pop retiring, over going into a new franchise and establishing a culture there. I also don't see KD and Kyrie responding well to the hard-knock nature of Pop's coaching. Having said that, he could possibly bring in a certain level of much-needed stability to the organization. This one could go either way. I would be more surprised if it's something that Popovich would even consider, seeing as he's almost 72 years old and has spent his whole career in San Antonio, where he's in control of not just the coaching but also the front-office. 

Charlotte Hornets:

Looking at this Hornets squad, it seems like a team that could be stuck in purgatory for a while. We often talk about the struggles of small-market teams and why they may never have all the pieces to go make a run and win a championship. In a way my belief in that theory diminished last year after the Raptors had their magical run to the championship, not relying on free agency, but instead going out and making a trade for a superstar, once they were certain that they had developed a strong foundation and culture. Winning a championship is about maximising assets in hand and then crossing your fingers and hoping for the best. 

For the Hornets, however, it seems like every time they take a couple steps ahead, they force themselves back to square one due to mismanagement. The Hornets made a conscious decision last offseason to let Kemba walk (no pun intended). And at the time, I honestly felt like that wasn't a bad decision considering he was getting older and probably demanded a supermax to stay. But slowly news leaked out that in fact, Kemba really wanted to stay in Charlotte and not even just for the money, he was willing to take a major pay cut. Now, the reason this decision by the Hornets bothers me so much is because it makes no sense from any angle for the franchise: they aren't really saving money per see, because they went and offered Terry Rozier of all people a massive 3-year contract, which would see him earning nearly 20 million a year; there isn't really a point with them trying to save on cap-space because free agents aren't really chomping at the bit to play in Charlotte, North Carolina; they don't have an established young guard whose minutes Kemba would be eating into; they hadn't yet provided Kemba with a solid team around him and had instead given out some of the most questionable contracts in recent memory, including the signings of Nicolas Batum and Bismack Biyombo.

Instead, Charlotte chose to wipe the slate clean and move on from the only All-Star they've had in ages. Thankfully for them, the severely low expectations from the team seemed to work in their favour, with Devonte Graham rising up to fill the mantle. This isn't really the best news for Rozier though, and with the sizeable price tag attached to his name, Charlotte will have a hard time trying to move him, now that they have a cheaper and better homegrown guard. 

Suffice to say, the Hornets have a lot to figure out this offseason, especially with the 3rd pick in the upcoming draft. Many pundits are calling on them to draft LaMelo Ball, but I would implore the team to stop looking at guards for the moment and bring in a proven forward, preferably James Wiseman or Obi Toppin. More on the draft in another piece though.

Chicago Bulls:

I was stunned when I learnt that the Bulls were going ahead with Jim Boylen as their coach for this season. The team was more or less unchanged, except for the addition of Coby White, and Boylen had enjoyed little to no success, both on and off the court with the roster. The Bulls seem to be quite happy with their roster construction so if they were going to be making winning changes, I would have expected to see moves in the front office and coaching. Instead, they chose to wait out another season, for some reason, only to fire Boylen before the introduction of the Bubble. I have a feeling that the franchise is going to look at a developmental coach to bring in, and who better than Sean Atkinson who essentially built and made the Brooklyn Nets young core. 

The Bulls also need to look to move Zach Lavine. He's an ascending star, and played at an All-Star level this season, only to be held back because of his team's record. There're plenty of teams around the league who I could see giving up a first-rounder to bring in Lavine, possibly the Nets, Lakers or my favourite, the Pelicans ( a Lavine-Zion dunk-off would be an absolute treat). The Bulls could look at possibly bringing in another young star to play and grow alongside their great collection of first-rounders like Markennen and Carter Jr.

The Bulls have immense talent and potential but seem to be constantly under-delivering season after season. There're major changes required if they want to turn things around soon. Bringing in hometown superstar, Anthony Davis, is a little more than a pipe dream at this point, but playing in the NBA's third-biggest market comes with its own advantages. It is an amazingly appealing city and franchise for free agents, as long as the Bulls can present a solid front office and well-built roster. Having said that, the Bulls have a lot of work ahead of them and a long ways to go before they can look to compete for championships again and add to that trophy collection, all won during the MJ-era.

Cleveland Cavaliers:

There're some teams that can't seem to recover from the loss of a superstar. The Bulls dealing with the departure of MJ is a prime example. But in their case, the team won 6 championships before going into an almost never-ending rebuild. In the case of the Cavs however, they've been on a steep downslide since coming back from being down 3-1 in the finals. The Warriors brought in KD and built an unstoppable, automatic championship team in the Bay, while the Cavs were forced to trade Kyrie the next season, saw JR cost the Cavs an almost guaranteed victory, watched Lebron leave (again) and are now stuck with a disgruntled Kevin Love, a confused Andre Drummond and 2 young guards drafted in back-to-back seasons who are still trying to figure out how to play with each other.

The Cavs are progressing through this rebuild at a snail's pace and don't seem to have any sort of concrete vision with regards to how they expect their team to look by the end of it. They should've started with moving out of Kevin Love's contract, which has a couple of willing buyers, in the Blazers and the Nets. Expecting a first-round pick for Love at this stage in his career is foolhardy and a disgruntled veteran in the locker room isn't doing anyone any favours. 

The team hasn't exactly nailed their recent draft picks either. They drafted two guards in two years, with neither of them being able to push their game to the next level or shine, even though they play in a guard-thirsty Eastern Conference. I blame this on poor coaching and development. I agree with their decision to fire Ty Lue, who I believe is a decent coach, but is more suited towards competing teams and cannot really head and complete a rebuild. Their replacement for Lue was, however, probably one of the worst calls in recent memory, alongside Jim Boylen with the Bulls. John Beilein is an ageing coach who could never be expected to connect with the young bloods in the Cavs team. Although he has a strong college background, this doesn't necessarily carry over into the NBA as we have seen with multiple coaches in the past. I think this move easily cost the Cavs a year or two of their rebuild, maybe more. 

Having said that, the Cavs do have a young, talented roster that needs to be developed under the right coach. Again, I would look at Sean Atkinson, a well-established developmental coach in the league, on the lookout for a job right now. The main thing I need to see from this franchise next season is a clear sense of direction, because right now, no one, not even the GM could explain where the team is and the philosophy behind their roster building.

Dallas Mavericks:

Talk about absolute luck. The Mavericks had the 4th pick in the 2018 draft, and managed to pick not just the unquestioned best prospect in the draft but probably the best pick in the last 5, maybe even 10 years (save Giannis). Luka Doncic is an absolute superstar. An NBA ready prospect, an immediate winner if there ever was won, and 3 teams managed to drop the ball in the draft and will come to regret that decision for decades to come. I could see that draft being the reason why teams in the future will look to bring in the best player available at the draft spot, rather than draft according to position, with the fear of missing out on the next Wunderkind.

Pairing him with Porzingis was an amazing move by the Mavs, not giving up much to bring in an All-Star who compliments Luka's game really well. Health is the one question mark against KP's name and only time will tell how that works out for him and the team. But a healthy Kristaps and Luka could prove to be one of the best duos in the West.

The Mavs are in a good position with respect to their money situation and I expect them to make some big moves in Free Agency to surround Luka with the supporting cast he deserves. If they manage to do that, i see an absolute contender in Dallas.

Denver Nuggets:

The Denver Nuggets should be a case-study and an example for any team looking to rebuild through the draft. Every star on this team was drafted in and aside from moving Donovan Mitchell on draft night to the Jazz, they have had a nearly spotless record in recent drafts. From hitting on second-round pick Nikola Jokic, who is arguably the best Center in the league today, to Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr. and Bol Bol, the Nuggets have not been afraid of taking risks and believing in players who have massive potential and ensuring that they develop under the best possible conditions.

While the team has managed to solidify themselves as contenders during the regular season, they haven't managed to translate that success into post-season wins.