Just a few days into the 2018 NBA Playoffs, it’s becoming readily apparent that some teams don’t really deserve to even be playing postseason basketball. The Washington Wizards’ blowout Game 2 loss to the Toronto Raptors is a prime example of this. Just ask those who followed along on Twitter. Meanwhile, the Kawhi Leonard-less San Antonio Spurs appear to be no match for the defending champion Golden State Warriors.
Of the teams that missed out on the playoffs, it’s clear that the two squads involved in that infamous Blake Griffin trade should decide to blow their entire organizations up. It’s a sad reality. Free agency hasn’t even started and these six teams should already be looking to gut their rosters as well as their front offices.
Washington Wizards
Following Tuesday’s humiliating blowout loss to the Toronto Raptors, Scott Brooks and Co. find themselves down 2-0 in their first-round playoff series. In no way can this be considered too much of a surprise after the way Washington finished its regular season. Among the most-talented teams in the Eastern Conference, a combination of John Wall’s struggles and a split between Brooks and his players has led to expected struggles. Washington posted an 8-14 record in its final 22 regular season games.
It’s just a continuation of bad cap management from the front office, a lack of cohesion on the court and Brooks’ own failures on the bench. Matching the four-year, $106.5 million offer sheet Brooklyn handed Otto Porter Jr. last summer never seemed to make any sense. He responded by averaging under 15 points per game on just 11.7 shots. Washington is paying Porter Jr. north of $26 million annually to be nothing more than a role player. Add in the lack of cohesion between John Wall and Bradley Beal, and it’s readily apparent these Wizards simply need to blow the whole thing up. That should include firing Brooks as well as GM Ernie Grunfeld while potentially moving on from either Wall or Beal in a blockbuster trade.
San Antonio Spurs
LaMarcus Aldridge might be playing good basketball right now. In no way does this mean that he’s a top-scoring option on a contending team. Monday’s blowout Game 2 loss to the defending champion Warriors magnified this and a whole lot more. Aldridge dropped 34 points in a 116-101 loss to the Warriors. That came on the heels of him putting up just 14 points in a 21-point loss in Game 1. Sure the Spurs were hoping former MVP candidate Kawhi Leonard would be in the mix by now. He’s not. And the rest of the team is getting exposed in a big way.
Outside of Aldridge, there’s no other go-to scoring option for San Antonio. Even when it comes to the All-Star forward — as proven in the first two games of this series — he can be taken out of the equation with double teams. There’s no real perimeter threat in the mix. San Antonio’s lack of a true point guard hurts. And the team’s supporting cast is just plain old. No matter what happens with Leonard and whether he’s traded, the rest of this roster simply needs to be gutted. Yes, that includes the likes of Aldridge, Tony Parker, Pau Gasol and Manu Ginobili. The time is now, Pop.
Charlotte Hornets
It started with the hiring of Mitch Kupchak as general manager and continued with Charlotte making the easy decision to fire head coach Steve Clifford following an ugly 36-46 regular season. We’re now going to soon witness the blowing up of a makeshift roster, starting with the potential trade of All-Star guard Kemba Walker once the offseason gets going. It just remains to be seen how widespread this is going to be.
Following a rebirth of sorts in his first season with the Hornets, Dwight Howard is set to count $23.8 million against the cap next season. Can Charlotte justify keeping him around at that cost while also deciding to move on from Walker? Does it make any sense to continue this charade of remaining “relevant” by expecting more from tapped-out veterans such as Nicolas Batum and Marvin Williams? We’re not too sure. What we do know is that Charlotte is going to blow it up big time during the summer. That’s for sure.
Los Angeles Clippers
Los Angeles was a nice little story out west following the shocking Blake Griffin mid-season trade. It remained in the playoff race until the final week of the regular season, finally seeing more-talented teams push the Clippers out of the postseason altogether. But as the brass in Southern California made clear with the Griffin’ trade, we’re entering a new era of Clippers basketball.
That almost assuredly must include the firing of head coach Doc Rivers. It must also include the trades of veterans Lou Williams, Tobias Harris and Danilo Gallinari. Los Angeles should also hold out hope that DeAndre Jordan opts out of his contract. If not, he, too, should be placed on the trade block. The Clippers are not going to be big-time players in free agency. LeBron James isn’t coming to save the day. And in the end, it will lead to further irrelevance in the Western Conference moving forward. Blow this thing up, guys.
Detroit Pistons
On the other end of the spectrum, Detroit sought to make itself relevant by acquiring Griffin from the above-mentioned Clippers. That turned out to be an unmitigated disaster from the get. Detroit ultimately finished the regular season with a 39-43 mark, boasting a 17-17 record after the blockbuster deal. That’s simply not going to get fans in the Motor City excited for what has been a mediocre product in the past.
Detroit could very well look to swap out Griffin for more assets once free agency comes calling. There’s also a decent chance that Stan Van Gundy could be shown the door. Though, neither option seems too appealing at this point. Instead, Detroit’s way of blowing this whole thing up should center around trading a valuable chip in Andre Drummond. Should that not come to fruition, Griffin might land the Pistons something noteworthy. Either way, the 2018-19 variation of these Pistons has to be much different than what we saw this season.
Cleveland Cavaliers
All of the talk surrounding LeBron James’ future in Cleveland has involved him making a free agent decision. Will King James ultimately decide that enough is enough and move on to greener pastures? After all, the market is going to be neck high for him once the summer starts. But what about the Cavaliers’ organization as a whole? Maybe, they decide that the marriage between James and his hometown team should come to a conclusion. That’s where we are headed with this analysis.
James has had a good run in Cleveland. The Cavaliers owe him a whole lot. But at some point, an organization needs to move on from its past as a way to build for the collective future. Given that the Cavaliers are not realistic title contenders following their embarrassing display in Game 1 against Indiana and a lackluster regular season, that time might be now. Boasting a potential top-five pick from Brooklyn in the Kyrie Irving trade, why not attempt to build long term rather than handing the organization over to a man in James who seemingly already has one foot out the door? Just some food for thought.