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In a busy free agency period, we got a lot of interesting player transactions and some teams will look very differently come next season. In this video, let me break down a few important moves and what that would mean for them. What up everybody my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it.
First things first, you already know, we gotta start with the Lakers.
They acquired a 19 point per game speed demon in Dennis Schroder. And I love what Rondo did especially in the bubble, but the point differential between the 2 is more than apparent.
But then, check this out. They got the sixth man of the year Montrezl Harrell, Marc Gasol, and Wesley Matthews for a combined 15.3 million a year which is crazy.
This is what a serious contending organization does. Right after winning the championship, they recognize that their window is right now, and that they have a real shot to repeat, so big shoutout to Rob Pelinka for pulling off these moves.
Matthews is basically more or less the same player that they lost in Danny Green, but the 2 big men are most definitely upgrades from Howard and Mcgee who left the Lakers.
And when a team that just won the championship got even better you know that that’s scary.
Especially when we transition to what was supposed to be their biggest rival and threat. The Clippers.
The lost both Jamychal Green and Montrezl of course, but kind of got back in the mix by adding Serge Ibaka who matchup wise might even be a better fit for these games in particular- against the Lakers and guarding Anthony Davis. Whatever the case may be, I feel like if we gave them the edge on paper before the start of last season, now it’s more than apparent that Lebron and company definitely have a more formidable roster at least in theory, and Steve Balmer still needs a few more moves to level the playing field in the West
And speaking of the Western conference, the way I see it at the moment, things only got more and more watered down.
The only other dangerous team that got better were the Blazers with the acquisition of Robert Covington, a nice 3 and D player, and they also brought back Enes Kanter.
The Rockets seem to be imploding. Besides Covington, Austin Rivers also left the team, and not to mention the rumors that both Harden and Westbrook want out of Houston.
I do wanna salute the move that Phoenix made to bring Chris Paul. We saw what he did last season and how he transformed OKC into an extremely dangerous team.
So the Suns management added both him and another savvy veteran that finished off last extremely well in Jae Crowder. In his time with the Heat, Crowder had 12 points per game on 44.5% from downtown.
Phoenix obviously brought these players, especially Paul of course in an attempt to provide mentorship to their franchise player Devin Booker, and also finally offer him a taste of the playoffs for the first time in his career.
This is the only star that they’ve got in a long time, so they must show him some progress and serious competition worth playing for if they want to keep him. And I believe that CP3 is the perfect guy for that. Expect the Suns in the playoff mix next season.
And speaking of making the next step and finally competing for a playoff spot, we have a team in almost the exact same situation as Phoenix.
Atlanta also wanted to take their young core to the next level and show them what the playoffs look like. So they picked up a great leader in Rajon Rondo and another significant scoring option in Danilo Galinari. He ended last year with almost 19 and 5. And all of that while shooting 40.5% from downtown. That will definitely help take the pressure off of Trae Young a little.
And they added Kris Dunn a terrific defensive specialist and second in the league in steals per game.
Now things can get very serious if Atlanta has some luck and brings Bogdan Bogdanovic to the team. He signed a 72 million offer sheet with them, but since he’s a restricted free agent, Sacramento has an option to match this within the next 48 hours. So probably by the time you watch this, things would be resolved. But I’m seriously pulling for the Hawks to get him and for this upwards momentum to continue. They will be very interesting to watch next season.
Moving on to the contenders.
Of course Milwaukee’s addition of Jrue Holiday is the flashiest one, but I like what they did to improve the depth. They added D.J. Augustin to the bench. A guy who can both penetrate and pull up for the shot. Also Bryn Forbes, a fierce competitor from the Spurs, who shoots the 3 at almost 39%.
And Bobby Portis, a young power forward with terrific energy who will finally get a chance to play on a contending team after spending his entire career on teams like the Knicks, Bulls and the Wizards.
Nov 23, 2020
