NBA Teams That Need To Blow It Up This Offseason
With only one playoff matchup left this year and twenty-eight teams already being knocked out of title hopes, it is time for all teams, not named the Bucks or Suns, to assess their rosters. For some teams, this may mean looking to add veterans to try and push for the championship next year, while other teams may be looking to add pieces in the offseason to try and make the playoffs and be relevant.
On the other side of this, there is always a time for front offices to realize that there is a ceiling on their team and that consistently making the playoffs every year does not mean a lot if it always leads to a first or second-round exit. These are the teams that need to forget the playoffs and build for the future.
Portland Trailblazers
With a first-round loss to the Nuggets in six games, and trade rumors swirling about Portland’s six-time all star Damian Lillard, the Trailblazers clearly have a complicated future ahead of them. The Blazers finished as the sixth seed and narrowly avoided the play-in tournament out in a tough Western Conference.
In the first round, Lillard averaged a ridiculous 34. 3 points per game along with 10.2 assists and yet Portland still could not defeat a Denver Nuggets team that was not healthy in the slightest. Even if the new coaching hire, Chauncey Billups turns into a great coach, the Western Conference is looking to be stacked for the next couple of years with many young players emerging as superstars and proven stars coming back from injuries.
While Trailblazers fans may not be optimistic about this idea, it may be time to move on from Damian Lillard. As a thirty year old coming off one of his best seasons yet, his trade value is immense. After seeing the amount of draft picks the New Orleans Pelicans received for Jrue Holiday and the load of picks that the Houston Rockets got in return for James Harden, the Blazers should ultimately be excited at the amount of young assets and picks they could get for just Damian Lillard.
Trading Lillard to a team such as the New York Knicks, Philadelphia Seventy-Sixers, Boston Celtics, or even the Dallas Mavericks could push those teams over the top and also set Portland up in the ideal situation for a rebuild.
If the team chose to trade Damian Lillard, then players such as CJ McCollum, Jusuf Nurkic, and Robert Covington are players that would be sure to follow. All of these veterans especially McCollum who was a near all star this year could bring solid value in return.
It may not be easy for the Portland fans and the front office to want to accept trading away a guy that was loyal to their small market franchise, but starting over fresh now could put the Blazers in a great position years from now. Without a doubt, it is clear that this will be a defining offseason for the Blazers where they must determine if they want to rebuild or try and acquire better players in order to be a competitive playoff team next season. Ultimately, it is probably best to prepare for the future.
Washington Wizards
The Wizards may be the most complicated team in the NBA. They have proven that they can’t seem to decide if they want to rebuild or be a competitive playoff team. After finishing with a losing record this year at 34–38, the Wizards snuck into the playoffs as the eighth seed only to lose to the number one seed Philadelphia 76ers in five games.
The Wizards’ star veteran point guard, Russell Westbrook, averaged a triple-double this season for the fourth time in his career. The team also saw Bradley Beal finish second in the scoring champ race, become an all star, and become an all-NBA player this season.
However, what the Wizards need to understand is that making the playoffs as the eighth seed in the East is not really an accomplishment unless it is a young team being discussed, such as if the Magic or Hornets made the playoffs. The ceiling on this roster is incredibly low and at best they may be a team that can make it to the second round.
The team should look to trade Beal this offseason. Beal’s value could be used on the Philadelphia 76ers, Denver Nuggets, Miami Heat, or a plethora of other teams. Trading Beal for young guys with potential and draft picks is the easy part. The challenging part is trading Westbrook.
Despite Westbrook’s great numbers, he has a large contract that is difficult to move and is also seen as a guy who cares more about himself than being part of a winning culture. If the Wizards do find a way to move him, even for little value, then they should take that opportunity.
This team's goals should be to build around their young guys like Rui Hachimura, Deni Avdija, and anyone they can acquire from a Beal trade. Bradley Beal deserves to be on a contender and Wizard’s fans deserve more than a first or second-round exit every year.
Indiana Pacers
This may be the most surprising team on the list as the Pacers are not led by veterans like the previous teams mentioned. However, the Pacers were eliminated in the play-in tournament this year and were swept in the first round of the playoffs last year giving them back to back disappointing seasons.
This team without a doubt has talent, twenty-four year old Domantas Sabonis has emerged as a young star and an all star this season. Malcolm Brogdon was nearly an all star this season averaging a career high 21.2 points per game. Myles Turner proved to be one of the best defensive centers in the league this year and was the block champ with an average of 3.4 blocks per game.
The problem with Indiana is that they are in the middle of the pack right now and searching for an identity. It will be hard to bring big free agents to a small market like Indiana. The Pacers should get value now for their older players such as Brogdon, McConnell, Warren, and Holiday.
When the Pacers traded Victor Oladipo for Caris Levert midway through the season, it became clear that Indiana was leaning towards a youth movement. The team also already were in trade talks for Ben Simmons and were willing to give up Brogdon in order to do so.
The overall best option for the Pacers is to fully commit to their young guys such as Turner, Sabonis, and Levert and prepare for the future, because if they don’t then they may be stuck in mediocrity for the next couple of seasons. Based on the Oladipo trade, nearly trading Brogdon to the Sixers, and having the thirteenth pick in the draft, this team seems as if they are already preparing for a rebuild.
Toronto Raptors
The Raptors are coming off a season that many of their fans probably want to forget about. The team from Canada finished with a 27–45 record and landed with the fourth pick in the draft. This team’s time as a championship contender is clearly over and it appears that the Raptors understand that.
At the trade deadline, the Raptors traded away twenty-seven year old Norman Powell, who was averaging 19.6 points per game at the time, for a much younger Gary Trent Jr. from the Portland Trailblazers.
Toronto was also in trade talks with other teams about dealing Kyle Lowry, the thirty-five year old point guard and six-time all-star. However, a trade never went through and now Lowry is a free agent and expected to leave Toronto. With Kawhi Leonard long gone from this team, and Kyle Lowry expected to leave, this team is clearly losing its identity. Many of the players that aided in winning the 2019 NBA finals are gone, about to leave, or regressing. This makes it a perfect chance to rebuild.
Losing Lowry through free agency is not terrible considering that Toronto is expected to take Jalen Suggs, the nineteen year old point guard from Gonzaga who has loads of potential. With all of this in mind, the Raptors should look to trade Pascal Siakam. If a team that is expected to contend, such as the Warriors, Heat, or Mavericks offered draft picks and young players for Siakam, the Raptors should take that in a heartbeat and not look back. Siakam is a great player, but not the type of player that can lead this Raptors team to a championship or a player that you want to build around.
If this team continues to build around their younger players such as OG Anunoby, Fred VanVleet, Chris Boucher, Gary Trent Jr., and potentially Jalen Suggs, then they will be primed for the future. The Raptors GM, Masai Ujiri has proven to be a mastermind when it comes to team construction and while this era of Raptors basketball should be coming to an end, fans should be excited for the future of this team.
