NFL
By: Edwin Duodu
After an entire wave of NBA free agency, many teams look to make their names known this upcoming season. Both the Eastern and Western conferences look much improved, and some organizations have a great shot at making some noise come playoff time. The best part about this process is not all teams who made the playoffs last year are guaranteed to be in it this season. There is expected to be much reshuffling for seed positions, but there may also be one unlucky team that takes a step back. Here, we’ll take a look at which squad from each conference will have a long shot at making the playoffs this upcoming season.
Boston Celtics
Boston had an underwhelming seventh-place finish last year. Sorry Celtics fans, but this year figures to be much worse. It was initially a questionable decision to make Brad Stevens the president of basketball operations after failing to make it to the NBA finals, considering that he’s come close multiple times. In his first offseason as the general manager, Brad Stevens seemed to be showing his inexperience at the position. Now he’s tasked with building a roster that needs to be better than what he coached if Boston is to return as one of the dominant teams in the East.
Of course, it’s not all his fault. With a multitude of teams making moves, there wasn’t much of a market for Boston during free agency. It’s also clear that Brad Stevens wasn’t keen on trying to break the bank for any players, indicating that this team may be entering a rebuild mode. The major moves that the Celtics have made thus far are: resigning Marcus Smart to a four-year, $77 million contract; resigning Robert Williams to a four-year, $54 million contract; resigning Enes Kanter to a one-year, $2.7 million contract; and signing Dennis Schroder to a one-year, $5.9 million contract. Not quite inspiring moves to make, considering what other playoff teams have done around them.
The Celtics still have a young and promising star in Jayson Tatum and a constantly improving Jaylen Brown, who is expected to return from a wrist injury this season. Adding Schroder to the mix should give new head coach Ime Udoka an array of ball handlers who can score off the dribble. However, this philosophy has been one that hasn’t changed over the years.
Coming into the general manager job, Stevens knew that, having coached the team himself. He still hasn’t made a signing to fill the frontcourt, a reason why the team was very poor in the rebounding last year. Resigning Kanter isn’t a move that’ll take this team forward, and Stevens hopes that Robert Williams reaches his full potential as an NBA big man.
Nevertheless, this team is expected to fall down the rankings rather quickly once the season starts. Tatum’s great basketball ability may not be able to carry the Celtics into a playoff spot this year, but maybe Brad Stevens has a clear plan for building a championship team in the future.
Memphis Grizzlies
The Grizzlies were a surprise that many fans rooted against initially. People wanted to see Steph Curry put on masterclass performances against the Utah Jazz in the playoffs, but Ja Morant ruined that parade.
Morant and Dillon Brooks also helped Memphis win Game 1 of the playoffs until they eventually lost the next four. Instead of taking an approach to further strengthen the team for another playoff push, general manager Zachary Kleiman, whom the organization signed to a long-term extension, elected to focus on the youth.
Kleiman shipped Jonas Valanciunas to the New Orleans Pelicans for Steven Adams, Eric Bledsoe, and the No. 10 and 40 picks in the draft. Memphis traded away its 17th and 51st picks. The team ended up drafting Zaire Williams and Santi Aldama. The impact that Valanciunas made saw him be a valuable asset to the team, rebounding the ball well and finding easy points near the rim. That was a big boost and why the Grizzlies were able to make it to postseason basketball last year.
Now that he’s gone, Memphis will hope that Jaren Jackson Jr. can come back from injury quickly and make an impact on the court. If that doesn’t happen, suddenly the Grizzlies have an average center in Steven Adams, who is past his prime and may not make as much of an influence as the previous two mentioned. Adding Rajon Rondo from the Los Angeles Clippers may be an under-the-radar move, considering the knowledge and experience he brings to Memphis’s young backcourt. However, will that be enough to help at least sneak them into the Play-in tournament next season?
That may be their only route into the playoffs, being that there’s a wide assumption that the Golden State Warriors are expected to return as one of the dominant teams in the Western Conference. Unlike Boston, Memphis isn’t much of a big market for free agents to go to, meaning the team’s success is predicated on the development of their young players. Still, this team is now looking toward the future, which means making it into the playoffs this year may not be a part of those plans as a franchise.
