With some NBA training camps already in session and others set to kick off on Tuesday, let's take stock of the major storylines across the association and any underlying impact they could have on the Celtics' situation.
1. Andre Iguodala’s trade status: A pivotal part of the Warriors’ success for the past decade will find himself away from the court as training camp begins after being traded to the Memphis Grizzlies this offseason in what was a salary dump. The rebuilding Grizzlies and Iguodala have agreed to let the veteran small forward skip training camp and workout on his own as the team attempts to find a trade package to its liking for the 35-year-old. The tricky part for Memphis will be trying to make the money work in a deal that involves a $17.2 million cap figure for Iguodala. There will be plenty of suitors lining up for the veteran forward but very few have the trade capacity right now to take on that kind of salary without giving up a valuable piece of the roster. For that reason, I’d expect this situation to remain in a holding pattern until mid-December when free agents signed this past offseason are eligible to be dealt.
At that point, a lot more teams will gain trade flexibility to make a deal workable for both sides. It will be fascinating to see how greedy the Grizzlies get in searching for a trade after already landing a first-round pick from the Warriors for taking on Iguodala. Perhaps a second-round pick could be offered up with some matching salary or perhaps a first-round pick if the Grizzlies agree to take on additional long-term money as part of a pact. Will some contender get aggressive by adding the most appealing player right now on the trade market? Or will teams wait it out to see if Iguodala will eventually get bought out closer to the trade deadline? With so many teams in title contention this year, look for some team to pull the trigger before he even hits the market.
2. Who receives a rookie extension out of the deep 2016 draft class? We’ve spent plenty of time covering Jaylen Brown’s situation here at BSJ in the past few weeks but the swingman is just one on a long list of intriguing names that have the ability to sign a long-term extension before opening night. Ben Simmons (5 years/max), Jamal Murray (5 years/max) set the market with big deals back in July but Caris LaVert (3 years/$52 million) accepted a more modest deal for some long-term security. With a very shallow free-agent class expected in 2020, the restricted free agent market may be more active than usual if players don’t get locked down by their own teams now. Pascal Siakam is probably the biggest name to watch in the upcoming weeks besides Brown with the Raptors, while key role pieces like Dejounte Murray, Buddy Hield and Domantas Sabonis are all worth watching as well, particularly with Sabonis given the glut of bigs in the Pacers frontcourt. Any additional deals in the coming weeks could shift the market further and impact potential extension talks that the Celtics may have with Brown this fall or into next offseason.
3. When will stars return from injury? There may not have been another NBA regular season that begins with so many stars watching from the sidelines. Kevin Durant is the biggest name among them in Brooklyn and the team reiterated on Friday that there is no expectation for him to return from a torn Achilles this season. The same goes for John Wall with the Wizards. Beyond that? There are plenty of others on the mend. Paul George had two surgeries on his shoulder this summer and is expected to miss a portion of the season with the Clippers. Klay Thompson is out with a torn ACL for at least the first half of the regular season with Golden State. Victor Oladipo continues to recover from knee surgery in Indiana and there remains no timetable on his return. A number of former top picks are expected to be back on the floor as well in Kristaps Porzingis and Markelle Fultz in Orlando. While that duo won’t make much of an impact on the top half of the standings, seeing how they fit into their new surroundings in Dallas and Orlando respectively will be worth monitoring as well. However, the more fascinating situation will be watching how teams handle the status of guys like Thompson, George and Oladipo. With a competitive playoff race expected in both conferences, it will be a fine balance between getting them Thompson and Oladipo on the floor to ensure a playoff spot (for the Warriors and Pacers) and remaining overly cautious as the pair recovers from serious injuries.
4. Which new power duo meshes the best in wide-open NBA? Continuity is hard to find around the association this training camp with so much roster movement taking place over the past summer that has led to new dynamics duos all across the league. Whether it’s Harden/Westbrook in Houston, Davis/LeBron with the Lakers, George/Leonard with the Clippers, there is going to be a lot of intrigue to see which of these pairings works the best together. The Western Conference will be a battle between those new-look squads and other franchises that bolstered their chances with key trade acquisitions (Mike Conley in Utah, D’Angelo Russell in Golden State). With some formidable duos also in place in Portland (Lillard/McCollum) and Denver (Jokic/Murray) it’s going to be the first time in five years where there is some degree of uncertainty about which team will be coming out of the Western Conference. With so many heavy bets on the present by these franchises, the pressure across the entire playoff picture will be higher than ever.
Other NBA News and Notes
- The Bucks were fined $50,000 this week for announcing they intended on offering Giannis Antetokounmpo the supermax after this season (which is technically tampering). I'm sure that's money Bucks ownership is happy to spend to keep the Greek Freak in their good graces.
- Fascinating situation playing out in Memphis as they have agreed to keep summer trade acquisition and former No. 4 overall pick Josh Jackson with their G-League team during training camp. The guess here is they want to get the third-year forward more reps and increase the chance he can make an NBA impact at some point later in the regular season. The fact that Jackson's camp went along with it shows you how low his stock around the league is right now. The Grizzlies have a player option for him on next season due by Oct. 31st so his buy-in will be crucial in the next month while they weight that (it's unlikely to be picked up).
- A couple more injuries piling up around the league ahead of training camp. Kyle Kuzma continues to be bothered by a sore knee that he suffering during Team USA training camp. He's expected to miss most of camp. The same goes for Troy Brown Jr. (calf) and Isaiah Thomas (thumb) on the Wizards.
- Nice to see Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra get rewarded with a four-year extension. He's currently the second longest tenured coach in the NBA behind Greg Popovich.