7 NBA Teams with the Most at Stake Following the 2015 All-Star Break
Technically, the All-Star break isn't the half-way mark of the 2014-15 NBA season. Only the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics have more than 30 of their 82 games left on their respective dockets.
But for those teams angling toward the playoffs, the campaign so far does, indeed, represent less than 50 percent of what they're trying to accomplish. Heck, those clubs with legitimate championship aspirations—which, at this point, could range anywhere from a handful to an even dozen—can only hope that most of their work is ahead of them, what with 16 postseason victories needed to bring home the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
For all teams, contenders and pretenders alike, there's a rat race of some sort to be run. Those at the top have home-court advantage to lock down. Those in the middle have to secure more comfortable postseason prospects before they can even consider seeding. And those at the bottom can turn their attention toward sussing out their rosters, arranging their draft big boards ahead of the lottery and preparing for free agency thereafter.
That is to say, there's plenty at stake for all of the league's 30 franchise in the months to come, but especially for these seven, each of which has a peculiar balance to strike between past, present and future.
Oklahoma City Thunder
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Taking All-Star Game results with anything more than a grain of salt (unless it's more grains of salt) is a fool's errand. To paraphrase Kevin Garnett, anything is possible...when neither team plays defense for the first 45 minutes or so.
Still, it was striking to see Russell Westbrook nearly match Wilt Chamberlain's single-game All-Star scoring record in his 26 minutes—and take home MVP honors for the victorious Western Conference as a result—while Kevin Durant settled for six three-point attempts, making one, in his 10 minutes.
Perhaps the disparity is emblematic of how things have gone for these two superstars with the Oklahoma City Thunder this season. Durant's missed just over half (i.e. 27 of 53) of his team's games due to various injuries but has found his dominant self in more than fits and spurts when able to play.
As for Westbrook, his month-long hand injury aside, the dude's played like a man possessed for OKC this season. More impressive than his scoring explosion at Madison Square Garden on Sunday is that that performance might not even be one of his five best of 2014-15 so far.
But Westbrook, as fantastic an all-around player as he is, can't will the Thunder into the playoffs on his own. He'll need a healthy, hot-shooting Durant by his side to push past the New Orleans Pelicans and Phoenix Suns and into the West's crowded playoff picture.
And, as Grantland's Zach Lowe noted, those two could be expecting some outside help soon, in the form of Brooklyn's Brook Lopez:
"The Nets surely noticed Mitch McGary’s strong play before the All-Star break, and that Steven Adams is out a few weeks with a broken hand. Lopez isn’t the cleanest fit in Oklahoma City, but it’s workable, and the Thunder are under massive pressure to win now.
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Indeed, with Durant due to hit free agency in 2016, it's incumbent upon OKC to do everything it can to compete for the crown now and hope that's enough to satiate KD later.
Cleveland Cavaliers
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The Cleveland Cavaliers don't appear to have much room for major moves, per se. Then again, they might not need any more Earth-shattering changes in order to realize their awesome potential.
The additions of J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mozgov, by way of a pair of January trades, have patched up the Cavs' most glaring holes (i.e. size, rebounding, rim protection, wing defense) while providing a veteran upgrade over the maddeningly inconsistent Dion Waiters.
"They've added versatility to our team," Kyrie Irving told FOX Sports Ohio's Sam Amico. "They bring a sense of toughness from where they came from."
That being said, Cleveland is still far from wrapping up its first Larry O'Brien Trophy. If anything, the hard work of scaling the NBA's proverbial mountain has only just begun for this group.
LeBron James is practically betrothed to his home-state team, even though he can opt out this summer if he so chooses. Kyrie Irving is actually betrothed to the Cavs for the foreseeable future, courtesy of an extension that could keep him in Cleveland until the summer of 2020.
Kevin Love, on the other hand, has no such obligations, sentimental or contractual. He's already said that he doesn't intend to opt out of his current contract this summer, but "As far as leaving my options open, I mean sure, it's always there. At the end of the day, it's always good to have something but no, I plan on being here," he said, per the Northeast Ohio Media Group's Chris Haynes.
Of course, plans can and often do change. Nobody will know for sure what Love's are until this summer comes and goes.
Until then, it's incumbent upon James, Irving and the rest of the Cavs to convince Love to stay beyond a shadow of a doubt—not so much with their words as with their deeds. If Love, who's been battling back issues for weeks now, gets the offensive touches he's comfortable with and Cleveland makes a legitimate run at the title, the Cavs can probably count on keeping their Big Three together for at least one more season.
Otherwise, Love's liable to look around come July, as is his right, though that might leave Cleveland with a gaping hole on its roster and without anything to show for giving up Andrew Wiggins last August.
Chicago Bulls
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The Chicago Bulls' game-and-a-half lead over the Cavs in the standings—courtesy of a 113-98 beatdown of LeBron and Co. on the Thursday before the All-Star break—may be almost as thin as the opening in their championship window beyond this season.
Jimmy Butler could bolt the Second City for beaucoup bucks as a restricted free agent in July "I figured I was going to get a little bit of money either way," Butler told The New York Post's Tim Bontemps of his decision to turn down an extension with the Bulls this past summer. "I’ve just got to worry about basketball, and the rest will take care of itself."
So far, it has, to the tune of career highs in points (20.4), rebounds (5.8) and assists (3.2), not to mention his first All-Star selection.
Beyond Butler's potential departure, the Bulls have plenty of concerns to consider among those key players of theirs who are locked in long term.
Pau Gasol, while productive as an All-Star starter this season, isn't getting any younger, with the big 3-5 looming after this season. His fit next to Joakim Noah, while fun to watch on offense here and there, has been an awkward one defensively. Noah, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, has had to accommodate Pau's presence by chasing power forwards around the floor, on a knee that went under the knife during the offseason.
Not surprisingly, the Bulls' once-vaunted defense has slipped, to 13th in points allowed per 100 possessions, per NBA.com.
That situation, along with Nikola Mirotic's long-awaited arrival, has taken its toll on Taj Gibson, as well. And let's not forget what a roller coaster ride this season has been for Derrick Rose and what his performance so far could mean for his long-term recovery.
That being said, no, the sky isn't falling on Chicago; that's just snow. This team has the talent, the coaching and the stylistic infrastructure to win the East and capture its first non-Jordan championship.
The thing is, its window to do so may not be as wide-open as the relative youth of their core (Rose is 26, Butler is 25, Noah and Gibson are both 29) might suggest.
Portland Trail Blazers
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LaMarcus Aldridge has made it clear in the past that he has no plans to leave the Portland Trail Blazers in free agency this summer. His decision to play through pain in his thumb, rather than undergo midseason surgery, stands as further proof of his commitment to winning in Rip City.
Apparently, that hasn't stopped the Blazers' front office from sweating through its team attire when thinking about their future with (or without) Aldridge.
“It’s probably being paranoid, I think just about everyone expects him to stay (with the Blazers), but they’re very, very scared to lose him," an anonymous league executive told Sporting News' Sean Deveney. "They’ve been reluctant to do anything with the roster as it stands because they want to stay in position to bring him back. For smaller markets, you’re always afraid of losing the stars you drafted and groomed."
To be sure, Portland's personnel situation is more complicated than that. Aldridge is one of three Blazers starters, along with Wesley Matthews and Robin Lopez, whose contracts are up after this season. The Blazers can go over the cap to bring back all three, but how far into the luxury tax they dip may well depend on what they do to bolster their roster in the coming days.
Portland could use an upgrade on the wing, given Nicolas Batum's season-long struggles, and has the assets (i.e. all of its own first-round picks, expiring deals, prospects on rookie contracts) to swing a deal, perhaps even for Denver's Wilson Chandler.
But Grantland's Zach Lowe couldn't help but wonder how much good such a trade would actually do:
"Adding a quality wing would boost Portland’s title odds, but by how much? Winning three series in the West is a brutal task, and the combination of health, luck, and matchups will play a larger role in determining Portland’s fate than the gap between Chandler and the rest of the Blazers’ bench wings.
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Still, it would behoove the Blazers to do whatever they can to bolster their odds of a deep postseason run. With so many key guys soon to be up for grabs, there's no telling whether Portland can count on surrounding Damian Lillard with the same group, or even a comparable one, going forward.
Golden State Warriors
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As far as their roster is concerned, the Golden State Warriors aren't quite as directly under the gun as the Blazers are, or rather will be. Of Golden State's core players, only Draymond Green will be a free agent this summer, and the Dubs can match any offer that comes his way.
But with the way he's played this season, as an improving glue guy on offense and a potential Defensive Player of the Year on the other end, Green could field some doozies from other teams flush with cap space.
That could be problematic for the Warriors. They already have eight guys who are due to draw eight-figure salaries next season, with Klay Thompson's five-year extension yet to kick in and David Lee's albatross nearing its end. Adding a similar take for Green could vault Golden State into the sort of rarefied luxury-tax air breathed most recently by the 2013-14 Brooklyn Nets.
And, as Zach Lowe and Bill Simmons discussed on a recent episode of The B.S. Report (skip to the 25:00 mark), Warriors ownership isn't keen to splash Prokhorovian cash to keep this team together.
As such, it's incumbent upon the Splash Brothers and their cohort to make the most of the golden opportunity before them: to hang a banner in the Bay Area for the first time in 40 years. Perhaps such a historic finish to the Warriors' already-spectacular run would be enough to convince those signing the checks to bite the proverbial bullet for a year, with 2016 bringing the expiration of Lee's contract and the jet-propulsion of the league's salary cap.
Not to mention all the green lining that the opening of a new arena in San Francisco thereafter could bring to the pockets of Joe Lacob and pals.
Los Angeles Lakers
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Elsewhere in California, the Los Angeles Lakers can't wait for this season to be over. They've already seen three key players (i.e. Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, rookie Julius Randle)—and, frankly, all their hopes and dreams for a productive 2014-15 campaign—succumb to catastrophic injuries.
The good news is just two months stand between L.A. and the end of the on-court misery that's thus far yielded a record of 13-40. The better news is that mark is bad (good?) enough to put the Lakers on pace to keep their 2015 first-round pick, which will belong to the Phoenix Suns if it lands anywhere outside of the drafty lottery's top five.
The Lakers will need that pick to accelerate what could be a long, grueling rebuild, either by drafting another young talent or trading it for an established star.
Either way, L.A. can't simply submarine the 29 games remaining on its schedule in service of its draft prospects. Head coach Byron Scott and his players must make judicious use of their opportunities to lay a more concrete, stylistic foundation on which the future of the NBA's marquee franchise can be constructed.
Truth be told, it could be tough for the Lakers to lure impact free agents to Southern California this summer, even on geographical merits. Bryant, with his third season-ending injury in as many years, doesn't figure to be much of a draw, not with 2015-16 likely to be his farewell tour. Nor can the Lakers count on quality players in their respective primes to cast their lots with unproven youngsters, no matter how highly Los Angeles drafted them.
What the Lakers need is some semblance of tangible proof that they can win now and going forward. That kind of evidence isn't exactly abound in the City of Angels these days, though a competitive finish to this forgettable campaign could be a solid step in the right direction.
And if the Lakers don't get it right, they could be in for even more losing, the likes of which this storied franchise has never seen.
Indiana Pacers
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The Indiana Pacers may not have to wait until next season to see the face of their franchise back in action. Paul George has reportedly targeted mid-March for his triumphant return from the gruesome leg injury that altered the course of his burgeoning career last July, as he told Yahoo Sports' Marc J. Spears:
"March 1 isn't when I wanted to play my first game, but when I wanted to be full-out practicing, doing up-and-down full court without any restrictions or limitations. From there on, it's seeing how far I can progress to where I play my first game. My hope is it's an opponent where I feel comfortable coming back to where there isn't too much pressure to perform, where I can ease my way back in. But I want to say around mid-March, I could probably come back around that time.
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How soon George can play could make all the difference for the Pacers. For one, they're just two games back of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, albeit with at least four other teams to leapfrog. Adding George, even at less than 100 percent capacity, to the equation could be enough to boost Indy—particularly its 26th-ranked offense, per NBA.com—into a fifth straight postseason under head coach Frank Vogel.
According to Grantland's Zach Lowe, George's situation could impact how the Pacers approach the Feb. 19 trade deadline, with David West as the main concern:
"He has been available off and on in exchange for a first-round pick over the last couple of months, per several league sources, but Paul George’s potential mid-March return could change Indiana’s deadline stance."
ESPN's Marc Stein corroborated Lowe's report, adding that Indy won't move West unless he wants out, which seems unlikely.
Either way, West can opt out of his contract after this season, as can Roy Hibbert. If George looks anything like his old self come spring, that may be enough to sway West and Hibbert into staying put for at least one more go-round with a Pacers squad that's been to two straight Eastern Conference Finals.
Josh Martin covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.
