NBA Star Duos Who Need Help Before It's Too Late

The NBA is due for another seismic shift in the summer of 2021. With numerous All-Stars set to reach free agency in the next year, teams around the league may see their windows of contention narrow or slam shut.

But there's still some time to acquire new players and provide the best possible situations for their stars before they leave or age out of their prime years.

We're looking at a few teams that may have franchise-altering decisions coming up. Whether it's dependence on internal growth from young players or expectations of a major trade or free-agency signing, all of these clubs could benefit from changing scenery around their star duos.

In addition, title windows are shorter than ever in this day and age, so if management doesn't like what it sees from its main stars, then those players should not only be prepared for a trade. They should expect one.

Such is NBA life in 2020.

Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, Portland Trail Blazers

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This may look silly in time.

Over the past year, Portland has gotten hit with the injury bug in the worst way, with Jusuf Nurkic breaking his leg, Zach Collins separating his shoulder and Rodney Hood rupturing his Achilles tendon. Not many teams could survive season-ending injuries to three of their top seven rotation players, so in that sense, it's no surprise the Blazers have struggled to stay in the playoff hunt.

On the other hand, Portland has had shallow rosters for years, and the extreme nature of this season exposed what is an unsustainable dependence on Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.

Carmelo Anthony and Hassan Whiteside have performed admirably this season, but Melo was out of the NBA before being signed midseason, and Whiteside was widely viewed as a negative asset when the Blazers traded for him.

Promising young players Anfernee Simons and Gary Trent Jr. have been forced into larger roles than they were likely ready for this year, while Mario Hezonja, Caleb Swanigan and Wenyen Gabriel have also received major minutes at various points.

Adding fully healthy versions of Nurkic and Collins plus more consistent improvement from Simons, Trent and/or Nassir Little could put all these worries to rest next year. But with Lillard turning 30 in July and McCollum not far behind him age-wise, Portland only has a few more years to maximize the primes of its two stars.

D'Angelo Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves

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D'Angelo Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns have only played one game together for a grand total of 25 minutes.

Theoretically, it's far too early to say they need more help, but we've all seen these two play basketball for five years. They have some holes in their skill sets—holes that won't be filled by Minnesota's current roster.

While Russell and Towns could end up as an effective pick-and-roll duo, both struggle defensively and have shown little improvement in that area since entering the league. From Josh Okogie to Jarrett Culver to Malik Beasley, the team has tried to address its defensive deficiencies in recent months, but out of those three, only Beasley looks like a long-term fit thus far—and he'll be a restricted free agent after the season.

To guard against Okogie and Culver's potential busting out of the league, Minnesota needs to add a wing and big-man defender this offseason. It's not too hard to find a Jerami Grant, Derrick Jones Jr. or Maurice Harkless type on the free-agent market in 2020, and depending on where the team picks in the draft, tenacious defenders such as Onyeka Okongwu, Devin Vassell or Isaac Okoro could be available.

Building a roster around Towns and Russell may be a quixotic task no matter what, but new general manager Gersson Rosas can't know for sure until he's exhausted every avenue for improvement.

Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat

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Call Bam Adebayo a star or don't, but facts are facts. He made his first All-Star team in February and was recently compared to Dwyane Wade by none other than team president Pat Riley. 

However, while the Riley co-sign seemingly assures Adebayo of a starting spot in Miami for years, his on-court partnership with Jimmy Butler is worth worrying about, even early in their time together.

Butler and Adebayo are both tenacious defenders, but they make for a disjointed offense. Adebayo still doesn't consistently space the floor, while Butler has posted his worst three-point percentage (24.8) since his rookie year in 2019-20.

Playing two poor shooters at once should be a recipe for disaster in 2020, but the Heat have alleviated such concerns thanks to a veritable fleet of gunners around them. However, while Tyler Herro is a treasured asset, many of the team's other snipers become free agents this offseason.

Over the years, Riley has acquired a reputation for being a smooth free-agency operator. A clean cap sheet for the 2021 offseason, when everybody from Giannis Antetokounmpo to Kawhi Leonard could become available, suggests that he's once again looking to reel in another big-name free agent.

Rest assured that Riley will do everything in his power to bring in at least one more max contract-worthy star to pair with Butler and Adebayo. With the two of them in charge, this is a consistent playoff participant, but maybe nothing more (especially given the 30-year-old Butler's advancing age and injury history).

With a genuine superstar in tow, however, look out.

Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, Philadelphia 76ers

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Thanks to the seemingly bottomless cache of assets Sam Hinkie left the Sixers, they've been able to cycle through numerous stars and high-level role players in the past few seasons around Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.

From JJ Redick to Jimmy Butler to Tobias Harris and Al Horford, former GM Bryan Colangelo and current GM Elton Brand have moved heaven and earth to assemble rosters that can contend for a championship.

While some of those combinations were encouraging, this current collection of talent looks destined to disappoint. It's not that Embiid and Simmons need more help...it's that they need the right help. This season has proved that fulfilling such an objective is quite difficult.

As two ball-dominant players who struggle or refuse to space the floor, Embiid and Simmons are a tenuous fit just by themselves. As a result, even players with ostensibly transferable skill sets like Horford and Josh Richardson have struggled to find consistent success.

The tough part is identifying avenues to improve. The team won't have a high draft pick, doesn't have cap space or young players with untapped star potential, and Horford and Harris have become difficult to trade because of their nine-figure contracts.

To fulfill the Process and win a title, Philly may just have to hope the sheer size and talent of its starting five is enough. Otherwise, Embiid or Simmons themselves might be headlining the rumor mill in due time.

John Wall and Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards

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The Wizards seemingly expect to resume their status as Eastern Conference playoff stalwarts as soon as John Wall returns from his Achilles rupture. However, he won't have played NBA basketball in nearly two years by the time the 2020-21 season begins, and the roster has changed drastically since his last game.

The team's third-best player is now Davis Bertans, an excellent sharpshooter but not someone who should be a No. 3 option for a team with deep playoff hopes.

There are reasons for the Wizards to feel secure once Wall returns. Without him, Bradley Beal has become one of the league's best all-around offensive players while also becoming a more effective distributor. As Wall works his way back, Beal should keep Washington afloat.

However, even if Wall returns to form and Beal continues improving, Washington still has major issues. The club gives most of its small forward minutes to Troy Brown Jr. and Isaac Bonga and has one of the worst defenses in modern NBA history.

Those would be massive issues with or without Wall, and the Wizards owe it to the 29-year-old to maximize his remaining years of near-peak athleticism by addressing them, likely via this year's presumed lottery pick and/or an offseason trade.