Basketball This Week (Done) Quickly

if Conley is healthy, the Grizzlies are going to surprise some people in the west; Kyle Anderson is a good glue guy, and a motivated Marc Gasol can have a major impact.  Betting on the health of Conley has unfortunately been a bad bet, which is too bad because at least the last time we saw him, he was one of the league’s best.  Without him, there isn’t much to glue together and Marc Gasol is likely back to pouting more than playing.

Lebron.  Collection of misfits, but the youth is interesting.    Playoffs?  Jimmy Butler’s destination should have a lot to do with that

Added Doug bucket.  Pretty much the same team.  Lance helped them a little mentally but time to stand on their own.

It's hard to call a team that added the player who was considered one of the top prizes of this offseason just a few months ago a bad thing, even considering that he's probably just not going to contribute a ton.  Ultimately the questions here are all health (mental and physical), because from a talent standpoint they should cruise to another title.

Perhaps a full training camp with Blake will be enough to get this experiment to gel and work.  If so, Detroit theoretically has enough pieces on paper to make a playoff run.  The actual on-court chemistry has let them down in recent years, perhaps a new coach and system will fix it?

Fell just short of the playoffs.  Thomas gives them another ball handler to help them when Jokic is off the floor, as long as Jokic is just off the floor for a normal amount of time per game.  If Jokic goes down again this year then the Nuggets may end up falling just short again.

Dallas Mavs - This team does not want to be in the bottom of the west.  However, unless Donic turns out to be one of the better rookies ever, the team will likely still struggle to be more than a minor bit better than last season.  I'm thinking a very fun team, but ultimately a lottery team.

Cleveland Cavs - Can Kevin Love be lead scoring threat in the NBA in 2019?  That will be the deciding factor in how good the Cavs can be.  They have part of the core from the Lakers from a few years ago, and a core of vets that have been okay recently.  I think they're an Eastern Conference playoff team, unless injuries pull the wheels off.

Chicago Bulls - Not sure why they spent so much on Jabari Parker, but he gives them some more scoring, in theory (he wasn't great last year, but at least now he'll be this team's primary scorer).  Same with Lavine.  There are some rough parts of the team, but the young big core is good.  Because the East is bad, outside playoff shot.

Charlotte Hornets-  Did I forget them last year?  Apparently I did.  Dwight Howard experiment is over, as is the Jeremy Lin experiment, thus ending the "most affordable players that are marketable but don't help you win" era for the Hornets.  The main core is still young, but they have some decent vets to help them out.  Kemba Walker is also good.  Lots of mismatched pieces, I expect a mid-season trade.  Outside playoff chance because the east.