NBA Teams In The Worst Positions
In the NBA, some teams are in good and bad positions. Some teams like the Lakers have championship aspirations for the next couple of seasons and will be at the top of the league. Some teams have playoff dreams. And others have no hope for a title and no hope for the future. Today I will be going over a few teams that are in the worst positions in the NBA.
Here are some of the teams in the worst position. This is not a ranking more of a list.
Detroit Pistons
The Pistons have been one of worst teams in the league the past few seasons. They have been a low-tier playoff team for the better part of the past decade, and now they don’t have much of a future. They have one of the least talented rosters in the league, without much young talent.
Blake Griffin is 31 years old but he has been plagued with injuries in his tenure with the Pistons. In the last two full seasons with the Pistons, Griffin has only played in 93 games. He only played 18 games in the 19-20 season. Griffin will never be Clippers Griffin again, and I doubt he will ever make anything of his tenure with the Pistons.
Derrick Rose has found some new life in the Motor City, making him one of the best bench players in the league. But Rose is 32 years old and will become an unrestricted free agent next summer. Rose likely won’t stay with the Pistons as he tries to finally win a title in his roller coaster of a career.
Christian Wood is a promising young big guy, and was one of the few bright spots on the roster this past season. But it doesn’t sound like the 25 year old will be staying with the Pistons for much longer. Wood was on an Instagram Live asking fans which team he should go to next, implying a move from Detroit. Woods is an unrestricted free agent and will be well sought out for.
Other than that, the Pistons don’t have much talent. Derrick Rose is likely on his way out and Griffin likely won’t ever be Lob City Griffin again. Christian Wood doesn’t sound happy and will leave this offseason. The Pistons do have the 7th pick in the draft, but that player won’t be a cornerstone in a new era of Pistons basketball.
So the Pistons don’t have any young talent to build off in the future, their better players will likely be leaving and they aren’t exactly a free agent hotspot. So basketball in Detroit will likely continue to be mediocre for a long time.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Without Lebron James, this franchise isn’t much. The roster doesn’t have much transcendent talent, and they aren’t like the Pistons because they don’t have a lot of cap space to try and fill out the roster.
Collin Sexton is a very good scorer for the Cavs, averaging nearly 21 points per game this past season. But Sexton isn’t a very good playmaker for a point guard and he isn’t big enough (6-1, 190 lb.) to play shooting guard. He’s what you would want out of a traditional point guard and likely won’t be the long-term solution for the Cavs.
Andre Drummond is a solid player, it’s just that he gets paid way too much. Drummond needs a great passing guard to help him score down low, something that Collin Sexton is not. Drummond is ok on defense but not great and he is still a great rebounder. But Drummond has a player option worth about $25,000,000, and he will accept that. Drummond likely won’t be on any long term plans for the Cavs.
Kevin Love is another solid player, but he will never be his Timberwolves self. Love is solid and brings great leadership, but he looks disinterested at times. He isn’t great defensively and he won’t get any better. Love is making more than $30,000,000 per year, and he also shouldn’t be in the Cavs long term plans.
Darius Garland was selected 5th overall in the 2019 draft, and he didn’t look great in his rookie season. Garland only averaged 12.3 points and shot 40% from the field. But Garland isn’t a great playmaker and is a pretty small guy like Sexton (6-1, 192 lb.) So both of these guys can’t play PG or SG, which doesn’t really help the Cavs much. Garland could be a decent role player, but not worth a #5 overall pick in the draft.
Kevin Porter Jr is another solid young guy off the bench. He averaged 10.0 points per game on 44% shooting last season and will be a solid piece for a rebuilding Cavs team.
The Cavs have some promising young talent, but it likely won’t help them get better. Neither Sexton or Garland can play the 1-2, and they are paying Kevin Love and Andre Drummond a lot of money. So they don’t have cap, they don’t have a key young guy to really build off, and they aren’t a free agent destination. The Cavs do have the 5th pick in the draft again, so maybe they choose a position of need (*cough cough* SF).
Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets have built themselves into one of the stronger teams in the Western Conference over the past few seasons. They have had the likes of Harden, Westbrook, and Paul just over the past 3 seasons. But none of these combos have resulted in a title, and now the the Rockets are stuck.
The Rockets committed to small ball the minute they traded Clint Capela to the Hawks. But their roster isn’t greatly equipped to play small ball. Yes guys like Covington and Harden are great fits, but some pieces of the roster like Russell Westbrook don’t fit at all.
James Harden is one of the best scorers in the league and he is not the problem. I think that Stephen Silas needs to make Harden make more off ball and shoot more catch and shoot 3’s in order for the Rockets to be successful and not be so Harden reliant.
Russell Westbrook hasn’t found success with KD, and there are reasons why. Westbrook has no resemblance of a jumper, and for a team like the Rockets that depends on everybody shooting the ball, it doesn’t work. The Rockets were up 2-0 against the Thunder without Westbrook, and the series ended up going 7 games because he came back in. And in the series vs the Lakers, Westbrook was exposed for his lack of a jumper as LA dared him to shoot, and this strategy worked.
We all know what Westbrook is at this point, and he won’t change. He cannot be the best player on a championship team, and he will likely retire ring-less. The Rockets for sure won’t be winning with Harden and Westbrook.
And not only do the Rockets have a flawed roster for the small ball that they want, they don’t have anything to build on for the future. Harden and Westbrook are both in their 30’s and their roster isn’t bustling with youth. They don’t have any first round picks for the next couple of years due to the trades for CP-3 and Russell Westbrook. So the Rockets can’t really go anywhere for a while. They’ll just have to settle for a decent regular season and playoff exit for a bit longer until things can finally lead to them winning a title.
LA Clippers
The Clippers assembled one of the most talented rosters this offseason, but they couldn’t hide their fundamental flaws in the playoffs as they crashed and burned in the 2nd round. But now the Clippers find themselves in a very desperate spot.
Paul George and Kawhi Leonard were a solid duo, although Paul George did disappoint in the playoffs. But these two could leave the Clippers in the 2021 offseason as they both have player options. So it’s championship or bust for the Clippers in the 2020-21 season, which makes them in a very tight corner.
The Clippers have some key free agents this summer, like Marcus Morris and Montrezl Harrell. In my humble opinion, the Clippers should ditch Harrell because he is a liability on defense, as he got torched by Jokic and Denver in the playoffs. But the Clippers have the talent no doubt to win the title next season. But their future could be very bad.
If PG and Kawhi leave, think of all they gave up. They gave up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a promising young guard now blossoming on the Thunder. Danillo Gallinari is a solid veteran who also did good things for the Thunder this past season. The Clippers also gave up 5 first round picks, spanning until 2026. So their next first round pick is currently in 6th grade. Kind of crazy.
So if the Clippers don’t win a ring in the 2020-21 season, they are kind of screwed. They went all in for PG, giving up two decent players and 5 first round picks over the course of 6 seasons, all the way up until 2026. And all of it may be for not as Kawhi and PG can cut their losses and leave during the free agency of 2021. So the Clippers desperately need to win a title in the 2020-21 season, otherwise the Clippers will become, well the Clippers once again.
What Other Teams Are In Bad Positions? Leave A Comment Down Below!
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