Five Big Predictions for the NBA Offseason

We are less than two weeks away from NBA Free Agency and everyone is waiting to see where LeBron will sign, who will form the next super team, and where Kawhi Leonard will end up. Those are the stories that everyone, myself included, will be paying the most attention to this summer. What about the storylines no one is talking about? Will the Celtics go after another big name? Will the Wizards blow up their team? What will the Thunder do if Paul George leaves? These questions will be answered in due time, but for now let’s have some fun predicting the future. Here are my five big predictions for this year’s offseason:

• The Celtics will stand pat.
  • This prediction, as boring as it is, might be the craziest one of all. Last offseason, the Celtics were so busy that they ended up bringing back virtually a completely different roster from the year before. Even the year before they shook things up a little bit when they signed Al Horford. It seems that their wheeling and dealing has paid off and now they have everything they need. They won 55 games without All-Star Gordon Hayward and then got to Game 7 in the Conference Finals without All-Star Kyrie Irving. This team is loaded. Signing another big free agent or trading away young players to get Kawhi Leonard could just end up complicating what they have going now.

• The Wizards will trade Bradley Beal.
  • “John Wall and Bradley Beal make one of the best backcourts in the league.” Come on. Let’s face it: these two guys just don’t work well together. If that wasn’t clear already, it definitely is now after this season’s drama. The Wizards need a rebuild. Luckily, their All-Star point guard is young enough that they can still build around him. The rest of the team, however, needs to be blown up. The demolition would start with their most valued piece in All-Star shooting guard Bradley Beal. Put him on the market and teams that need shooters will be chomping at the bit.

• OKC will get Westbrook help … again.
  • The OK3 experiment didn’t work out and Paul George probably already has his bags packed for LA so it is time for the Thunder front office to find another supporting cast for their star, Russell Westbrook. This time around they will be smart and not bring in more superstars, but instead bring in shooters to spread the floor for Russ. According to my gut feeling, those shooters will be Eric Gordon from Houston and Kevin Love from Cleveland. Oh, and Carmelo Anthony will be traded to acquire one of those guys.

• The Lakers will form the latest super team.
  • The Lakers are too famous and have too much cap space not to form a super team this offseason. The cash that they have available is enough to sign two max players and they have assets to trade for a third piece. My guess is that they will sign Paul George and Demarcus Cousins to max contracts and then pull off a sign-and-trade deal with the Cavs to bring in LeBron.
• The Spurs will work it out with Kawhi.
  • I know this isn’t what everyone expects, but since when do the Spurs live up to expectations? Head Coach Gregg Popovich knows his players and their values very well. He also understands that Kawhi is eligible for free agency next summer and therefore, will not be getting great trade offers from teams. Once Popovich reminds Kawhi that the Spurs are a legitimate contender against the Warriors with him on the team, everything should fall back into place.

Written by Cody O’Brien