NBA: What are the problems of the Lakers, Suns, Warriors and Bucks?
Which teams were stuck in the past? Which markets did not know how to read what the new route to El Dorado was? Four franchises that must rethink some issues.
The NBA It is in a process of natural change. The players reference that illuminated an era transit their epilogue and several general managers insist on betting on a formula that has lost its validity.
The new collective bargaining agreement eliminated the chances of building super teams and the exceptions Those who still survive this maxim carry major risk in the future. This means that, a few days before the deadline for exchanges, movements who knew how to exploit the market, now it is difficult for them to repeat themselves.
More words, less words, once the team is assembled, if you have issuesdifficult to convert it into one winner in the same season. Turning the direction with a signing is complex and that is why historical franchises that played this game today are in limbo, and others that bet on the long term such as Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rocketswith managers who understood where the company was going NBAtoday they enjoy the fruit of sweet waiting.
It is, like the salmon, going against the current: in the age of impatience, celebrate whoever manages to have wisdom of samurai.
Now, which teams were stuck in the past? Which markets did not know how to read what the new route towards The Golden? The purpose of this installment is to stop at a poker of historical franchises that were trapped in the webs of their own decisions and that, sooner or later, will have to shuffle and give again.
Main problem: LeBron James
One of the best players of all times may be the problem in Los Angeles? Yes, definitely. At 40 years old, James He continues to play at a stellar level, but time forgives no one. And his presence in the best League in the world is more of a farewell function with an open end, extended over time, than the chance to compete for something important. Because the Lakers They are good, but not that good. This is dramatic, because it is once again staying halfway. And in a market like this, a mistake like that is a cardinal sin. lebron It will be infinite, but today it is part of a NBA that is leaving. The new figures are different. And the board, led by Rob Pelinkahas done nothing but listen to the King in each of his demands.
No, we do not refer to Bronny James. Neither does JJ Redick. The problem started when they dismantled the bubble team. orlando (champion by the way) and began a “reconstruction” for the 2021/22 season with Russell Westbrook as the third sword after not having been able to repeat the title in the 2020/21 season. They are still paying the consequences of such a decision. At the contractual level, lebron He is under contract through 2025-26, at $48,728,845 per year.
Anthony Davis, whose health has always been under scrutiny, has a guaranteed contract until 2027-28, with $175,369,471 still to be collected. The arrival of Dorian Finney-Smith tries to correct the mistake of having let Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and the already retired Danny Green leave (he had left for OKC the year after winning the ring in exchange for Dennis Schroder), but the truth is that rebuilding a winning structure can take a long time. The purple and gold solution is simple: clean everything you can and start again. Painful, but real.
Main problem: Bradley Beal
The best example of a team put together by someone who did not adapt to the current times. Instead of following the logic of Sam Presti on the Thunderbusinessman Mat Ishbia was excited in 2023 with the option to win now. At that time it was Kevin Durant first and for Bradley Beal after. Today, in 2025, with the recent change by Nick Richards, phoenix has already mortgaged all the picks draft from 2023 to 2031. Well, not all of them: it has a first round left in 2031, a second in 2026 and a second in 2031 from Denver.
Of course: according to reports from Brian Windhorstthey explored options to bring the team to Jimmy Butler using the only interchangeable first round they had left from 2031. That is, they insisted with blinders on selling their soul to the devil: enjoying the present and laughing at the future. A real madness, because not even with Butler Phoenix I could win now. The problem is not Beal in itself but the intention of putting together a Big Three old-fashioned, with three players (Durant, Devin Booker and Beal) who always needed at least one ball each to play. We all knew it. Everyone except the Suns management who granted owner Mat Ishbia’s wish.
And now, the contract they acquired from Beal (originally signed by Washington Wizards as part of an extension, one season before being traded), with more than $160 million outstanding over the next three seasons and, according to Bobby Marks, a no-trade clause and a 15 percent trade right, locks them in in a cage they can’t get out of. Who in their right mind is going to take the contract Bealwhich does not put any team in the NBA in position to win a Larry O’Brien Trophy in the immediate future? I’m sorry for phoenixbut they will be an example for others of what not to do. It is, once again, the problem of not stopping to read the fine print.
Main issue: Jonathan Kuminga
Tick, tock, tick, tock. time is running out San Francisco and worries grow. Mainly because Klay Thompson He is no longer there and because his Splash Brother, Stephen Curryis frustrated in a team that is neither going back nor forward. He already clarified with coach Steve Kerr that he does not want “desperate moves” to guide the course. He knows that something like this can further crack the structure. ¿Draymond Green? Fine, thanks.
Both figures belong to the old NBA and his health indicates it. Sometimes they are available, sometimes they are not, and when they look from the outside no one can replace them. The Warriors have the problem of Kuminga because they believe, wrongly, that their market value is important to exchange for something – or someone – that will allow them to rebuild another season that is on its way to oblivion.
A present like this hurts, because two and a half seasons ago, the Warriors they achieved a new title against the Celtics to win its fourth championship in eight seasons. Only one beautiful memory remains of that dynasty. In recent years, only twice Golden State made a significant change before the deadline: they acquired Andrew Wiggins in 2021 and a first round pick (from this pick came Kuminga in 2021) by D’Angelo Russell (which had reached Warriors as part of the sign & trade that you deposited to Kevin Durant in Brooklyn) who went to Minnesota Timberwolvesand in 2022 they sent James Wiseman to the Detroit Pistons in a four-team trade that brought Gary Payton II and second round picks.
The truth is that at Warriors Something similar happens to the Lakers: two sacred cows in Curry and Green and a choir around that does not seem to measure up. The management is worried and the team, if it wants to change, will have to do so by playing. Let’s not forget that it arrived Dennis Schroder in December and the situation did not change at all.
Main problem: Damian Lillard
Did you think about Khris Middleton? It is also a problem, but in this case, health played a determining role in his future. And also in that of his team. However, the arrival of Lillard was what ruined the Milwaukee Bucksbecause it was what is called a friendly fire shot.
Jon Horst, general manager of the franchise, was the one who brought Jrue Holiday in 2020 and thanks to that move they won a championship. And then, three years later, he dug the team’s hole by bringing in Lillard, paying a high price of losing Jrue Holidaywho went first to portland and then ended up in Boston in a superior transaction.
The Celtics They smiled and took, of course, the championship in 2023-24. The truth is that the bucks They went from being a defensive to an offensive team. From being a healthy and young team to sore and veteran. To that they added the departure of the coach who gave them the title Mike Budenholzer. The roadmap was no longer clear: they changed coach twice in 18 months: the first was the rookie Adrian Griffinwho did not finish his debut season, and today Doc Rivers is in charge. All this nonsense that continues to be paid dearly.
So expensive that, sooner or later, it can end with Giannis Antetokounmpo out of town. The reason is simple: they have no valuable assets to trade and no salary flexibility. It was an all or nothing move Lillard. And today the result is nothing. So much so that the bucks they have a single first-round pick to trade (2031) and one second-round pick available. The 2025 selection that they owe to New Orleans or Brooklyn It was part of the change to acquire Holiday in 2020. Since they are above the second apron (salary limit) they cannot recover more salary from a trade.
Nor can they, as Jamal Collier explains on AM850, sign a player fired during the season whose contract was greater than 12.8 million before being removed from his previous team. They are on the ropes and the veterans who joined, like Taurean Prince, Gary Trent Jr or Delon Wrightthey do not and will not change the inevitable destiny.
