NBA Power Rankings: Offseason’s good, bad and ugly
By Seth Partnow
UP AND DOWN
19. New York Knicks – Melo stayed (because they gave him all the money), so that’s already better than Miami did. Improved their point guard situation in theory by getting Jose Calderon and Shane Larkin and more importantly jettisoning Ray Felton in the Tyson Chandler deal. But this could be the worst defensive team in the league heading into next season, and for all the scoring outbursts of Tim Hardaway, Jr. and Cleanthony Early in Vegas, scoring the ball wasn’t ever going to be their main issue. One early bright spot is Derek Fisher seemed to take to coaching very well in Summer League as the fake-Knicks ran an offense that was recognizably the vaunted triangle, no easy feat with a hastily assembled roster and limited practice time.
18. Boston Celtics – Getting Marcus Smart at No. 6 overall was nice, but he was probably the least favorite of the players likely to be there to be selected, (as a Celtics fan was hoping Aaron Gordon would have been available there). James Young at 17 opened some eyes, banking on youth and perceived upside over the more developed but older Gary Harris. Signing Avery Bradley to a four-year/$32 million contract seemed wasteful as there was likely no real competition for his signature. On the plus side of the ledger, the Celtics did add a marginal interior prospect and a future first rounder for the price of allowing Cleveland to clear some cap room.
17. L.A. Clippers Clippers – Addressed some needs by signing Spencer Hawes to round out the frontcourt depth and added Jordan Farmar to replace the departed Darren Collison at backup point guard (an upgrade in my book.) Still the lingering chaos surrounding the organization given the ongoing Sterling litigation probably prevented any really effort at any sort of more impactful move.
16. Orlando Magic – The Magic have very much had a two steps forward, one step back sort of offseason. On the good side of the ledger, clearing some space for the talented core of young guards by shipping Arron Afflalo for the intriguing 3rd year swingman Evan Fournier. Drafted Aaron Gordon, who I absolutely love as a prospect. Picked up talented point guard Elfrid Payton, but may have overpaid for the right to do so. And that gets us to the one step back part. Signed Ben Gordon to a mystifying deal, and added Channing Frye on a deal where the dollars made sense, but the timing didn’t as the Magic did not appear to show much ambition in terms of using their cap space to go after some of the bigger names like Stephenson, Hayward, Bledsoe or Parsons.
15. Memphis Grizzlies – Added some wing shooting in Vince Carter, lost some in Mike Miller. Added a couple of potentially contributing rookies in Jordan Adams and Jarnell Stokes, but neither has much start potential. Lost out on the little-used Ed Davis. Basically stood pat, and are hoping for better health next season.
14. Atlanta Hawks – Probably a bit of a harsh ranking, but there was no real ambition to a team which when healthy was the third best in the East last season. Certainly Al Horford back and healthy is a boon, and Adreian Payne will provide further depth at the 4 or 5 while not sacrificing Coach Mike Budenholzer’s beloved shooting and floor-spacing on offense. Thabo Sefolosha adds some wing depth and Kent Bazemore has talent. Nothing wrong really, just no big splashes.
13. Denver Nuggets – On pure productivity, Arron Afflalo will give them far more than Even Fournier did last year. Even though his defensive reputation is oversold, he has genuine 2-guard size, unlike incumbent Randy Foye. Gary Harris was one of the biggest drops from pre-draft stock to actual draft position, but he was good value at 19, and the Nuggets also secured the rights to Nikola Pekovic clone Jusuf Nurkic in the deal which sent Doug McDermott to Chicago. With Danilo Gallinari returning to the court and Brian Shaw with a year under his belt, the Nuggets will be much improved from last year even if they might fall just outside the playoffs in the tough West.