3. Struggling teams maintain status quo
As previous bottom feeders such as the Utah Jazz and Milwaukee Bucks found themselves in the playoffs this past season, other struggling organizations continued to flounder.
Surely, the initial focus has to be on the New York Knicks and president Phil Jackson. Though, that’s something we will cover in more detail later.
Instead, there’s two teams we will focus on here. Each of these two teams have have widespread issues, but the future should be bright for both of them. Of course, we’re talking about the New Orleans Pelicans and Minnesota Timberwolves. After earning a playoff spot and being swept out by the eventual champion Warriors back in 2014-15, the Pelicans are averaging just 32 wins over the past two seasons. That comes with youngster Anthony Davis growing into a prominent role while entering the prime of his career.
For the Pelicans, a change in philosophy was definitely needed. No longer could the team look to build through the draft in order to find a supporting cast for Davis. Enter into the equation DeMarcus Cousins, whom the team acquired during February’s trade deadline.
New Orleans would go on to post a 9-19 record after teaming Cousins up with Davis. It most definitely was not a match made in heaven for the two bigs. But the expectation here has to be that the two will find a way to work with one another moving forward. If so, Alvin Gentry’s squad could be looking at a major uptick in relevance this upcoming season.
Not only will New Orleans have to find a way for these two All-Stars to coexist, it needs to continue building a solid roster behind them. That’s where impending free agent Jrue Holiday comes into play. Will the Pelicans make a strong push to retain the former All-Star? Does he fit what the team is attempting to do by revolving its offense around two big men?
That’s a big question, as is the necessity to find consistent perimeter shooting as a way to take advantage of what should be open shots.
The same questions arise in Minnesota to an extent. Karl-Anthony Towns is the clear franchise player. After that, there remains a ton of question marks. Will Andrew Wiggins ever develop into more than a one-dimensional volume scorer? How will the ACL injury Zach LaVine suffered impede his progress? Remember, LaVine was having a tremendous season before going down to injury.
We know there’s a ton of talent on the Wolves’ roster. But a season that started with playoff expectations culminated in Minnesota finishing with a disastrous 31-51 mark.
Heading into the offseason, it’s going to be extremely interesting to see what Wolves head coach and president Tom Thibodeau decides to do. Ricky Rubio remains on the trade block. Kris Dunn is potentially set to replace him at point guard. Even then, there’s still seemingly some interest in Derrick Rose as a free agent addition.
More than this, will Minnesota decide to trade either LaVine or Wiggins as a way to bring back another No. 2 option behind KAT? That’s surely being discussed with the draft and free agency approaching. Either way, the time is now for Minnesota to take that next step. It didn’t occur in 2016-17, and is must happen here in the not-so-distant future.