[valentine]

I want to talk about a few fringe playoff teams that I’m disappointed in, and ponder where the improvement is coming from next season that turns them into contenders. I wanted to avoid teams that are actually rebuilding…or are stuck in helpless situations.

I welcome unique strategies, but please nothing too farfetched. No one-sided trades or unrealistic luck with free agency. Just viable options.

 

Bucks: I had them as a 4 or 5 seed, yet they’re on pace to win a measley 33 games. Parker and Greek Freak are great and will improve incrementally, yet enough for 15-20 wins to get a decent seed? Monroe, MCW, Middleton? High on talent, but low on wins. 

Pessimism rating: 2.5 stars out of 5

 

Wizards: Wall is in his prime, and Beal is a solid contributor, yet this team looks to have peaked as a .500 team. Durant is a longshot, cos theres no chips here.

Pessimism rating: 3 stars out of 5 

 

Utah Jazz: My team…and improving too slowly. Hayward, Favors, Gobert are league average starters who wont improve much. Hood is nice, but he won’t be an All-Star. Exum is coming back from Knee surgery, and has to learn the position while recovering. Tough ask. 50 wins seems beyond them.

Pessimism rating: 2.5 stars

 

Mavs: Always a chance at free agents, yet their roster is aging and stale. Can’t see things improving as it stands. In dangerous waters.

Pessimism rating: 3.5 stars

 

Rockets: Harden is carrying this team, but Howards out the door and theres really not much else coming through. No assets unless they commit to a full rebuild.

Pessimism rating: 3.5 stars

 

Grizzlies: Gasol returning from major injury and already had poor conditioning history. On a big contract. Conley leaving. Z Bo aging. Playoffs this season, yet I have grave fears for this team.

Pessimism rating: 4 stars

 

Pelicans: Need some lottery magic more than anyone. Anthony Davis is a professional, but he literally has no help. If he gets angry after talking to other stars at the Olympics, lookout. Just missed 24m in bonus’s too.

Pessimism rating: 5 stars

 

What do you guys suggest these teams do to improve? Feel free to add other fringe playoff teams that I didn’t touch on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TheGuyParticipant]

-Hayward, Favors, Gobert: average starters, no, they are all above averege. They’re all young and will still get better, Hayward and Favors are boarderline all-stars. Gobert is DPOY canidate.

-Conley could very well resign with Memphis, so to just dismiss he’s out there door is false.

-Not sure how you rate New Orleans the worst, when they have a true franchise caliber player. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TheGuyParticipant]

-Hayward, Favors, Gobert: average starters, no, they are all above averege. They’re all young and will still get better, Hayward and Favors are boarderline all-stars. Gobert is DPOY canidate.

-Conley could very well resign with Memphis, so to just dismiss he’s out there door is false.

-Not sure how you rate New Orleans the worst, when they have a true franchise caliber player. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hype Machine]

That’s cool, you’re entitled to your opinion. 

But what I really wanted was people to offer suggestions at how these fringe playoff teams can take a significant step forward. 

 

 

 

[Hype Machine]

That’s cool, you’re entitled to your opinion. 

But what I really wanted was people to offer suggestions at how these fringe playoff teams can take a significant step forward. 

 

 

 

[negguaryParticipant]

 A couple of days ago when your team was in the playoffs you acted as if your team, the Jazz, had so much upside and we’re doing things the right way. 

[negguaryParticipant]

 A couple of days ago when your team was in the playoffs you acted as if your team, the Jazz, had so much upside and we’re doing things the right way. 

[Hype Machine]

 The Jazz have done things the right way.

Now its time to keep doing things the right way, but in a different way. 

 

 

 

[Hype Machine]

 The Jazz have done things the right way.

Now its time to keep doing things the right way, but in a different way. 

 

 

 

[OhCanada-Participant]

The best suggestion I could give to fix each pessimistic rating would be for you to temper your expectations.

The only teams I expected to be good on that list were the Wizards and Rockets and that’s because both teams won at least one playoff series and had their main core from that  run returning. The truth is none of these teams will be contenders next year without drastic changes other than maybe Washington or Houston and that’s just because of the presence of Wall and Harden. I think Washington will be good next year by the way they finished this year.

[OhCanada-Participant]

The best suggestion I could give to fix each pessimistic rating would be for you to temper your expectations.

The only teams I expected to be good on that list were the Wizards and Rockets and that’s because both teams won at least one playoff series and had their main core from that  run returning. The truth is none of these teams will be contenders next year without drastic changes other than maybe Washington or Houston and that’s just because of the presence of Wall and Harden. I think Washington will be good next year by the way they finished this year.

[Hype Machine]

I like to think if I was a GM, I could find some improvement somewhere…anywhere on these rosters.

But teams with 1 All-Star and few supporting pieces are highly dangerous situations in my opinion.

Take Anthony Davis for example, since I gave the Pels 5 stars. If he was on any other team, he’d be in the playoffs and postponing surgery. I’m not buying his low pain threshold or imminent need for surgery. He’d also be a lock for at least 3rd team all NBA and in line for that huge bonus since they’d be winning. So by signing with New Orleans, he’s actually lost money despite them having his Bird Rights. Not to mention all the endorsement money he is giving up.

And they have absolutely nothing to keep him happy, or optimistic. How long can he last before he becomes disgruntled. High character or not.

Same with James Harden. Surely he wants out of Houston….whats motivating him?

And once these guys get the idea of a trade request in their heads, they become problematic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hype Machine]

I like to think if I was a GM, I could find some improvement somewhere…anywhere on these rosters.

But teams with 1 All-Star and few supporting pieces are highly dangerous situations in my opinion.

Take Anthony Davis for example, since I gave the Pels 5 stars. If he was on any other team, he’d be in the playoffs and postponing surgery. I’m not buying his low pain threshold or imminent need for surgery. He’d also be a lock for at least 3rd team all NBA and in line for that huge bonus since they’d be winning. So by signing with New Orleans, he’s actually lost money despite them having his Bird Rights. Not to mention all the endorsement money he is giving up.

And they have absolutely nothing to keep him happy, or optimistic. How long can he last before he becomes disgruntled. High character or not.

Same with James Harden. Surely he wants out of Houston….whats motivating him?

And once these guys get the idea of a trade request in their heads, they become problematic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NBAjunkie81Participant]

 very few "Max" Free Agents Under 30 years old ever change teams……  This is why teams get "Trapped" in that Limbo of the 5th to 10th Conference seeds & get Stuck there for Years……. B/c Basketball is So different from other sports…….

If the NBA did Not allow teams to pay Over the Salary Cap to keep their Own Free Agents ……… We would see A Lot more movement of All – Star /  Difference making level players…… 

 Utah began their "Rebuild" in 2010 when they Drafted Gordon Hayward #9 overall & traded espn top 10 player PG Deron Williams to the Nets for #3 overall pick Derrick Favors…….. Rudy Gobert was an Incredible find in the Late 1st round in 2013……… but unless 2014 #4 overall pick PG Dante Exum grows into a "Star" level player……… & he might still do that b/c Exum is VERY young……..

 The Jazz might be limited in how far they can rise………. And compared to a Lot of teams the Jazz have done a Fantastic job Building or Re-Building the last 5 years……

[NBAjunkie81Participant]

 very few "Max" Free Agents Under 30 years old ever change teams……  This is why teams get "Trapped" in that Limbo of the 5th to 10th Conference seeds & get Stuck there for Years……. B/c Basketball is So different from other sports…….

If the NBA did Not allow teams to pay Over the Salary Cap to keep their Own Free Agents ……… We would see A Lot more movement of All – Star /  Difference making level players…… 

 Utah began their "Rebuild" in 2010 when they Drafted Gordon Hayward #9 overall & traded espn top 10 player PG Deron Williams to the Nets for #3 overall pick Derrick Favors…….. Rudy Gobert was an Incredible find in the Late 1st round in 2013……… but unless 2014 #4 overall pick PG Dante Exum grows into a "Star" level player……… & he might still do that b/c Exum is VERY young……..

 The Jazz might be limited in how far they can rise………. And compared to a Lot of teams the Jazz have done a Fantastic job Building or Re-Building the last 5 years……

[zolaParticipant]

Their biggest priority is to resign Conley and I believe they’ll will

With the probably 16th pick in this draft, the best choice would be Denzel Valentine. They don’t develope their young guys well so the best thing is to draft expierenced senior. They play slow pace, so Valentine would be perfect fit with his improving shooting and great passing ability

Mario Chalmers was nice as back up PG so if they can get him cheap, I would resign him 

Few realistic free agents who can bring their biggest need, outside shooting, would be Batum, Afflalo, maybe Eric Gordon

If they can not sign any of them, than resign Barnes and keep Stephenson

I would like to see Jordan Adams to get some playing time

After next season when Z-Bo’s 10,3 mill, Allen’s 5,5 mill and Carter’s 4,3 mill contracts expires, they would have a lot of cap flexibility

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[zolaParticipant]

Their biggest priority is to resign Conley and I believe they’ll will

With the probably 16th pick in this draft, the best choice would be Denzel Valentine. They don’t develope their young guys well so the best thing is to draft expierenced senior. They play slow pace, so Valentine would be perfect fit with his improving shooting and great passing ability

Mario Chalmers was nice as back up PG so if they can get him cheap, I would resign him 

Few realistic free agents who can bring their biggest need, outside shooting, would be Batum, Afflalo, maybe Eric Gordon

If they can not sign any of them, than resign Barnes and keep Stephenson

I would like to see Jordan Adams to get some playing time

After next season when Z-Bo’s 10,3 mill, Allen’s 5,5 mill and Carter’s 4,3 mill contracts expires, they would have a lot of cap flexibility

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TheGuyParticipant]

 I think Utah does need to go after a point guard. Exum is an interseting, albiet an unkown, piece; but Utah should at least try to get a good PG who can shoot/score. Kyrie Irving would be a perfect player for Utah in my opinion, you might have to give up a couple good players but to get a player of that talent, that’s the cost of buisness.

Utah is already a very good defensive team, but they are just limited on offense. Kyrie being the #1 option with the ball in his hands being a playmaker allowing others play off his penatration will help get the Jazz ofense going.

I’m not sure if Utah has enough/would willing to trade the assets to Cleveland for Kyrie. I could see the Cavs being open to trading Kyrie (along with Love) this summer if they don’t win a title, but he’s still super young and an elite talent, they’re going to want a lot. But Utah has a lot of good qaulity players. I’m not saying I do everything I can to get Kyrie, but if I’m Utah I’m willing to make any player available in a possible trade.

I can understand why some people would be adverse to trading away a lot of good players for Kyrie, but they remind me a little of Houston before they traded for Harden. It may not propel them to be eventual title contenders but I think with Kyrie being your go to guy you’ve got a better shot than staying the course, in my opinion. All depends on what you think of Kyrie, I’m personally still high on him, but if you’re not it’s probably not worth it.

 

 

 

 

 

[TheGuyParticipant]

 I think Utah does need to go after a point guard. Exum is an interseting, albiet an unkown, piece; but Utah should at least try to get a good PG who can shoot/score. Kyrie Irving would be a perfect player for Utah in my opinion, you might have to give up a couple good players but to get a player of that talent, that’s the cost of buisness.

Utah is already a very good defensive team, but they are just limited on offense. Kyrie being the #1 option with the ball in his hands being a playmaker allowing others play off his penatration will help get the Jazz ofense going.

I’m not sure if Utah has enough/would willing to trade the assets to Cleveland for Kyrie. I could see the Cavs being open to trading Kyrie (along with Love) this summer if they don’t win a title, but he’s still super young and an elite talent, they’re going to want a lot. But Utah has a lot of good qaulity players. I’m not saying I do everything I can to get Kyrie, but if I’m Utah I’m willing to make any player available in a possible trade.

I can understand why some people would be adverse to trading away a lot of good players for Kyrie, but they remind me a little of Houston before they traded for Harden. It may not propel them to be eventual title contenders but I think with Kyrie being your go to guy you’ve got a better shot than staying the course, in my opinion. All depends on what you think of Kyrie, I’m personally still high on him, but if you’re not it’s probably not worth it.

 

 

 

 

 

[sweaterflexParticipant]

The Bucks have a relatively easy fix on their hands. Greg Monroe’s plodding style and subpar defense makes him a bad fit. They need to pursue a rim-running, rim-defending center,  which are surprisingly plentiful these days (a Biyombo type would do). Then they can pursue and offball shooter of any height basically, as Giannis at the 1 frees up defensive responsibilities for that player. Someone like Lou Williams but younger would be a good fit.

The Rockets will be fine provided they do not resign Howard. They will be competitive for free agents and I would look for Capela to make a big step next year. It will be interesting to see how they treat Jones and Motie, Jones is likely a lost cause but they might get Motie at a discount due to the injuries. 

The Pelicans issues are more structural. Asik’s terrible contract will haunt them for another three years unless they can dump it, maybe 2019 first to Brooklyn would get it done. Gentry ideally wants to play fast, indicating more time for Davis at the 5. They desperately need a small forward, but Jaylen Brown will be the only one available at their pick and he would be the worst possible fit. Brown is basically Tyreke without the ballhandling skills. The Pellies should take a page from Portland last summer and sign restricted free agents and other young players.

 

 

[sweaterflexParticipant]

The Bucks have a relatively easy fix on their hands. Greg Monroe’s plodding style and subpar defense makes him a bad fit. They need to pursue a rim-running, rim-defending center,  which are surprisingly plentiful these days (a Biyombo type would do). Then they can pursue and offball shooter of any height basically, as Giannis at the 1 frees up defensive responsibilities for that player. Someone like Lou Williams but younger would be a good fit.

The Rockets will be fine provided they do not resign Howard. They will be competitive for free agents and I would look for Capela to make a big step next year. It will be interesting to see how they treat Jones and Motie, Jones is likely a lost cause but they might get Motie at a discount due to the injuries. 

The Pelicans issues are more structural. Asik’s terrible contract will haunt them for another three years unless they can dump it, maybe 2019 first to Brooklyn would get it done. Gentry ideally wants to play fast, indicating more time for Davis at the 5. They desperately need a small forward, but Jaylen Brown will be the only one available at their pick and he would be the worst possible fit. Brown is basically Tyreke without the ballhandling skills. The Pellies should take a page from Portland last summer and sign restricted free agents and other young players.

 

 

[ZachAttackParticipant]

 After last night’s game, I finally woke up. The Jazz need to blow it up. I’d keep Hood, Exum, and Gobert… Everyone else is tradeable. And on May 25 or whatever day it is, I really hope that God is a Utah fan, or Adam Silver is. We haven’t as draft.net users decided whether or not the lottery is rigged. My point is, is that I’m done with this whole "Next Year" idea with the Jazz. We really need to blow it up and get us some good pieces that will be stars.

I wonder if we could trade Hayward and Favors and get the #1 overall pick and draft Simmons, get us a superstar… Anyways, sorry about the rant I’m just really pissed off after last night’s pathetic loss… My pessimist rating is 5 out of 5 for them.

 

[ZachAttackParticipant]

 After last night’s game, I finally woke up. The Jazz need to blow it up. I’d keep Hood, Exum, and Gobert… Everyone else is tradeable. And on May 25 or whatever day it is, I really hope that God is a Utah fan, or Adam Silver is. We haven’t as draft.net users decided whether or not the lottery is rigged. My point is, is that I’m done with this whole "Next Year" idea with the Jazz. We really need to blow it up and get us some good pieces that will be stars.

I wonder if we could trade Hayward and Favors and get the #1 overall pick and draft Simmons, get us a superstar… Anyways, sorry about the rant I’m just really pissed off after last night’s pathetic loss… My pessimist rating is 5 out of 5 for them.

 

[TheGuyParticipant]

 lmao poor cry baby, season isn’t even over

[TheGuyParticipant]

 lmao poor cry baby, season isn’t even over

[ZachAttackParticipant]

 What are the odds that Houston loses tomorrow night? What we’ve got going on now isn’t working and I was one of those brainwashed Jazz fans that my pal Hype talks about. The Jazz need to blow it up. You can’t say with a straight face that this team will contend can you?

[ZachAttackParticipant]

 What are the odds that Houston loses tomorrow night? What we’ve got going on now isn’t working and I was one of those brainwashed Jazz fans that my pal Hype talks about. The Jazz need to blow it up. You can’t say with a straight face that this team will contend can you?

[HitsterParticipant]

The Bucks bounced from 15 wins in 2013/14 to the play offs last year, they have probably levelled out this year. They are still more successful than the similarly young T-Wolves team who has equal talent IMO. The Bucks have been sorting out their system and with Jabari doing a full pres season they should be able to kick on.

The Jazz have done well to be in play off contention and have improving players so they look to be going the right way.

NOP need to keep the roster sound, if all play then AD has decent support and they should be a play off contender.

Houston seem to be going nowhere, take out Harden and they would be a high lottery team. They are a decent sized market so could attract FAs in due course to assist Harden who would be a big selling point for them.

Dallas keep on going along with the Dirk era, they have their title, try to stay relevant but don’t mortgage the future for a short term shot at success. They like Houston are a big market, have a good Front Office, Coach etc so will always feel they are in with a shot at a top FA especially when they have to rebuild post Dirk.

[HitsterParticipant]

The Bucks bounced from 15 wins in 2013/14 to the play offs last year, they have probably levelled out this year. They are still more successful than the similarly young T-Wolves team who has equal talent IMO. The Bucks have been sorting out their system and with Jabari doing a full pres season they should be able to kick on.

The Jazz have done well to be in play off contention and have improving players so they look to be going the right way.

NOP need to keep the roster sound, if all play then AD has decent support and they should be a play off contender.

Houston seem to be going nowhere, take out Harden and they would be a high lottery team. They are a decent sized market so could attract FAs in due course to assist Harden who would be a big selling point for them.

Dallas keep on going along with the Dirk era, they have their title, try to stay relevant but don’t mortgage the future for a short term shot at success. They like Houston are a big market, have a good Front Office, Coach etc so will always feel they are in with a shot at a top FA especially when they have to rebuild post Dirk.

[Moon RiverParticipant]

Agree with the comments on here regarding shooting and Monroe not being the right fit. I also am not sold Kidd is the right coach for this team. Their perimeter defense was bad from the start of the season and there was zero improvement since than. I love the get as Kidd in small market Milwaukee, but get a defensive coach on the bench who can do something. With the length of this team they should easily be in the top half of the league defensively. According to this, they are currently 24 out of 30.

https://www.teamrankings.com/nba/stat/defensive-efficiency

[Moon RiverParticipant]

Agree with the comments on here regarding shooting and Monroe not being the right fit. I also am not sold Kidd is the right coach for this team. Their perimeter defense was bad from the start of the season and there was zero improvement since than. I love the get as Kidd in small market Milwaukee, but get a defensive coach on the bench who can do something. With the length of this team they should easily be in the top half of the league defensively. According to this, they are currently 24 out of 30.

https://www.teamrankings.com/nba/stat/defensive-efficiency

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