LA Clippers 2019-20 Preview: Expectations are the highest in franchise history
Around the League
Where do I even start? For simplicity, we’ll only cover the REALLY big stuff. Don’t expect to see little things like “Jabari Parker signed with the Hawks” that don’t have any real impact in the next couple of years. Sorry. The NBA offseason just has too much going on.
Western Conference
The biggest news outside of the Clippers has to be what happened with their co-tenant. The Los Angeles Lakers finally traded for Anthony Davis after courting him all season. They gave up Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and picks in exchange. With the trio of LeBron James, Kyle Kuzma, and Anthony Davis, the Lakers rightfully believe they are a title contender. Kuzma is out indefinitely with a foot injury, but they did add veteran pieces in Danny Green, Dwight Howard, Avery Bradley while re-signing some of their players from last season.
Other big news in the West came from the Houston Rockets who acquired Russell Westbrook from the Thunder. The Chris Paul/James Harden experiment failed, so GM Daryl Morey shipped CP3 out. The Rockets see Westbrook as an upgrade and as long as he and Harden can coexist (which we know they can), the Rockets will be right in contention as well.
The Utah Jazz also upgraded. They traded Kyle Korver, Jae Crowder, Grayson Allen and a first round pick to Memphis for Mike Conley. With his addition, along with signing Bojan Bogdanovic, the Jazz are also now considered contenders.
Rounding out the top of the West is the Denver Nuggets who didn’t really add to their roster. Instead, they stood pat which makes sense considering they had the second-best record in the conference last season.
The team that had the best record, the Golden State Warriors, got worse. Klay Thompson is out for most of the year as he rehabs his torn ACL. Kevin Durant left in free agency but didn’t leave the Warriors empty-handed. In order to make his salary work with Brooklyn, the Warriors acquired D’Angelo Russell. He and Stephen Curry will form an All-Star backcourt while Thompson recovers, but this isn’t the same Warriors team. Oh, Andre Iguodala is gone too and teams want him badly.
Other minor notes for the West:
- Zion Williamson was drafted first overall to the New Orleans Pelicans
- J.J. Redick signed with the Pelicans
- Hassan Whiteside signed with the Portland Trail Blazers
- Kristaps Porzingis officially re-signed with the Dallas Mavericks
Eastern Conference
In the East, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving teaming up in Brooklyn was the biggest news of the summer. Durant will miss the entire 2019-20 season with his torn Achilles, but the Nets should make noise regardless. They also added DeAndre Jordan, giving them a strong tandem at center with Jarrett Allen.
Since they lost Kyrie to the Nets, the Boston Celtics went out and got another All-Star point guard. Kemba Walker agreed to join the Celtics and should create a strong playoff team with Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Gordon Hayward.
The Celtics lost another key member, Al Horford. Horford joined Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons in Philadelphia. The 76ers also added Josh Richardson to their starting lineup. With Simmons, Richardson, Tobias Harris, Horford and Embiid, the 76ers boast the biggest starting lineup in the league and are considered the favorites in the East alongside the Milwaukee Bucks.
A few other things that happened in the East:
signed with the Indiana Pacers