Bottom-feeder Teams with Most Promising Future

[StakJak]

List 3ish. Speaking of teams in 10th place or worse in respective conference.

[Whiz Kid]

Cleveland, Washington, New Orleans. IMO

[SWedd523]

I'll take it a step further. Among the teams with the 10 worst records in the league, I'd rank their futures ass such:

1. Minnesota - Love is a star, Rubio is a great young PG, and Pekovic/AK47 are fantastic support players. Their issue is that they've never really had the entire core together and healthy at the same time. Keeping Pek is going to be big for them, if they can, I can see them being a 4-6 seed out West.

2. Cleveland - Kyrie is a star and will be one of the best players in the league for a long time if he can stay healthy. There is the issue with them too. Irving keeps picking up injuries here and injuries there and it really hurts them. Thompson/Waiters are looking like they'll be pretty good players in the future. Keep Kyrie healthy and they could make some noise. Adding a high pick helps too.

3. New Orleans - Another team with health issues! Davis has been up and down this year, especially with his injuries and minutes fluctuating. His talent, though, is undeniable. He's going to be a real difference maker in another year or so. Gordon looks like he's finally back healthy and Vasquez has been a surprise for themm this year and is a great PG for that team's roster. Adding a high pick helps too.

4. Detroit - Monroe and Drummond is enough alone to have them this high. Monroe's development has stagnated a bit, but there's nothing wrong with being an above average, borderline all-star big man in today's league. Drummond was doing some great things before he got hurt and has a ton of room to grow. His improvement on a monthly basis has been exactly what we all hoped for from Bismack. Knight is looking like a disappointment up to this point so they still need some backcourt help, and they still have some bad contracts on the payroll but they could add a guy like Porter to that frontcourt and have a new age Prince/Sheed/Ben.

5. Washington - It seems like I'm the only one who has been a fan of Wall since his rookie year, but it looks like folks are starting to come around as he and Beal continue to play well together. They have a teriffic young backcourt, but have a lot of money tied up in an aging and average duo of Okafor and Nene, which will hurt them unless they can find a young big to add somewhere. Adding a guy like Bennett in the middle of the lottery would make them a very athletic and fun team to watch.

6. Charlotte - Kemba looks to have some real potential as a young up-and-coming PG, MKG has shown flashes of greatness before tailing off so there's some promise there. Bismack hasn't progressed as quickly as hoped, but he still has the opportunity to be a difference making defender. Also adding what appears to be a very high draft pick that may or may not push them up a few spots.

7. Sacramento - outside of Cousins, they don't have a lot to write home about. They have some solid guys, but none of them seem like top flight players for the future. Cousins' talent alone should have them higher, but he's too crazy to rely on as a centerpiece. They also have the huge issue of potentially moving to a new city hanging over their heads.

8. Orlando - This is the team that has the biggest range in this thing. Vucevic, Nicholson, Harris, and Harkless are all talented young guys. The problem is that they aren't quite guys who have top 10 at their position potential. They run the risk of hopping on the treadmill as those guys develop into a solid, yet unspectacular group. If they hit a homerun on a top 3 pick this year, then they can move way up the list.

9. Phoenix - Gortat wants out, Beasley is a dumbass, Scola is old, and Dragic has leveled out in the average PG tier. They have no star power and not much youth to fall back on. They really need to jettison their older guys and start on a total overhaul. They're looking at a pick in the 4-6 range so they have a starting point, but they look to have a very long road.



n/a Toronto - can't really add them in an "Assess their Future" ranking because they've already made their bed. Next year, they'll have $44.3 million (of a ~$58 million cap) tied up in a quartet of Rudy Gay, Andrea Bargnani, DeMar DeRozan, and Landry Fields. Ew. Unless Valanciunas takes a huge step, they're looking to be in full on treadmill mode for the next few years, especially with them owing a top 3 protected pick to OKC. Do not want to be them.

[StakJak]

^^Minn, Orlando, Cleveland: a star player away from being a contender for the next generation. Striking personnel similarities between a healthy Minn and Orlando

I find Sacramento an interesting bunch. Maybe I credit DMC for this but something is just missing from Sac's culture. On paper, I put them top 3 on your list..what's not to like Thompson and Thomas going forward? Trade Evans in a package for a David West type of vet and hit one of those big name guards in one of next two years draft...scary.

No need to go into Charlotte wants/needs. We're thrifty and cautious with free agents and we have two "crystal ball" players in MKG and Biz (although I see MKG with a higher "floor"). Kemba is a sure thing and our best pick-up. We're not the experts' sleeper franchise moving forward, but we're not a facepalm franchise that has to "break it down" twice, like Phoenix, before we can build it up. Middle of the pack in that category is fair.