LeBron + AD + ? Here are major offseason questions in NBA Western Conference

LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS: Are they getting Kawhi Leonard? 

In the past two seasons, the Clippers turned over their Lob City roster and now sit with three promising rookie guards, the best bench scoring combo in the NBA with Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell, and enough cap space for two star free agents. The Clippers want Leonard so badly they tried to buy his personal logo from Nike, and if he wants to come home to LA, they may pair him with Al Horford. But if the Board Man stays in Canada, Plan B could involve anything from Kevin Durant to a Danilo Gallinari trade.

LOS ANGELES LAKERS: Who is going to come play with The Brow and LeBron? 

And are they going to be better than Rajon Rondo and Lance Stephenson? This may change after free agency starts, but right now, the Los Angeles Lakers have the best one-two punch in the Western Conference, if not the entire league. And outside of that duo, they have Kyle Kuzma, and that’s it. (Well, besides the imminently traded Mo Wagner and Isaac Bonga.) The Lakers should be able to add quality veterans and ring chasers with their cap space and various exceptions. Everyone thought so last summer, too, and they ended up with the Island Of Misfit Veterans. They  must add a lot of players, and we’d feel more optimistic if GM Rob Pelinka at least knew the salary cap rules.

MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES: Who is going to be a part of the next playoff team? 

The Mike Conley trade marks the end of the Grit n’ Grind era in Memphis, and the beginning of what they hope will be the era of Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson, Jr. There’s no way they’ll be a playoff team this season, so it's all about finding out who might be alongside their young stars long term. Does Delon Wright have a role in that backcourt? Will Brandon Clarke live up to his gaudy college stats? Of course, their best teammates might come from draft picks Memphis gets when they use their cap space to take on bad contracts this summer.

MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES: Will they clear one of their bad contracts? 

Minnesota’s path to adding a big free agent this summer requires dumping one or more of their bad long-term deals: Jeff Teague’s $19 million (tough to move), Gorgui Dieng’s two years and $33.5 million (nearly impossible to move), or Andrew Wiggins’ four years and $122 million (not going anywhere anytime soon). It might not be worth the picks they’d have to attach to dump the deals, unless they have an extremely strong indication that Karl-Anthony Towns’ good friend D’Angelo Russell wants to team up with him. 

NEW ORLEANS PELICANS: How soon will Zion be great? 

Zion Williamson is going to become a star in the NBA. But how good will 19-year-old Zion Williamson be in his rookie season? That will affect how aggressive New Orleans acts when it comes to its cap space and trades. If he’s an immediate contributor, look for veteran help, especially at center (Brook Lopez, perhaps?). If it looks like Zion may take awhile to adjust, then rent out the cap space, and start looking at Jrue Holiday deals. Regardless, the Pelicans should do their best to give Zion what he didn't have at Duke: three-point shooters.

OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER: Will the Thunder really get rid of Steven Adams? 

Adams is a wonderful defender, an effective pick-and-roll man, and has more than a passing resemblance to Aquaman, Jason Momoa. But he makes more than $53 million for the next two years, and the Thunder just paid a record amount in luxury tax for a team that has won four playoff games in the past three years combined. Still, getting rid of your starting center isn’t a great way to win more playoff games, so perhaps OKC can dump Andre Roberson or Dennis Schroder instead. Whatever the Thunder does, it better involve adding more outside shooting, because Paul George and Jerami Grant were OKC's only perimeter threats.

PHOENIX SUNS: Will they finally get a point guard? 

In 2015, the Suns had three good point guards before trading Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas within minutes of each other. Since then, Brandon Knight hurt his knee, Eric Bledsoe didn’t want to be there, and the position has essentially been vacant for two seasons. The premium point guards (Kemba Walker and Kyrie Irving) are probably out of their reach, but even Ricky Rubio or Patrick Beverley would still be a dramatic upgrade.

PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS: Are they stuck with this group? 

Plenty of teams would be happy to be “stuck” at the conference finals, and Portland should be proud of their season. But it also feels like the Damian Lillard-C.J. McCollum backcourt is not quite a championship contender, and to truly upgrade, the Trail Blazers probably must trade McCollum. They can keep one, maybe two of the free-agent group of Al-Farouq Aminu, Enes Kanter, Rodney Hood, and Seth Curry, and after that, their only upgrades are minimum contracts and Jusuf Nurkic’s return to health. If only you got extra cap space for battle rapping.

SACRAMENTO KINGS: What do they do about Willie Cauley-Stein? 

The Sacramento Kings have two major free agents this summer: Harrison Barnes, who opted out of the last year of his deal, and Willie Cauley-Stein, whose agent made it clear he wants out. Normally submitting a qualifying offer is a no-brainer, but Cauley-Stein’s cap hold is over $14 million, and the franchise doesn’t seem enthusiastic about him, so it should really just let him go. Meanwhile, the Kings ought to reach a long-term deal with Barnes, a three-and-D wing who can play both forward spots, and is far better than any of their other small-forward options in the near future.

SAN ANTONIO SPURS: Can they clear the log jam at guard? 

After losing their starting point guard in the pre-season, San Antonio still made the playoffs and pushed Denver to a seventh game before bowing out. Now Dejounte Murray is returning, along with first-rounders Derrick White and Lonnie Walker. Throw in Patty Mills, Marco Belinelli, and Bryn Forbes, and you have too many guards in the rotation. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Belinelli or Forbes go, but if a team with cap space misses out on a superstar in free agency, DeMar DeRozan could be a fallback option through trade. After all, the Spurs have too many guards and not enough three-point shots: Dealing DeRozan solves both those problems.

UTAH JAZZ: Does the Mike Conley trade make Utah a title contender? 

For two years in a row, the Jazz has been fifth in the Western Conference, second in the NBA in defensive rating, and a victim of the Houston Rockets in the playoffs. But with the addition of guard Mike Conley, Utah has upgraded its weakest position, adding a legitimate star to the duo of Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. Utah only has the room exception left to improve the rest of the roster and restore some of the depth it lost. If Utah can get its offense to an above-average level, the defense is good enough that it can beat anyone. Well, maybe not the Rockets.