NLL Insider - What's Next? Central Divisionby wizkid, updated on Saturday, July 01 2017, 03:39 pm EST Blue =
Possible trade / Free agency candidates The Central Division Chicago Bulls Approx Cap Situation: $103,000,000 GM Points: 62 Record: 42-40 Incoming Rookies: None Key Players Returning: Robin Lopez, Buddy Hield, Joakim Noah, Dragan Bender, Seth Currry,
Garrett Temple, Jameer Nelson
Unrestricted Free Agents: Dirk Nowitzki, Stephen
Curry, Thabo Sefolosha Restricted Free Agents: None Rumours: After being famously burned
by Dirk a few years ago, Daz is making sure to lock up his two stars. He tried
to get everything he could in exchange for the free agents that won’t be back
this coming season and had some success doing so. Targets: Unless Dirk gives the Bulls
a huge discount as an apology note for last time – they aren’t going to have
much cap space. Curry is likely due for a raise that will wipe out any hope at
getting under the cap. The wings are their weakest area and likely letting
Thabo go only makes that worse – they should go after a small forward if they
can get one good enough to supplant Garrett Temple in the starting lineup. Overview The last time the Bulls won
more than 30 games was 2009-2010. Their 23 win improvement in order to rise to
the 7th seed in a stacked Eastern Conference was very impressive and
a much needed breath of fresh air in Chicago. Daz is going to have to step up
in new ways to get his team to an even higher level – most of the teams in
front of the Bulls in the playoff seedings are multiple star players ahead of
them. But with Curry, a couple of talented prospects, and savvy veterans – many
of the pieces are there. The struggle is really that outside of internal
improvement, they don’t have a lot of levers to pull and there are a few
younger teams breathing down the back of their necks – it will be a tough task
to make the playoffs again, but the Curry and Dazman combo has finally clicked
so the spot is theirs to lose. Possible Line-up · PG – Stephen Curry · SG – Buddy Hield · SF – Garrett Temple · PF – Dirk Nowitzki · C – Robin Lopez · 6th Man – Seth
Curry Cleveland Cavaliers Approx Cap Situation $86,000,000 GM Points: 93 Record: 61-21 Picks: Kadeem
Allen Key Players Returning: Lebron
James, Andre Drummond, Terrence Ross, Robert Covington
Unrestricted Free Agents: Serge Ibaka, Brandon Jennings, Jason Terry, Michael Carter-Williams, Mike
Muscala, Luis Scola Restricted Free Agents: None Rumours: PistolPK spent a good portion
of the season trying to find value for Serge Ibaka – he’ll spend the offseason
trying to convince Ibaka that he was just joking, so that he’ll resign and then
try to turn around and trade him during the season. After trading away part of
the Cavs dynasty team (Tony Parker) for MCW, Pistol is so burnt by his falloff
that he’s not even entertain bringing him back – and may try to make it so he
never finds another job in this league. Targets: Anybody that can run the
point. After Parker left town it was a whirlwind of experiments – ending with
Andrew Harrison running the show. But that isn’t sustainable for a team trying
to win 60+ - and Lebron may not be happy at carrying the load. Other than
trying to lure in that point guard without much cap space after Serge resigns,
they’ll need to fill in some depth around the edges. Overview: The feeling is that the
Cavs dynasty is over – most teams would sign up for winning 3 of the last 5.
However, it’s really 0 of the last 2 that matters. They’re still a 60-win team
with Lebron in town and as long as Serge and Andre keep protecting the rim and
grabbing boards. Bringing in Covington was a great move and gives them 4 legit
starters – if they can find that 5th starter, then they’ll be
feeling as dangerous as ever. This feels like one of the valid situations where
it may be worth giving up something like Terrence Ross and a first round pick
in order to bring in a guy that fits with the starting unit. Possible Line-up · PG – Andrew Harrison · SG – Robert Covington · SF – Lebron James · PF – Serge Ibaka · C – Andre Drummond · 6th Man – Terrence
Ross
Detroit Pistons Approx Cap Situation $72,000,000 GM Points: 67 Record: 29-53 Picks: DeAaron
Fox, Donovan Mitchell, Vlatko Cancar Key Players Returning: Kenneth Faried, Ben
Simmons, Jerryd Bayless, Luol Deng
Unrestricted Free Agents: Bryn Forbes, Pat
Connaughton, Sheldon McClellan Restricted Free Agents: Gorgui Dieng, Victor
Oladipo Rumours: Point guard immediately
went from a huge strength to a weakness in the Chris Paul deal. Laddas would
love to crack the playoffs this year and Bayless probably doesn’t have what it
takes to be a starter if DeAaron Fox isn’t ready – where can they get one with
zero picks in the next 4 years to trade and likely no cap space after Oladip
and Dieng get paid? Speaking of point guard –
Ben Simmons? Jerryd Bayless, Mirza
Teletovic, Brandan Wright and Luol Deng combine to be potentially the highest
paid bench quartet in the league ($42 mil) – does that sound like a good
investment? Something will be done here… Targets: GM Penny will have a ton of
cap space to dispose of, and will likely look to add depth to the team in
2016/17, specifically at the point guard and power forward positions. Overview: Laddas has done a great job
over the last year of turning this into a team that could be in the playoffs at
some point. He used up a lot of draft assets to pull it off, but added some
solid rookies this season to go with what is now a pretty young core – so I
don’t think that’s an issue. There has been enough turnover that they kind of
need to see what they have. They need to figure out if they can sustain the
team they’ve got with all of those salaries on the bench… they may roll off
before young guys’ money kicks in and work out okay though. Possible Line-up · PG – DeAaron Fox · SG – Victor Oladipo · SF – Ben Simmons · PF – Kenneth Faried · C – Gorgui Dieng · 6th Man – Luol
Deng Indiana Pacers Approx Cap Situation $35,000,000 GM Points: 73 Record:
29-53 Picks: Malik
Monk Key Players Returning: Steven
Adams, Tobias Harris, Tony Parker, Matthew Dellavedova, Cory Joseph
Unrestricted Free Agents: Blake Griffin, Darrun Hilliard, Georges Niang, Okaro White, Reggie Bullock Restricted Free Agents: None Rumours: Sheed is willing to do
ANYTHING to get Blake to come back! Please submit suggestions below. Point guards… who needs
one? The pacers have accumulated 3 borderline starters (Parker, Delly, and
CoJo) making a combined $33 mil this coming season to go along with Raul Neto
(a fan favorite) and Tyus Jones (a prospect they traded for). They can’t
dedicate that much money and that many roster spots to guys that can really only play point. Front court isn’t changing
– Sheed has found the mix he wants, and after convincing Blake to stick around,
Tobias and Steven will team up for years. Targets: Shooting guards… any of
them! Despite an up and down year, trading Jeremy Lamb for a much older guy at
a position that you don’t really need another decent player at was an odd move.
They’re currently pinning almost all of their hopes on Malik Monk. The guy
looks like a good prospect, but even if he comes out of the gates looking
amazing – they really don’t even have a real backup. Clear that point guard
backlog and bring in a two guard! Overview: They did a great job of
solidifying the frontcourt and it looks really balanced right now. The past 4
years have been 59, 53, 44, and 29 wins. That trajectory can’t continue or
they’re going to lose more than 82 games. Sheed needs to, and can, find a way
to turn this around. Monk could be a great start, and if he can find the right
way to shuffle around the depth he’s got to be a better fit, we could be
looking at more than a 10 win improvement in the coming season. Possible Line-up · PG – Tony Parker · SG – Malik Monk · SF – Tobias Harris · PF – Blake Griffin · C – Steven Adams · 6th Man – Matthew
Dellavedova
Milwaukee Bucks Approx Cap Situation $115,000,000 GM Points: 99 Record: 64-18 Picks: Jarrett
Allen Key Players Returning: Everyone
Unrestricted Free Agents: None Restricted Free Agents: None Rumours: Another trade of a veteran
about to get paid for a prospect? Trading Caldwell-Pope was basically that same
type of deal for the third straight year. Aaron Gordon, Jusuf Nurkic, and Zach
Lavine are next up on that train – don’t be surprised to see one or more of
them getting spun forward into more high-value/low-price prospects. They wouldn’t trade Russ…
right?!? Targets: If the Bucks are really
convinced that Nurkic and KAT can start together – they really need somebody in
the paint off of the bench. Poeltl has been a bit of a disappointment thus far,
but could turn the corner… but how much does a title contender want to bank on
that uncertain bet? They’ve got a good number of future picks and some other
talent that isn’t key to their immediate success – can they turn one of those
into a big-time big man to prevent the falloff from the great starting
frontcourt to the Skal/Thad project that backs them up? Overview: The Bucks are up there with
the best in the league. At this phase of things, it really comes down to the
small adjustments to put yourself in the best seed in the playoffs and giving
yourself enough tools to make adjustments and win a playoff series. Possible Line-up · PG – Russell Westbrook · SG – Zach LaVine · SF – Giannis Antetokounmpo · PF – Karl-Anthony Towns · C – Jusuf Nurkic · 6th Man – Louis
Williams
Ladder Predictor 2017 This is a two-team race with a lot of intrigue behind them. I think the
Bucks take the Division crown in a tight race with the Cavs for the second year
in a row. The Bulls ride the talent of their star to another narrow playoff
berth, the Pistons give their fans something to cheer for as they narrowly lose
out on the 8th seed to the Bulls and the Pacers are still left
looking around for the missing piece as they finish a strong 5th in
a very tough Division. That said – the only thing that keeps this from being a
possible 5 playoff team Division is the even tougher Atlantic Division, and I
don’t think this is the year that the Central takes that crown. 1.
Milwaukee
Bucks 2. Cleveland
Cavaliers 3.
Chicago
Bulls 4.
Detroit
Pistons 5.
Indiana
Pacers |
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