It’s never too early to shake things up.
Two games into the 2008-2009 season, the Pistons traded Chauncey Billups to Denver for Allen Iverson. Five games into the 2012-2013 season, the Lakers fired Mike Brown after an abysmal 1-4 start. Now, just six games into the 2018-2019 season, the winless Cavaliers decided they were fed up with the Tyronn Lue era and sent him packing.
This season hasn’t even entered double digits in games played. Yet, so far, several teams are showing some serious red flags. Some of these red flags we all saw coming, while others actually came as a bit of a surprise.
With the Cavs firing Lue as a response to their winless start, it’s only a matter of time until another team decides to make a change or two of their own. There are quite a few teams that are looking desperate for answers. They may be looking for any boost in their playoff chances, or they may be looking for a fresh start.
The following teams could be the next one to make some major modifications to their roster.
Minnesota Timberwolves
As long as Jimmy Butler remains in Minneapolis, everyone’s eyes will be glued to the Timberwolves. It still is rather puzzling that Butler is still in Minnesota after all the drama that they’ve gone through over the past month. There’s no need for elaboration on that because everyone and their mother knows what’s been going on behind the scenes.
The newest wrinkle is that this is affecting the Timberwolves’ morale as a team. In their first six games, Minnesota has gone 2-4. Their schedule so far has not been a cakewalk by any means, but Butler’s antics have proven to be a distraction. Karl-Anthony Towns has regressed badly since the start of the season, averaging 16.3 points, 8.8 rebounds on 43 percent shooting from the field.
What’s more telling is that Towns’ best game of the season – a high-scoring, competitive loss to the Mavericks, in which Towns put up 31 points on 9-of-16 shooting including four-of-six from three – happened to be the one game Butler didn’t play.
That could just be a coincidence, but given all that’s happened, that doesn’t seem likely. The writing is on the wall. Butler needs to go. That’s been public knowledge for a while now, but the more this drags on, the more both the team and the fans suffer.
Houston Rockets
Houston’s worst nightmare came true. Their most recent departures – Trevor Ariza, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, and retired assistant Jeff Bzdelik – proved to be as disastrous as feared. Their defensive rating has plummeted down to 116.9, which is bad enough for 27th in the league. A drop off was expected, but…holy moly.
It’s shown in their record so far. The Rockets currently stand at 1-4, tied for 13th in the Western Conference. Even with all they lost, they shouldn’t be starting off this badly. Yet here we are. Now this bad start that they’ve had shouldn’t continue. James Harden and Chris Paul are too good of a duo for the Rockets to play this badly. However, they’ve got an elephant in the room that can’t go unnoticed.
Lucky for them, their problems coincide with Minnesota’s problems with Jimmy Butler. Both are growing more and more desperate by the day, which could lead to a deal. The latest reported offer is four first-round picks with the major hold-up being Eric Gordon, who Minnesota insists must be part of the deal.
Houston refuses to include Gordon because he fits its system like a glove. That is understandable, but when the system is not getting results, an upgrade is necessary. Gordon is a terrific player, but this is Jimmy Buckets we’re talking about. Though not a knockdown shooter, Butler’s perimeter defense can fix their problems.
A date to keep an eye on is Halloween because on that day, both Brandon Knight and Marquese Chriss have their trade restrictions expire. That may be the reason why Houston hasn’t traded for Butler just yet, which is why we should all stay tuned.
Washington Wizards
“Just wait until Dwight Howard gets back!”
A phrase no one expected to say given all the issues that have gone on between Howard and his last few teams. For the Wizards though, Howard is their last hope, because whatever’s going on in Washington is only getting worse.
The team has now fallen to 1-5, with their most recent loss coming at the hands of the Clippers. This wasn’t some tight contest either. The Clippers blew them out by a whopping 32 points, and the Wizards allowed 136 points all in all. Howard is capable of plugging some of their holes on the floor, but the discord could get so much worse.
This shouldn’t be happening to the Wizards because they still have a fair amount of talent. It’s just that they shouldn’t have to rely on Dwight’s return to give them a boost. The Wizards are quickly turning into a sinking ship. It’s not the roster that may need a change. It’s the coach.
Scott Brooks did a fantastic job getting the Wizards to realize their potential two seasons ago. Unfortunately, he’s in a league that basically lives by the question, “What have you done for me lately?” Well, lately, Brooks hasn’t been able to keep things afloat. If these struggles continue even with Howard back, then Brooks might follow in Ty Lue’s footsteps.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Something is definitely wrong with the Thunder. Defensively, they’re only okay as they are 13th overall in defensive rating (109), which is disappointing for them given all the talent they have on that side of the ball. It’s the offensive struggles that are absolutely mind-boggling. Even with Russell Westbrook and Paul George on the team, the Thunder rank last in offensive rating with 99 points per 100 possessions.
One of the most obvious culprits for OKC’s struggles is their lack of shooting. The Thunder rank last in the NBA in three-point percentage with a ghastly 24.1 percent from distance. Sure that’s bad, but consider that the next one up from them is Denver, who as of now among one of the best teams in the west, at 29.1 percent. Despite that, the Nuggets still have the tenth best offensive rating at 112.1
That’s not to say the lack of spacing isn’t a problem, because it is, but the offense just in general is all-around dysfunctional. This team doesn’t really know how to work together, and now they don’t have Carmelo Anthony as the scapegoat to their problems. Many will point to Andre Roberson’s absence as the reason for their struggles. He should help when he returns, but he doesn’t help their lack of spacing.
Much like Scott Brooks, the gist of the blame should be directed towards Billy Donovan. He’s struggled to put the pieces together, and if they continue, he should be out of the job. If the Thunder find a reliable shooter who makes life easier for them, Donovan’s job should be safe. If the offense struggles even with said shooter, then there’s no question what should happen to Donovan.
Cleveland Cavaliers
They may have already shaken things up with Lue’s firing, but that may not be the last move they make.
Tyronn Lue’s firing might be the first domino in what could be a potential blow-up this season. Though Tristan Thompson swears the east would run through Cleveland, the Cavs have looked nothing short of awful since LeBron’s departure. It’s a shame because the way they approached this offseason was centered around proving that they weren’t completely helpless without LeBron.
To make a long story short, it’s appeared that they most definitely are, which honestly isn’t that shocking.
So, if the struggles continue, what is their next move? This writer has already detailed what Cleveland should have done when LeBron left, and he stands by it.
-Trade their best players for assets – Kevin Love, George Hill, JR Smith, Kyle Korver
-Focus on developing their young talent – Collin Sexton, Larry Nance Jr., and maybe Rodney Hood
-Get a coach who would help a rebuild like old friend David Blatt
That is, of course, if their struggles continue, which, from the look of things, is a strong possibility.
For all we know, all of these mentioned teams’ will figure themselves out in the coming weeks. Bad starts, though, can be very difficult to overcome if things don’t improve. If these teams’ struggles continue for an extended period, they may regret not shaking things up while they had their chance.
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