NBA OFF-SEASON GRADES: THE WEST

NBA / Basketball

Written by Eddie Huband

Source (Background Photo): Getty Images

Dallas Mavericks: C

The loss of Jalen Brunson is a big blow (despite how much I’ve made fun of his signing with New York). Brunson was crucial in providing a ball-handling pressure relief valve for Luka Doncic, and the Mavs did little to replace him in that role.

They did acquire mercurial yet talented big man Christian Wood, who should provide some scoring up front. Though he’s never played in a big game in his career so I have a hard time pencilling him in as a sure thing, or even close to it come playoff time.

The rest of the West is much improved at the top, and the Mavs took a step back on paper.

Denver Nuggets: B

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Bruce Brown will provide much-needed depth at the wing. Both players can defend too, which is something the Nuggets sorely lacked last year. Losing Monte Morris will hurt, though the pain will be heavily eased with the return of young star Jamal Murray at the helm in the point guard spot.

Denver really didn’t have to do too much here, as they’re hoping the return of Murray will be enough to launch them back into the thick of things at the top of the conference.

Golden State Warriors: B-

The Dubs will once again be a title contender with most of their main core returning, and a trio of young players in Moses Moody, James Wiseman and Jonathan Kuminga set to hopefully take on bigger roles.

They lost some depth with Juan Toscano-Anderson, Otto Porter Jr, and Gary Payton II all leaving as free agents. Payton II in particular stings, as he was beloved in the locker room. They did sign Donte DiVincenzo to help shore up some of the backup guard depth though.

What matters most here is that Steph Curry is still in his prime and Klay Thompson hopefully will continue to return to his pre-injury form. The Warriors are sitting pretty right now.

Houston Rockets: B+

Adding 3rd overall pick Jabari Smith to a roster that already has plenty of young talent was enough to get this grade. Smith now will get to grow alongside last year’s 3rd overall pick Jalen Green, who showed real flashes last year.

Getting rid of John Wall and Christian Wood should be additions by subtraction, as it will open up more time and space for their young talent to grow. This team has a ways to go but they’re certainly on the right track.

LA Clippers: A-

The Clips didn’t suffer any major losses, and essentially are coming out of a year in limbo in which their two stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George were hurt. Now that they’re both healthy (we assume), the Clips are poised to return to title contention, with a roster filled to the brim with talented scorers.

On that note, taking a flier on John Wall was well worth the risk. It’s a cheap deal for a player who’s coming off a full year on the shelf and is chomping at the bit to prove himself once again. If it works out and Wall can return to something that at least resembles the Wizards days, he’ll provide the Clippers with a true 3rd scorer and primary ball handler.

Given his checkered injury history though (and I’m putting that lightly), whether or not that’s how it plays out remains to be seen.

LA Lakers: C-

Sorry, but Thomas Bryant and Lonnie Walker IV aren’t exactly going to solve any of the Lakers’ many many issues. They also did nothing to resolve the ticking time bomb Russell Westbrook situation. It wasn’t for lack of trying, nobody wants him.

Still, having him remain on the roster just seems like it won’t end well for anyone involved.

The Lakers still have a wild card up their sleeve, and his name is Anthony Davis. Word on the street is he’s recommitted himself to getting in shape and is hungry to have a bounce-back year. If that’s true, he has the capability to be a top 10 player in this league and maybe higher.

The Lakers also get points for bringing in a fresh set of eyes in new head coach Darvin Ham.

This roster is a total mess though, and even a re-focused Davis and the ageless LeBron James might not be enough to drag them out of the hole by themselves.

Memphis Grizzlies: C

The main core is still intact from last year’s magical season, but Memphis lost some important role players in Kyle Anderson and De’Anthony Melton and is hoping to replace them with some completely unproven rookies.

The Grizz out-kicked their coverage in a lot of ways last year. Not that they aren’t talented, but a lot went right for them to end up as the surprising #2 seed in the conference. This time around, everyone will see them coming, and it’s hard to imagine a repeat of success, especially with the Clippers and Nuggets re-entering the top tier.

Minnesota Timberwolves: You decide

We arrive at the team that had the most puzzling offseason in the league by far. This grade really depends on where you stand on Rudy Gobert. On the one hand, you could argue that they should get an A here for acquiring the best defensive anchor in the league.

On the other, you could argue they should get an F for trading away their next ten years in draft capital for a player that probably won’t even make them a top 3 seed.

Not to mention, Gobert’s complete lack of an offensive game has proven easy to exploit come playoff time. He’s also a really weird fit next to Karl Anthony Towns

I do commend the Wolves for straight-up going all in, and the addition of Gobert will no doubt raise their regular season floor for a team already bursting with young talent (Anthony Edwards is a flat-out superstar). I just can’t quite get over how much they gave away for him: Four first-round picks, 3 completely unprotected in 2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029 along with several veteran role players including last year’s emotional leader Pat Beverly.

Perhaps the funniest part of this whole bizarre trade was the complete audacity Wolves management showed to come out publicly in saying they considered the trade a win because they held firm on their stance to not include Jaden McDaniels. Congratulations guys, you and Jaden can enjoy watching the draft from home for the next decade.

New Orleans Pelicans: A-

The Pels in large part kept together one of the league’s most talented and exciting young teams, and the main objective was to lock down Zion Williamson (a long-presumed flight risk), which they did. Now, they’ll be able to introduce him to a squad coming off a spirited playoff berth.

This is a team that’s trending upwards and should make a huge leap with Zion coming back into the fold, assuming he’s somewhat in shape and can stay healthy for 9 months straight. New Orleans could do some serious damage in the playoffs.

Oklahoma City Thunder: A

Chet Holmgren, this year’s 2nd overall pick, has looked awesome in his summer league showings and should be a perfect fit next to budding point guard Josh Giddy moving forward. It will be interesting to see how Shai Gilgeous-Alexander fits into all this. SGA is still young but he doesn’t quite fit the Thunder’s updated timeline anymore, so they could look to move him for some picks.

At some point, Sam Presti is going to have to turn his focus towards actually getting better instead of constantly acquiring young assets, and until then the Thunder will remain at the bottom of the league, but they got a franchise cornerstone this summer… There’s no doubt about it.

Phoenix Suns: D

Something doesn’t smell right with this team.

Yes, the Suns technically brought back Centre Deandre Ayton, but if that was the plan all along then why go through this whole charade?

Now, they’ll have the awkwardness of a restricted player being forced to come back after choosing to sign elsewhere. He doesn’t really want to be there, they don’t really want him for how much he’s making. Who’s going to be happy after all this?

Throw an aging Chris Paul and an improved West into the conversation and it’s enough to wonder if this group, who was up 2-0 in the Finals just 13 months ago, has seen its window close.

Portland Trail Blazers: B+

Will they be a title contender? No. However, the Blazers made some interesting moves this summer to reset things after a horrible 2021-22 campaign. Bringing in Jerami Grant will provide some high-end scoring up front, something Damian Lillard hasn’t had since his early days playing with Lamarcus Aldridge.

They also nabbed Gary Payton II from Golden State to be the third guard off the bench. Anfernee Simons is poised to take a leap as Lillard’s running mate, and taking the gifted but raw Shaedon Sharpe with the 7th pick could turn out to be the steal of the draft.

Portland is at least back to being a respectable foe and will try their best to make the most out of however many years they have left of Lillard being a star.

Sacramento Kings: B

The Kings drew plenty of heat for passing up on Jaden Ivey to take Keegan Murray with the 4th pick in the draft. But the heat has died down significantly after Murray was fantastic at the Vegas summer league. He looks like he’ll be a solid pro and should help this team right away.

They also made some smart moves in the backcourt by trading for Kevin Huerter and bringing in De’Aaron Fox’s good buddy Malik Monk from the Lakers. I wouldn’t count on a playoff berth but they definitely added some useful players this summer.

San Antonio Spurs: A-

The Spurs will be awful for the next 5 years, but they picked up an absolute haul of picks in the Dejounte Murray trade. They have cap flexibility galore moving forward, and also nabbed an interesting prospect in this year’s draft in forwarding Jeremy Sochan.

As I said, this is a total tank fest, but for what they wanted to accomplish, The Spurs did a pretty bang-on job this summer.

Utah Jazz: B+

Much like the team above them, Utah collected a mass of draft picks in the Rudy Gobert trade (which I’ve already dissected). Now, they’re in a position for a full-on tank job and will be competing for next year’s number one pick.

It was time for this group to blow it up after a slew of playoff failures in a row, and Danny Ainge seems like the right man to steer them into the next era so to speak.

The only reason why they’re graded slightly lower than the Spurs is because of the still unresolved Donovan Mitchell situation. But I’d bet my money on him becoming a Knick before the season begins, which would bring back even more assets to jumpstart the rebuild.