Post by Deleted on May 18, 2020 13:35:06 GMT -8
Dallas Mavericks: A-
The Mavs made an aggressive play at teaming Gerald Wallace, Zach Randolph, and Tony Parker, offering pieces like Jason Kidd, Kenyon Martin, Mike Miller, and the #19 pick to try to get picks 4 and 5. It didn’t happen, but they got their favorite guy at #6 in Tony Parker. The Mavs also got a potential starting-caliber SF in VladRad at #19, who has high outside shooting, low turnovers, and a cool nickname. They added elite outside shooting on the wing in Glen Rice and Steve without sacrificing core pieces, but maybe they could’ve gotten better for Mike Miller and their ’04 1st. TCs and camps treated the Mavs extremely well, and they appear to be solidly in the second tier of the conference.Denver Nuggets: C-
The Nuggets accomplished nothing this offseason and would be lotto bound if John Stockton did the likely thing and retired. They’ll win 51 games this year and deal Shaq to the Rockets for their ’03 pick so they can tank for LeBron. I’d grade them worse, but they were out of options before the offseason, so there wasn’t much to blow. A better GM might have camped McDyess and padded his value. Houston Rockets: B
They took a chance on Kwame Brown in the middle of the first round and he appears to have life in him despite trash ratings. After last season’s postseason debacle (i.e., making the postseason), the Rockets didn’t mess around this offseason, collecting trash and unloading Bo Outlaw for picks. The right moves, and they look like early favorites for the worst record. Well done.Minnesota Timberwolves: C
A neutral grade for a roster that’s good for 47 wins until the young teams in the West surpass it. They have a superstar and no possibility of winning around him, and none of their other players hold serious value. Tough spot to be in. They probably should’ve tanked around VC or traded me him for Kidd and K-Mart.San Antonio Spurs: A+
They signed Manu and drafted Zach Randolph, and I want them to trade me both these players. Utah Jazz: A
A loaded team made the right decision in running it back, but let’s take a minute to credit JR for managing to have cap coming off a ring and using it to target apparent scoring god Sarunas Jasikevicius on a long-term, cheap contract. A perfect insurance plan if they can’t retain Bobby Jackson, though if JR had a little Skillz in him, we'd be seeing a debate over whether Sarunas is worse than Tony Delk or better than Jamal Crawford, and it would fucking suck!Memphis Grizzlies: B+
The Grizzlies probably can’t hang with the top teams in the West, but credit to Erbes for being creative and finding low-cost upgrades. Nick Van Exel’s in his prime and an excellent scorer at PG—Memphis is a lot more dangerous with a volume scorer rather than Eric Snow at PG. The Grizz didn’t have picks or cap space, so they get a nice grade for finding other ways to meaningfully improve.Golden State Warriors: B
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The Warriors faced the predicament that many Western Conference teams faced last season: they weren’t going for it, but they floated to the playoffs, buoyed by pervasive, severe, and immoral tanking below them. They made the best of their mid-round draft pick, though, landing a hybrid power forward with two important elite skills. With a 2002 tank in mind, they folded up shop and went home for the offseason. We’ll see if a star-and-a-half tank is viable; Dirk’s probably too good to land them at the bottom of the standings, and this draft class is thin. -
Los Angeles Clippers: B
Swapping Gary Payton for Larry Johnson was the right decision. LJ is an elite rebounder and a first-option caliber scorer who can thrive in any offense—helpful for the tinker-happy Clips, who spoke often of their inability to find the right offense last season. That’s the good, and I think it’s great, but there’s bad mixed in. They needed to make an aggressive run at a starting PG, and they aren’t going to get by the Jazz without major improvements to their backcourt. They should be willing to move the likes of Corliss, EJ, and picks to get their point guard—too important a position to overlook, and Jahidi White isn’t going to get them the guy they need.Los Angeles Lakers: A+
Assets in: Andrei Kirilenko, Gilbert Arenas, Elton Brand. Assets out: four picks. The Lakers got the best player in the draft, stole a high lotto pick in FA, and got a young, shotblocking big who’s over 85 in inside scoring and strength for picks. They still have assets and picks on hand to improve, too.Phoenix Suns: B
The Suns probably made the wrong pick in the draft, but Pau is going to be excellent. High midrange, good inside scoring and on track for elite rebounding and 3 stocks per game. The Mo Evans pick looks ugly, but the Suns are doing exactly what they need to be doing: collecting youth and bottoming out for Amare or Yao. Portland Trail Blazers: A
Monstrous draft for Donald, landing a guy on track for 20/10 with 2 BPG and 2 SPG in addition to BBS’ premier inside scorer in Eddy Curry. The Blazers put together a promising core without sacrificing their picks. Adding studs, preserving cap flexibility, and keeping your picks—I would never have the patience to do this shit. Nice.Sacramento Kings: A
To get to the point, I think the Kings have the same predicament post-Nash as they did before acquiring him, and given their lack of talent apart from their big two, I don’t think they can keep Nash and get to the top of the conference. Having said that, Nash had way, way more value than Crawford did at the time of the trade, and if they need to turn one asset into several good ones, dealing for Nash was a major step along the way. Kudos to Ashes for landing versatile bigs in the draft and FA, too.Seattle Supersonics: C-
I was worried Tyson Chandler wouldn’t generate turnovers, and sure enough, he doesn’t seem to. There were two home-run level picks available at #5, and the Sonics committed the cardinal sin of valuing positional need in passing on one (Tony Parker). I don’t know why they went with Tyson over Z-Bo, who sims exactly as well as it looked like he would. Chandler will probably be a very nice rebounder and defender a la Marcus Camby, but passive GMs need to find their superstars in the draft, and the Sonics went safe. Not much to say for their offseason otherwise.
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