The Ringer - 2018 NBA Playoff Exit Interviews2018-06-08T23:31:03-04:00http://www.theringer.com/rss/stream/170474332018-06-08T23:31:03-04:002018-06-08T23:31:03-04:00Exit Interview: Golden State Warriors
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<p>Another year, another title for the Warriors. But if they want to make it three in a row, they’ll have to solve some essential questions about their Hall of Fame core.</p> <p id="nOQuxA">The Warriors are exactly who we thought they were. After almost eight months of trying to believe in the Houston Rockets and praising LeBron James, we’ve reached the same conclusion for the second straight year: The Warriors are world champs. They beat the Cleveland Cavaliers for the third time in the past four NBA Finals, but did so this time in only four games.</p>
<p id="HomcYn">Now Golden State will head into yet another offseason with an eye toward keeping the title train rolling. But there are some questions ahead, including the most essential one: How long can the Warriors keep their Hall of Fame core together? Here are the first-world problems that front-office executives in the Bay Area will be dealing with in the not-too-distant future:</p>
<h3 id="rogfQP">How Will the Warriors Fix Their Depth?</h3>
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<p id="wFtpK2">A team missing 34-year-old Andre Iguodala should not have looked as discombobulated as the Warriors did at times in the six games<strong> </strong>he missed during the final two rounds of the playoffs. The Warriors had depth problems this season that weren’t fully exposed until they faced off against a Houston team designed to beat them. The Omri Casspi signing backfired, and Quinn Cook (who replaced Casspi on the roster) had little, if any, impact against Houston. Nick Young went from a heat-check signing to a necessary backup. Golden State could also barely play David West, Zaza Pachulia, JaVale McGee, and rookie Jordan Bell against a Rockets team that found its most success with 6-foot-6 P.J. Tucker at center. The glut of bigs and lack of wings went from unideal to detrimental when Iguodala went down.</p>
<p id="2QkRH6">The good news is that the contracts of almost all of the aforementioned players are up this summer. West, Pachulia, Young, and McGee are all unrestricted free agents, and there’s a chance almost none of them return. The problem is the Warriors still have to fill those spots with players who can not only contribute but who are also willing to do so for a minimal salary. Young made the most out of the group at $5.2 million, and West and McGee both made less than $2 million. Owner Joe Lacob still had to pay up a $43 million luxury tax bill, a number that <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNNBA/status/881664596439859202?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fclutchpoints.com%2Fwarriors-well-over-luxury-tax-limit%2F&tfw_creator=clutchpointsapp&tfw_site=clutchpointsapp">won’t get any lower</a> any time soon. General manager Bob Myers has a surprisingly tough task ahead for a team with four All-Stars in their primes.</p>
<h3 id="rBkQUN">Will Kevin Durant Reconsider Not Taking a Pay Cut?</h3>
<p id="Ewi5jm">ESPN <a href="http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23109223/kevin-durant-golden-state-warriors-plans-decline-player-option-restructure-deal">reported</a> in April that Durant would be opting out of the $26 million owed to him for next season in favor of entering free agency this summer and restructuring his deal with the Warriors. (Durant <a href="http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23727612/kevin-durant-confirms-plans-stay-golden-state-warriors">confirmed</a> to ESPN’s Rachel Nichols this week that he is indeed staying with the Warriors.) The message was clear: Durant is not taking another pay cut. Durant, 29, took $10 million less than what he could have when he signed a two-year deal with the Warriors in 2016, which allowed the Warriors to retain key role players like Iguodala and Shaun Livingston and keep their budding dynasty rolling. But after seeing how close they were to elimination in the West finals, the Warriors are bound to try and find places where they can improve. And if Durant signs a max deal, it provides them with more cost certainty in the long run but few options to fill out the roster.</p>
<p id="uBqf6U">There’s a larger question with Durant that goes beyond salary, too. At times in the playoffs, it looked like there were two different Warriors offenses trying to coexist: The one run <em>with</em> Steph Curry, and the one run <em>by</em> Kevin Durant. The prepositional difference is crucial. In the latter, the Warriors’ core principles cede the floor to Durant isolations and post-ups. The reigning Finals MVP is typically unstoppable in those scenarios, but his offense sometimes turned Curry into a role player and the rest of the Warriors into stationary chess pieces on Durant’s board. With Curry at the helm, the Warriors are more egalitarian. Last season, Golden State seemed to have found the perfect balance between the two styles. This season, the Rockets threw them out of that rhythm. Now they’ll have to prepare for a possible rematch next year.</p>
<h3 id="0iH0dJ">How Will a Klay Thompson Extension Help?</h3>
<p id="Yx0yGD">Before the Western Conference finals, <em>The Athletic</em> <a href="https://theathletic.com/350689/2018/05/11/exclusive-warriors-klay-thompson-talk-contract-extension-a-team-friendly-deal-that-would-keep-him-off-the-market/">reported</a> that the Warriors and Thompson were discussing a contract extension in the neighborhood of an extra $102 million over four years on top of the $18.9 million he’s due next season. Thompson’s current deal is set to expire after the 2018–19 season, and the Warriors are fortunate that all signs indicate Thompson would be willing to sign one about $67 million below what he could make with Golden State and $18 million less than if he played out his final year and signed with another team, according to <em>The Athletic</em>. It’s clear Thompson wants to make it work in Golden State for the long haul, and given the Warriors’ other financial demands (Durant reportedly wanting a max, Curry on a supermax contract, Iguodala making $33 million over the next two seasons), this is the only way he can do so as the luxury payments pile up.</p>
<p class="c-end-para" id="2n8Okx">But there’s risk involved here for Thompson, especially if the Warriors stagnate. A relatively bargain deal would indeed keep together one of the greatest collections of individual talents, but said deal could turn into an interesting trade chip down the road. How many teams out there think they can turn Thompson into more than just the third or fourth option? An extension under the reported terms figures to help the Warriors, one way or another.</p>
https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/6/8/17399280/exit-interview-golden-state-warriorsPaolo Uggetti2018-06-08T23:30:27-04:002018-06-08T23:30:27-04:00Exit Interview: Cleveland Cavaliers
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<p>One of LeBron James’s best seasons yet is over after just four games in the NBA Finals. Now the real game begins.</p> <p id="5wrWyI">LeBron James managed to drag the Cavaliers to the top of the Eastern Conference yet again, but a four-game loss to the Warriors in the NBA Finals is a fitting end to a Cleveland season that felt disjointed from the start. Nobody on this roster was a sure thing besides James. It’s why general manager Koby Altman overhauled the team at the trade deadline, and head coach Tyronn Lue cycled through starting lineups like they were hands at a blackjack table.</p>
<p id="dlx60u">Despite having the best player on earth, the Cavs’ inconsistent defense and overreliance on LeBron was too much to overcome. Now, LeBron once again enters the offseason with the power to set the course for the entire league with one decision. The Cavs, well, they’ll just have to hope there’s a way to keep him without the one thing always at the top of LeBron’s wish list: a supporting cast capable of helping him reach the Finals.</p>
<h3 id="DFcSz1">What Will LeBron Do?</h3>
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<p id="x8RU5C">It’s the question that has loomed over the Cavs’ season the way a final exam does a school year. Los Angeles, <a href="https://www.theringer.com/2018/2/23/17043258/lebron-james-lakers-sixers-michael-jordan-free-agency-narrative">Philadelphia</a>, and Houston seem to be the most talked-about destinations, aside from Cleveland, but nobody really knows what LeBron will do for the next move in his Hall of Fame career. Will there be meetings? Will he look to team up with another round of young stars? Will a dark horse spring up in the 11th hour? (Hello, <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/6/8/17440192/lebron-james-boston-celtics-offseason">Boston</a>.) Will there be a trade that tips us off to a certain destination? It’s all on the table. Nobody knows anything yet, and that’s just how LeBron wants it. He’ll drag this out into mid-July if he feels like it.</p>
<p id="yUmO9Q">Cleveland has no choice but to wait, to keep trying to convince him that they can keep competing for titles. That could mean another one-year (plus an option) pact with LeBron, and mortgaging more of the future for the present. But that would be better than life without the best player in the world.</p>
<h3 id="I2QteD">Is There a Path to Adding Another Star?</h3>
<p id="g8IpB8">LeBron’s return to Cleveland has to be contingent on a roster upgrade. But what can the Cavs do that they haven’t already done this season? Brooklyn’s first-round pick should help, but at just no. 8 overall, it’s probably not the franchise changer that they had hoped for when they acquired it in the Kyrie Irving deal. And aside from Kevin Love, who has two more years left on his current deal, there isn’t a trade piece that will lure another top-tier player. Love has been as good as advertised at times this season, but mostly inconsistent. If LeBron stays, improving the team will likely come at the expense of dealing the player whose trade to Cleveland four years ago solidified the Cavs’ contending core.</p>
<p id="Me45WE">Cap space is also not a thing that exists in Cleveland right now. Should LeBron pick up his $35.6 million player option, Dan Gilbert could be on the hook for one of the <a href="http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22420673/cavaliers-face-300-million-dollar-future-espn">priciest payrolls</a> in NBA history. This is why Altman will probably need to go the trade route to improve the roster. But save for somehow getting Kawhi Leonard or Paul George, or even DeMarcus Cousins, it’s hard to see the Cavs doing enough to feel good about their chances in the East next season against a healthy Celtics team and a more experienced Sixers team.</p>
<h3 id="jlJPWq">What Is Cleveland’s Outlook Without LeBron?</h3>
<p id="JWQ7VE">Every time LeBron took a breather in any game this season, the Cavs got a glance at what their future without him could look like. Most of the time, that meant near disaster. There’s no alpha or beta (unless you count J.R. Smith, who probably thinks he’s both). Cleveland will have a decision to make: try to gun for the 8-seed in the East with a ragtag bunch led by Love, or blow it up and get assets to build around its new first-round pick.</p>
<p id="qEj4fk">More likely than not, LeBron’s departure will put everyone on the current roster on the trade block. It’ll be tough getting off, say, George Hill’s contract ($19 million next season, and a partial guarantee the following year), or Tristan Thompson’s ($36 million over the next two seasons). And their free agents? Rodney Hood was virtually unplayable in the conference finals, so I doubt he bought any goodwill with the front office on the eve of his restricted free agency. Jeff Green is an unrestricted free agent, too, but he’s also Jeff Green. The Cavs are probably better off gutting the team, and maybe even taking on bad deals for picks like the Nets have the past few offseasons.</p>
<p class="c-end-para" id="pYW5Tq">They’ll showcase the fun, young player plucked with the eighth pick, play Cedi Osman more, and sell their fan base on the future — just like they did in the wake of LeBron’s first departure from Cleveland. It’s bleak, but at least this time they know what they’re in for.</p>
https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/6/8/17396840/cleveland-cavaliers-exit-interview-lebron-jamesPaolo Uggetti2018-05-28T23:26:53-04:002018-05-28T23:26:53-04:00Exit Interview: Houston Rockets
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<p>Big questions loom for Daryl Morey after Houston pushed Golden State to seven games, none bigger than whether the Rockets can land LeBron James</p> <p id="5YzBea">The question facing Houston hasn’t changed because the opponent hasn’t, either: How can the team get past Golden State? Even though the Rockets lost 101-92 in Game 7, the franchise is miles ahead of most of its Western Conference cohort, many of whom are still trying to pump out a winning record (<em>check</em>), play efficient basketball (<em>check</em>), or get a superstar (<em>check</em>,<em> check</em>). But more is needed for the Rockets to advance to the NBA Finals. They didn’t lose the Western Conference to just any NBA team; it’s a dynasty they’re up against.</p>
<p id="TyHQCm">General manager Daryl Morey essentially built this roster as a rebuttal to Golden State’s. By the time Chris Paul was acquired and P.J. Tucker signed, the team’s offense was already known to fire on all cylinders (just so long as those cylinders fired behind the perimeter). Yet the Rockets still came up second in the West. Like <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/5/9/17335828/lebron-james-eastern-conference-playoffs">LeBron James</a> in the East, this Warriors team will control the Western Conference for the foreseeable future. Where does Houston go from here, and can this team get any better as is?</p>
<h3 id="uxMC5t">Is Chris Paul Coming Back?</h3>
<p id="tB0hFL">Consider it a win that of the free agents rumored to be headed to H-Town in the summer of 2017 (Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony), only one became a Rocket. CP3 won the case of Paul vs. the People, disproving the “there’s only one ball” concern trolls, while proving that there doesn’t have to be only one ball handler. The Rockets gave Paul a chance at the conference finals; Paul, finishing with 41 points in the Game 5 clincher against the Jazz in Round 2, got them to a Game 7 in the series (even without playing in games 6 and 7). It was a blockbuster trade that actually worked. </p>
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<p id="lbV8yf">In April, Morey made his free-agency intentions with Paul clear. “Obviously, when we get someone as great as Chris Paul,” Morey <a href="https://www.chron.com/sports/rockets/article/With-free-agency-on-horizon-Chris-Paul-says-he-12822745.php">said</a>, “the plan is to keep him here. He’ll have a choice when the season ends. We feel like we set things up well. It should be an easy choice for him.”</p>
<p id="Foeno2">To retain CP3, Houston will need to dip into the luxury tax—because he was traded from the Clippers, and not signed in free agency, the Bird rights carry over—but to what extent? Now 33, Paul is eligible for a five-year, $205 million deal this summer. But there’s only one 33-year-old in the league who should pull that kind money, one who also happens to be a free agent this summer … </p>
<h3 id="kHUJ0g">Will LeBron Go to Houston?</h3>
<p id="xF9pAP">LeBron James’s playoffs performance has become so transfixing that the most interesting conversation in the NBA—where he’ll sign next—has temporarily paused. The last time a free-agency move held this much weight was in 2016, when Kevin Durant joined Golden State. If LeBron were to join the Rockets, as he’s <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/3/8/17095658/san-antonio-spurs-end-of-dynasty-kawhi-leonard">reportedly</a> considering, it would create the same kind of elite powerhouse.</p>
<p id="DN56FD">The Sixers, Lakers, and Cavs are also on LeBron’s list. Los Angeles has long been rumored, and Philadelphia sold itself with the way Ben Simmons closed the regular season. Cleveland, even as it advances to the Finals, has the least compelling argument. All three teams have more salary cap flexibility than Houston, but where there’s a Morey, there’s a way.</p>
<aside id="qfzvug"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"Three Immediate Questions Ahead of Cavs-Warriors IV","url":"https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/5/29/17404060/cavaliers-warriors-lebron-three-questions-nba-finals"},{"title":"The Rockets Couldn’t Stop the Inevitable","url":"https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/5/29/17404230/rockets-warriors-game-7-western-conference-finals"}]}'></div></aside><h3 id="LVCPVj">What Do Their Books Look Like?</h3>
<p id="X4ytZc">There’s a reason the best player in the league doesn’t join the best team in the league every time he’s a free agent, and it’s not self-imposed competitive balance. The Rockets already have a solid roster; solid rosters cost money; and money, lots and lots of money, is necessary to sign LeBron. Kings don’t take pay cuts. But their friends might! </p>
<p id="x1xIJO">CP3 signing for significantly less money would be only one of the many steps Houston would have to take to endeavor to sign James. And even if it’s not James the Rockets are targeting, Houston’s front office will face pivotal decisions this summer. If Houston believes running back the same roster is enough, the main focus will be re-signing Paul and Clint Capela, the latter of whom will be a restricted free agent. But Morey and Mike D’Antoni are forward thinkers, and it’s hard to believe that they think this roster, as is, will achieve in 2019 what it couldn’t this year. </p>
<p id="GXPNCr">There are movable contracts, like Eric Gordon’s at two years and $27.6 million, and Tucker’s at three years and $24.3 million (only $18.9 million guaranteed). Then there’s Ryan Anderson, who is on the books to make $41.7 million the next two seasons. Franchises are increasingly wary of taking on bad contracts, and finding a way to deal him sounds like more work than recruiting LBJ in the first place.</p>
<p class="c-end-para" id="ZCkqde"><em>SB</em><em> </em><em>Nation</em>’s Tim Cato <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2017/12/11/16761746/lebron-james-rockets-free-agency-salary-cap-how">broke down</a> all the possible tricks the Rockets could pull to make it work, including what may be most realistic: LeBron agrees to his $35.6 million player option with Cleveland under the condition that he’s traded to Houston. He wouldn’t be leaving the franchise with nothing that way, though Dan Gilbert might still [<em>switches font to Comic Sans</em>] have something to say about it.</p>
https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/5/28/17403322/houston-rockets-exit-interview-lebron-jamesHaley O'Shaughnessy2018-05-27T23:01:35-04:002018-05-27T23:01:35-04:00Exit Interview: Boston Celtics
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<p>Without its two stars, Boston went further than anyone could have imagined. So what could the team change this offseason? </p> <p id="gmAsKY">When general manager Danny Ainge traded for Kyrie Irving, drafted Jayson Tatum, and recruited Gordon Hayward, he (very likely) envisioned a team that would make the Eastern Conference finals. Just not this team. Led by Terry Rozier, enforced by Marcus Smart, carried by Jaylen Brown, and flourished by Tatum, the only C in his expected place was Al Horford. Aron Baynes took 3s. Rozier <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisPalmerNBA/status/1000203721286995968">tried</a> to son LeBron. Rozier <a href="https://twitter.com/CelticsJunkies/status/996574277498494976">thought</a> he had LeBron. Rozier <a href="https://twitter.com/DaveScipione/status/998731794768973824">learned</a>. Rozier <a href="https://twitter.com/bron_br/status/1000196645408198656"><em>really</em></a> learned. </p>
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<p id="JzgfyN">It took a couple of damning injuries to deflate such a carefully curated roster into one with underdog status. But Brad Stevens could turn hot dogs into charcuterie, and although expectations dropped like Celtics, the preseason predictions held. Many saw Boston in the Eastern Conference finals. If anyone saw Boston getting there <em>without</em> its two best players, or with a rookie leading its postseason scoring, with Semi Ojeleye serving as Tyronn Lue’s Game 5 <a href="https://twitter.com/Marc_DAmico/status/999488960169676801">checkmate</a>, then @ me. I’d love a ghostwriter.</p>
<p id="Bn6NTa">Boston made its second straight trip to the conference finals, but couldn’t overcome the King, losing in Game 7, 87-79. Here are three questions heading into Ainge’s favorite of the four seasons, the offseason:</p>
<h3 id="R7N7lL">What Changes?</h3>
<p id="JxdJ0Y">The confused SpongeBob meme’s time on the internet has come and gone (RIP), but if there was ever an occasion it called for, it was the timeouts during Cavaliers-Celtics. The broadcast had its “Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals” graphic stamped onto the screen, and whenever it crossed with Hayward in a suit jacket, it felt like <em>2K</em> crossed with the <em>Twilight Zone</em>. (Irving, interestingly enough, was not on the bench.)</p>
<p id="4DWDUu">The identity Boston took on in the playoffs has no shelf life. Rozier isn’t a starter—in green and white, anyway—once Irving is healthy. Hayward signed a max contract last summer. Irving and Hayward will slot right back into starting roles, but still, unexpected success can complicate hierarchies. Tatum finished the postseason a rookie ahead of his time and finished ahead of his class, outlasting Rookie of the Year candidates Ben Simmons and Donovan Mitchell. Stevens now has to figure out how not only to best incorporate Tatum and Brown around Hayward, he has to also figure out how to not stunt their growth. It’s a good problem to have, especially when your coach is an iconoclast with a clipboard. (Though giving Greg “Lol Just Got Outrebounded By Jordan Clarkson Again” Monroe minutes in Game 6 might be the wrong kind of innovation.) As for the other breakouts … </p>
<aside id="hgjGps"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"The Savior of the “No-No-Yes” Celtics","url":"https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/5/26/17397294/jayson-tatum-boston-celtics-bill-simmons"}]}'></div></aside><h3 id="pW9qdm">Does Boston Keep Smart?</h3>
<p id="xLXb94">Smart is the longest-tenured Celtic on the roster, and he’s only 24 years old. He’s one of the most capable defenders in the league, a skill that’s served as a through line as Boston morphed backcourts. Smart will become a restricted free agent this summer, and his case is interesting by default. Boston is all but capped out, but can match any offer sheet that comes. Many franchises around the league are still gun-shy on spending after a flood of rich contracts in 2016. For as valuable as Smart’s defense is, the market for a horrific shooter is [<em>ghost of Tony Allen descends</em>] at an all-time low. He fits best in a system like Stevens’s and is beloved by the city. Though ask Isaiah Thomas—that matters none to Ainge. </p>
<p id="lzNLQX">Apparently, the sentiment means just as little to him. In a recent interview with <em>The Hoop Collective</em> <a href="http://www.espn.com/espnradio/podcast/archive/_/id/12426375">podcast</a>, ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan said she didn’t believe Smart would take a discount to stay, even if it meant leaving for a team that isn’t in contention. MacMullan said that she asked “lots of people around the Celtics and around the league” and “every one of them said, ‘Hell no, he’s going for the money.’” </p>
<h3 id="mYUSIs">And the Other Backup Point Guard?</h3>
<p id="zjnqwX">Thanks to this postseason, Rozier made a little change off Scary Terry shirts. And also thanks to this postseason, he will be making a lot more money in 2019, when he becomes a restricted free agent. The Boston front office has options: It can offer 24-year-old Rozier an extension, hold off a year, or sell high. </p>
<p class="c-end-para" id="MshcX9">After Rozier’s breakout, a backcourt of him, Irving, and Smart would get crowded. Rozier has never been an easier sell, especially for a GM hungry for draft picks. But the old joke (is it really a joke?) is that Ainge won’t trade him. “Nah, Danny won’t trade me” Rozier said in 2017 after it was <a href="https://twitter.com/JaredWeissNBA/status/831542616839815173">reported</a> that he was a dealbreaker in getting Serge Ibaka—although if the Celtics were just waiting for him to materialize into a more valuable trade asset, it was worth the wait. </p>
https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/5/27/17398280/boston-celtics-exit-interviewHaley O'Shaughnessy2018-05-09T23:04:24-04:002018-05-09T23:04:24-04:00Exit Interview: Philadelphia 76ers
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<p>Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, and Co. looked unstoppable until running into Boston. How do they keep the Process on the right track next season?</p> <p id="1kyYXH">Sometime between Sam Hinkie <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2729018-the-definitive-history-of-trust-the-process">saying</a> in 2013 that the Philadelphia 76ers “talk a lot about process, not outcome,” and the end of a fifth straight losing season, the world opted out on Philly basketball. </p>
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<p id="UuY3mr">What will Philadelphians defend now that the Process is bearing fruit? Former first overall pick Ben Simmons led the Sixers to a 20-3 close to the regular season, former third overall pick Joel Embiid stayed relatively healthy, and first overall pick Markelle Fultz played actual minutes by season’s end. Losing in five games to an undermanned Celtics team leaves some cause for concern, but this season, Philadelphia gave proof of both that there is a future to look forward to, and that it might be here sooner than predicted. Here are three offseason questions for the Sixers.</p>
<h3 id="v3onYp">Should the Sixers Be Worried About Ben Simmons’s Postseason?</h3>
<p id="3D9gDr">What Simmons needs is <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078205/"><em>Scared Straight!</em></a>—not with shouting convicts in his face, but with a room full of back-to-the-basket big men who have been pushed into obsolescence. Roy Hibbert is screaming warnings about what happens when you don’t develop an outside shot. Dwight Howard hasn’t blinked in 18 minutes. In the corner is DeAndre Jordan, whispering about a max contract that will never come. </p>
<p id="Y8pwGy">Shooting is a job requirement in today’s NBA, even for most bigs, yet Simmons, a point guard, didn’t take a single 3 this season outside of buzzer-beater heaves. Not only did he survive without a deep shot in the regular season, Simmons spellbound us into forgetting he needed one. As <em>The Ringer</em>’s Danny Chau <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/3/27/17166480/ben-simmons-76ers-season-review">wrote</a> in March, “Simmons <em>knows</em> you know he can’t shoot, and to take advantage of that perception in the interim, he’s leaned even further into the bit.” A wave of Simmons’s 7-foot wingspan of a wand and sagging defenses became assist opportunities. Drives into traffic turned into open looks at the basket. </p>
<p id="7NuF7M">But the second round of the playoffs changed everything. (Which is to say, Brad Stevens’s imagination changed everything.) After Game 3, Kevin O’Connor <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/5/7/17326080/brad-stevens-celtics-sixers">broke down</a> just how the Celtics slowed down Simmons. Boston had the rookie exactly where it wanted him: in a half-court set, near the perimeter with the ball in hand.</p>
<p id="UGzD8V">What Simmons was chastised for most during the playoffs—specifically in Game 3, when he finished with only one point and four field goal attempts—was his refusal to shoot, even when open. Mind-set, as much as tweaking his shot, needs to be the focus of his offseason. Monday, Kobe Bryant <a href="http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/news/kobe-bryant-ben-simmons-jump-shot-philadelphia-76ers-playoffs/uaoj06yhoh0x1efn93tw7191x">suggested</a> that for Simmons to fix his jumper, he “build that thing anew.” (Kobe must <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nba/2016/10/10/16077030/nba-shooting-coaches-kent-bazemore-kawhi-leonard-8660e9939680">read</a> KOC.) </p>
<p id="52VP5q">Inadequate deep shooting is creating even more comparisons between Simmons and LeBron James, who, as a rookie, shot 29 percent from 3. But within that comparison is a distinct difference: When we say LeBron had no outside shot, we didn’t mean it literally. </p>
<h3 id="RB2BQO">Can Philly Add Another Star?</h3>
<p id="PjvHDO">Speaking of LeBron [<em>throws powder into the air</em>], Philadelphia (1) is <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/3/8/17095658/san-antonio-spurs-end-of-dynasty-kawhi-leonard">reportedly</a> on his short list and (2) has $25 million in cap space this offseason. There are some caveats to that figure: It doesn’t include T.J. McConnell and Richaun Holmes, whose options could be picked up for $1.6 million apiece. Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova will become free agents, and if Philadelphia pursues the Hawks expats again, they’ll cost more than this season’s combined $847,915. J.J. Redick, a more reliable wing option than Robert Covington (who got paid $62 million last season) during the playoffs, is also a free agent.</p>
<p id="EzXKWX">The Sixers would likely have to lose several key contributors to fit LeBron into their books. Plus, not everyone <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/3/1/17066086/lebron-james-sixers-free-agency-ben-simmons-rumor">is convinced</a> that having LBJ as a teammate is in Simmons’s best interest in the long term. There are options. Paul George is also a free agent this summer. And the Spurs’ relationship with Kawhi Leonard might be so irreconcilable that he may be on the table. </p>
<p id="IIniJu">If Philly wants to trade its way into a third major piece, it’s armed with assets. Despite his shooting struggles, Markelle Fultz was the no. 1 pick less than a year ago. Bryan Colangelo also has five 2018 NBA draft picks in his pocket (the Sixers’ first-rounder at 26 and their own second-rounder in addition to one each from the Rockets, Nets, and Knicks) and one that would require divine intervention (i.e., 1985 David Stern) to not secure: The Sixers will get the Lakers’ first-round pick if it goes first overall (a <a href="http://www.tankathon.com/pick_odds">1.1 percent chance</a>) or if it’s the sixth pick or higher. If Los Angeles draws pick no. 2 or no. 3 (a 1.6 percent chance), it will go to Boston. The Sixers originally acquired the pick in the Michael Carter-Williams deal three years ago; MCW <a href="https://twitter.com/MCW1/status/568507130413768705?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nj.com%2Fsixers%2Findex.ssf%2F2015%2F02%2Fsixers_trade_michael_carter-williams_get_los_angel.html&tfw_creator=EliotShorrParks&tfw_site=njdotcom">wished</a> Philadelphia “nothing but the best” at the time. Chances are slim that the Sixers will get the <em>best</em> pick, but thanks to Carter-Williams, they have a shot!</p>
<h3 id="NhFSO8">Is Brett Brown the Right Coach Going Forward?</h3>
<p id="bxjwR0">“Irony” is being labeled “on the hot seat” for one bad round in the playoffs after surviving a 75-253 record over the four previous seasons. Congratulations, Brett, you are now coaching a team with standards.</p>
<p id="BAnOeK">This was Brown’s first head-coaching job after nine seasons with the Spurs as an assistant. He prevailed. He <em>got extended </em>in the middle of a 10-72 season. </p>
<p id="7m0KLt">But Brown’s first taste of the playoffs did, five years into the job, shine the spotlight on him. In Game 2, he was scrutinized for not calling a timeout during a Boston run in the second quarter (the Celtics ended up cutting a 22-point lead to a five-point deficit at the break) and for putting Simmons into the game after a T.J. McConnell–led run. </p>
<p class="c-end-para" id="hsrnGB">Almost any coach will look like a disappointment against Stevens, and Brown’s in-game coaching has been called iffy before over the years, but never on such a big stage. With his contract up in 2018-19, Brown will have one more year to prove he’s the man for the job. The more successful the Sixers are, the more important the clipboard becomes. </p>
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https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/5/9/17328862/philadelphia-76ers-exit-interview-2018Haley O'Shaughnessy2018-05-09T01:03:52-04:002018-05-09T01:03:52-04:00Exit Interview: New Orleans Pelicans
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<p>The Pelicans had their long-awaited breakthrough moment this postseason. With big decisions awaiting this summer, including DeMarcus Cousins’s free agency, can they keep the party going and keep the Anthony Davis trade rumors at bay?</p> <p id="2dXmoF">If you brush aside the way it ended, at the hands of the Golden State chainsaw and beat in five games, the Pelicans’ season was an undeniable success. Despite an injury to their second All-Star, they patched together 49 wins—their most since 2008-09, when they were still the New Orleans Hornets—and surprised with a first-round sweep of the Trail Blazers. It was an ideal response for a team that missed the playoffs the past two seasons. </p>
<p id="rXkYA2">There’s no glory in losing in the second round, but for the Pelicans, it’s at least a moral victory that they even got there. What they did along the way is also encouraging: Anthony Davis reminded us why he’s one of the best players in the league, Jrue Holiday forced us to appreciate him, and even Rajon Rondo showed up to the party as vintage Playoff Rondo. Here are some of the questions they’ll have to answer this summer as they try to keep the franchise’s momentum going. </p>
<h3 id="9He1WY">What Should They Do With DeMarcus Cousins? </h3>
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<p id="SprydT">Everything the Pelicans do or don’t do this offseason is rooted in the answer to this <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/4/23/17270054/pelicans-demarcus-cousins-warriors">question</a>. Do they re-sign Boogie, or do they let him walk after he suffered a season-ending Achilles injury? New Orleans was 27-21 with him, and 21-13 after he was injured, but without him on the court, the Pelicans shifted toward a style more befitting of their roster. They became the fastest team in the league and more often put Davis at center, where he belongs. This allowed him to work as both a one-man show in and around the paint and opened up the space for both shooters and cutters. Davis and Cousins had started to jell this season, but without the latter on the floor, the former looked unstoppable. </p>
<p id="pfBQbZ">Cousins’s injury complicates things moving forward. Players with Achilles injuries tend not to <a href="http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/21725340/kevin-pelton-weekly-mailbag-including-all-defensive-team-last-quarter-century">perform at the same level again</a>, especially not lumbering big men like Cousins. But he’s still only 27, and convincing any star to pick a small market like New Orleans is still a struggle. Boogie, by all counts, seems to want to be there. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">check out the scene in the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Pelicans?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Pelicans</a> locker room after the playoff clinching win last night!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DoItBigger?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DoItBigger</a> <a href="https://t.co/KJG0Cp8bkj">pic.twitter.com/KJG0Cp8bkj</a></p>— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/PelicansNBA/status/983725432301207553?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2018</a>
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<p id="f4guDo">The Pelicans probably shouldn’t offer the full max, given the injury and how well the team played without him. So, if Boogie is still thinking he can get max money and/or years on the market, the two parties might not be long for each other. The best option might be for both sides to find a middle ground. Zach Lowe <a href="http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23297808/zach-lowe-anthony-davis-demarcus-cousins-new-orleans-pelicans-nba-playoffs">reported</a> in late April that New Orleans has thought about offering Cousins a two- or three-year deal at the max, but that such an offer might not go over well in Cousins’s camp. The gamble is twofold: Boogie has to bet on himself to get back to an All-Star level, and then he can look to cash in on one final big deal when he’s 29. And the Pelicans have to bet on his ability post-injury, and that the team they were before Boogie went down has a higher ceiling than the one that has already proved itself in the playoffs.</p>
<h3 id="gBvRXL">Which Role Players Do They Keep? </h3>
<p id="gtqEck">A big part of why re-signing Cousins is no longer a no-brainer is the key trade the Pelicans made in February to get Nikola Mirotic from the tanking Bulls. A clean-shaven, 3-point-shooting Mirotic was the stretch 4 New Orleans needed to pair alongside Davis. Mirotic is under contract for one more year at $12.5 million and will enter unrestricted free agency the following summer. If the Pelicans try to keep both him and Cousins, they’ll surely go over the luxury tax, but choosing to go the smaller, faster route with Mirotic instead of Cousins would keep them under the tax and afford them some easier paths to fill out the roster. </p>
<p id="dAGvd3">Both Rondo and Ian Clark are unrestricted free agents who have contributed to the team’s success this season. Clark is only 27 and is a decent shooter, while Rondo, 32, brings experience and a pass-first game that has had success alongside Davis. How many times this season did we see this combination? </p>
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<p id="lbhfk0">Aside from finding an unlikely way to package their scarce assets for a third star player (I doubt anyone’s going to want Solomon Hill’s $26 million over the next two years), the Pelicans’ best course of action is to retain their current core and look for a path to improve elsewhere. </p>
<h3 id="uRwJvF">How Far Can Jrue Holiday and Anthony Davis Take the Team?</h3>
<p id="U36nWM">Holiday and Davis are the unquestionable cornerstones of this team for the next four years to come, at the very least. Davis is locked in through 2020 before he can exercise a player option, while Holiday just finished the first season of a five-year, $132 million deal that runs through 2021 with a player option for 2021-22. If anything, Holiday’s and Davis’s success this season proved that, for now, Pelicans fans don’t have to worry about Davis clamoring to bolt for greener pastures. </p>
<div class="c-float-right"><aside id="GQPL0z"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"Exit Interview: Utah Jazz","url":"https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/5/8/17333880/utah-jazz-exit-interview"}]}'></div></aside></div>
<p class="c-end-para" id="7cJK2s">Davis made a leap this season, dominating games with other All-Stars on the floor and having his most efficient scoring season yet. He was a bona fide disruptor at the rim on defense, while Holiday locked down the perimeter. Portland had no shot against them. Handling the third-best team in the West with such ease is a step forward for the Pelicans, but, as the Warriors showed, they still have a ceiling. Davis is still an injury risk, and though the players will be more familiar with each other next season, one injury to a key rotation player or some regression—Cousins’s injury, Rondo’s age, Mirotic’s hot shooting—could put us right back on Davis Watch yet again. 2020 will be here faster than you think. </p>
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https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/5/9/17332474/new-orleans-pelicans-exit-interviewPaolo Uggetti2018-05-08T22:27:01-04:002018-05-08T22:27:01-04:00Exit Interview: Utah Jazz
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<p>Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell exceeded all expectations this season, reestablishing the Jazz as a force in the West in record time. The team’s decisions this summer could determine whether it has another leap in it.</p> <p id="F1lBtX">The Utah Jazz’s 2017-18 season was an 82-game testament to having a solid infrastructure. They lost Gordon Hayward and George Hill in free agency but acquired Ricky Rubio and re-signed Joe Ingles, both of whom became key pieces in Quin Snyder’s system this season. They also acquired the draft’s hidden jewel in Donovan Mitchell, who became the team’s most reliable offensive option in his rookie season. That triad, along with Rudy Gobert—the presumptive Defensive Player of the Year—was good enough for 48 wins, the 5-seed in the West, and a first-round series victory over the star-studded Thunder. A minor miracle considering they started the season with a 19-28 record. </p>
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<p id="f9Usb1">Snyder and general manager Dennis Lindsey turned a season primed for regression into arguably the most promising Jazz season in recent memory. They might not have been able to overcome the high-powered Houston Rockets, who beat the Jazz 112-102 in Game 5 to win the series, but Utah’s surprising campaign pointed a way forward and, most importantly, presented a potential superstar the team can build around.</p>
<p id="DwpKR0">Gobert and Mitchell are locked in as cornerstones of the Jazz’s future, and the team is already in the West’s second tier, strong enough to compete against any team in the league other than the NBA’s absolute elite. How Utah builds around its young stars will determine its true ceiling. The Jazz need surefire third and fourth wheels to round out their prized pairing, and the decisions they make this offseason will determine what they can do to move up a tier going forward.</p>
<h3 id="trVwzB">What Should They Do With Derrick Favors?</h3>
<p id="OE74g3">Favors was a strange barometer for the Jazz’s success this season. Utah was 15-5 when he scored more than 15 points in a game and 13-6 when he grabbed double-digit boards. For the first part of the season, Favors and Gobert were like oil and water, and it dragged the Jazz down and out of the playoff picture. But as the season progressed and Gobert fully recovered from his injuries, the two figured it out: The Jazz outscored opponents at a rate of <a href="http://stats.nba.com/team/1610612762/lineups-advanced/">7.2 points per 100 possessions when the two shared the court</a>.</p>
<p id="CjgWHC">Favors is an unrestricted free agent who made $11.75 million this season and will likely command a raise on the market. He’s <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/sports/jazz/2018/04/09/free-agent-to-be-derrick-favors-finds-his-role-with-the-jazz-says-i-would-love-to-come-back-and-be-a-part-of-this-team-while-leaving-up-his-options/">expressed a desire</a> to come back to the Jazz, but will the team want to bring him back at a bigger price tag? Jae Crowder had taken most of Favors’s crunch-time minutes as well as the starting-4 job by the end of the Rockets series, and his ability to space the floor makes more sense next to the traditional Gobert. (Crowder is also much cheaper, making a combined $15 million over the next two seasons.) Favors might have been slightly more effective than Gobert against the Rockets’ small-ball attack, but this isn’t a him-or-me proposition. The Jazz made that decision long ago. </p>
<p id="A8aiuC">Ultimately, Favors might not be the right type of player to invest in for a Jazz team that now needs to shift its team-building strategy to cater to Mitchell <em>and </em>Gobert, especially now that they’ve given the latter a four-year, $102 million deal knowing he still has a ways to go before he becomes a competent defender on the perimeter, which is a requirement against elite teams. Favors is the last remaining piece from the Deron Williams trade, and his departure would signal the true end of that dark early-2010s era. In this case, roster flexibility might be far more valuable than continuity.</p>
<h3 id="IZvbgz">How Will They Handle Next Season’s Expiring Contracts? </h3>
<p id="5f3skn">Ricky Rubio is a fascinating figure for the Jazz: <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nba/2017/11/20/16671978/nba-utah-jazz-the-real-ricky-rubio">As important and impactful as he’s been</a> for them, especially late in the season, he’s almost certainly not the best fit in the backcourt alongside Mitchell going forward. The Spaniard had a renaissance in Utah this season, putting together his highest-scoring and most-efficient shooting season of his seven-year career. But these were career bests relative to Rubio’s past scoring numbers, which were some of the worst ever. Rubio is still not a reliable-enough shooter to play off of the ball, and he still needs the ball in his hands to take advantage of his genius-level vision. Mitchell can work off the ball, but long-term, the Jazz should expect their offense to run through their young star, not Rubio (even if the two have developed <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheOpenCourt/videos/998925440257651/">an adorable bromance</a>). Another solid scoring season from Rubio would be great for the Jazz but would also make him more expensive to keep around next summer, if that’s the plan. </p>
<p id="SCIB1A">Alec Burks is also headed into a contract year, and though he played only 64 games this season, it was his healthiest since the 2013-14 season. He’s making $10.6 million and averaging 16.5 minutes per game, which is not ideal, and doesn’t bode well for his next deal. His impressive Game 2 against the Rockets was promising, and the Jazz might look to showcase his talents in order to swing a deal with a team in need of an athletic shot-creator off the bench. </p>
<h3 id="8Y2jAb">Will the Jazz Be Forced to Make a Decision on the Dante Exum Experience? </h3>
<p class="c-end-para" id="TOHnwi">Exum has been a mixed bag since he was drafted in 2014, with moments of growth interrupted by injuries year after year. The Aussie’s defense against James Harden in the Rockets series was a revelation and reminded a lot of people why he was so highly touted as a teenager. Exum is still only 22 and will be a restricted free agent this offseason. He has all the tools to be an impact player, and there is surely a contingent of Jazz fans hoping for a future that involves a starting backcourt of Mitchell and Exum. The question is whether another team will spoil the Jazz’s likely plan of extending a qualifying offer by handing Exum an offer sheet of its own. There isn’t a lot of cap space floating around this offseason, but it takes only one team and one executive to make the gamble. There is still plenty to love about Exum’s long-term potential, and that might be enough to make the Jazz pay. That could be the toughest decision they’ll face this summer. </p>
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https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/5/8/17333880/utah-jazz-exit-interviewPaolo Uggetti2018-05-05T23:45:44-04:002018-05-05T23:45:44-04:00Have the Raptors Hit Their Ceiling?
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<p>Now down 3-0 in a second-round matchup with Cleveland, Toronto is staring at another playoff series loss to LeBron James. Do the Raps need to blow it up? Their options aren’t encouraging.</p> <p id="77W9eB">Everything went the way it was supposed to for the Raptors in the regular season after bringing back the band last offseason. Dwane Casey successfully overhauled Toronto’s system to improve ball movement and shot selection. DeMar DeRozan started shooting more 3s and playmaking, and as a result, had a career-best season. First-round pick OG Anunoby quickly proved himself to be one of the league’s better defenders. And the Raptors’ loaded bench, led by Fred VanVleet, played with fire and desire. With a 59-23 record, the no. 3 offense, and no. 5 defense, the Raptors were the 1-seed in the Eastern Conference for the first time in their 23-year history.</p>
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<p id="SCLCmP">But even after moving VanVleet into the starting lineup and rallying from down 17 points in Game 3, the Raptors are now facing a 3-0 hole in the East semis after LeBron James hit an epic game-winning floater. As LeBron’s impossible shot bounced off the glass and <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/992967963937591296">through the net</a>, you can actually <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tFDsL_mwBY">pinpoint the second</a> Toronto’s dreams of a series win shattered. Unless the Raptors get it together and make a historic comeback, it’ll be their third consecutive season getting slayed by the King. It’s not Toronto’s fault that LeBron, the best player of this generation and possibly the greatest ever, is the brick wall the Raptors keep running into every May. They aren’t alone in that struggle this decade; LeBron has ripped the hearts out of the Pacers, Bulls, and Hawks. The Raptors are just the latest East team to be stuck in playoff purgatory.</p>
<p id="0XL02I">The past five seasons have been an unforgettable ride for Raptors fans, but the franchise did everything possible to set itself up to beat LeBron this season and it still didn’t work. If the goal is to not just hang division banners, but to win trophies, then further changes must be made.</p>
<h3 id="da9q2D">From COY Candidate to the Hot Seat</h3>
<p id="h5P9RD">Casey, who’s been with Toronto since June 2011, is the fourth-longest-tenured head coach in the NBA, after Gregg Popovich, Erik Spoelstra, and Rick Carlisle. But after years of fans calling for Raptors president Masai Ujiri to fire Casey, the guillotine could actually drop this time, despite the fact Casey is a Coach of the Year <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/4/11/17221416/nba-awards-picks">candidate</a>. Casey’s in-game adjustments, playcalling, and lineup choices have been lacking in the postseason. <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/5/4/17318860/raptors-dwane-casey-cavs-losing">It was unforgivable</a> that he kept C.J. Miles on Kevin Love for so long in Game 2. In Game 3, the Raptors continuously sent early double-teams at James and Love, which only worked to allow wide-open shooters for the Cavaliers. And while Casey deserves credit for renovating the Raptors’ system, moving the offense from the midrange to 3-point land in 2017 is like just now buying an HDTV. What took so long?</p>
<p id="ThgH3C">Executives around the league anticipate that the Raptors will make a coaching change, though there are no guarantees after Toronto’s success this regular season. In addition to the candidates being interviewed by other teams with openings, the Raptors have three internal candidates—assistants Nick Nurse and Rex Kalamian, and <a href="https://www.theringer.com/2017/3/24/16036912/nba-d-league-coaching-pipeline-jerry-stackhouse-raptors-905-e64de539d32a">G League coach Jerry Stackhouse</a>—that could be promoted to head coach. Nurse spoke with the Suns and Hornets about their head-coach vacancies, according to multiple reports, and is widely considered by executives to be one of the best assistants in the league. Nurse, not Casey, is credited with leading the charge in changing the offensive system. If Casey is told to take care, Nurse should be the favorite for his position.</p>
<h3 id="aTss7D">Closed Books</h3>
<p id="KrVjey">Whether Casey were replaced with Nurse or Drake, it wouldn’t change the fact DeRozan still doesn’t shoot 3s well, Serge Ibaka is declining and overpaid, and Anunoby is the only player on the roster who has any chance of <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/5/1/17305174/lebron-stopper-raptors-og-anunoby-pascal-siakam">defending</a> LeBron. </p>
<p id="uFeCe6">The Raptors’ issues are under the spotlight against Cleveland: They don’t have enough versatile defenders at wing and forward. Their bigs lack ideal versatility for the modern game. And from a sheer talent standpoint, they arguably haven’t had the best player in a single series since 2014, the year <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIF2qDzFxco">Paul Pierce blocked Kyle Lowry</a> and the Raptors got bounced in seven games in the first round by the Nets.</p>
<p id="4k0wAI">LeBron could head west this summer, and lord knows Toronto would be happy to wait until the NBA Finals to have to see him again. But to beat a Celtics roster with Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, or an upgraded Sixers roster that has cap space for a max contract this summer, the Raptors still need to get better. Even with a brand-new coach who turns nothings into somethings, the roster must also be charged up by Ujiri.</p>
<p id="WzF1VS">It won’t be easy to get better. The Raptors have $126 million in guaranteed salaries for the 2018-19 season. They re-signed Lowry, Ibaka, and Norman Powell to big contracts last summer, and signed Miles to keep the contending window open through the 2019-20 season. This is what’s on the books:</p>
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<p id="v72xWe">Hidden beneath, between, and behind all their success this regular season was the reality that this might be as good as it gets for the franchise during this era. Their payroll could balloon even more this summer since VanVleet, arguably the Sixth Man of the Year, will be a popular restricted free agent. Toronto avoided paying the luxury tax this season after using its 2018 first-round pick to dump DeMarre Carroll on the Nets. But now the Raptors are about to soar into the tax, which means they only have the taxpayer midlevel and minimum-player salary exceptions at their disposal to sign new free agents.</p>
<p id="DpJC1z">They lack financial flexibility, and with their first-rounder in the hands of Brooklyn and their second-rounder with the Suns as a result of the deal for P.J. Tucker at the 2017 trade deadline, they don’t have a pick in this year’s draft. The Raptors still have a competitive team, so their future firsts don’t have too much value, either. They could use their picks or their young players to unload the salary of Ibaka, Miles, or Powell in order to get out of the tax, but that would only make them worse. The Raptors are a good team without many avenues to be great.</p>
<h3 id="AcmNTT">Limited Options on the Trade Market</h3>
<p id="DmZETK">It’s tough to find any potential trades that make sense. Most ideas feel like rearranging chairs. Would a package of Hawks wing Kent Bazemore and big man Mike Muscala for Ibaka and future picks really move the needle? Maybe a touch more versatility at the wing. How about Hornets center Cody Zeller and forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist for Ibaka and a future pick? Kidd-Gilchrist can’t shoot and Zeller is redundant with Jakob Poeltl and Jonas Valanciunas. In other words, they aren’t getting much for Ibaka. </p>
<p id="R9ENt7">Even if the Raptors plucked the next Milos Teodosic or Daniel Theis from overseas, is that player actually putting them over the top? Their bench was already one of the best in the NBA. They need to find a way to get better high-end talent. These are boring ideas, but it’s tough to come up with anything better that don’t involve DeRozan, Lowry, or Anunoby. Unless a star player is in a transitional state. </p>
<p id="YgIKP6">The Raptors explored the possibility of trading for DeAndre Jordan before the 2018 trade deadline, and could conceivably make another push if Jordan decides to opt into his $24.1 million player option for the 2018-19 season. At that cap number, the taxpaying Raptors would need to send an outgoing salary of about $19.2 million. Valanciunas ($16.5 million) plus $2.7 million in salary would work. But keep in mind that the Clippers are trying to win games, so they’d need some incentive to make a deal; a contributing youngster like Poeltl or Delon Wright would likely be a necessity.</p>
<p id="ImefHh">The Raptors had a top-five defensive rating this season, but it’s a tad misleading considering they’ve collapsed over the past two months. Since March 18 (when the Thunder ended Toronto’s 11-game win streak), the Raptors have a defensive rating of about 107.2, including the playoffs. The dirty secret is that the Raptors <a href="https://twitter.com/johnschuhmann/status/978242082207928321">struggled all season to defend top offenses</a>; Valanciunas isn’t much of a rim protector despite his size, and DeRozan is a turnstile on the perimeter. Jordan would help bolster the defense, and could offer a different flavor on offense as a rim runner and lob threat.</p>
<p id="14hUbl">Jordan is exactly the type of player Toronto should target, but his option for next season complicates matters. Thinking more outside the box, it’s worth noting that the Pelicans reportedly talked with the Raptors about a trade for Valanciunas before the 2017 deadline. But New Orleans instead acquired DeMarcus Cousins. <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/4/23/17270054/pelicans-demarcus-cousins-warriors">Now that Cousins will be an unrestricted free agent with an uncertain future</a>, maybe the Pels will resist offering him the full max contract. Cousins ruptured his Achilles and there are no guarantees he ever returns to form. He also might not be happy if the Pelicans front office plays games, so maybe a sign-and-trade could become a possibility. If I were the Raptors, I’d at least consider offering Valanciunas plus Miles and a young player to the Pelicans in a sign-and-trade for Boogie. It’d be the ultimate high-risk/high-reward deal for the Raptors.</p>
<p id="d72Gkb">Cousins could end up being a disaster, but if he returned to form they’d have a third offensive star to take a load off of DeRozan and Lowry. Honestly, I’d avoid Cousins like the plague, especially given his health status. And I bet Ujiri would, too, considering he has always taken a long view.</p>
<h3 id="RDcjW1">Thinking Bigger</h3>
<p id="VrNYxK">Last offseason, Ujiri said that Toronto can’t build like the Cavaliers do around LeBron with short-sighted, win-now moves. DeRozan and Lowry simply aren’t transcendent stars like LeBron. “They have one player on that team that makes that maybe a little easier for them,” Ujiri said. “I don’t think about the Toronto Raptors just for today, I think about them five years from now and I have to keep that in perspective.”</p>
<p id="hLhoxd">Even when DeRozan and Lowry are gone, the Raptors will still exist, and with Anunoby, Poeltl, and VanVleet, the franchise has some pieces for the next era. If Ujiri wants to think more about building for a reload in 2020, he could always consider trading DeRozan or Lowry for a package that shuffles pieces now but keeps an eye toward the future.</p>
<p id="jtClpf">Last October, Lowry revealed to the <em>San Antonio Express-News</em> that he had interest in signing with the Spurs, but the interest wasn’t mutual. “It was real for me, but it wasn’t real for them,” <a href="https://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/article/Lowry-Interest-in-joining-Spurs-was-real-12299328.php">Lowry said</a>. That’s also true for other franchises across the league. Most teams don’t need point guards, nevermind one like Lowry, who’s 32 years old and set to make more than $30 million in each of the next two seasons.</p>
<p id="RSxBU0">Nonetheless, if I were Ujiri, I’d still seek a deal with a team that’s also in need of a shake-up. The Timberwolves stand out since Jimmy Butler can become an unrestricted free agent in 2019 and Butler has <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/jimmy-butler-back-in-a-bulls-uniform-someday-not-as-far-fetched-as-it-sounds/">expressed displeasure with Minnesota’s youth</a> for not understanding the “urgency” of their situation. The Wolves need to keep Butler happy, and he’s friends with Lowry from their time playing together on Team USA at the Olympics. There are also <a href="https://hoopshype.com/2017/06/29/nba-free-agency-kyle-lowry-rumors-timberwolves-jimmy-butler/">rumblings</a> that Butler recruited Lowry to the Wolves last offseason.</p>
<p id="0CVLPs">The obvious trade target would be Andrew Wiggins, who has failed to live up to expectations in Minnesota but <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/3/12/17108610/minnesota-timberwolves-karl-anthony-town-andrew-wiggins">has still shown flashes</a>. Maybe things would click for him back home in Canada. If the Wolves already have buyer’s remorse, then maybe there’s a mega-deal to be done centering around Wiggins and Jeff Teague going to Toronto for Lowry, Miles, and Pascal Siakam. The Wolves would get rid of Wiggins’s deal and give themselves immense cap flexibility when Butler is a free agent in 2019; perhaps they’d become a destination. The Raptors could view Wiggins as a building block for the next era while serving as a versatile contributor who can help now. But a backcourt with Teague and DeRozan would be laughably bad defensively, so perhaps a deal that ships Teague to a third team would make more sense.</p>
<p id="6xZa1S">Other scattered ideas could involve the Pacers, who may want to capitalize on the Victor Oladipo era and have a load of cap space to absorb a massive salary like Lowry; center Myles Turner would be an intriguing building block for Toronto’s future. The Suns are also worth calling. But if they didn’t deal Josh Jackson last summer for Kyrie Irving, they probably wouldn’t deal him for anyone on Toronto’s roster. It’s more realistic to shop Valanciunas, who will be only 26 next season, to the Suns for young assets (like Dragan Bender) and for the cap relief to come from a deal.</p>
<h3 id="6E9SXZ">Blow It Up < Bring It Back</h3>
<p id="z0d3oR">In March 2017, while Toronto was the feel-good story of the 2016-17 season, I wrote that <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nba/2017/3/27/16077152/toronto-raptors-possible-rebuild-kyle-lowry-demar-derozan-nba-e5f75d3981f3">the Raptors should consider blowing it up</a>. The idea, which was <a href="http://www.art19.com/shows/the-ringer-nba-show/episodes/954f39c4-256e-43a5-a428-1a3ddb8d71f9">expounded upon on <em>The Ringer NBA Show</em></a>, was to re-sign key players (they did), overhaul the system (they did), take a swing with their first-round pick (they did) and hope he blossomed (he did), and then go into the season and see what happens. If the Raptors failed to meet expectations, they could pull the plug; and if they shined, they could keep building from there.</p>
<p id="u1KywJ">The latter ended up happening. Casey might end up getting fired, and the roster obviously needs changes. But Toronto’s best bet now is to maintain status quo, ride out this core, and pounce only on options that make sense.</p>
<p id="pK30QU">If a lottery team like the Magic, Bulls, or Kings comes calling and offers its lottery pick and a young player for DeRozan, I’d be interested; blowing it up should still be on the table for any team on the playoff treadmill. But I don’t think that deal is an option, and settling for anything less wouldn’t be worth it considering they’re still a Finals contender in the East for the next two seasons.</p>
<p class="c-end-para" id="7NXcRZ">There isn’t much worse than feeling stagnant, and Raptors fans have had to endure that feeling for the past five seasons. But there are few realistic options to move the franchise forward. Ujiri masterfully constructed a young core featuring Anunoby, VanVleet, and Poeltl. Those players developing ahead of schedule could be the best way to make the most out of this roster in the next two seasons. It won’t be easy for Toronto to get over the hump, but pressing reset on this core doesn’t necessarily create a brighter future. That’s precisely the fear, though. There are no clear solutions. The Raptors are stuck in playoff limbo.</p>
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https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/5/5/17323668/toronto-raptors-lebron-cavs-next-movesKevin O'Connor