Golden State Warriors

Additions: Kevin Durant, Damian Jones, Patrick McCaw, JaVale McGee, Zaza Pachulia, David West

Subtractions: Leandro Barbosa, Harrison Barnes, Andrew Bogut, Festus Ezeli, Brandon Rush, Marreese Speights

2016-17 Cap Space: None. Over Salary Floor. Under Luxury Tax.

2017-18 Maximum Cap Space: $60.2 million

Analysis: The Golden State Warriors went into the offseason with one goal: add Kevin Durant to the team that went 73-9 and was less than a minute from capturing a second straight title. Mission accomplished. 

We could end the recap with the signing of Durant, but there was a lot more to the Warriors offseason. In order to add Durant, the Warriors had to sacrifice two starters and four other contributors to their historic run over the last two years. Losing Harrison Barnes, a major component to the “Death Lineup” and Andrew Bogut, key on both ends of the floor, would be disastrous for most teams. The loss of four backups who all played a big part in the Warriors’ success at various times, would also strike a major blow. Yet, Golden State emerges almost entirely unscathed, and in many ways even better. 

For all intents and purposes, Durant is swapped in for Barnes. Durant is an upgrade in every conceivable way. He’s a better shooter, scorer, passer and defender. And in most of those categories, he’s better by a large margin. He also allows the Warriors to continue playing the “Death Lineup”, but at an even higher level. Everyone knows how great Durant is, so there is no need to spend a lot of time on this upgrade. 

Durant replaces Barnes, and so does Zaza Pachulia with Bogut. This one isn’t nearly as cut and dry, however. Despite obvious signs of aging, Bogut remains one of the best defensive players at the center position in the NBA. He’s also a tremendous passer and screener. A large chunk of the Golden State offense featured Bogut at the top of the key delivering passes to shooters or executing dribble handoffs. Pachulia can replace many aspects of what Bogut does on the interior defensively. He’s also a good screener, but his passing isn’t at the level of Bogut. Expect to see Steve Kerr tweak the offense a bit with Pachulia spending more time screening along the elbow to baseline area and others initiating the offense from up top. 

Off the bench, Golden State is replacing big men Festus Ezeli and Marreese Speights with David West and JaVale McGee. West still has plenty in the tank as a backup power forward/center. The Warriors will be able to keep his minutes down throughout the regular season and that should keep him fresh for what should be an extended playoff run. Speights' contributions would come in waves, often several good games in a row followed by a complete disappearance for a week or so. West should be a more consistent contributor off the bench. 

McGee remains an enigmatic player, even as he enters his ninth NBA season. Golden State will ask him to play around 10-15 minutes a night at the most, block shots, rebound and only look to shoot when he has a layup or dunk. In many ways, that isn’t any different from the role Ezeli played. The difference is that Ezeli filled that role quite well over the last few years when he was healthy enough to play. McGee has faced injuries of his own and his play is often erratic. This spot bears watching.

Leandro Barbosa and Brandon Rush have also moved on and the Warriors have only added rookie Patrick McCaw in their place. McCaw shows promise as a shooter and he should be given plenty of time to develop in either the D-League or in garbage time. If he shows capable of a bigger role, he could become an offensive threat off the bench.

And of course, the Warriors return the most versatile player in the league and a major key to the system on both ends in Draymond Green. His team USA teammate Klay Thompson is also back, along with reserves Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston. Oh, and Golden State still has that Stephen Curry guy, who is only rewriting the basketball record book as he chases a third straight MVP trophy.

2016-17 Grade: A. While it is tempting to look for weakness in losing so many key contributors, it is impossible to make much of them with the Durant addition. And the reality is that they didn’t have many real weaknesses to address to begin with. The Warriors won’t likely top 70 wins again, but only because they won’t push nearly as hard. But they start the season as the odds on favorites to make it two titles in three years. 

Long-term Grade: A. At the end of the season, Curry, Durant, Iguodala, Livingston and Pachulia will all be free agents. The good news is that the Warriors have the ability to retain all of them with relative ease. They won’t have to go through the cap gymnastics of this summer to bring the team back. Curry should join Green and Thompson on a long-term deal and Durant may make it a foursome. You can safely expect to see the Warriors as the title favorites for at least the next handful of seasons.

Los Angeles Clippers

Additions: Alan Anderson, Brandon Bass, Raymond Felton, Brice Johnson, Marreese Speights, Diamond Stone

Subtractions: Cole Aldrich, Jeff Ayres, Branden Dawson, Jeff Green, Pablo Prigioni, C.J. Wilcox

2016-17 Cap Space: None. $1.5 million over Luxury Tax.

2017-18 Maximum Cap Space: $40.6 million 

Analysis: After another disappointing postseason that saw the Clippers exit earlier than planned, the team returns the same top 7-8 players in the rotation. Behind them, the Clippers largely upgraded the rest of the bench. The goal remains the same: give one of the best starting units in the league enough support off the bench to keep pace with the Warriors and Spurs, and hope for better luck come playoff time.

The entire starting five of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, J.J. Redick, and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute returns, as do Jamal Crawford, Austin Rivers and Wesley Johnson off the bench. When healthy, that group has lifted LA to great success and can run with any of the best teams in the league. The challenge has been staying healthy. Paul, Griffin and Redick have all had injuries ranging from nagging to season ending over the years. This year, Doc Rivers will likely lean on his bench more in hopes of making the playoffs healthy.

In order to rely on the reserves, the Clippers had to make some upgrades. The only effective reserve from last season the Clippers lost is Cole Aldrich. He played very well behind Jordan at the center position, but LA’s lack of resources to pay Aldrich, and the lure of returning home, drew him to Minnesota. Beyond Aldrich, the reserves lost aren’t anyone the Clippers will miss. Green was inconsistent as per usual, Prigioni was out of the rotation by the end of the year, and Ayres, Dawson and Wilcox rarely played. 

In their places come Brandon Bass and Marreese Speights to join the big rotation, Alan Anderson to provide depth on the wing and Raymond Felton to give the team the same at point guard. Bass is a favorite of Doc Rivers as an ultra-professional who is always prepared when called upon. Speights comes over from rival Golden State and will give the Clippers some scoring punch up front. Anderson and Felton are depth pieces behind established rotation players, but will likely be called upon at some point when Doc rests his regulars. Rookies Brice Johnson and Diamond Stone round out the additions, but given the veterans in front of them and Rivers’ reluctance to play rookies, it is unlikely that either will have any sort of impact this season. 

2016-17 Grade: B+. Overall, the Clippers won’t look much different on most nights. The biggest difference will be that the team shouldn’t see nearly as much drop off from the starters to the bench. That additional depth should allow Doc Rivers to manage minutes and rest his veterans throughout the season. A drop in wins could come, but better health as the Clips hit the postseason is all that really matters.

Long-term Grade: D. Los Angeles’ long term outlook doesn’t look great. Chris Paul is a probable free agent (he has a Player Option) after the season and he’ll likely be joined by Griffin (also has a Player Option). Given the Clippers lack of resources to add replacements, they’ll want to re-sign both players. Redick is also a free agent and the team needs to bring back their best shooter. Having given out big contracts to Crawford and Austin Rivers this summer limits the flexibility the Clippers have. Beyond this year, the Clippers will either look the same, only a year older, or they’ll break it up the band. There really aren’t any other choices.

Los Angeles Lakers

Additions: Jose Calderon, Luol Deng, Brandon Ingram, Yi Jianlian, Timofey Mozgov, Ivaca Zubac

Subtractions: Brandon Bass, Kobe Bryant, Roy Hibbert, Ryan Kelly, Robert Sacre, Metta World Peace

2016-17 Cap Space: None. Over Salary Floor. Under Luxury Tax.

2017-18 Maximum Cap Space: $40.9 million

Analysis: The Los Angeles Lakers will take the floor for the first time in two decades without Kobe Bryant. Bryant’s storied career came to an end as the Lakers missed the playoffs for a third straight season, which is the longest stretch in team history. For such a proud franchise, this disappointment digs deep. The Lakers have amassed a talented group of youngsters to try and get back to the winning ways and lead the next round of Showtime. 

Along with Bryant, veteran contributors Roy Hibbert and Brandon Bass have also moved on. Joining the exodus are deeper bench pieces Metta World Peace, Ryan Kelly and Robert Sacre. Outside of sentimental reasons around Bryant and World Peace, none of these players will be missed very much. 

Joining the Lakers are veteran replacements Luol Deng, Timofey Mozgov and Jose Calderon. The former two are expected to be immediate starters in the frontcourt and Calderon brings a veteran presence at point guard to a very young backcourt. The Lakers are also taking a flier on Yi Jianlian and bringing him back to the NBA from China. The team and Yi agreed to a very creative contract structure that allows the Lakers to bow out at various points in the season at very little cost. 

The vets are all nice players, and all are upgrades on the players they replace, but what really has Hollywood buzzing is the arrival of two exciting rookies in Brandon Ingram and Ivica Zubac. Ingram was drafted second overall and joins the NBA as a readymade scorer. He’ll start the year off backing up Deng, but he’ll push for a starting job. Ingram has a lot to learn defensively, but his offensive game is a welcome addition to a team that occasionally struggled on that end. Zubac is a project, but has enough raw skills, that a patient approach is best. With Mozgov in the fold, Yi also able to play some center and some good small ball options, the Lakers can afford to let Zubac develop in the D-League for most of this year.

Over time, it isn’t a stretch to envision the Lakers rolling out a starting lineup that includes Zubac and Ingram joined by existing young talent D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson. Assuming that group can learn to defend at even a passable level, the Lakers have a lot to be excited about with their youngsters.

2016-17 Grade: B-. Luke Walton has his hands full in his first year as head coach of the Lakers. He was excellent when guiding the Warriors while Steve Kerr was on leave and his playing history with the Lakers should serve him well also. But he needs to balance the desire to get back to winning right away, with the need to develop the young talent on the roster. The first goal lends itself to a lot of minutes for Deng, Mozgov, Calderon and holdover reserve Lou Williams. The second would see those players’ roles reduced as the season goes on to free up time for the youngsters who are a part of the future. At any rate, the Lakers results may not be much different in the win-loss column, but they should be a far more watchable product this season when compared to the last few years.

Long-term Grade: C. Ingram, Russell, Randle, Clarkson, Zubac and fellow youngster Larry Nance are all exciting prospects. Unfortunately, when they are ready to step forward and begin winning, the roster will be handicapped by the giant contracts given to Deng and Mozgov. As soon as next season, Deng and Mozgov could both be in reserve roles and both will be paid a total of $102 million (all fully guaranteed) over the last three seasons of their deals. Those two contracts seemed unnecessary at the time they were given and will look even worse when the Lakers are looking to add quality pieces to their young core.

Phoenix Suns

Additions: Leandro Barbosa, Dragan Bender, Marquese Chriss, Jared Dudley, Tyler Ulis

Subtractions: Chase Budinger, Jon Leuer, Ronnie Price, Mirza Teletovic

2016-17 Cap Space: $13.2 million. $3.8 million under Salary Floor.

2017-18 Maximum Cap Space: $39.1 million 

Analysis: The Phoenix Suns are continuing their rebuild after missing the postseason for a franchise high fifth consecutive season. This time around, the Suns didn’t try any quick fixes or major free agent signings. They used one draft pick on Dragan Bender and traded up later in the Draft to get Marquese Chriss. Around those two, Phoenix brought back two former Suns to help guide the team towards playoff contention. 

In Bender and Chriss, Phoenix has their frontcourt of the future. Both players fit the new age NBA with their ability to play multiple positions. Bender can play both power forward and center and Chriss, a more natural power forward, can also play some small forward. As soon as opening night, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see one of them starting, and both may be starting by the end of the season.

Bender is an intriguing player who has drawn some comparisons to Kristaps Porzingis. As a skillful 7-footer, it isn’t hard to see where these comparisons come from. They aren’t exactly the same however. Porzingis is a handful on both ends of the court. He was also more prepared to come in and compete right out of the gate. Bender will need a little more time, however with good veteran presence around him, he should get there.

Chriss is an athletic player, who should fit in nicely with the rest of the Suns young players. He can get up and down the floor, has a nice mid-range shot and can finish inside. What will ultimately make or break things for Chriss out of the gate is his ability to defend at the NBA level. That said, he should be given plenty of opportunity to play as the Phoenix big rotation isn’t overly stocked.

Returning to the Valley of the Sun for another round of duty are Jared Dudley and Leandro Barbosa. Dudley has found his game again and fits in the new age of small ball better than he ever did before. His ability to play any position from 2-4 is a boon to any team. He has range on offense and is a smart, capable passer. He’ll replace Mirza Teletovic on the perimeter and will give the Suns a solid weapon off the bench. Barbosa is trending towards the end of his career, but remains a capable scorer off the bench. He’ll give Phoenix a burst of energy and an offensive lift whenever he checks in the game. His veteran influence as a champion with the Warriors will also be a nice addition to a relatively young roster. 

Tyler Ulis is the last addition and he’ll probably see a good deal of time with the Suns new D-League franchise in Prescott Valley. He showed a good ability at Kentucky and in Summer League to get into the paint and to make plays for his teammates. In addition, he’s a tremendous leader. With other point guard options in front of him, Phoenix can afford to give him plenty of development time with Northern Arizona.

2016-17 Grade: B+. Phoenix had an excellent draft in getting Bender, Chris and Ulis. Adding veterans Dudley and Barbosa were smart moves as well. Pairing that grouping with returning veterans Eric Bledsoe, Tyson Chandler, P.J. Tucker and Brandon Knight, along with youngsters Devin Booker, Alex Len and T.J. Warren, should have the Suns playing an exciting brand of basketball. Booker especially has fans in Phoenix fired up that he could be the next Klay Thompson, and the comparisons aren’t farfetched. With better health from Bledsoe, Chandler and Knight the Suns should be competitive most nights, while continuing to grow. 

Long-term Grade: B+. The long-term future is just as encouraging as the coming season. Booker, Bender and Chriss should form an exciting nucleus. Chandler’s contract is larger than you would like for a player of his age and production level, but with the cap increase it no longer looks like an albatross. Bledsoe and Knight are either good players to have or tradeable pieces, same with P.J. Tucker. Overall, the Suns have the flexibility and assets to get back to playoff contention sooner rather than later.

Sacramento Kings

Additions: Arron Afflalo, Matt Barnes, Skal Labissiere, Ty Lawson, Georgios Papagiannis, Malichi Richardson, Garrett Temple, Anthony Tolliver

Subtractions: Quincy Acy, James Anderson, Marco Belinelli, Caron Butler, Seth Curry, Duje Dukan, Eric Moreland, Rajon Rondo

2016-17 Cap Space: None. Over Salary Floor. Under Luxury Tax.

2017-18 Maximum Cap Space: $55.1 million

Analysis: The Sacramento Kings are now a decade into their run of no playoff appearances. Long gone are the Chris Webber led teams. In their place has been a string of confusing, ill-conceived, ill-fitting rosters. Every time it seems like the Kings are making a turn towards respectability, they take at least two steps back. Once again, it seems like they made progress this summer, but only time will tell if that is the correct prognosis or not. 

The only veteran contributor the Kings lost from last year’s team is Rajon Rondo. Everyone else ranged from inconsistent to no impact. Some of them may show more in their new locations (like Seth Curry and Quincy Acy), but none had shown enough with Sacramento to be kept.

Sacramento’s offseason pickups are upgrades almost across the board. Arron Afflalo should give the Kings the best play at shooting guard that they’ve had in recent memory. Ben McLemore has been given every opportunity to seize that position, but has struggled to grab hold of it. His shooting and defense have been inconsistent at best, and downright awful at worst. Afflalo may shoot too much for some people’s liking, but for a squad that needs another wing scorer, he’s a welcomed addition. He’s also been a solid defender for most of his career, which may be even more welcome than his offense. 

Also on the wing the Kings added Matt Barnes. He’s likely to fill a backup role behind Rudy Gay, but he’s a quality addition to the roster. He’ll defend and provide some outside shooting. He’s also known as a solid professional who adds a healthy layer of toughness to any team he plays for. Watching how he gets along with DeMarcus Cousins should be a fun storyline to monitor all year. 

Ty Lawson replaces Rajon Rondo at the point guard position. Darren Collison was initially slated to start, but ongoing legal troubles make his availability a question mark. This means Lawson could be called upon to start, at least at the start of the season. Since leaving Denver a year ago, Lawson hasn’t been very good. Lawson struggled badly with the Rockets and failed to make an impact with Indiana. But the player who was once a well above average starting point guard with his speed and playmaking ability could still resurface. Any sort of consistent play at point guard would be a great result.

Joining Lawson in the backcourt is Garrett Temple. He’s essentially the replacement for Seth Curry as a player who can swing between point guard and shooting guard. He may be relied upon as the backup point guard while Collison is out. He received a much larger contract than many expected this summer, so the Kings certainly plan for him to be a big part of the rotation.

Another player who got a bigger than expected contract is power forward Anthony Tolliver. He was signed to give Sacramento a big that stretch floor, a skill most of the other bigs on the roster don’t have. Tolliver joins a mix of players in the back up group that includes Omri Casspi, who found success as a small ball power forward last year.

For a team that already possesses a lot of talent at the center position in DeMarcus Cousins, Willie Cauley-Stein and Kosta Koufos, the Kings' draft selections were confusing to say the least. Georgios Papagiannis is a project out of Greece. He has great size and some good raw skills, but he’s at least a couple of years away from having an impact in the NBA. Sacramento doubled-down by adding another big man with Skal Labissiere later in the Draft. At Summer League, Labissiere showed great skill and a better than expect offensive game. Given playing time, he’ll have an immediate impact.

The Kings also added wing depth at the draft with Malachi Richardson. With the veteran depth added this summer, Richardson will be given time to develop and will likely see lots of time at Reno in the D-League. If he comes along as expected, he’ll provide ball handling and playmaking from the wing, along with solid defense and rebounding.

2016-17 Grade: A-. The Kings’ depth looks better than it has in recent seasons. They added proven veterans at many spots and supplemented them with young talent. Given how devoid the roster was of talent behind the starters in recent years, this is a welcomed change. And all of them will play for a new coach in Dave Joerger, who replaced George Karl. Karl had clearly lost the team and it was probably past time for a change. Joerger comes in with a good rep for building chemistry and a solid system on both ends of the floor. He’s already garnered the respect of the biggest voice in the locker room in Cousins. That will go a long way towards success. The Kings should be better this year, but the depth in the Western Conference remains a challenge for ending the playoff drought. 

Long-term Grade: B-. While the Kings added to their roster this year and should be improved, the outlook going forward isn’t as good. Temple is on a questionable contract. Very few established players are locked up on long term, team friendly deals. They have too much overlap at the center position. And they still have outstanding first round pick debts to be paid to both Chicago and Philadelphia. But most importantly, Cousins is only under contract for one more season after this year. All the losing and franchise turmoil (some of which he’s had a hand in) has clearly weighed on him. If the Kings don’t turn it around soon, Cousins could walk and that would leave Sacramento starting over yet another time. That is a scenario no one wants for the NBA’s most confusing franchise.