Uncomfortable Truths - Eastern Conference

[WigNosy]

As the season winds to a close I thought it might be fun to share one uncomfortable truth about each team in the league. It might be an uncomfortable truth about one of their players that they need to face or it might be an uncomfortable truth about the team that the rest of the league needs to face, but I saw this done for the NBA teams by a Youtube Channel and I thought this might be a fun exercise to do for the NPBSL. We'll do the Eastern Conference (in Alphabetical Order). If there is interest, maybe I'll do the West.

76ers - The front office should only trade first round picks when they are getting all star big men in return.

The 76ers have had good success in picking talent when they have held on to their draft picks. Jay Humphries and Chris Mullin recently, and Larry Nance before that. It's when they've traded away their picks that their record is more dubious - for instance, trading the pick that became James Worthy for Norm Nixon and a pick that became Bob Hansen, trading the pick that became Jeff Hornacek for Joe Barry Carroll, and this year's #6 for Johnny Davis and Joe Dumars. Every time they've traded for smaller guys, they've struck out - only the JBC trade has really made an impact. Gary does a very good job picking in the rookie draft, and rather than continuing to trade draft picks to try to win now, I wonder if he might be better served to instead follow the Spurs road map of trading away talent now for a bucketload of draft picks.

Bucks - McHale is the team MVP, but Terry Tyler really makes the team work, and the Bucks aren't going anywhere until both of them are traded or in decline.

Doug paid a king's ransom to re-sign Terry Tyler, and some will laugh at that signing when looking at his scoring, but I am convinced Tyler is the reason the Bucks continue to dominate the East. Everyone can see McHale's dominance but Doug has found an exceptional #2 - Tyler is only a capable scorer and a middling ballhandler/passer, but he's absolutely nuts defensively, including on the glass, in the passing lanes, and at the rim. The Bucks have been dominating the league with defense, and it's Terry's versatility, with the ability to check anyone any time anywhere that really makes them work. It allows them to simply surround the pair of McHale and Terry with skilled players that might have a major liability and rely on Tyler to cover up that liability. The Bucks' reign of terror isn't ending any time soon.

Bullets - Sleepy Floyd is going to be moved sooner rather than later.

Sleepy Floyd is a solid score-first point guard. But "solid" isn't "star" and Floyd at the age of 27 doesn't match the timeline for all the draft picks they're presumably going to be making over the next few years. The good news for the Bullets is that Floyd isn't being paid like a star, either, which means I think they'll actually be able to get some nice young pieces for him when they move him. The Bullets did a remarkable job this season tearing down their roster for a complete and total rebuild, and with a lot of salary cap space, they're going to be major players in the off-season - especially in the RFA market - and perhaps Floyd is the kind of trade piece that will let them finagle their way into a sign-and-trade for a young guy they really want. Either way, Floyd's value is only going to last a year or two, but Mike Lowry has shown he has no qualms about aggressively pursuing talent, so expect Floyd to be on the outs in Washington before long.

Bulls - Maurice Cheeks is a negative asset.

Mo Cheeks has been a favorite punching bag on Chat With a Cat pretty much since the expansion draft. But the cold hard truth is that the Bulls are trying to rebuild and Cheeks at 30 isn't part of their plans going forward. And Cheeks at $1.4 million next season with another season at nearly $1.5 million after that isn't that attractive an asset to most teams out there. The Bulls have made it clear he's on the block, but this may be "Robert Parish for 15 points" - they don't like the offers they are getting in return. We see this in both the real NBA and in the NPBSL, where teams put a valuation on a player that, in their heart of hearts, they probably know is too high... usually because they overpaid in the first place and are thinking "well, we paid X to get him, and we can't very well let him go for less than X or it will be an admission we made a mistake." The mistake in this case was signing Cheeks to a 5-year max deal a couple of off-seasons ago, and Chicago is likely stuck with his deal like a big fat albatross around their necks until it expires.

Cavaliers - The window has already closed on this core, they're just playing out the string.

The Cavaliers have been built around the trio of Rick Mahorn, Jim Paxson, and Sidney Moncrief since the creation draft. That core has gotten them two Conference Semifinals, two First-Round exits, and two seasons out of the playoffs... and now this year they're in the playoffs, and maybe they'll get to round two, but I think everyone would be surprised if they went farther than Round 2. They're consistently hanging around the edge of the playoff picture, but have never really been a true threat to win it all. Being a consistent playoff team means you can't rely on draft picks to increase your ceiling... and the Cavaliers have been victims of their own success. Now their core trio plus their one outstanding free agent pickup, David Greenwood, are all within a year of 29 and are starting to leave their primes. The team is capped out, with big contracts to their core but not a lot of cap space to add to it and not a lot of young up-and-coming talent (which, again, you can forgive them for since they have been perennial playoff contenders, it's not like they're getting lots of top picks doing that). But it feels like this team has just been kind of hoping that everyone else in the conference will fall off instead of trying to actively better themselves, and the tread on the tires of this core is pretty much bare.

Celtics - The Celtics have a legitimate title shot this season.

I know they didn't finish the season with 50 wins. I know they spent the better part of the season scuffling. I know the Danny Schayes pickup didn't move the needle for a lot of us. I know for a minute there, we thought the injury bug was going to lay this team low. But once they finally put together their death lineup of Hakeem, Schayes, 'Nique, Lewis Lloyd, and Terry Porter, this team got really scary really fast. They ran off a streak of 16 consecutive wins to end the regular season. Only the Bucks (18 straight) had a better streak at any point this season. Not only are they peaking, they're peaking at the right time. Hakeem turned in yet another MVP-caliber season. The Celtics are among the most efficient squads in the league. They come at you in waves. But what's really scary to me is that the full-strength Celtics have won their last three games against the Bucks and may be the only team in the East capable of derailing them... and they're likely to meet them in the second round of the playoffs. Assuming Boston vs. Milwaukee is the matchup, we can expect some trash-talking as well.

Hawks - The Hawks need get the Harpers into the weight room

The Hawks nearly posted a .500 record for the first time in years, overcoming injuries to both Ron and Derek Harper to finish the year 38-44. Ron's season - 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists on 40% from the field - really doesn't match what we've seen other recent #1 picks do. If Harper can shore up his shot selection and improve the other skill-based areas of his game, he could be getting ready for a monster return next season, but if not, he might start getting labelled a draft bust. They need Harper to be at least a 15 point, 6 board, 5 assist guy next season if they expect to take the proverbial leap. They probably also need to bench Darwin Cook to give Ron the space to operate; Darwin's an undersized combination guard with excellent defense but his offense leaves something to be desired. Derek Harper (no relation) is probably going to want a big payday despite averaging just 11 points this season. The Hawks need to get these guys' potentials up and ready so they can proceed to terrorize the rest of the league; their frontcourt is solid but their guard play leaves quite a bit to be desired and some paid training might be just the ticket to accelerate growth.

Knicks - Their "big men" don't play very "big."

At first blush, the Knicks' frontcourt of Moses Malone, Buck Williams, and Bernard King looks downright terrifying, combining for about 78 points per game on over 55% shooting and getting to the line an absurd 24+ times per game. But look a little closer at the stats - they're combining for just 2.8 blocks per game (for context, 14 players in the league average more than on their own) and as a team, they're allowing teams to shoot an adjusted 49.2% from the field (16th of 23 defenses). In other words, their big men are very interested in the offensive end of the floor, and not all that interested in playing defense. That is a recipe for disaster in the playoffs, especially considering that they could be facing Kevin Willis, Larry Nance, and Terry Cummings of the Pistons in the second round - all guys that love attacking the rim and will happily feast on a slightly undersized Knicks frontcourt. If the Knicks' regular-season success doesn't translate into playoff success, will they have the stomach to bring this core group of players back for another crack at the ring? They're certainly fun to watch, but you know what they say, "defense wins championships."

Nets - The three-point revolution might be able to begin in New Jersey.

The Nets have three starters that are excellent three-point shooters and are not likely to be moved any time soon - Eddie A. Johnson, Dale Ellis, and Fat Lever. With all the teams in the East packing the paint and sending explosive big men into the paint, the Nets have the pieces that could enable them to try to zag when everyone else is zigging. A trade to bring in a couple of high-volume three point big men (say, Bill Laimbeer and Sam Perkins) and a shift to an outside-oriented offense could give this team a truly unique offensive style that would be very difficult for traditionally built teams to counter. Make it happen, RPF!

Pacers - This team tanked their tank this season.

Looking at the talent on the Pacers' roster, you might be forgiven for wondering how this team managed 37 wins and kept themselves in the playoff race right up until the trade deadline. Pauly's merry band of ballers was 28-22 when the all-star game rolled through but went just 9 and 23 down the stretch to fall out of the playoffs. That means there are fighters on this team that have skills that should translate to a winning roster... all they need is a superstar to build around. Unfortunately, they fought so hard that they probably ruined their chances of getting that superstar in this year's draft unless the basketball gods smile upon them in the lottery. If they do somehow jump up and get a top 3 pick, they'll be rejoicing in Indy... and the rest of us will be dealing with a team that is one star away getting that star.

Pistons - Robert Reid is STILL a bad contract

Much like Maurice Cheeks, the Pistons tried desperately to get rid of the Robert Reid contract this season and found no takers. That contract is likely to be a major obstacle towards them being able to add any more talent this year without using the mid-level exception. This team is getting very expensive very fast and I would have liked their chances of adding a key piece in the offseason if they weren't stuck paying Reid over a million bucks. Just one more cautionary tale reminding everyone that it can be dangerous to add salary you intend to flip, rather than use, because if you can't make a quick flip, you might be stuck holding a distressed asset.

[WigNosy]

OBJECTIVE: 2000+ words - 6 points
SUBJECTIVE: I don't feel it's fair to give myself subjective points, so 0.
TOTAL: 6 points.