Utah Jazz
Needs: Young talent
Picks: 5, 21, 43, 53
Utah has some intriguing young pieces, but not enough of them to currently feel good about the team’s long term potential. Keyonte George showed the ability to score the basketball, but needs to work to improve his efficiency. Walker Kessler is a dominating defender in the post, but doesn’t offer a whole lot offensively. Taylor Hendricks (who is coming off a really tough leg injury) and Cody Williams are prospects that the team has hope for despite a lack of consistent high level production. And then they have Isaiah Collier, who started 46 games for them last year and showed the ability to score the ball, but only shot 24.9% from three last season. All of this is to say that while they have some intriguing pieces in place, nothing is off the table for Utah this offseason. It would probably be in their best interest to look to shed the massive contract they gave to Lauri Markkanen, and allow John Collins’ deal to expire after next season if they can’t find a trade partner for him. Danny Ainge is a shrewd dealmaker and may be able to find deals this offseason to clear those contracts. Any money they shed in deals this offseason will roughly be the amount of cap space they have to play with, as they are currently just barely south of the salary cap line. They have two first round picks: pick #5 and pick #21. With their first pick they could look to address the point guard position with players such as Oklahoma’s Jeremiah Fears or French prospect Nolan Traore, Landing one of them would allow Keyonte George to focus more on being a scorer and Collier to be a change of pace guy off the bench. Or they could opt for a scoring guard like Texas’s Tre Johnson who would help to bolster their backcourt’s potential. At 21 they will likely take the best player available as they have plenty of holes to fill in their lineup. UNC’s Drake Powell, St. Joe’s Rasheer Fleming, and South Carolina’s Colin Murray Boyles are all players that could be available at that point.
Portland Trailblazers
Needs: Playmaking, trade Jerami Grant
Picks: 11
After moving Damian Lillard, The Blazers have been stuck in basketball purgatory. The team keeps thinking they have their next big thing, but end up disappointed. Anfernee Simons looked like the heir apparent, but has not been good enough to carry the franchise. Then they got Scoot Henderson, and he’s been underwhelming compared to expectations. It’s unlikely that Portland is going to turn the #11 pick into their next franchise carrying star, so it’s important that they are willing to do this the right way and not skip steps. That means looking for ways to offload their contracts or let them expire instead of trying to thread the needle between trying to compete and looking toward the future. Jerami Grant’s contract is a huge impediment, and I’m not convinced there will be much of a market for him, but Portland has to look for a way to move on from him. DeAndre Ayton’s contract expires after next season, so if they can move Grant before then, they could have a true franchise reset and give themselves the best long term chance to compete. Until then, it would be in the franchise’s best interest to simply add as much talent on rookie deals between now and then without adding any large contracts in that time frame. They have the 11th pick, and could look at Georgia’s Asa Newell Maryland’s Derik Queen, Duke’s Khaman Maluach, or at that spot. It’s can’t be about fit right now for this team, it has to be about adding the best player available and figuring it out later. What the team needs more than anything is playmaking ability to make offense easier for the players already on the team, but most of those type of players are expected to be gone before Portland is on the clock, so expect another rough season for the Blazers next year, but with better years ahead if they take a patient approach over the next couple of seasons.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Needs: Nothing
Picks: 15, 24, 44
The Thunder are currently in the Finals and were the best team in the league this past regular season. They have an MVP in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and a young core that looks poised to be a dominant force in the league for years to come. On top of that, they also have the 12th overall pick from last year, Nikola Topic ready to come back next season. This is a team that wants for nothing. With two first round picks this year and a ton of draft capital in the coming years, it is expected that OKC will be extremely active during the draft. It would not surprise me to see them trade out of this draft completely, but if they do make a selection, it’s unlikely they make both of them. I would expect them to simply take the best player available, as there are no glaring weaknesses on this roster. If they were to stay at 15, some options could be UCONN’s Liam McNeeley, Illinois’ Kasparas Jakucionas, Georgetown’s Thomas Sorber, or Arizona’s Carter Bryant. Another option would be a French upside pick like Joan Beringer, due to the fact that he likely would be fine with essentially redshirting the year and not demanding playing time like other more NBA ready prospects. However, there is no guarantee they will stay at that spot and have more options to move either up or down in the draft order than any other team in the association.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Needs: At least one big
Picks: 17, 31
Minnesota is coming off a really strong season and they have Anthony Edwards, who is just entering his prime. This is a team that has a really high ceiling and should be a contender for years to come. They do have one major issue – both Julius Randle and Naz Reid have player options that could allow them to become free agents this season. Minnesota would be best served bringing both back, but it is a very real possibility that they lose one or even both of them. Randle is unlikely to get as much on the open market, but may want to lock in a multi-year contract while the opportunity presents itself. Reid, on the other hand, is likely to be able to find a bigger contract and a bigger role on the open market. The best option for Minnesota might be for Randle to opt to play out the final year of his contract and then trade him while resigning Reid, but that would come with the risk of not being able to move Randle and end up losing Reid only to lose Randle the next off-season. If they manage to lose both, it will be important that they add a big this offseason to fill that role. They also need to be finalizing a plan at point guard once Mike Conley retires. They have Rob Dillingham, but they have also been rumored to be targeting bigger name point guards on the trade market. With Anthony Edwards playing so well, expect Minnesota to be aggressive in giving him a high level running mate to push them in the title picture. In the draft, they have the 17th pick, as well as the top pick in the second round. French forward Joan Beringer or Georgetown’s Thomas Sorber could be big man options at 17, or they could target Jase Richardson from Michigan State to bolster the backcourt with Edwards.
Denver Nuggets
Needs: Depth
Picks: None
Denver remains a really good team because they have the best player in the world, Nikola Jokic. As long as he is playing at the level he is currently playing at, this team will be a contender. However, the organization has not done him many favors in constructing a roster around him. They fired their coach and general manager towards the end of the season and are already a first apron team, limiting the flexibility of the new decision makers to make meaningful changes. I am probably a bigger fan of Jamal Murray’s game than anybody (especially playoff Murray), but he will be making monstrous money this upcoming season. Michael Porter Jr., despite his outstanding positional size and ability to shoot the ball, has way too many games where he is completely neutralized and does nothing to help the team some nights. Similarly to MPJ, Russell Westbrook was extremely up and down and while he had some big games, could actively hurt the team on any given night. Westbrook is a free agent and it will be interesting to see if the Nuggets make a play to bring him back because of their limited roster flexibility. On the bright side for the Nuggets, Aaron Gordon has been the absolute perfect running mate for Jokic and stepped his game up last season. It is unlikely that the Nuggets would find a trade market for MPJ, as they would be selling low on him, and Murray’s contract is too prohibitive to probably consider moving him for equal value, so Denver will likely be more-or-less running it back next year and hoping that their championship window has not closed. While they do not have a draft pick in the draft, they will have a rookie DaRon Holmes, the 22nd pick in last year’s draft who tore his Achilles last season before playing in a single game. One of the benefits to having Jokic on the roster is that we could see players that don’t get the free agent deals they are looking for sign a one year deal for cheap to team with Jokic and hope to cash in during next off-season’s free agency, so Denver could make some late free agent signings that bolster their lineup and provide the depth their team so desperately needs.
