Best under-the-radar moves
Not every NBA transaction has the seismic consequences of
LeBron James' return to Cleveland, but smaller moves can still have a big impact.
An example of a difference-making move that didn't create any kind of stir when it happened was San Antonio's signing of
Marco Belinelli last summer. Belinelli provided the already-deep Spurs with a reasonable facsimile to
Manu Ginobili, and ended up second on the Spurs in minutes played during the regular season. Further, it was the efficiency of players such as Belinelli,
Patty Mills and
Boris Diaw that allowed the Spurs to keep their foundation players under 30 minutes per game, preserving the veterans' best performance for San Antonio's title run.
Likewise, Washington's midseason acquisition of
Andre Miller last season helped to solidify the Wizards' rotation. Miller played more than 20 minutes in a game just twice, but the Wizards went 18-10 with Miller, and knocked out Chicago in the first round of the playoffs.
So which relatively unheralded moves from the 2014 offseason will prove significant this season? Here's a look at five under-the-radar additions from this summer that could have important consequences down the line.
Toronto Raptors
Key additions: James Johnson,
Louis Williams
The Raptors focused in large part on retention this summer.
Kyle Lowry,
Patrick Patterson and
Greivis Vasquez all could have left. All will be back with Toronto this season.
Maintaining and building the status quo makes sense for the Raptors, who set a franchise record of 48 wins last season, making the playoffs for the first time in six years despite having a roster with a minutes-weighted average age of just 26.6 years old. As such, GM Masai Ujiri chose to construct a roster this summer that will allow for continued growth. The Raptors currently project to get 86 percent of their minutes from players on last year's team, the sixth-highest rate of retention in the league.
Of course, standing pat can have the downside of limiting upside. If your foundation isn't good enough to contend, even with development, you end up stuck in a state of stasis. So rather than upset the apple cart, Ujiri's offseason has also been aimed at improving on the margins. And by adding
James Johnson and
Louis Williams, he appears to have succeeded.
Toronto was a very balanced team statistically a year ago, but were glaringly unable to get score in the paint. While they drew a lot of fouls, they couldn't get baskets from close in with any consistency. Only two teams in the NBA had a lower percentage of its points in the paint. Making matters worse, Toronto ranked 23rd in overall 2-point field goal accuracy. For a team built around Lowry,
DeMar DeRozan and
Jonas Valanciunas, those are surprising -- and disturbing -- figures.
Williams could help turn things around inside. From 2005-2012, with Philadelphia, 52 percent of Williams' shots came from inside of 16 feet, according to Basketball-Reference.com. But after suffering a major knee injury, he became more of a jump-shooter in Atlanta. He's another year removed from surgery now, though, and the hope is he'll be able to resume the off-the-dribble game he featured with the Sixers.
Meanwhile, Johnson has improved on the shot selection that had undermined his athleticism earlier in his career. Last season, he took 61 percent of his shots from 10 feet and in. Even better, Johnson hit 55 percent of his 2-point shots, a major reason he was able to put up a career-best 4.3 wins above replacement (WARP) in just 18 minutes per game.
Given the number of solid jump-shooters in Toronto, Williams and Johnson should both have plenty of opportunity to attack driving lanes. These moves, along with the natural development of Valanciunas, should mean a lot more points in the paint for the Raptors this season. That might not lead to a huge gain in overall efficiency, but it will make Toronto's attack more versatile, which in turn will pay dividends in the playoffs, when matchups become so important.
New Orleans Pelicans
Key addition: Omer Asik
It seems as if we spent so much time focusing on the Rockets' failure to land
Chris Bosh that we overlooked what some other teams gained as a result of Houston's feverish pursuit.
Example No. 1: New Orleans' acquisition of Omer Asik for a first-round pick. Thanks to
Anthony Davis, the Pelicans led the league in shot-block percentage last season. But they also ranked just 25th in overall defensive efficiency and 27th in 2-point field goal percentage allowed. And according to NBA.com/stats, the Pelicans were only a half-point better per 100 possessions on defense when Davis was on the floor. Clearly, they'll need to do a better job this season of leveraging his abilities on that end.
In that respect, Davis' partnership with Asik should be ideal. Over the course of his career, Asik has improved his teams' defensive rating by 4.3. He's one of the league's best rim protectors and his presence will help Davis fully realize his defensive potential, allowing the 21-year-old phenom to roam as a weakside shot-blocker and wreak havoc.
Last season, New Orleans paired Davis with fellow shot-blocker Greg Stiemsma for 570 minutes, during which the Pelicans' defensive rating was 3.3 points better than its season mark. Asik is about two tiers above Stiemsma as an interior defender. And so he and Davis should spend about three times as many minutes on the floor together. The Pelicans' performance on the defensive end should see a big boost as a result.
The addition of Asik is a big reason the Pelicans may be a breakout team this coming season.
Memphis Grizzlies
Key addition: Vince Carter
Memphis has been getting gradually more efficient on the offensive end over the past couple of years. Nevertheless, the Grizzlies' league ranking in frequency of 3-pointers attempted over the past six years has ranked as follows: 27th, 30th, 30th, 28th, 30th and 30th. To highlight the magnitude of this signing: The Grizzlies have been desperate for 3-point shooting since before Barack Obama was president.
Memphis' 3-point percentage last season was within earshot of the league average, so the problem wasn't necessarily with accuracy, but rather with volume. The addition of Carter gives the Grizzlies a different kind of deep threat than the departed
Mike Miller. Miller is more accurate than Carter -- as well as just about everyone else in the NBA -- but Carter's no slouch from the arc. He's shot 40 percent from deep over the past two seasons, and possesses better ability than Miller to create his own long-range shots. Last season, Carter averaged 6.8 3-point attempts per 36 minutes, compared to Miller's 4.9.
The Grizzlies also will welcome
Quincy Pondexter back from injury this year. In his last healthy season, Pondexter averaged 4.4 3-point attempts per 36 minutes and hit nearly 40 percent of those. The Grizzlies will remain an inside-out team in 2014-2015. The variety of deep shooters now available should help open up the inside for
Marc Gasol and
Zach Randolph.
My far-too-early projections have the Grizzlies actually making more 3s than three other teams this season. Hey, you have to start somewhere.
Chicago Bulls
Key addition: Aaron Brooks
I've written a lot about how much success Tom Thibodeau has with shoot-first point guards.
Jannero Pargo,
John Lucas III,
Nate Robinson and
D.J. Augustin all have helped prop up Chicago's offense with ultimate shoot-first point guard
Derrick Rose sidelined. Chicago lost Augustin to the Pistons during free agency, but Brooks is a worthy replacement in that key second-unit scoring role.
Augustin and Brooks have had remarkably similar careers, though Augustin had the superior 2013-14 campaign and is three years younger. They shoot the 3-ball equally well, but Brooks has generally produced higher volumes of usage and scoring. The hope is that Brooks' efficiency will get the same kind of boost that other players of his ilk have had under Thibodeau. By adding Brooks, the Bulls can now mix and match with him, Rose and
Kirk Hinrich, and they can save wear and tear on Rose by playing him off the ball for stretches.
Thanks Skooby
