2022 Off-Season

Warriors Win! Now onto the draft, trades and free agency. Warriors probably don’t need to do a single thing, but I’m sure they’ll make a few moves depending on the offers. I suppose the best news (personnel-wise) for the Dubs going into next season is that even if Wiseman doesn’t play a minute in 22-23 they can afford to keep bringing him along until he’s 100%. Meanwhile …

Something is terribly wrong with the Suns who have no choice but to make at least one big change. Ayton isn’t likely to stay, but it’s still possible. Whether he does or not could setup a great many dominos to fall next, starting with the draft on June 23rd.

https://www.nba.com/draft/2022/draft-board

Jazz … really seems hopeless with the current roster. The good news is that Ainge and Wade are now big time decision makers in Utah. Something big will unquestionably happen, and possibly before the draft. In fact I think it would be stupid to not trade one of their core players (not named Clarkson) to at least try for a high draft pick or a nice young player. Unfortunately, I doubt even Jerami Grant will help much. Regardless, Utah absolutely needs to go into this next season with a different roster.

Christian Wood is now a Maverick. Big time move by Cuban. West is going to be stacked more than it already is, especially if Brunson decides to stay. Now onto signing Brunson, but does he even want to stay?

Apparently the Rockets want to build around Sengun in the middle.

Pels say they’re all in on Zion now. He’s apparently saying something similar, but that doesn’t mean no moves by the Pels this offseason. Looking forward to seeing what David Griffin will try to put together around the talented core of Zion, Ingram and McCollum. McCollum has proven to be a fantastic pickup, and the Pels pass the eye test for would-be 2023 contenders with their skillful and Zion-less challenge vs the Suns in the 2nd round. They need depth, so let’s see where this goes.

Sixers – did they mortgage their future or does Morey have more smooth-operator moves up his sleeve? Hard to see how, but they need more to contend with several teams rising in the East. Does not look good at all for Harden and Embiid in their primes. Is Tobias Harris even a trade possibility? Does anyone else want him badly enough to pay his salary?

Chicago, Minnesota, Cleveland and Charlotte all appear to be off the blocks and running. The Bulls might be all set with their roster, assuming Lonzo is back and fully healthy. If not it’s very hard to see Coby White being the guy in that PG role. Do they make a move to give backup to Ball? Re. Cavs, is this the year Kevin Love moves on? Seems like it’s time to get more young and fresh blood in the lineup, and a lot of veteran teams could use Love … at a discount if possible. Wolves need one more piece and they may become the hardest offense to stop. Well … need to get by the Warriors in that dept first, and for that to happen D’Angelo Russell must go. However, as always seems to be the case at this time of year there’s no reason to expect the Wolves to make intelligent moves. It’s just so obvious though: Russell needs to go! Good reason to assume they won’t even consider it, and for me to place a bet down that they don’t. Charlotte showed signs of a young core coming together at the end of last season. They need some size, and they should be able to get that.

Is this the offseason when Beal finally puts his DC loyalty aside and signs elsewhere? Seems doubtful, hence this comment stuck down here instead of up top joining the FA headliners Ayton & Brunson.

Pacers would be all set if they didn’t lose their versatile Big Man. They could certainly use Ayton. Turner and Hield to the Suns? If Hield is a playmaker I’d expect the Suns to take a good long look at that possibility.

Lots and lots of other things coming up. Starting with OKC and their massive trove of picks and schemes. No way in hell to know what Presti will do. Might say the same about Houston, but they’ve already started the show with the Christian Woods move. We stay tuned to see what comes out of their magic hats. Portland? Something needs to happen, and it seems they’ve set themselves up for this offseason Lillard or no-Lillard. Raptors might be only one player away from jumping back into the fray. Lots of talent that can be moved at the right price. Could be interesting. Sacramento is now building around the Fox-Sabonis-Mitchell core. It’s a nice core, and maybe Fox just needs more heady wings to trust (so he doesn’t hog the ball so much). Still young enough. Time for Divac to do something smart. Knicks must make moves, but who frickin knows. What a mess.

Like the Warriors some teams really don’t need to do much. Bucks, Grizz, Clippers, Celtics and maybe the Heat? No clue what the Nuggets need if anything. Depends entirely on what is known about the health of Murray and MPJ.

Detroit and Orlando are in excellent position as young teams with no pressure to do anything but add excellent young pieces to their sound if not solid young cores. Jerami Grant may or may not move on. There’s really no hurry for that to happen but I’m sure there’s some pressure coming from somewhere to at least make Pistons consider what are sure to be excellent offers.

Nets? Well … really hinges on everything we don’t know about Simmons. Lakers – why bother even going there unless someone smart realizes that either LeBron or Davis must go. I just don’t want to think about it any more.

Personally I’m impressed with Orlando and would be surprised to see them make a single mistake this offseason. With the first pick in the draft …

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2022 Off-Season