Go big or go home: Teams going all-in
The 2023 NBA playoffs are more than nine months away, and one thing is already clear.
There will be chaos.
The Timberwolves grabbed a megaphone and announced that to the world when they traded multiple players and several firstround picks — one of them in 2029, which means that youngster is currently 12 and probably can’t dunk yet — to the Jazz for Rudy Gobert.
And with that, the Wolves are officially added to a list of legit Western Conference title contenders. There are solid arguments that can be made for no fewer than seven teams right now when debating who’ll represent the West in this coming season’s NBA Finals: defending champion Warriors, along with the Suns, Mavs, Clippers, Grizzlies, Nuggets and Timberwolves are all on that list.
Remember, at least three of those teams won’t get past the first round next spring. At least three.
Some team is about to send another massive package of players and picks to Brooklyn for Kevin Durant, unless the Nets somehow change his mind. And that team — doesn’t matter which one — will instantly see its title hopes soar even higher by adding perhaps the most unguardable player in the game today. Durant is owed nearly $200 million for the next four years, is about to enter his 15th season (not including one missed for injury), will turn 34 this fall and teams are still lining up to get him.
“The ones who were locked in that gym with me know what it is, they know what I’m about,” Durant tweeted on Saturday, his first public comment since requesting a trade from the Nets. “If u haven’t been in there with me, ask around.”
Cryptic in some ways, clear in others. Durant wants more rings. In other words, somebody better go all-in.
That’s what it takes.
The Warriors spent somewhere around $340 million this past season on a championship-winning roster, about half of it in salary and the other half in luxury tax. Sure, the Warriors are deep-pocketed. But such is the price of doing business right now, especially in an NBA coming off a year where a record $8.9 billion in basketball related income was generated.
And the Timberwolves are the latest team to embrace that reality.
Gobert is owed $170 million over the next four seasons. Karl-Anthony Towns is owed $295 million over the next six seasons, after guaranteeing most of that in an extension that was struck a few hours before the Gobert trade happened. Anthony Edwards, a star in the making, is on pace for a massive rookie extension next summer. The Wolves, a team that hasn’t won a playoff series since 2004, are swinging for the fences.
Someone is going to get Durant. It’s not reckless to think that Kyrie Irving could want a trade now as well, and if the Nets move Durant, they may as well move Irving instead of losing him for nothing next summer. Imagine Irving reuniting with LeBron James, this time with the Lakers, trying to recreate what they did in 2016 when the Cavs got to celebrate a title. If Irving goes there, add the Lakers to that list of legit West contenders, too.
The Pelicans will have things to say about the playoff chase. So should the Blazers. And who knows what the Jazz will be without Gobert, especially with speculation now surrounding whether they will do a complete teardown and trade Donovan Mitchell as well.
Moves are happening in the East, too. The Eastern Conference champion Celtics significantly upgraded its depth by landing Malcolm Brogdon and Danilo Gallinari.
The Heat, the No. 1 seed in the East playoffs this past season, are known to be in the Durant sweepstakes and Pat Riley is always, always, always looking for more stars. The Hawks believe they got better by trading for Dejounte Murray to play alongside Trae Young. James Harden delivered his most significant assist as a 76er by opting out and giving them the freedom to go get P.J. Tucker; Harden is now expected to sign a new deal in Philly, and that cements them as another contender. The Bucks spent to keep Bobby Portis, meaning most of the title-winning-core around Giannis Antetokounmpo remains intact.
Signings can’t even happen for a few more days. Training camps won’t start until late September. The season doesn’t start until mid-October. And then it’s six more months until playoffs.
That’s when the big, bold and best moves of this summer might pay off.