The Tankers
Boston Celtics
We all know how big of a Kentucky fan GM Conroy is. So we also all know how much it hurt him to move on from John Wall/ The Celtic rebuild is gaining traction though. After getting the Atlantic's second consecutive #1 overall pick, KAT the Celtics have a base in. Towns overall skillset is something to drool over. He can Score on the inside, pass, shoot, defend and rebound. Along with Town, the Celtics have collected raw guards Tyler Ulis, and R’Angelo Russell. Their core is set with hopefully their last year in the ‘Tankers’ section. The question has to be asked though, what is Roy’s build strategy. Will he stay mostly inactive as most tanking teams do until he gets the talent to contend or will he try and have his cake and eat it too by acquiring some win now talent while the main cake is baking?Tornto Raptors
No one can fault GM Wave for not trying to win. A few seasons ago the Raptors went all in with Lowry, Bosh on a panic trade from the Wolves, but failed to take advantage. The Raptors saw the end of the road with that team and sold off some pieces for his rebuild. The offseason has been a bit perplexing though. With the #2 pick they acquired offensively talented point guard Geoffrey Lannister. This guy can do it all on offense. Score inside, score midrange, shoot fts, shoot 3 pointers, handle the ball and pass on an elite level. He’s not known for defense, but that’s not something 25 points can’t fix. The offseason after this was a little but questionable, but he did not hurt himself. The Raptors failed to move Dragic off the books and frankly didn’t advertise him much to the league. A product of being benched all year, they league has probably forgotten or has no clue if Dragic can even be a plus factor for their teams. The Raptors had an odd free agency. They picked up Steven Hunter for 8.5 million which probably makes him untradeable. With their past history of benching quality starters (Dragic) one can only assume they’re using 8.5 million to sit on the bench and cheer all year. They also acquired a good young talent in Louie Stephens, but only on a 1 year deal. In RFA, the Raptors managed to keep Zack Lavine, who with Lannister, is a good start. You still have to feel you need that “top” guy if youre the Raptors, so like the Wizards, this build is just starting.
Milwaukee Bucks
Out of the tanking team, you have to give the Bucks a round of applause. The Bucks were forward thinking in moving Enes Kanter and squired what was the Bobcats crown jewel of talent: Damien McNary. This guy is super talented. He has the potential to be able to score rebound and defend all at elite levels. The drawback for McNary though is his size. His skillset screams Center while his build scream SF. Think Kenneth Faried amped up x5. I don’t think his height will be a limiting factor though. Along with McNary, the Bucks have acquired a list of free agents this offseason. Most teams take it easy during a rebuild, And show up when they get talent; but Bucks GM Ian Quailman is showing rebuilding is his comfort zone. He’s picked up some vets to sell off for picks; paid handsomely for RFAs that make accepting a hard prospect, and has acquired some future talent. He well set up for a home run move if he gets lucky in the lotto. The main thing that always needs to be questioned with this team is, are they willing to stick it out their fantastic rebuilds to actually win. The Bucks last rebuild had a massive amount of talent, but didn’t seem to have a guiding plan. Sometimes Quail’s biggest asset, his ability to improvise, is his worst enemy. We saw a core of Rubio, Irving, Kanter/Drummond, Kilpatrick, Green amount to not much more than second round exits. The disheartening thing is a lot feel he sold off to quickly. If you mixed and matched these guys who are now in their primes the Bucks would be the juggernaut of the East even with some harsh tax bills. Regardless, I think Quail is much happier where he’s at now as he was probably bored with that team.
Washington Wizards
The once rudderless Wizards have found their direction, and that’s north, but first south; WAY south. The Wizards helped the East haul in a 3rd consecutive #1 overall pick. Now loaded with AD, Ben Simmons, KAT and De La Rosa the East will be formittable for years to come. De La Rosa is our first college generated player who’s a purple. With good size for a 2 De La Rosa looks to be a great player in the future with the ability to be an elite scorer. There are some potential limiting factors to De La Rosa though. He’s purple and he can’t be trained. He boast average athleticism. He won’t force turnovers. His secondary ratings don’t compliment one another. In this I mean hes an alpha scorer, but his best secondary ability is offensive rebounding. The though will probably be for him to shoot the lion’s share of his teams shots, so Rebounding opportunities may eb more rare than if he could facilitate. The Wizards still have a ways to go. Their second best player, Andre Drummond could best be descriped by the old Wolverine quote , “I’m the best at what I do but what I do ain’t pretty”. Drummond is great on the boards and defense but is pretty much worthless everywhere else. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing eventually because a low offensive usage guy next to De La Rosa will be a plus, but he’s already on a rough deal and will likely need to be super-maxed to be retained. Beyond him, they have MCW who’s a very ok guard on a very ok deal and that’s about it. The Wizards are clearly in the beginning phase of their build, but they’ve done the hard part in getting their top level talent.
Next up: The Pretenders
