Yesterday, we highlighted 5 teams who improved this summer through free agency and the draft. So today we’re going to bring you 5 teams that saw their talent drop this off-season, whether to tank for a loaded 2014 draft, or through misinformed moves team’s believe will help their franchise win now, but that could have more disastrous long-term affects.
The problem with assessing the losers of the 2013 NBA off-season hinges on the dichotomy between those teams who actively tried to get worse, and those teams that tried to get better, but instead set themselves up for a few headaches later on down the line. Obviously we’re not clairvoyant, but some of the moves the latter group of teams made are head-scratchers.
That’s not to say we can’t be proven wrong, but we don’t envision long-term success for those squads that loaded up on players with overlapping skill sets and who might end up trading some of their new hires before the February deadline next year. The only problem is that some of the contracts they’ve put together are so deplorable, it would take David Khan still running the Timberwolves to unload them.
Without over-explaining our choices too much, here are 5 teams who regressed the most during the summer of 2013, with the first two squads setting themselves up for more long-term failure and the last three doing everything in their power—short of signing a D-League starting lineup—to align themselves with what many consider the deepest NBA draft in history next summer. There are gonna be a lot of bad teams next season, but only a few that are truly wretched.
5. New Orleans Pelicans
This is really hard to do, especially since we had New Orleans as an honorable mention for the top 5 most improved teams. But that’s because the Pelican’s moves this off-season could fluctuate so wildly and it might end up being one of their best off-season’s in franchise history, or an abysmal footnote for a team that hasn’t ever really contended for anything since Chris Paul left.
Their GM, Dell Demps, was told by new owner, Tom Benson, to win, and win now. So it’s not like Demps had much of a choice in the matter, and when the opportunity to snag a 23-year-old all-star point guard presented itself, Demps made the move.
The Jrue Holiday trade for Philadelphia’s No. 6 pick—which turned into the favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick, Nerlens Noel —might seem like NOR took advantage of the new GM in Philadelphia, Sam Hinkie. Most NBA observers feel differently, though, and it has to do with Philadelphia also acquiring NOR’s top-three protected first round pick in the 2014 draft. A draft, as we’ve mentioned time and again, that is going to be loaded.
This might mean Philadelphia will have two lottery picks in the best draft in NBA history, or it could mean the Pelicans’ desire to win now trumps the ability to land an Andrew Wiggins– or Jabari Parker-type player next summer. There is the caveat that if New Orleans doesn’t win as much as they envision next season, that pick could still fall to them if it’s inside the top 5—where Parker and Wiggins are likely to go.
The thinking of Demps centers on the maturation of the 2012 No. 1 overall pick, Anthony Davis, who struggled with injuries in an up-and-down rookie campaign, but who showed enough potential to surround him with players that can turn them into a consistent winner. There is one move that no one can wrap their head’s around It involves the sign-and-trade deal Demps struck to send Greivis Vasquez to Sacramento, Robin Lopez to Portland and brought Tyreke Evans‘ in with a four-year $44 million deal that might be the worst of the summer.
Or it might not.
Evans was the ROY once upon a time, but he’s seen his numbers and his skills atrophy under the Maloof-ian hegemony that may have ruined his chance to be great. Or he was always going to come down from his peak rookie season—similar to the fall by Damon Stoudemire after his ROY turn in Toronto morphed into a cannabis-drenched time in Portland with the Jail Blazers.
With Evans, Holiday, and Eric Gordon all expected to start—with Evans playing as a small forward and with Gordon as an off-guard, they appear to have a back-court to build around. Except, Holiday’s play tapered off towards the end of last season, Evans was terrible in Sacramento last year, and Gordon’s knee is still as janky as ever—though he seems happy to be in New Orleans after initially wishing that they had not matched Phoenix’s offer sheet last summer.
The Pelicans could be the new fun surprise 8th or 7th seed in the West, or they could be awful and experience injuries to Gordon and Davis while regretting the Evans signing immediately if he doesn’t show improvement on defense in his shooting.
Find out who else lost out this off-season.
4. Milwaukee Bucks
Buck general manager, John Hammond, is in the same predicament as Demps is in New Orleans. This time it’s owner Herb Kohl that won’t let the Buck recede into the night to lick their wounds and try and get out of the rut that is a perpetual 8 seed in the East.
The back-court of Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings, which furrowed the brows of analytics nerds the world over, is gone. In their stead are Luke Ridnour, O.J. Mayo and Gary Neal. Those guys are perhaps more efficient than the Ellis-Jennings 1-2, but they’re in the exact same boat as they were with the other two—except without the cache of an eminent offensive explosion, like Monta and BJ provided.
They made a play for Jeff Teague out of Atlanta, but Danny Ferry swooped in at the last minute and brought him back to the ATL. So now they’re stuck with the mediocre triumvirate of Neal-Mayo-Ridnour for the time being. They also—FINALLY!—used their Amnesty provision on Drew Gooden‘s atrocious five-year $32 million deal, ending perhaps the longest non-amnestied amnesty candidate in NBA history.
But that’s not where the Bucks’ off-season moves truly run into a wall of bogus decisions. It’s commendable they’re going to try and allow Ersan Ilyasova take over the majority of the front court offensive duties because he’s a great shooter, and a terrific rebounder. But—besides the indomitable Larry Sanders—they have FOUR (!) other centers right now in a league that has increasingly weaned itself off a giant in the middle: Zaza Pachulia, Ekpe Udoh, Miroslav Raduljica, Vyacheslav Kravtsov. Does anybody need 5 centers, especially when it’s so obvious that Sanders is the future. Not only that, but why did Hammond decide to give Zaza Pachulia $5 million per year over three years to back-up Sanders and stay in front of the other three tongue-twisters?
Is O.J. Mayo worth what the Bucks decided on as a sign-and-trade to get Jennings out of town? Most agree that Jennings and Milwaukee had reached an impasse and he needed to leave town, but aside from a few big games last season for Dallas, Mayo isn’t someone you can build a team around. He’s a piece to a larger championship puzzle. The problem for the Bucks is they’re missing all four corner pieces to the Larry O’Brien jigsaw puzzle and yet they keep trying to jam a center piece in its place.
We may never know why the Bucks made the moves they did this off-season, but it has to rank as one of the more bizarre summer’s in league history where a team willfully tries to get better, but probably ends up in the lottery. But hey, at least they’ve got a fifth center if their first four go down, and if you’re gonna be in a lottery, next year’s ain’t so bad.
3. Philadelphia 76ers
Finally, a team that is trying to get worse, or as the Internet has not-so-affectionately referred to it: Tankapalooza® 2014! Sam Hinkie might be a genius, or he might be one of those guys who thinks he’s smarter than he actually ends up being when we look back on the draft night trade of Philly’s only all-star. But the Sixers had to do something to rebound from the Bynum/Collins debacle of 2012-13.
Nerlens Noel could be Dwight Howard 2.0, and Evan Turner might turn into someone that teams have to defend above the free throw line extended. There are so many if’s and might’s moving forward that judging Hinkie’s moves isn’t worth pre-judging right now. At the same time, it’s not really fair to him or the Philly fans to call him a genius, either.
What we do know is that this team is going to be very bad next season. Michael Carter-Williams, their other first round draft snatch—this one unrelated to the NOR’s trade—is about as topsy-turvy as they come. He can’t really shoot with range, and he turns the ball over. He’s also a 21-year-old with only one season of NCAA basketball under his belt at Syracuse. If you really want an idea of Williams, just ask ‘Cuse fans who’ve already seen his assaulting athleticism and questionable judgement.
Besides MCW’s and Noel’s knee recovery, the Sixers have Turner, Thaddeus Young and Spencer Hawes to round out one of the worst staring five’s in the league now that Holiday is gone. Jason Richardson is doubtful for the start of training camp, so they’ll go into the season with as many unknowns as their future. Hinkie, that diabolical Daryl Morey spawn, wouldn’t have it any other way. You can be sure that if Turner starts feeling it, Richardson comes back, Noel shows some promise and Williams finds a shooting stroke, they all might come down with a mysterious case of tendinitis in the knee as Tankapalooza 2014 rumbles on.
Find out which team had the worst off-season.
2. Utah Jazz
Paul Millsap and Big Al Jefferson are no longer clogging up the paint together, which means the now-slim Enes Kanter and Derrick Favors can man the front-court. This is what management wanted, but the decision to keep Millsap and Jefferson at February’s trade deadline in an attempt to squeak past the Lakers for the prize of getting swept by San Antonio, still looks pretty dumb.
They could have gotten something for either former big man, but teams were so persnickety with their first round draft choices, they didn’t get one offer with a first round pick attached. So, plan B. And what a doozy this has become, since it flies in the face of the very reasoning they exhibited in February.
GM Kevin O’Connor decided to take on the expiring contracts of Richard Jefferson (maybe they just like The Jeffersons?), Andris Biedrins and Brandon Rush from Golden State, plus first round picks in 2014 and 2017, which will probably come outside the lottery since Stephen Curry‘s ankles aren’t buckling anymore (also getting Iggy means small ball heaven for Mark Jackson and Co.).
After drafting Trey Burke with their 9th pick, they will feature a starting lineup where Gordon Heyward, yes—the Butler hero—is their primary offensive threat. Alec Burke will start at small forward and they’ll run Marvin Williams in sporadically, but there’s very little to like about this lineup except that it’ll give Heyward more touches and hopefully develop Kanter and Williams—who have been stuck behind Millsap and Jefferson a year too long.
They’re gonna be bad, but at least Jerry Sloan is consulting for them again. That’s… something.
1. Phoenix Suns
New Phoenix general manager, Ryan McDonough, may want to go back to Boston and at least rebuild with a better owner behind him. This group is going to be so bad, fans will start having fever dreams about bringing Stephon Marbury over from China.
First off, Eric Bledsoe was definitely one of the top point guards to change teams this summer, but he’s a third year guard that’s only ever been a back-up. He plays stellar defense, and his shooting improved from beyond the arc last season—primarily because opposing teams still don’t respect his jumper—but there’s a reason a lot of people are wondering why this team brought him over. Plus—and this is really important—some of Bledsoe’s per-minute stats which look so sexy when stretched out to starter length, came against opposing second teams.
That’s not to say Bledsoe might not turn into a top 10 point guard, but I doubt he’ll be much better than the point guard the Suns already have, Goran Dragic. That’s what’s befuddling about the trade that brought him over from the Clippers. They also lost Jared Dudley, but he should be on a winning team anyway.
Here’s who Suns fans have to look forward to this year as they attempt to break the Bobcats/Hornets historically awful mark during the lockout-shortened season: MORE MICHAEL BEASLEY! Sorry to shout, but the BEEZ, is a dreadlocked pistachio N U T, so that’s kind of fun. They’ll have Gerald Green jumping out of the gym on occasion, but no more smooth and cunning Luis Scola; the Pacers’ Larry Bird smartly grabbed him for Green AND Miles Plumlee plus a lottery-protected first round pick that will be somewhere in the 20’s since it’s the Pacers.
They’ll have the Morris twins, Marcus Morris and Markieff Morris at the power forward spot, and to do twins nights. Bledsoe and Dragic stepping all over each other in the back-court. The expiring contract of Caron Butler—who came over in the Bledsoe package—at small forward with P.J. Tucker, BEEZ and Green behind him. Marcin Gortat will lock things down at center, but does it really even matter? This team will be really bad as cheapskate owner Robert Sarver tries to have the players share lockers in order to save more (I only hope he does this, so BEEZ and Green can hang out closer to one another; fingers crossed).
Tankapalooza® 2014 is real, and these last three teams personify how it’s become an actual rebuilding technique, but if you’re not one of the top eight teams in the league right now, you don’t have much of a choice. The new collective bargaining agreement made the draft one of the only ways to rebuild without going broke, and so now we have this.
Which of these teams do you think will be the worst next season, and which will be worse over the long haul?
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