Three NBA Teams Who Should Rebuild
In the NBA, the title-or-tank mindset is becoming increasingly popular. In a nutshell: if you aren’t in contention to win a championship, bottom out and assemble a team of as many high-potential young players as you can until you are in contention. For some, it’s an option that can’t be entertained- some owners won’t allow tanking. But for these teams, the time has come for a rebuild.
Toronto Raptors
The Raptors have had a lot of regular season wins with their current core, with backcourt stars Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan at the helm. They are consistently a very good team, but these are the facts: the Raptors haven’t achieved any major playoff success with these two, they both underperform in the playoffs, and they aren’t good enough to challenge the Cleveland Cavaliers or Boston Celtics, let alone the Golden State Warriors. However, both of their stars do have tremendous trade value. They could get a remarkable haul of young players and draft picks for their two stars, which would put them in a fantastic position to kickstart the new era of Toronto Raptors basketball.
Memphis Grizzlies
Like Toronto, the Grizzlies have two star players that they are built around, but have no chance of any significant success come postseason time. However, Marc Gasol is the only one who should be traded, not Mike Conley, who still has quite a few years left in him. Gasol’s defensive prowess makes him an extremely valuable trade asset, one who could likely garner a return valuable enough to kickstart a quick rebuild around Conley.
Charlotte Hornets
It’s unclear whether or not team owner Michael Jordan would approve of this, but if he gives the green light, General Manager Rich Cho should start trying to move his experienced players immediately. The Hornets are close to challenging the Detroit Pistons for the “most likely to be mediocre” award, always either barely sneaking into the playoffs or just missing out and getting a draft pick at the back-end of the lottery. They have a few players they could move for a slew of future draft picks and players with potential: Nicolas Batum, Marvin Williams, and most notably, Kemba Walker. Walker would be the primary source of assets for a rebuild, thanks to his go-to scoring ability and team-friendly contract. If Walker were on the block, everybody who needed a Point Guard would call.
