NBA Power Rankings: Offseason’s good, bad and ugly
By Seth Partnow
THE DISAPPOINTMENTS
24. Houston Rockets – Enough ink has been spilled about how the failure of Darryl Morey’s best laid plans reflects upon his tenure. But suffice it to say it was a failure, even if the process which led to each decision was sound. On the other side of the ledger, small moves like drafting Summer League standout Nick Johnson and signing the under-appreciated Jeff Adrien to an affordable deal were nice moves, but not enough to salvage the endeavor.
23. Golden State Warriors – If reporting is to be believed, the Warriors will look back ruefully on not simply acceding to Minnesota’s “demands” and including Klay Thompson in a deal that even with that “concession” would still have been massively in Golden State’s favor. They did address the need of adding another ball-handler to lighten the load on Steph Curry by signing Shaun Livingston to the mid-level exception, but their best hope for improvement is that Steve Kerr adds some pep to an offense that passed the ball the least of any team in the NBA in 2013/14.
22. Portland Trail Blazers – Hoping for improvements to come mostly internally in the form of C.J. McCollum, Will Barton and Thomas Robinson being able to take on consistent rotation spots. Robinson especially would be nice, though the clock is ticking on the former No. 4 overall pick. Steve Blake is a solid but not exciting backup point guard, while Chris Kaman provides a name but not much game to the Blazers frontcourt which remains in dire need of some depth.
21. Los Angeles Lakers – The positives: didn’t take on any long term money aside from Nick Young’s mystifying four-year deal. Got a free first round pick to take on Jeremy Lin for a season. Second round pick Jordan Clarkson showed some promise in summer league. Negatives: Just about everything else as the franchise essentially marks time until they can get out from under Kobe Bryant’s contract which was an abomination from the moment it was signed last year.
20. Oklahoma City Thunder – Made a few decent small caliber moves, adding an extra shooter in Anthony Morrow and drafting Mitch McGary (who looked spry at Orlando Summer League) in the first round, but for a team that thinks it’s in contention for a title, did very little to address the need for a more versatile roster come playoff time. Perhaps they have a move in them during the season, but that doesn’t seem Sam Presti’s modus operandi.