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Tony Avelar/Associated Press
The 2018-19 NBA campaign was a monster.
Stars shined, rookies rocked, Dwyane Wade danced for the last time, LeBron James discovered Hollywood’s less glamorous side, stats swelled to historic levels (looking at you, Beard) and chaos appeared early and often. In other words, basketball happened.
While each team participated in the 82-game marathon, it looked dramatically different through their specific lens. This year was a breakthrough for some, a foundation-setter for others and a dumpster fire for the league’s least fortunate.
We’re here to dole out year-end performance reviews in all their subjective glory. Grades are assessed relative to preseason expectations, as cellar-dwellers and heavyweight contenders aren’t chasing the same thing. Win-now clubs are analyzed on their ability to do just that, while patient rebuilders have their grades more strongly tied to big-picture outlooks.
This is largely performance- or potential-driven, with injuries, financial situations, personnel changes and late-season trends factored in wherever applicable.
Got it? Good.
Let’s start spreading some red ink across the hoops world.
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Todd Kirkland/Associated Press
It was a rebuilding year but not a tanking one for the Atlanta Hawks, who witnessed several of their young cornerstones make sizable, future-brightening leaps.
Maybe history won’t remember the Trae Young-for-Luka Doncic draft-night swap favorably, but the former’s post-All-Star surge has early evaluators rethinking the failing grades that initially rained down on the Hawks. Young started looking every bit like the offensive wrecking ball he was in college, sprinting to his first NBA campaign’s finish line with second-half averages of 24.8 points, 9.1 assists and 4.7 rebounds.
Springy sophomore big man John Collins played his way into All-Star consideration. While he didn’t make the cut this time, his steady production—19.5 points and 9.5 boards per game—suggests the 21-year-old could get the call sooner than later. Freshman Kevin Huerter looks like a long-lost Splash Sibling (131 triples at a 37.8 percent clip), while Taurean Prince has given the Hawks reasons to consider him as a long-term keeper.
If Atlanta made a misstep, it was not being more involved at the trade deadline. The Hawks talked trades regarding several plug-and-play veterans who presumably would’ve added to the asset collection, but they apparently couldn’t find the right offers for any of them.
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The Boston Celtics had an objectively good year. They scratched out top-10 efficiency rankings on both offense and defense, played better than their record suggests (.661 expected winning percentage) and will host a first-round playoff series.
However, this team was supposed to be great.
When oddsmakers compiled preseason win totals, only the Golden State Warriors topped Boston’s mark of 57.5. The Celtics never hit their anticipated stride, and they raised enough red flags along the way to question Kyrie Irving‘s future with the franchise, Gordon Hayward’s ability to return to his pre-injury level and the chemistry of this core.
“Your/our local professional basketball team is the single most disappointing team in the NBA this season,” the Boston Globe‘s Bob Ryan wrote in late March. “There is no way around it.”
The silver lining for the Shamrocks? The second season is an opportunity to rewrite the script. Make a lengthy playoff push, and all—or at least most—regular-season sins will be forgiven. That just can’t help this 82-game assessment.
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Adam Hunger/Associated Press
The Brooklyn Nets kept busy distancing themselves from their days as the NBA’s laughing stock. While many clubs wouldn’t have reason to celebrate opening the postseason on the road, the playoff berth alone is big time for a youthful rebuilder that coaxed promising development from nearly all its primary players.
D’Angelo Russell is an All-Star, and Brooklyn can put constant pressure on opposing defenses when he’s paired with a second playmaker like Spencer Dinwiddie or Caris LeVert. It might not always look pretty (the turnover column can get away from them), but this offense is fun as a theme park when they’re carving up defenders off the dribble and either finishing drives or dishing to spot-up snipers.
Joe Harris is a bomber from all over (50.0 field-goal percentage, 47.4 three-point percentage). Jarrett Allen is rock-solid at the rim on both ends. Rodions Kurucs went from the second round to the Rising Stars Challenge. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Treveon Graham can ace most types of defensive assignments.
Entering this season, the most exciting aspect of the Nets was the combination of head coach Kenny Atkinson and general manager Sean Marks. Given the work they’ve done, maybe that’s still the case. But the fruits of their labor are evident in this young, exciting, better-than-expected roster.
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Chuck Burton/Associated Press
For the most part, the Charlotte Hornets’ 2018-19 effort went as expected. Kemba Walker was both brilliant and insufficiently supported.
Rinse and repeat, in other words.
This might have been Walker’s best effort to date. He tallied a career high in points per game (25.5), nearly did the same in assists (5.9) and started an All-Star Game for the first time—fittingly, one based in Buzz City. He reached the 30-point plateau 27 different nights, tying Stephen Curry and Damian Lillard for fifth-most in the league. Having him available gave Charlotte a puncher’s chance most nights.
But his next-best scoring teammate was Jeremy Lamb (15.1 points per game). Behind him were Marvin Williams (10.1) and Cody Zeller (10.1). No legitimate No. 3 option for a playoff team resides in that mix, let alone a capable sidekick.
Since most hoops prognosticators forecasted a similar outcome, some might feel a “C” grade is warranted. What drags it to a D-plus, though, is the potential long-term damage done.
Walker is headed to unrestricted free agency. While he’s pledged his allegiance to Charlotte before, the lack of proper support could force him to look elsewhere. Losing him for nothing would devastate an organization already in rough shape.
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Brandon Dill/Associated Press
Chicago Bulls coach Jim Boylen dubbed this “a season of discovery,” per Mark Potash of the Chicago Sun-Times.
That’s probably how most rebuilders feel, but it’s fair to wonder how much the Bulls actually discovered this season. Their strongest quintet—Lauri Markkanen, Zach LaVine, Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter Jr. and Kris Dunn—never shared the floor. Only three players—Ryan Arcidiacono, Shaquille Harrison and Robin Lopez—cleared the 70-game mark, and none are guaranteed a spot on the 2019-20 roster.
Collectively, Chicago has as many question marks as the Riddler’s outfit. But individually, the Bulls at least have a baseline of knowledge.
LaVine surpassed his pre-ACL levels of productivity. Markkanen keeps flashing as a possible star in the making. Porter and Carter fit the do-it-all, glue-guy mold. Dunn might be in over his head as an NBA starter, but he’s useful at both ends and typically impacts multiple areas of the stat sheet.
This roster needs more substance, and Boylen isn’t quite the sure thing this front office would lead you to believe. But this season helped solidify a foundation through player development, talent acquisition and the latest chance to strike draft-lottery gold.
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Jason Miller/Getty Images
The Cleveland Cavaliers stubbornly refused to accept their post-LeBron reality for too long.
Kevin Love’s $120 million extension looked regrettable before the ink dried. Dismissing former head coach Tyronn Lue six games into this campaign hammered home the point that a split should’ve happened last summer. The exile of JR Smith seemed messier than necessary.
This roster is stuck between overpaid veteran holdovers and unpolished youngsters. Cleveland did a decent job shipping out some of the former for draft assets, and the latter group sporadically excited. Collin Sexton underwhelmed as a passer, but his scoring and shooting might be ahead of schedule (22.1 points per game on 49.7/43.5/84.5 shooting in March and April). Cedi Osman is a keeper, and Ante Zizic could be another.
Cleveland’s future is nowhere close to bright, and Love’s major-money pact potentially puts another cloud over it. But at least the presences of Sexton and Osman ensure the cupboards aren’t barren.
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The Dallas Mavericks’ desire to get Dirk Nowitzki back into the postseason before he hangs them up—which might not be this year—had them chasing mediocrity even though their best player is a 20-year-old freshman. Hard as Dallas tanked at times after the trade deadline, it could still lose the top-five-protected pick it owes Atlanta.
Even if Doncic is NBA-ready as prospects come, he’s still in the infant stage of his Association tenure. That could’ve pushed the Mavs to adopt a more forward-focused mindset this season, as the likely Rookie of the Year doesn’t have much long-term assistance. Jalen Brunson might be the only young support player worth keeping.
The Mavs, of course, would counter that they’re on the fast track to contention, and they might be right.
Doncic already resembles an organizational centerpiece, joining Oscar Robertson as the only rookies to average 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Kristaps Porzingis has the unicorn combo of shot-blocking and three-point shooting. Dallas has the buying power to make multiple splashes in free agency.
Landing Doncic and watching him blossom into an overnight sensation is reason enough to consider an “A” assessment. But losing a lottery pick would sting. Plus, as encouraging as the Doncic-Porzingis connection looks on paper, the pairing is clouded by uncertainty. Porzingis is currently under investigation after a woman said he sexually assaulted her in February 2018. He also didn’t play at all this season while recovering from an ACL tear and will hit free agency this summer.
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Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press
NBA life moves at ludicrous speed. Just ask the Denver Nuggets.
This time last year, they were lamenting what could’ve been after being denied a playoff spot by way of an overtime loss in the regular-season finale. But now, they’ve sprinted to the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference and have arguably become the envy of the Association in the process.
Three teams won more games this season. Six had better net ratings. What makes those facts so significant, you ask? Because the Nuggets’ leaders are 24-year-old Nikola Jokic and 22-year-old Jamal Murray. Both delivered their most productive efforts to date, and neither should be approaching his ceiling even though they’ve now been the top players on a full-fledged elite.
Jokic might be the best passing big the NBA has ever seen, and notice that’s not written in hyperbolic font. His 37.5 assist percentage is highest among any center who logged 1,000 minutes, and he also holds the third and fourth spots on that list. Murray is a fearless scoring guard with off-the-bus shooting range and creativity from close proximity.
“I think we can be really good,” Jokic said of the pairing, per Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer. “We can become really unstoppable at some point, you know?”
The Nuggets are loaded now and for the future. They keep uncovering hidden gems—Monte Morris and Malik Beasley fit that bill this season—and they’ve yet to even get a look at blue-chip prospect Michael Porter Jr. For as dramatically and rapidly as things can change in this league, Denver has assembled the foundation to be really good to great for a long time.
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Carlos Osorio/Associated Press
If you laid out a pros and cons list of the Detroit Pistons’ season, the latter might outnumber the former. But they answered just enough of their big-picture questions with an affirmative to secure an above-average score.
Blake Griffin not only cleared the 70-game mark with ease, but he also did so while playing like a shadow MVP candidate. Andre Drummond kept up his Dennis Rodman impression on the glass while setting personal bests in points and player efficiency rating. Luke Kennard did enough as a scorer and shooter to stop his ceiling from collapsing. Bruce Brown’s hustle and versatility helped offset his errant shooting.
While Griffin and Drummond are arguably both overpaid, having them perform at or near All-Star levels is the only way this roster can function. Kennard’s perimeter shot could be critical in pulling this off, and he needs to be involved since Detroit tabbed him over Donovan Mitchell in the 2017 draft. Brown might not be a future star, but the Pistons need reliable youth after they misfired on youngsters such as Stanley Johnson and Henry Ellenson.
This season didn’t assuage a lot of the long-term concerns. But given the shape of this franchise, that was never going to happen. Having a better season than the last one with the highest-paid players at the heart of the improvement made this year more positive than not.
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Jeff Chiu/Associated Press
The Golden State Warriors are so absurdly loaded they throw the entire grading scale out of whack.
What are reasonable expectations for a team that raised championship banners in three of the last four seasons and set an all-time record for wins in the other? Or how about for a roster featuring five of last season’s All-Stars?
There’s no such thing as setting the bar too high, which can make the grading process feel unusually strict. No one else would feel disappointing after posting a .700 winning percentage, capturing the West’s top seed and claiming the second spot in net efficiency.
But things felt off with this group all season. Players butted heads. The defense didn’t always show up. The second team looked short on quantity, quality and experience. The integration of DeMarcus Cousins still isn’t complete. This roster has felt the effects of four consecutive Finals trips, not to mention the clouds of uncertainty swirling around Kevin Durant‘s impending free agency.
“Obviously they still have one of the best records in the league, but the invincibility part is not there anymore,” Markieff Morris told The Athletic’s Sam Amick.
The Warriors could prove that’s just wishful thinking on everyone else’s part by flipping the switch and stampeding through the postseason. But if you’re evaluating only the regular season, this was more of a good year than a great one in Golden State.
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Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press
Holy offensive eruptions, Beardman!
The Houston Rockets will always remember 2018-19 as the year of James Harden, which sounds funny when he was last season’s MVP and isn’t our pick this time around. But his statistics were ridiculous. Averaging 36 points per game? That hadn’t been done since pre-championships Michael Jordan. Add seven assists to the mix, and you’re talking about a stat line we’d never seen.
“It’s like he’s got his own dance that nobody else knows the steps to, and if ultimately somebody figures it out, he’s strong enough to just go through them,” Rockets CEO Tad Brown told ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. “He’s just nearly impossible to cover.”
Whether Harden gets the hardware, his campaign has been an A-plus. But the fact he needs to shoulder such a historic burden strips away from Houston’s season as a whole.
Chris Paul seems like he’s finally declining, Eric Gordon took a half-step back from last year, and Houston never really covered the voids left by Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute. Harden’s leap forward—from an MVP season—almost makes up the difference by itself, but the regular-season Rockets weren’t quite who we thought they could be.
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Michael Owen Baker/Associated Press
Admit it. If you reside anywhere outside the Circle City, you spent most of this season waiting for someone to pull the rug out from underneath the Indiana Pacers.
Maybe you thought simple regression was unavoidable for Victor Oladipo. If not, you at least figured his season-ending knee injury, coupled with a lack of an obvious second in command, would flatline the Pacers.
But that never happened.
Myles Turner defended at an all-league level. Domantas Sabonis threw his hat into the Sixth Man of the Year and Most Improved Player races. Nate McMillan should’ve garnered serious Coach of the Year consideration. Bojan Bogdanovic had the best offensive season no one talked about.
The Pacers proved as reliable as they come. Even if they wobbled to the finish line, they still exceeded expectations by a comfortable margin. Their lack of a second star will almost surely spell their demise in the opening round of the playoffs and must be addressed sooner rather than later. But this might have been the league’s widest gap between a team’s whole and the sum of its individual parts.
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This was a rough season for head coach Doc Rivers’ critics and a victory-rich campaign for the Los Angeles Clippers.
This zero-star squad sat atop the entire West at one point, as Tobias Harris, Danilo Gallinari, Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell formed a quartet of overlooked offensive aces. Then, Harris was shipped out in a cost-cutting move at the deadline, leading many to believe the Clips were suddenly tankers. But Rivers held this roster together, and the club booked its first playoff trip since Chris Paul bolted.
Inside the lines, the Clippers are an encouraging handful. Youngsters do a decent amount of the heavy lifting for this club, with potential long-term keepers such as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Landry Shamet holding prominent roles. But L.A. also leans on Williams, Gallinari and Harrell, who can either stick around as non-cost-prohibitive contributors or sweeten the pot on the next blockbuster deal.
Off the court, this franchise appears to be in even better shape. Its wheeling and dealing at the deadline—which, again, didn’t deny this nucleus the chance to compete now—delivered Shamet, two first-round picks, Ivica Zubac and increased financial flexibility. Once a laughing stock, the Clippers could now be a free-agent destination, and they can work with two max-contract slots.
That’s a season extremely well spent, folks.
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LeBron James’ first season with the Los Angeles Lakers was…well…we’ll let Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas handle this one.
“It was an absolute failure for him,” Thomas said on ESPN’s Get Up! “This is the first time that we’ve really seen him at the professional level, even at the high school level, have this type of failure in his career. … He’s carried the league for so many years right now. But for him personally, this is an absolute failure.”
Early talk of patience never held much water, and the Lakers scrambled to find quick fixes—in part because their strategy of giving James ball-handling support instead of shooting predictably blew up in their face. The ill-fated pursuit of Anthony Davis told every purple-and-gold prospect they were expendable, and that only complicated what was already a tricky situation.
The long-term ramifications of this season are unclear. The Lakers are still positioned to add a marquee star this summer, and they could turn things around at a rapid rate if they do.
But through our single-year lens, this looks brutal. James, an All-NBA first-team fixture for over a decade, might not have a spot on any of the rosters. Not a single member of this prospect core made a major leap, while both Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart arguably regressed. Luke Walton could soon be looking for work, and Magic Johnson has already stepped down as president of basketball operations, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
Other than that, though, everything is fine.
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Brandon Dill/Associated Press
Some draft evaluations don’t require the passage of time. The Memphis Grizzlies likely knew they aced the fourth overall pick of the 2018 draft a month or so into Jaren Jackson Jr.’s career.
The 19-year-old is the embodiment of the ideal modern big man. His entire game revolves around versatility, and he can shine in so many different areas depending on the night. He’s a force around the rim at either end, but also a switchy defender around the perimeter, a three-point splasher and an off-the-dribble creator.
He’s anchoring whatever the Grizzlies are building next, which gets us to the minus part of this assessment.
Memphis discovered the harsh reality that it rostered Marc Gasol for too long and had to settle for an uninspiring package built around 26-year-olds Delon Wright and Jonas Valanciunas. But even with that knowledge, it still held onto Mike Conley past the deadline, despite having zero reasons to believe it can get competitive before the 31-year-old exits his prime.
Every organizational decision should probably be made around its impact on Jackson. The fact his most exciting sub-25-year-old teammate might be Bruno Caboclo shows how much attention this roster requires.
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Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images
Thank goodness Dwyane Wade’s last dance was mostly entertaining because the Miami Heat didn’t have much going on beside it.
Let’s start with the positives. Wade appeared ageless at times, adding to his highlight reel and performing closer to his per-minute career norms than you might think. Justise Winslow seemed rejuvenated by shifting over to play as an oversized point guard, and maybe that props up his trajectory going forward. There also wasn’t much complaining from Hassan Whiteside even though he lost his starting spot.
As for the negatives, it’s less about specific occurrences and more about organizational flaws.
This was somehow a $125 million collection of players, even though it didn’t have an All-Star (save for Wade’s special invite) or any youngster flashing All-Star potential. There are a bunch of capable support players, but no alpha to support other than the 37-year-old riding into the sunset.
The Heat don’t have the flexibility to chase a difference-maker, and their commitment to competitiveness keeps them from bottoming out. Given what they’re paying in salary costs—and losing in lottery odds—with this approach, falling short of the postseason is a disaster.
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Off the top of your head, do you remember where the Milwaukee Bucks finished last season? They were seventh in the East, which feels impossible given how dominant they’ve been this year.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and new head coach Mike Budenholzer ensured this group wouldn’t underperform again.
Under Budenholzer, the Bucks reformed their three-point strategy on both sides. Milwaukee jumped from 25th to second in three-point attempts. It also went from allowing the most wide-open three-point looks to contesting the most triples. The efficiency marks followed suit, as the Bucks lept from 10th to third on offense and 18th to first on defense.
Deployed in a better system, Antetokounmpo went berserk. He’d been an All-Star before, but this was different. If he played 36 minutes, his per-game line would’ve read: 30.4 points, 13.7 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 1.7 blocks and 1.4 steals. He had Milwaukee’s highest marks in points, boards, dimes, field-goal percentage (57.8) and PER (30.9).
“He craves ways to get better, craves information, he seeks out Hakeem Olajuwon, Kobe,” Budenholzer told Sports Illustrated‘s Chris Ballard. “He really believes in making those steps. He wants to be the best f–king player in the league and the world.”
The Bucks went from anonymous to awesome in one season through a coaching change, internal development and some savvy low-cost additions. That shouldn’t be possible, but much of what Antetokounmpo does probably shouldn’t be, either.
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Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press
Starting the season in the middle of Jimmy Butler’s messy exit is like getting out of bed and stepping directly on one of your kid’s toys. It’s a terrible way to begin your day, but shouldn’t you have made sure the floor was clean the night before?
Butler submitted his trade request in September. He wasn’t moved until almost two months later. By then, the franchise infrastructure had already been shaken to its core. Former head coach Tom Thibodeau didn’t make it two months after the Butler deal. Andrew Wiggins went into a rut and never got out of it. Even All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns needed time to get going.
The Minnesota Timberwolves, surely hoping to build off last season’s playoff appearance, never really sniffed the postseason race. Couple that reality with the fact this team ostensibly settled on a win-now package in return for Butler—the only incoming draft pick was a 2022 second-rounder—and it’s no small miracle the year grades out above an abject failure.
The Wolves can thank Towns for that. Once he found his form, he never misplaced it again. His January-to-April averages included 26.9 points, 12.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.4 blocks alongside a pristine 54.3/41.1/84.0 shooting slash. Even if Minnesota doesn’t want to be rebuilding, at least it already has a 23-year-old building block in place.
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Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press
This might be the easiest evaluation to make, since a simple grading scale for the season emerged before it started. This was an appease-Anthony Davis-or-bust year for the New Orleans Pelicans, and the superstar forward’s January trade request spelled out the word “bust” in flashing neon letters.
It’s a crushing blow to an organization that seemed on the rise just last postseason.
Davis is a once-in-a-generation talent. His 27.4 career PER trails only two players in NBA history: Michael Jordan and LeBron James. That’s what the Pelicans landed at the top of the 2012 draft, and they’ll likely end his seven-year tenure with just two playoff trips and one postseason series win to show for it.
Granted, whenever New Orleans signs off on a Davis deal, it should collect a king’s ransom. But it’s not getting another Davis. No matter whatever else happened in 2018-19, this season will always loom over the Big Easy.
Jrue Holiday is better than people realize. Julius Randle is exceptionally skilled on offense, particularly for his size. Frank Jackson is a highlight waiting to happen, and a healthy Elfrid Payton leaves few areas of the box score untouched.
But this year was all about the Brow, and the Pelicans failed to keep him happy.
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Kevin Hagen/Associated Press
Apologies if this feels like a cop-out, but very little that happened on the floor carried any kind of consequence for the New York Knicks.
Sure, it was fun seeing Mitchell Robinson rock rims and reject opponents all over the court. Yes, it would have been nice if Kevin Knox had displayed a pinch more polish.
But the Knicks aren’t thinking about today. Or tomorrow.
As soon as they reversed course on their rebuild by trading Kristaps Porzingis for draft picks and cap relief, New York centered its focus on two days: May 14 and July 1. The former is the night of the draft lottery, and the ‘Bockers have a 14 percent chance of nabbing the first pick. The latter is the opening of free agency, when New York just might have the money and market to make a couple of miracles happen.
While the Blue and Orange don’t have the best history putting all their eggs in the free-agency basket, this time could be different. It doesn’t sound like the Knicks are the only ones dreaming about the Big Apple’s future.
“So sure are some executives and player agents of a [Kevin] Durant-[Kyrie] Irving pairing in New York that one agent told The Athletic that Durant and Irving are debating on who will sign first,” Frank Isola reported.
If the Knicks secure the top pick, they could have a third cornerstone (or the NBA’s best trade chip) in Zion Williamson. When that type of prize is realistically in play, assessments can’t be made until after we see how this shakes out.
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Nick Wass/Associated Press
At times, the Oklahoma City Thunder looked like the biggest threat to the Golden State Warriors’ throne in the West. OKC’s good can be great, although that was easier to see when the team had the Association’s third-best defense before the All-Star break, not the 11th-ranked mark after intermission.
The offense is inherently wonky. Russell Westbrook continues to underwhelm as both a jump-shooter and decision-maker. Only three rotation regulars top 34 percent from distance, and Paul George is the only member of that trio who launches more than four times per game. Iso-ball remains a prevalent point of this attack, which would make more sense if the Thunder graded out better than the 35th percentile.
That said, the Westbrook-Paul George pairing is statistically astounding. Together, the team’s All-Stars delivered nightly efforts of 51.1 points, 19.1 rebounds, 14.8 assists and 4.2 steals.
With Steven Adams handling the grunt work and Jerami Grant masterfully assuming glue-guy duties, the Thunder are strong enough at the top to contend if they catch some breaks.
But doesn’t that make the final product (47-33 record, 10th in net rating) feel a little “meh?” If George playing near an MVP level and Westbrook averaging another triple-double aren’t enough, it’s getting harder to think of what can take this group over the top.
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Frank Franklin II/Associated Press
While celebrating mediocrity can be a mortal sin in this league, you’d be hard-pressed to find an Orlando Magic fan who didn’t enjoy the crap out of this season.
The Magic found their first post-Dwight Howard All-Star hiding in plain sight. Who knows if this was more than convenient contract-year timing, but Nikola Vucevic was a godsend this season. He averaged 20.8 points, 12.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.1 triples. The only other player to clear those marks in the 2010s was the Minnesota Timberwolves version of Kevin Love.
Vooch’s surge might soon cost the Magic major coin, as could Terrence Ross’ own contract-year breakthrough. But those are concerns left for a different day.
For now, let Orlando savor every morsel from its first post-Dwight playoff launch. Plus, with Jonathan Isaac making a mini-leap in the second half, Aaron Gordon increasing his two-way impact, Mohammed Bamba showing flashes of shooting and shot-blocking and Markelle Fultz looming as the Association’s most interesting developmental project, don’t be surprised if this season proves a springboard to better days ahead.
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Nathaniel S. Butler/Getty Images
Basketball’s latest buzzsaw has arrived.
The Philadelphia 76ers’ quintet of Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Jimmy Butler, Tobias Harris and JJ Redick might not have the surest future or the most second-team support. What it does have, though, is an explosive combination of talent that produced a face-melting 17.6 net rating over its 161 minutes together.
“We got some true talent in the starting lineup,” Butler said, per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. “I think, when you look down the line, we have a group of guys that can do something special if we’re out there on the same page, we’re all playing hard and we’re all competing.”
Philly’s final tally stopped just shy of dominant—50-30, 11th in net efficiency—but that wasn’t the purpose of this season. With two star-level players added in-season, this year became about trusting the process of growth and internal improvement.
The Sixers bet huge on talent overcoming concerns about depth, outside shooting and only having one ball to go between five scorers who average more than 16 points. They’ll soon discover whether the gamble was worthwhile, but cobbling together a bunch of highly skilled players seems like a pretty sound strategy.
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The Phoenix Suns had a largely surprise-free season, which doesn’t sound bad until you remember this club was projected to endure a fourth consecutive sub-30-win campaign.
That’s not to say the year lacked progress; it’s just most of the positives were things we already knew. Devin Booker is on a short list of the Association’s most ignitable scorers. Deandre Ayton is a double-double machine. Mikal Bridges is a suffocating stopper. T.J. Warren gets buckets in his sleep.
A lot of the stumbles were predictable, too. Neglecting the point guard spot is self-sabotaging roster management. Much of this rotation remains allergic to defense. Josh Jackson is still an enigma. A 21-year-old Dragan Bender is somehow running out of time to turn things around.
Encouraging signs did exist, such as Warren’s sudden emergence as a capable long-distance shooter and Booker’s growth as a passer. But Phoenix is still snaking (OK, tanking) its way through a patient, long-term rebuild.
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Note to self: Never doubt Damian Lillard.
Maybe this is a me problem, but I don’t look at the Portland Trail Blazers roster and see a top-four team in the West, especially with the defense playing closer to expectations this season (16th) than last (sixth). It’s a single-star squad with question marks along the wings and limited protection at the rim.
But maybe that doesn’t matter when Lillard is leading the charge. He’s fearless and ice-cold in the clutch, as well as a scoring/distributing/attacking threat from anywhere on the court. This was his second straight season averaging 25 points, six assists, four rebounds and three triples. Stephen Curry and James Harden are the only other players to ever hit those marks.
CJ McCollum is a magnificent scorer in his own right, Jusuf Nurkic has loads of offensive skills for a 7’0″, 275-pounder and Terry Stotts might be the best coach no one talks about. The Blazers lost McCollum for 10 games to a knee injury and Nurkic for the year with a leg fracture and still never missed a beat.
It’s fair to wonder whether a lack of shot-creators around this dynamic backcourt could lead to another premature playoff exit. But through a regular-season lens, Portland damn near aced this.
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The Sacramento Kings couldn’t quite give their breakout season the storybook ending of a long-awaited playoff return. But it’s hard to overstate the significance of their 12-win improvement when so many youngsters played critical roles.
De’Aaron Fox was an elite athlete as a rookie; as a sophomore, he became a dynamic floor general. Marvin Bagley III went from being the guy taken before Luka Doncic to a possible All-Rookie first-teamer who dropped 28 points and 14 rebounds on the champs. Buddy Hield brought his college “Buddy Buckets” act to the pros. Harry Giles showed what he could do when healthy.
Fox, Bagley and Giles are all 21 or under. Hield, Harrison Barnes and Bogdan Bogdanovic are all 26. Sacramento seems almost guaranteed to not only maintain this year’s momentum, but perhaps dramatically improve over the next few seasons.
“We want to build it like Denver,” Kings coach Dave Joerger told ESPN’s Zach Lowe in March. “We want sustained success so that when we do get in the playoffs—maybe it’s not this year, maybe it’s not next year—we have the opportunity to harvest 50-win seasons for five years.”
That probably sounds ambitious to some. But after the season Sacramento just had, it earned the right to dream big.
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The San Antonio Spurs had every opportunity to reset last summer. Kawhi Leonard wanted out, Manu Ginobili retired and free agency lured Tony Parker and Kyle Anderson away from the Alamo.
But San Antonio instead opted for the win-now route.
The eventual Leonard deal (which also included three-and-D ace Danny Green) brought back a package headlined by DeMar DeRozan. Some of San Antonio’s biggest free-agency expenditures were 30-somethings Rudy Gay and Marco Belinelli.
The Spurs had designs on competing for something of substance; they wound up playing exactly like last season, when they didn’t have DeRozan and only got nine games out of Leonard. Despite some dominant stretches, the defense has been dreadful (21st in efficiency). This club often looks clueless when it leaves the friendly confines of the AT&T Center (16-25, only losing mark among West’s playoff teams).
It’s good to see DeRozan operate as a more willing passer. Bryn Forbes made the short list for most surprising breakouts, and Derrick White should be fleshing out stat sheets for a long time. But San Antonio’s youngsters may provide more excitement than its vets, which makes chasing present gratification a curious decision at best.
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If the Toronto Raptors can’t convince Kawhi Leonard to stick around this summer, it won’t be due to any of their own actions. All their recruiting efforts should have impressed.
Kyle Lowry molded his game to make Leonard most comfortable. First-year skipper Nick Nurse deftly handled a crowded frontcourt, coaxing a near-All-Star effort out of Pascal Siakam and a bounce-back season from Serge Ibaka. The front office nailed the trade deadline by adding two-way anchor Marc Gasol. The organization committed to Leonard’s long-term health and bought him as much rest as possible.
While nothing would speak louder to Leonard than a championship run, the Raptors are right in the thick of that chase. They and the NBA-best Bucks are the only clubs with top-five efficiency marks on both offense and defense.
“You hear a lot, [Leonard] still wants to be on the West Coast. But give that group in Toronto all the credit n the world,” one executive told Sporting News’ Sean Deveney. “They’re making it a tough decision for him.”
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Rick Bowmer/Associated Press
The January-to-April Utah Jazz are officially juggernauts.
Just like last season, the Jazz hit their stride once the calendar flipped and never looked back. In the 2019 portion of this campaign, only Golden State and Milwaukee bettered Utah’s 8.0 net rating. The offense jumped into the top 10, while the defense again reigned supreme.
Donovan Mitchell shook out of his early-season shooting funk and loudly hinted he’s on a fast track to stardom with averages of 26.0 points and 4.8 assists on a 44.3/40.8/81.5 slash line. Rudy Gobert effectively barricaded the opponent’s basket. Joe Ingles might not have missed a shot in months. Royce O’Neale, Raul Neto and Georges Niang became testaments to the franchise’s player-development system.
While this offense is prone to the occasional dud, the defense always gives Utah a chance to win. The Jazz knocked off 25 of the other 29 teams, including the Warriors, Bucks and Rockets (twice). It’d be nice if the front office found a second scorer to pair with Mitchell, but Utah usually finds a way to make it work without one once it’s January or later.
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Back at All-Star Weekend, Bradley Beal pledged his allegiance to the Washington Wizards, saying, “If I can retire in this jersey, I will,” per The Athletic’s Fred Katz.
Fast-forward to March.
Beal, entering the final stretch of his best season to date, was asked about the possibility of an All-NBA selection and the path that could open to a super-max extension. Suddenly, he didn’t sound so certain about tying his future to this franchise.
“I have no idea,” Beal told Katz of whether he’d sign the offer. “… I haven’t even gotten that far, because I need to figure out what we’re gonna do in this offseason, where we’re going, which direction we’re going.”
Yeah. It was that kind of season for the Wizards.
John Wall looked overpaid and underwhelming before he underwent heel surgery and then ruptured his Achilles. Washington got out from Otto Porter Jr.’s contract but might sacrifice some of that flexibility to re-sign 30-somethings Trevor Ariza (career 13.3 PER) and Jeff Green (also 13.3). The Wizards had a mini-fire sale at the deadline and still couldn’t find major minutes for 2018 first-rounder Troy Brown until late March.
Beal, easily the brightest spot of Washington’s 2018-19 marathon, is right to seek understanding of what this team is doing before he commits to anything that extends his stay in the District.
Statistics courtesy of Basketball Reference and NBA.com and current heading into games on April 9.
Zach Buckley covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @ZachBuckleyNBA.
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