By Randall Groce, @Brownsareaweful
A lot has changed since the season ended last June. Six all stars from last year are now on different teams. Paul George went to the OKC Thunder. Paul Millsap went to Denver. Jimmy Butler is in Minnesota. Gordon Hayward moved on to Boston. Kyrie Irving joined him about a month later, which caused Isaiah Thomas to go to Cleveland. Did you get all of that?
After the Golden State Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers to claim their second title in three years, many wondered what impact that might have on the direction teams would go about in building teams this past offseason with so many big name free agents available. In the East, the question is do you build to win immediately to try and take down the Cavaliers, or slowly put together a roster that will be ready to win once LeBron finally retires. A team that seems to have done both are the Boston Celtics.
In August, the Celtics acquired Kyrie Irving in a trade with the Cavaliers in exchange for fellow all-star Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and one of Boston's 2018 first round picks, by way of Brooklyn. The Cavs also added Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose, Jeff Green, and Jose Calderon. Good luck trying to dethrone them.
Three teams that seem to be waiting on LeBron to move on are the Washington Wizards, Toronto Raptors, and Milwaukee Bucks. They basically stood pat this offseason. The Philadelphia 76ers are hoping for good health. Everyone else in the East got worse. I'm not using hyperbole. Literally every team other than the six listed above got worse. Charlotte picked up Dwight Howard, so yea...they got worse too.
Now the Western conference is a completely different story. The fall of the Warriors empire doesn't seem likely to fall anytime soon, so waiting them out would not seem like the smart move. Instead, most of the teams in the West made moves this off season that will make the Warriors' path to the Finals a lot more difficult than it has been the last three seasons.
Carmelo Anthony and Paul George are now teammates with reigning MVP Russell Westbrook in OKC. On paper they pose the greatest threat to the Warriors. Again, on paper. Chris Paul was traded to the Rockets, which will allow the runner up in last year's MVP race, James Harden to go back to his natural position of shooting guard. The Spurs didn't gain a new all-star, but they have Kawhi Leonard and Greg Popovich. They'll be around when it matters.
Denver, Minnesota, Utah, and Portland will probably round out the rest of the playoff teams in the West but Sacramento, Phoenix, and the Lakers have pieces that'll be fun to watch while Dallas, New Orleans, and the Clippers try to sneak into the final playoff spot.
I must admit, when the 2017 Finals ended I was convinced there was really no reason to even pay attention to the upcoming season. What's the point? Cavs-Warriors part 4 was basically written in stone. While I still think that will be the match up next June, fans will on a nightly basis have exciting games to pay attention to. If you don't follow any team in particular the crop of young guys that just came in this season will be fun to watch as well. Dennis Smith Jr. in Dallas will probably win the Slam Dunk competition next February. De'Aaron Fox running the show in Sacramento on a team that features vets Vince Carter and Zach Randolph. Lonzo Ball dealing with the hype and pressure of playing in LA. Jayson Tatum will try to fit in with Kyrie and Gordon Hayward, and Josh Jackson will be the all-around player Phoenix is missing.
This season is going to be FUN. This is going to be a eight month journey. All that I am asking is that the regular season and the playoffs are just as entertaining as the off season was.
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