James Wiseman, Talen Horton-Tucker and the most interesting NBA players in the West

With the season just days away we’re looking at James Wiseman, Talen Horton-Tucker and the most interesting NBA player for every team in the Western Conference.

We’re less than a week away from the start of the 2020-21 NBA season. That makes this as good a time as any to walk through which players we’re most interested in watching for the coming year. Here is every tea in the Western Conference. You can find the East right here.

Pacific Division

James Wiseman (Warriors), Serge Ibaka (Clippers), Talen Horton-Tucker (Lakers), Cameron Johnson and Jae Crowder (Suns), Marvin Bagley (Kings)

Once again without Klay Thompson for the year, the Warriors are down one star from what they expected to have this season. Stephen Curry is healthy and Draymond Green is apparently in shape, so this is a team that should want to be in the True Contender mix. But the only way they get there, in my mind, is if Wiseman is quickly able to become a dominant force on the inside. That’s a really big ask for a rookie. Most rookies are bad. Most rookie big men are worse, because it takes longer to learn all the intricacies of being the back-line protector on defense. Lucky for Wiseman, Draymond is going to be that guy, and he can concentrate on rebounding, blocking shots, and dunking. If he can imitate, say, Tyson Chandler as a rookie, that’s a heck of a start. There will be room for growth later.

The center spot is also the position of intrigue for the Clippers. They replaced Montrezl Harrell with Ibaka after the former left for the Lakers in free agency, and… this actually seems like a much better fit. Ibaka is a better defender and better shooter, which means he’ll make more sense alongside both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Ty Lue apparently plans to start Ibaka ahead of Ivica Zubac, but he would work just as well with Lou Williams on the second unit.

The Lakers, like most LeBron James-led teams, are pretty old. With a minutes-weighted age of 29.5 years old, they were the oldest team in the league last season. They got a bit younger by swapping out Danny Green and Dwight Howard for Dennis Schroder and Montrezl Harrell, but they essentially don’t have any “prospects” beyond Horton-Tucker, who is the only player on the team that is younger than 25. For that reason alone, he’s intriguing. He also looked like he belonged on the floor during his two-game playoff appearances in the bubble, which is nice. (And he’s looked quite good in preseason.) If he can become a solid rotation player, that’s a pretty big development.

Johnson took over the starting 4 spot for the Suns in the bubble, and the lineups with him alongside Ricky Rubio, Devin Booker, Mikal Bridges, and DeAndre Ayton smoked the opposition. The Suns brought in Chris Paul to replace Rubio, raising both the floor and ceiling of those groups. Johnson should shoot the lights out no matter what, but how he progresses defensively will determine whether and how much Crowder eats into his role. Either way, the two versatile forwards seem extremely likely to end up important cogs for the Suns due to their ability to guard multiple frontcourt spots and space the floor, while neither needs the ball in their hands all that often.

Is Bagley a center? Can he protect the paint? Is he more of a four? Can he shoot from beyond 15-18 feet? Can he pass, like, at all? He only played 13 games last year. We need a lot of answers about this dude’s skill set.

Southwest Division

Josh Richardson (Mavericks), John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins (Rockets), Jaren Jackson Jr. (Grizzlies), Zion Williamson (Pelicans), Dejounte Murray, Lonnie Walker, Derrick White, Keldon Johnson, and Devin Vassell vs. DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge (Spurs)

Richardson seemingly just did not fit very well in Philadelphia, on or off the floor. He fits perfectly in Dallas. It’s tough to think of a more Rick Carlisle-esque wing player. He should be like new-age Josh Howard for the Mavericks, defending all three spots along the perimeter, spotting up, beating closeouts, and doing some secondary ball-handling. He should shine alongside Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis, and also take some pressure off Tim Hardaway Jr. and Maxi Kleber on defense, as they won’t have to deal with the best wing scorers on all that regular a basis anymore.

I’m almost afraid to say anything about Wall and Boogie. I just want them to be happy. And fun. The two of them on the same team after all this time is just heartwarming. I hope they shine.

Ja Morant quickly became a star-level player. The trajectory for him over the next several years actually seems fairly clear. It’s less clear for Jackson. He’s definitely a good player, and almost certainly a winning player. The question is what kind of player he’s going to be. Right now he’s a shooter, a heady-ish passer, and a smart but not necessarily overly-capable defender. He should be better on that end. And he has to get, like, one rebound. If he can turn himself into a center, that opens up a whole lot of possibilities for the Grizzlies. If he needs to play next to another big man at all times, they’ll need to construct things a bit differently.

Williamson appears to have reported to camp in much better shape than he did either at the start of last season or in the bubble. That’s a good start. Being lighter on his feet will go a long way toward allowing him to have an impact on defense, where he was a humongous negative as a rookie. He’s so strong, so explosive, so skilled offensively that he’s going to be a high-level contributor no matter what. But keeping the weight off will help him on defense and more importantly, help him stay healthy.

The Spurs could be really fun… if they commit to the young guys. It seems like Murray and Walker are going to start in the backcourt with White still injured. That’s a duo that makes a lot of sense, with size and length and ball-handling and, given Walker’s development, enough shooting. But only if they’re not also playing alongside both DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge, let alone both of those guys and Jakob Poeltl. How much the Spurs lean on the vets as opposed to the youngins is obviously a storyline to watch. They’ll want to do right by the older guys, but at what point is the era just over?

Northwest Division

Michael Porter Jr. (Nuggets), Jarrett Culver (Timberwolves), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder), Robert Covington and Derrick Jones Jr. (Trail Blazers), Rudy Gobert (Jazz)

MPJ, for obvious reasons.

Culver’s stock has already fallen hard just one year into his career. Last year, we saw almost none of the skill that made him a top-six pick translate to the next level. He didn’t shoot (29.9 percent from 3), didn’t rebound or pass particularly well for his position, and most troublingly, didn’t defend all that well. A year later, the Wolves have A. traded for D’Angelo Russell; and B. drafted Anthony Edwards. Where does Culver fit on this team now? Is he a backup swing man? Can he get his defense up to bar and become a wing stopper? Will he ever be a passable shooter? Very quickly, it’s an important season for his future.

For the first two years of his career, SGA has been a complementary player. He’s shown himself capable of taking over at times, but he hasn’t needed to be the lead guy. That’ll change this year. He’s going to be the undisputed lead ball-handler, top shot-maker, decision-maker, everything. Having Al Horford there will be great for him, but there’s going to be a lot on his plate. Extension-eligible at the end of the season, he could make himself a lot of money if he takes to the role well.

Last offseason, the Blazers finally moved on from Moe Harkless and Al-Farouq Aminu. By the time they got a month into the season, I’m not sure they had any forwards left on the roster, so they had to bring in Carmelo Anthony. A year later, they’re actually kinda stacked with forwards, and Anthony will (willingly!) come off the bench behind Covington and Jones. Covington is the perfect kind of player the Blazers needed: tremendous team defender and capable shooter. Jones is a preposterous athlete who can shoot and handle a little bit. How those two, Melo, and Gary Trent fill their roles will determine whether the Blazers are a solid playoff team or battling it out for one of the play-in spots.

Let’s just say Gobert had an interesting 2019-20 season. He’s extension-eligible right now, and presumably wants to lock in a long-term deal. Can he and the Jazz come to terms? If not, what does that mean for their future? Re-signing Derrick Favors for three years and $30 million doesn’t tell us a lot one way or the other. Favors can play both next to and behind Gobert; we’ve seen him do it before. They needed that type of lineup versatility anyway. But if Gobert isn’t long for Utah (which, to be clear, seems unlikely), what do the Jazz even go looking for in return?