THE NBA Summer

The NBA is at a crossroads. Following the end of the Conference Semi’s fans are reminded yet again of the magnitude of this upcoming summer and how it will impact every move each team in the league makes for the next decade.

With Boston and Houston feeling the agony of defeat again, you learn just as much about this upcoming summer as the two teams that advanced to the conference finals. For Houston, Chris Paul has one more year under his current extension before he contemplates retirement. James Harden is a year older, even with a possible second MVP, surrounding him with the correct talent has proven a tough task (unless you are Sam Presti and Oklahoma City…), and the championship window for Houston is closing at a speed faster than it takes a spaceship to get to the moon. Harden is an incredible player and the impact his career will have on the league will be tremendous, but unless something drastic changes in Houston over the summer Harden and the Rockets will find themselves in the same place they have since Harden got to Houston, on the couch. One place to start is the third wheel of the “Big Three” that Houston will need to get over Golden State. Daryl Morey will have to get creative with the way he restructures the roster because they have virtually no cap space. Clint Capela and Eric Gordon might be playing for different teams the next time they step on an NBA floor; simply because the star power in Houston has proven yet again to not be enough when it matters the most. Harden has not shown up in the closing minutes of make or break games like a superstar of his magnitude needs and the burden for Harden at times through the last few playoff runs has been too much for one star to handle. As well as Chris Paul played in games four, five, and six; he isn’t the same player that he once was and has shown that in the crunch time moments of playoff games cannot be the second-best player on a championship team anymore, there needs to be another guy.

And Houston couldn’t have picked a better offseason to have this problem. If Houston moves Capela or Gordon, or both clearing up that cap space can help attract second tear free agents like Jimmy Butler, Kemba Walker, or Al Horford (if Horford opts out) to come join Harden and give the Warriors a run for their money.

Speaking of Golden State. What they accomplished in Houston on Friday night was spectacular and just another feather in the cap of these Steve Kerr run Warriors, but even the big bad empire will have some questions to answer after the season is over. Putting aside the obvious “where is Durant going to end up” soap opera that has been the major storyline of the current season, Golden State might look drastically different on opening night 2019. Both Klay and KD might be in over cities, meaning Steph Curry taking on a role he has never had to before in his career. As dominate as he has been, Curry has never truly been the guy on an NBA team. Curry has always had Thompson or Green, or Durant to lean on when times have gotten rough. Draymond will still be around for another season before his own contract is up, but Green is not the same player as he was even a season ago. Peak Draymond is much like Rob Gronkowski this past season, from time to time fans will see the player that can give opposing teams nightmares, but it happens once in a blue moon when the best performance is imperative. Even with the top dog on the ropes, regardless of another ring, reconstructing another title contender for Golden State won’t be a breeze this time around.

Transitioning back across the country to the team with perhaps the most questions to get answered this summer, the Boston Celtics. There is no question that the Celtics have been one of the most dysfunctional teams over the course of the season. Kyrie Irving has gone from franchise point guard in Boston to persona non grata. The people of Boston want nothing more to drive Kyrie Irving to the airport and forget the two-year experiment with him didn’t happen. Boston was the team that Irving handpicked to be the team he “led” to his second ring. Instead, Irving let his attitude get in the way of one of the most talented teams in recent NBA history. Irving’s attitude is no stranger to the circus that follows him around. He was a moody injury prone guard coming out of Duke, he was still moody when he got to Cleveland budding heads with Dan Gilbert and the Cavs front office on multiple occasions (before LeBron came back), and since his departure from Cleveland he has shown once more that changing zip codes doesn’t change the person. Wherever Irving goes this summer his humongous attitude will come with him. However, we cannot discount how talented Kyrie is as a player. This is still the same guy that hit the biggest shot in Cleveland sports history, still the guy that has the best handle in the game of basketball, and still one of the top 10-15 players in the league. He just has a boat load of baggage. That’s fine, players have succeeded before while having an attitude problem. The next stop on the Kyrie tour just has to be one that has to have the support system in place to counter Irving’s attitude.

As for the Celtics, it is amazing that after the heist of the Brooklyn Nets, years later the apex of that treasure trove could be Gordan Hayward, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. That isn’t bad, just shocking that after all that, the master plan ended with a roster that is still not talented enough to get out of the East to try to win a title. Master trader Danny Ainge will have to go back to the drawing board to survive an offseason that could be end in disaster.

Toronto and Portland using game sevens to advance collectively put to bed narratives on both those cities as they faced their ghosts and got to the Conference Finals. For Portland, they have to stare down the barrel of a gun facing Golden State, but this group has stared adversity in the face throughout most of this season and is battle tested enough to be up for the challenge that the Warriors pose. Up North in Toronto, even with Kawhi barring a game winner to push past the under achieving 76’ers his future is still uncertain with the Raptors. Regardless of what reports say about his future in Toronto, the bottom line is we don’t know. The story for months last year is that he was going to the Lakers and going to be the second star that teams up with LeBron in L.A. We have absolutely no idea where Kawhi will go this summer. The Raptors have to figure that out quickly in the meantime. Without Kawhi the Raptors have shown in the playoffs to be a glorified lottery team hanging on the coattails of one of the best players in the NBA. Toronto needed every bucket from Kawhi to get to this point, and a possible title might not save them from a future that has the Raptors routing for ping pong balls instead of clutch baskets from an All-Time talent.

A lot of basketball still has to be played before any of these questions can actually be answered, and as fans we should enjoy that time to watch the game. This column is a byproduct of the current climate around the NBA where the offseason seems to be more entertaining than the actual games being played. The storylines on the court are still fascinating too and can be will still determine the results of whatever happens this summer. Let us not forget that, the games still have to be played, so can we agree to not let the heat of the summer hot stove outshine the accomplishments on the court and hinder the game that we all love in the first place.