5 NBA Teams That Still Make No Sense
With the arrival of the 2024-25 NBA regular season, we've crossed a point of no return in the calendar.
Rosters that feel unfinished, disorganized or otherwise odd can no longer be explained away. There's no more "unfinished business" now that the games have actually started. Instead, those teams have to accept that they didn't execute the offseason plans they'd hoped to.
Or, in the worst cases, they actually did put together these messes intentionally.
Too many players at one position, too few at another. Rookies and developmental projects fighting for minutes with veteran trade chips. Unresolved contract disputes. We've got all that and more as we scan the league or the early-season rosters that still make no sense.
New Orleans Pelicans
1 of 5
Daniel Theis didn't do much during preseason play to indicate that he's the solution to the New Orleans Pelicans' problems at center. The veteran was expected to stand in for the departed Jonas Valančiūnas and Larry Nance Jr., but he scored only 17 points and blocked a single shot in 53 minutes of action.
Looking sluggish on switches and unable to defend the rim in conventional coverage, the 32-year-old Theis confirmed he's more of third big than a starter at this point of his career.
Dreams of small-ball looks with Zion Williamson in the middle don't need to disappear. But they shouldn't be the Pelicans' default setting. Those are better saved for late-game surges or "break glass in case of emergency" situations, as they don't have long-term legs.
In addition to the lack of a reliable big man, the Pels also still have the Brandon Ingram situation to address. Unless he signs an extension between now and June 30, the former All-Star is a flight risk in the future and a potential impediment in the present.
Second-year marksman Jordan Hawkins was impressive in the preseason and needs more minutes in 2024-25. With Herb Jones and Trey Murphy III profiling as fixtures on the wing going forward, Ingram is kind of in the way of players whom New Orleans has more incentive to play and develop.
The same could be said for CJ McCollum, a costly vet who can reliably contribute 20 points per game (and little else). His position in the starting lineup should probably go to players like Hawkins or Murphy who don't need the ball.
New Orleans still looks like a team that could post a win total in the mid-to-high 40s, perhaps even cracking the 50 mark if Williamson stays healthy. But it has a clear hole in the middle and seems to have unfinished business on the trade front.
Portland Trail Blazers
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Between Anfernee Simons, Deni Avdija, Jerami Grant, Toumani Camara and Deandre Ayton, the Portland Trail Blazers can field lineups capable of competing against most of the loaded West's top teams. Throw in Matisse Thybulle and Robert Williams III, and the Blazers could even post a defensive rating comfortably above the league average.
But to what end?
Portland is in the midst of a rebuild and needs to prioritize the growth of Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe and Donovan Clingan. Not only that, but the lack of a definite cornerstone (they hope Henderson is that guy) means piling up losses should be among the team's priorities. Especially in a draft as purportedly loaded as 2025, the Blazers need to be careful about racking up too many wins to maximize their lottery odds.
The fix here seems pretty simple. Portland needs to find takers for the likes of Grant, Ayton and Simons. All three should be in demand, and the Blazers just need to determine when during the season to pull the trigger. If it takes until the Feb. 6 trade deadline to move most of their veterans, the Blazers might need to engage in some strategic rest to keep their win total low and the developmental minutes for the youth high.
The center spot is a particular logjam. In addition to Ayton and Williams standing in Clingan's way, Portland also has Duop Reath, whose intriguing floor-spacing could be helpful to Henderson's growth. Nothing opens up the lane and simplifies offensive reads like a center who can pull a defender out to the three-point line. Unless the Blazers trade Ayton and/or Williams, it's hard to see Clingan and Reath getting the playing time they'll need.
There's value in having veterans around to model professional behavior for young players, but the Blazers are effectively two different teams at the moment. They need to part with some of their more established players to make room for what they hope are the key pieces of their next era.
LA Clippers
3 of 5
Whatever it is the Los Angeles Clippers have going right now, the only sure thing about it is that it would have looked a lot better in 2017.
That's when James Harden was at the peak of his powers—a singularly unstoppable offensive force who could draw fouls in droves, lead the league in scoring or assists and generate elite efficiency numbers for himself and everyone around him.
Now, though? With Harden entering his age-35 season? Running everything through him feels like a sure ticket to 30-something wins and a whole lot of ugly basketball. And that might be a best-case outlook.
The Clippers didn't sign up for this exact scenario when they let Paul George walk in free agency and put their faith in the star duo of Harden and Kawhi Leonard. But it can't come as a surprise that Leonard is now out indefinitely while he rehabilitates his troublesome right knee. In fact, given Leonard's lengthy injury history, the assumption should have been that he'd miss significant time and leave the team in Harden's hands.
Harden, who's no model of durability himself, has played more than 70 games only once since 2019-20. That was last year, when he suited up for 72 contests and averaged just 16.6 points per game.
L.A. is in line to pay the luxury tax, is bereft of picks, owes an unprotected 2025 first-round swap to the Oklahoma City Thunder and has no real shot at making playoff noise. Most teams that go all-in like the Clippers did over the past few seasons endure hard landings, but this one look especially rough.
Chicago Bulls
4 of 5
The Chicago Bulls' offseason addition of Josh Giddey produced more questions than answers, adding a talented but potentially ill-fitting piece to an already odd mix.
Giddey, a 6'8" point forward, is best utilized with the ball in his hands. His presence on the roster could marginalize Coby White, who finished second in Most Improved Player voting following a breakout 2023-24 season.
Further complicating matters, Giddey will enter restricted free agency this summer after failing to reach an extension agreement with the Bulls. That looming payday was part of the reason why the Oklahoma City Thunder parted with him in the first place.
Chicago also seems to be operating on three separate timelines. Rookie Matas Buzelis is in his NBA infancy, an ideal piece of a rebuilding roster. Zach LaVine and Nikola Vučević are vestiges of the Bulls' failed attempts to build a playoff team—expensive relics who'll likely be traded but still need minutes and shots to prop up their value in the meantime.
White, Ayo Dosunmu and the recently extended Patrick Williams are part of an in-between group. White and Dosunmu are likely to hit unrestricted free agency after their deals, which are too small to make extensions realistic, eventually expire.
Once LaVine and Vooch are gone, the Bulls' roster breakdown won't be quite so strange. But even then, the Giddey fit issues will linger. Somebody should have told Chicago that draft picks, which it could have prioritized over Giddey in the deal that sent out Alex Caruso, are far easier to build around.
Toronto Raptors
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Caught somewhere in the hazy netherworld between playoff contention and tanking, the Toronto Raptors are betting hard on organic growth.
Maybe they'll get it from a young core of Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett. Looking at the roster and finances, they'd better. Barnes inked a max rookie extension over the summer, Quickley got a five-year contract worth up to $175 million and Barrett has three seasons left on the four-year, $107 million extension that he originally signed with the New York Knicks.
That's a lot of years and dollars tied up in a core that has so far proved nothing, not to mention the remaining two seasons and $39 million still owed to veteran center Jakob Poeltl.
Depth is a major issue behind that costly quartet of starters, as unproven (but promising) second-year wing Gradey Dick looks primed to take over as the fifth member of the first unit. After him, it's difficult to find a healthy above-average rotation player on the roster. Bruce Brown Jr. fits that description, but he's currently hurt and is playing on an expiring contract that makes him a strong trade candidate.
The Raptors are young but already expensive, promising but not necessarily boasting the highest ceiling. In short, Toronto is paying a handful of core pieces as if they've already proved they can drive winning...except they haven't yet, and they aren't a lock to ever do so.
Stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference and Cleaning the Glass. Salary info via Spotrac.
Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@gt_hughes), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report's Dan Favale.
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