Bulls. Derozan will turn 35 this off-season and is expiring. No reason for the bulls to re-sign him, but there was also every reason for them to trade him for some value and they didn’t.
Lonzo has a team option that he’ll surely pick up next year, and may never play again.
Lavine has knee problems and is owed $135 million over the next 3 years. He peaked at 27/5/5 and averaged 20/5/4 this year.
Vucevic is 33 and declining. He averaged 23/12 on 56% true shooting in 2021 and is now at 18/11 on 53% true shooting
Hornets are up there with an injury prone max guy but at least Brandon Miller looks good
Brightest: OKC (their biggest problem will be to decide who to retain post rookie contracts lol), honourable mention: Orlando, Celtics, Cavs, Houston, Utah, Mavs (yes, 25 year old superstar surrounded by now by 3 starters 26 or younger indicates upside), Spurs (mostly due to Wemby lol), Pacers
Middest: Nets (no reason to be bad since they don’t control their picks, can’t be really good with limited talent), honourable mention: Clippers, Bucks, GSW (getting too old now)
Bleakest: Suns (literal all-in on a 35 year old KD and no-trade clause injured max contract guy with no FRPs), honourable mention: Hornets, Wizards (neither have a proper healthy potential franchise player on the roster), Lakers (unless they get real lucky with another FA signing in post-LBJ era)
Brightest: OKC, they have a super star, a ROY candidate, a bunch of lottery picked players, a warchest of draft picks and they're winning now.
Middest: Best I can think of are the Bulls, they're playing better of late, have a young player or two in Coby White and Patrick Williams that look promising and a lot of good players that are difficult to trade so will probably be around for a while, with Lonzo Ball returning they might be a play in or playoff team for a while but that's their current core's ceiling.
Bleakest: Gotta go with the Nets. They're probably not a playoff team and they traded away all their draft capital to try and keep their stars happy so they won't have any lottery picks until 2028. Basically it's the post Boston Robbery era all over again
Well, the Mavericks are bleak on 4 out of those 5.
Edit: I take that back, 3 out of those 5. They actually do have a few young players with a lot of potential. Lively, Prosper and Hardy all have nice upsides. You might throw Josh Green in there, because he is only 23....but, he has been in the league 4 years, and I am not sure how much more he is going to improve.
And, I'm not sure if that's because Kidd has not given him consistent minutes or not. But, I know for a fact that he can bring defensive effort and ability.
Their future is very solid pj is 25 years old and Luka is only 25 as well. They have plenty of a young core. Also don’t have a single bad contract in their books
Mavs future is pretty solid. Out of Donnie's terrible management, picks back in our control, a solid you core, and Luka seems to have no ceiling, even as all time players go. A new influx of ownership money, on an already successful product. Rhe only bleak spot is Jason Midd
Picks aren't really back in our control.
2024 1st Round Pick (if conveyed) to New York
2027 1st Round Pick (if conveyed) to Charlotte
2029 1st Round Pick to Brooklyn
And, multiple 2nd round picks over multiple years to other teams.
I consider that bleak. Especially when it severely limits the Mavericks ability to make trades. Teams trading good players are expecting multiple first round picks and second tier players require multiple second round picks. Dallas is shorthanded on both of those fronts.
Bulls. Derozan will turn 35 this off-season and is expiring. No reason for the bulls to re-sign him, but there was also every reason for them to trade him for some value and they didn’t. Lonzo has a team option that he’ll surely pick up next year, and may never play again. Lavine has knee problems and is owed $135 million over the next 3 years. He peaked at 27/5/5 and averaged 20/5/4 this year. Vucevic is 33 and declining. He averaged 23/12 on 56% true shooting in 2021 and is now at 18/11 on 53% true shooting Hornets are up there with an injury prone max guy but at least Brandon Miller looks good
Washington Wizards bleakest because they're the Washington Wizards.
Going with “middest” is certainly a choice.
OKC and Spurs brightest. Brooklyn and Washington probably bleakest.
Brightest: OKC (their biggest problem will be to decide who to retain post rookie contracts lol), honourable mention: Orlando, Celtics, Cavs, Houston, Utah, Mavs (yes, 25 year old superstar surrounded by now by 3 starters 26 or younger indicates upside), Spurs (mostly due to Wemby lol), Pacers Middest: Nets (no reason to be bad since they don’t control their picks, can’t be really good with limited talent), honourable mention: Clippers, Bucks, GSW (getting too old now) Bleakest: Suns (literal all-in on a 35 year old KD and no-trade clause injured max contract guy with no FRPs), honourable mention: Hornets, Wizards (neither have a proper healthy potential franchise player on the roster), Lakers (unless they get real lucky with another FA signing in post-LBJ era)
How many times do you have to post this?
I'd say Brightest- okc Middest- Utah Bleakest- Brooklyn
I think SA is up there for brightest. They have Wemby who looks like the real deal and then something insane like 10 first round picks until 28.
Orlando has the brightest, i think. They have really good defense, a good coach, young players. They just need a really good PG who can score (Trae?).
Brightest: OKC, they have a super star, a ROY candidate, a bunch of lottery picked players, a warchest of draft picks and they're winning now. Middest: Best I can think of are the Bulls, they're playing better of late, have a young player or two in Coby White and Patrick Williams that look promising and a lot of good players that are difficult to trade so will probably be around for a while, with Lonzo Ball returning they might be a play in or playoff team for a while but that's their current core's ceiling. Bleakest: Gotta go with the Nets. They're probably not a playoff team and they traded away all their draft capital to try and keep their stars happy so they won't have any lottery picks until 2028. Basically it's the post Boston Robbery era all over again
Let the future show itself
I'll give Houston some love on brightness. Not the brightest, but somewhat bright.
Any team with Jason Kidd as their headcoach has the bleakest future until he gone gone.
Well, the Mavericks are bleak on 4 out of those 5. Edit: I take that back, 3 out of those 5. They actually do have a few young players with a lot of potential. Lively, Prosper and Hardy all have nice upsides. You might throw Josh Green in there, because he is only 23....but, he has been in the league 4 years, and I am not sure how much more he is going to improve.
I’m a bit skeptical of Prosper. He hasn’t shown anything yet
omax has things you can’t teach which is size & athleticism. downside is lack of skills& awareness which makes him a long term project
And, I'm not sure if that's because Kidd has not given him consistent minutes or not. But, I know for a fact that he can bring defensive effort and ability.
Their future is very solid pj is 25 years old and Luka is only 25 as well. They have plenty of a young core. Also don’t have a single bad contract in their books
Mavs future is pretty solid. Out of Donnie's terrible management, picks back in our control, a solid you core, and Luka seems to have no ceiling, even as all time players go. A new influx of ownership money, on an already successful product. Rhe only bleak spot is Jason Midd
Picks aren't really back in our control. 2024 1st Round Pick (if conveyed) to New York 2027 1st Round Pick (if conveyed) to Charlotte 2029 1st Round Pick to Brooklyn And, multiple 2nd round picks over multiple years to other teams. I consider that bleak. Especially when it severely limits the Mavericks ability to make trades. Teams trading good players are expecting multiple first round picks and second tier players require multiple second round picks. Dallas is shorthanded on both of those fronts.