2018 NBA Offseason Report

By:Tyrone Montgomery Jr.

Headline Photo Credit: Complex.com

Atlanta Hawks – C-
Trae Young will take some time to develop. Some nights he may be amazing, other nights he may hear a lot of boos. But one thing that is for certain, he belongs in The NBA. They made changes for the future, so let’s look for the Hawks to Trust the Process and continue to improve slowly, but surely.

Boston Celtics – C
This team did absolutely nothing this offseason. However, bringing back a healthy Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving is all that was needed. The sky is the limit for the Celtics. They’re ready to challenge The Warriors now.

Brooklyn Nets – C+
3 years ago, Sean Marks became the GM for this team. It didn’t look promising, but the man made a dollar out of .15 cents. They added more young talent with Kenneth Faried, Treveon Graham, and a skilled veteran, Ed Davis. This team is turning nothing into something. Ownership must be proud in Brooklyn.

Charlotte Hornets – D
An identity crisis is happening in Charlotte. After just one season, they decided to deal Dwight Howard. Nicolas Batum has been in and out the lienup due to injury and Kemba Walker’s name has been in a ton of trade talk all summer long. The Charlotte Hornets are falling and they can’t get up.

Chicago Bulls – A-
The Bulls are probably the most underrated team in the East, and possibly even the league. They resigned Zach Lavine this summer and locked him up for the next 4 seasons. They also signed Jabari Parker, a player when healthy, has All-Star written all over him. Good moves for this team.

Cleveland Cavaliers – F 
The Cavaliers are going through yet another breakup, only this time, they’re still friends with each other. LeBron James is gone again, and this time he isn’t coming back. The Cavs are about to hit rock bottom. Colin Sexton may be good, but he isn’t the savior of this franchise. Going to be a long season for BelieveLand.

Dallas Mavericks – B+
The Mavericks are preparing for Life After Dirk. His replacement is yet another European Player, Luka Doncic. Doncic has been overseas the last couple of seasons where he’s had much success. They also signed DeAndre Jordan to a deal as well. And as a bonus, they brought in The Greek Freak’s little brother as well via draft, Kostas Antetokounmpo. Marc Cuban is finally getting this right.

Denver Nuggets – A
The Denver Nuggets may have gotten the steal of the draft in Michael Porter Jr. He was ranked as the #1 Prospect before the injuries occurred. They also managed to secure Will Barton, a key piece to this team. The Nuggets are finally ready for the playoffs.

Detroit Pistons – D+
It’s been a quiet offseason for The Pistons. They didn’t make any notable roster moves. They did however, bring in a new coach, Dwane Casey. Coach Casey spent the last few seasons in Toronto. This past season, he had the most wins in his career with a 59-23 record, winning the Eastern Conference. It was time for Stan Van Gundie to leave. But this wasn’t enough and they should have and could have done more this past summer to improve the actual roster.

Golden State Warriors – A+
The Warriors had an All-Star at every position in their lineup. Have you seen The Avengers: Infinity War? Do you remember at the end when Thanos finally got that last Infinity Stone? Yeah, well Demarcus Cousins is that Mind Stone, the final missing piece to perfection. They now have 5 All-Stars in their lineup. They’re the winners of the offseason.

Houston Rockets – B+
It’s nice to add another star player to the team, but the Rockets have lost some key pieces defensively in Luc Mbah a Moute and Trevor Ariza. This team will be more of a Mike D’Antoni Suns team with the addition of Carmelo Anthony. The former All-Star could prove to be a blessing in disguise. Additionally, the Rockets have rid themselves of Ryan Anderson’s contract and acquired Brandon Knight and Marquis Chriss. Both are good talents, and before the injuries, Knight was one of our better PG’s around the league. The Rockets are better than advertised

Indiana Pacers – C
The Pacers didn’t make much noise either. Tyreke Evans is a good addition, but he struggles with injury each and every season. He will lighten the load from Victor Oladipo, but he won’t get this team over the hump. Perhaps Oladipo should take some tips from Lebron and Draymond Green to start recruiting.

LA Clippers – C
A bit of a busy summer for The Clippers. They’re always in the Lakers shadow. They have some good pieces on this team, but they’re soon to blow it all up in due time.

LA Lakers – A+
It was rumored for years, and now it finally has happened. LeBron James is a Laker. This team is incomplete, and it’s still a few kinks to iron out. However, when you sign the best player in basketball, the GOAT, you definitely get an A+ for your offseason. Along with LeBron, the Lakers added winners, guys that been to war and came out alive too. It may not be this season, but this team will win a championship soon.

Memphis Grizzlies – F
This team has suddenly become a young team. While they still play an old school brand of basketball, this roster just doesn’t have what it takes to compete night in and night out. They need talent, and besides Jaren Jackson, they haven’t really added much.

Miami Heat – TBD
They been pretty stagnant all summer. Sometimes, getting deals done requires patience. They may not get done when we want them to get done, but rather, when they need to get done. Its no secret Hasaan Whiteside won’t be on this roster much longer. Miami will figure this thing out. You can trust Pat Riley and Micky Arison.

Milwaukee Bucks – B-
By adding more wing depth, the Bucks got a bit more athletic and added more options offensively. They also signed one of the best under the radar players in the league, Brook Lopez. This team is full of guys who have had success throughout their basketball careers, even rookie guard Donte DiVincenzo. The Bucks have taken steps forward

Minnesota Timberwolves – F
This team doesn’t get an F for roster moves. With that being said, they did absolutely nothing to improve the team. Instead, they get an F due to drama. Their franchise player, Karl Anthony-Towns wanted out. Jimmy Butler has been cancerous to the locker room. And Andrew Wiggins isn’t as good as we thought he would be. They have a great roster, but still barely made the playoffs. This team has disaster written all over it and as good as they are, they very wellmay be home during the playoffs next season

New Orleans Pelicans – C+
The Pelicans lost their co star, Demarcus Cousins. This is a huge blow to the team. His replacement is a very underrated and underappreciated player, Julius Randle. He may actually be a better fit to this team. The Pelicans still have plenty of gaps to fill, but they still made the best out of their situation.

New York Knicks – B-
The Knicks drafted a player many teams overlooked in this year’s draft class, Kevin Knox. He will fill a need and be a great fit for this team. Don’t be surprised if he’s our KIA NBA Rookie of The Year.

Oklahoma City Thunder – B+ 
Many people in today’s society aren’t really big on math. I remember growing up, we all struggled with Algebra. But one thing that has always been easy to us all is addition and subtraction. The Oklahoma City Thunder used addition by subtraction by getting rid of Carmelo Anthony. It was so bad, they paid him a lot of money just to ultimately get rid of him in the end. Additionally, they added PG Dennis Scroeder. This move helps out a lot, giving this team another playmaker which they desperately needed. Solid offseason to say the least, especially after we all believed Paul George was as good as gone, when it was said he wanted to go back home to LA.

Orlando Magic – F
This team can’t seem to get it together. Whoever’s in charge of basketball operations need to really reconsider some things. Maybe it’s time for a new GM. Perhaps it’s time for new management to step up and get involved. Player development isn’t working out for this team either. Mo Bamba will be a good pickup for this team, but will he meet his potential with this franchise? If we blink once, this team could be doing a bit of rebranding, possibly relocation, because things just aren’t working out for the Magic. The bad part is, it’s the same story, only a different season.

Philadelphia 76ers – C-
The Sixers had an impressive season last year, finishing with a 52-30 record. It’s been 16 years since the last time the Sixers won 50+ games, and 6 years since they even been to the playoffs. This team loss some key pieces in Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova. They also failed to land a star player after Coach Brown said this team was “Star Hunting”. Unless the core of this team takes a step forward, look for this team to take a step back.

Phoenix Suns – B+
Phoenix took the big man DeAndre Ayton out of Arizona is the 2018 NBA Draft. He looks like Joel Embiid, but only quicker, healthier, and more agile. Speaking of Joel Embiid, they also made a draft night trade, sending their 16th pick (Zhaire Smith- SG/Ohio State) to The Sixers for the 10th pick (Mikal Bridges- Guard\Forward/ Villanova). Zhaire Smith is loss to the season due to a fractured foot. Bridges is the better and has star potential. Phoenix was winners on draft night, and they’re winners of the offseason.

Portland Trailblazers – B+
Plenty of depth has been added to this team, particularly at the guard position. Dame and CJ have been phenomenal for the Blazers, but you can’t put the entire workload on these two guys. Sometimes, GM’s make moves to make another move. Nik Stauskus, Seth Curry, and the rookie Gary Trent out of Duke will lighten the load off the 2 stars. That leaves trade bait for CJ McCollum, to possibly even bring in even more talent and depth.

Sacramento Kings – B
With the #2 overall pick, The Sacramento kings select, Marvin Bagley III, the PF out of Duke University. The kid is going to be special, the Kings made the right pick here. Additionally, they get a healthy Harry Giles III as well. Giles showed a ton of upside in the summer league, averaging 11 PPG and &RPG. Kings get a solid B for their offseason.

San Antonio Spurs – B+
Going through a rebuild is never easy. In today’s game, a lot of the time, teams trade their star players for 50 cents on the dollar. The Spurs traded their star and got another star in return. He may not be Kawi, but he is still an All-Star. Great move by a great organization.

Toronto Raptors – A-
Anytime you can bring in a superstar, it’s definitely a good offseason for you. Demar Derozan was good here in Toronto, but I think Kawhi Leonard is great. However, there is one question that comes to all of our minds, is he healthy?

Utah Jazz – B
Sometimes, the right move to make it no move. Sometimes, consistency is the focus and you want to maintain what you already have and build upon that. Utah surprised a lot of folks last season. That won’t happen again. This team is built around Donavan Mitchell. He will be better this year. They resigned everyone who looked to be on their way
out and they managed to get a well experienced rookie who fits their system well, Grayson Allen.

Washington Wizards – A
Acquiring Dwight Howard in a trade for Marcin Gortat was definitely an upgrade for The Wizards. He probably was a guy who should have been an All-Star last season. The Bench is better too now with Austin Rivers and Jeff Green in town.

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