Before the trade deadline, the Warriors and the Cavaliers lorded over the NBA
and nothing happened to change that perception. But what about the teams that
will challenge them in the East and West? Perhaps there was a shakeup.
The Raptors and Rockets made the most significant moves to fortify their lineups
without sacrificing their rotation. And those moves were done specifically to
strengthen their case as the biggest threats to preventing another NBA Finals
repeat.
Houston added another shooter in Lou Williams and an efficient one at that,
giving James Harden an additional option in the spread offense. Meanwhile, the
Raptors addressed their defense, which is among the worst of the contenders,
with Serge Ibaka and P.J. Tucker. For a team in a mini free-fall, this could
jump start them in the right direction.
Williams comes to the Rockets as one of the strong favorites for Sixth Man of
the Year, and in a delicious coincidence, joins his biggest competitor for that
award in Eric Gordon. And so there are two heated races worth watching: The
Williams-Gordon “fight” for that trophy, and Houston’s sprint to the playoffs,
both guaranteed to generate buzz.
By getting Williams from the Lakers, the Rockets positioned themselves to have a
say in the West and in a best-case scenario, meet the Warriors in the West
finals assuming Golden State gets there.
“We’re all in,” said Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni. “We’re definitely committed.
We’ve just got to tighten some things up defensively.”
The Rockets were No. 2 in offense (behind Golden State) even before the trade
and Williams gives them a turbo boost. He averaged 18.6 points in only 24
minutes with the Lakers and then, fresh off the plane, dropped 27 in his Rockets
debut Thursday. He appears a natural fit in D’Antoni’s offense and gives the
coach a chance to tinker with Houston’s approach even more.
Depending on the matchups and lineups, the Rockets can put Harden, Williams,
Gordon and Ryan Anderson on the floor with a center and force teams to make
serious adjustments. Harden is already amped at that possibility.
“We have an opportunity and we want to take advantage of his opportunity,”
Harden said after Houston whipped New Orleans by 30 in Williams’ debut. “We’re
in that third spot and we’re trying to get better. We’re trying to get on the
same page and make this push. We’ve got an opportunity to win as many games as
we can.”
The wink-wink goal for Houston is to avoid the No. 4 spot in the West, which
would mean a possible meeting with the Warriors in the conference semifinals
barring no surprises along the way. In any event, Houston’s up-tempo,
quick-shooting offense can give any team fits. While the Rockets didn’t address
defensive and rebounding areas at the trade deadline, their motto is: Try to
keep up with us.
It was another story north of the border where the Raptors went all-in
defensively. Team president Masai Ujiri gave Toronto the dimension and depth it
badly needed with Tucker and Ibaka, and with the East up for grabs behind
Cleveland, he possibly gave the Raptors the necessary edge.
The Raptors lost a bit of defensive edge last summer when Bismack Biyombo signed
a surprisingly large free agent contract in Orlando; he was a rock in Toronto’s
East semifinals loss to Cleveland. As a result, Toronto suffered a lapse through
the first two-thirds of this season and allowed 45 percent shooting.
Even more pressing was the interior toughness the Raptors were lacking, which is
exactly the DNA that Tucker brings. He was the unquestioned leader in Phoenix
and often guarded the opposition’s best scorer. Tucker can match up against
three positions, and is the extra body Toronto will need should the East see a
rematch in the East finals.
While no one has proven to stop LeBron James one-on-one, Tucker can supply a
physical presence and at least make it tougher for James to score.
Ibaka somewhat addresses the need for a rim protector. Five years ago he was
among the best in the NBA. But his game and defensive mindset have evolved.
Rather than be a presence under the basket, Ibaka is more of an on-ball
defender, which has resulted in fewer blocks but not necessarily weaker defense.
Again, he’ll come in handy in a potential Toronto-Cleveland matchup because of
his mentality and physical presence.
As an added bonus, Ibaka brings another shooter; his range has slowly improved
to the point where he’s comfortable taking three-pointers.
“Everything always looks pretty on paper,” Ujiri said. “Now we have to go out
and play and execute. I think we needed this. I think this team deserves this
chance.”
Toronto’s potential lineup of DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry, Ibaka, Jonas
Valanciunas and DeMarre Carroll seemingly covers plenty of areas and concerns,
with a solid bench corp led by Tucker and Norman Powell. They also have the
remaining month-and-a-half to get acclimated and make a move in the East, where
they’re in a cluster with the Celtics and Wizards right behind Cleveland.
The Celtics refused to pull the trigger on any major deal, opting to keep its
precious first-round picks from Brooklyn, while the Wizards sat out the trade
deadline as well. In the West, the Spurs once again were silent at the deadline
and the Clippers, too strapped by the cap to make any significant additions,
await the return of Chris Paul from injury.
Which means the trade deadline failed to give sleepless nights with the Warriors
and Cavs, for now anyway. Meanwhile, the Rockets and Raptors are making plans
for early summer, hoping their changes will make a difference then.
Veteran NBA writer Shaun Powell has worked for newspapers and other publications
for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and
follow him on Twitter.
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