Poll: Best Rebuild in NBA?

[JMAC3]

Right now there are several teams in the NBA in the rebuilding phase, what team has the brightest future?

Who did the most with the least? Who dropped the ball? Who is the most exciting team to watch? Who will never make the playoffs? Who has the best duo? Who has the longest road remaining? Who is the easiest to root for? Who is destined to be the next Kings?

Players need to be 25 or younger (made a few exceptions) and teams must have at least 5 young players contributing and for the most part be a borderline playoff team or worse.

Minnesota
[5] Rubio (23 yrs old)
[13] Lavine
[1] Wiggins- [14] Shabazz
[1] Bennett
[21] Dieng

Milwaukee
[8] Brandon Knight
[15] Greek Freak
[2] Jabari Parker- [+] Khris Middleton (23 yrs old)
[14] John Henson
[15] Larry Sanders (26 yrs old)

Philadelphia
[11] Michael Carter-Williams
[+] Robert Covington- [+] KJ McDaniels
[12] Dario Saric
[6] Nerlens Noel
[3] Joel Embiid

Orlando
[10] Elfrid Payton
[2] Victor Oladipo- [20] Evan Fournier
[19] Tobias Harris (about to get paid)- [15] Mo Harkless
[4] Aaron Gordon
[16] Nicola Vucevic

Utah
[5] Dante Exum- [9] Trey Burke
[12] Alec Burks
[9] Gordon Hayward (24 yrs old)- [23] Rodney Hood
[3] Derrick Favors
[3] Enes Kanter- [27] Rudy Gobert

Charlotte
[9] Kemba Walker
[+] Lance Stephenson (24 yrs old)- [26] PJ Hairston
[2] Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
[4] Cody Zeller- [9] Noah Vonleh
[7] Bismack Biyombo

Boston
[6] Marcus Smart
[19] Avery Bradley (24 yrs old)
[17] James Young
[21] Jared Sullinger
[13] Kelly Olynck- [17] Tyler Zeller

Detroit
[9] Brandon Jennings (25 yrs old)
[8] Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
[+] Kyle Singler (26 yrs old)
[7] Greg Monroe (23 yrs old)
[9] Andre Drummond

Let the great debate begin

P.S. I put a lot of work into this and would appreciate it if it was not thrown into the Around the NBA thread

[Liver_Pooty]

I like Utah.

[Benjamin Linus]

Went with Milwaukee. Jabari + the Greek Freak sealed it for me.

Minnesota and Boston are interesting.

Don't care much for Detroit's or Orlando's rebuild (like Drummond and Oladipo, don't care for the rest of their players).

[BigSlam]

A rebuild isn't just about the age of the players on a roster though, it's also the contracts they have on the books, cap flexibility, picks they have traded away and picks they have traded for and have stored, if they are redundant at certain positions and lacking in others (roster balance) etc as well.

[mrknowitall215]

1. Milwaukee
2. Charlotte
3. Detroit
4. Minnesota
5. Utah
6. Philadelphia
7. Boston
8. Orlando

[BuzzKing60]

Milwaukee by far is the best

[mrknowitall215]

I only chose Milwaukee because their pieces fit offensively & defensively with versatility, and when Jabari Parker return and begin to reach his potential I could see them being a top 3 team in the East for years to come with Jason Kidd at the helm

However, Charlotte have a good rebuild when you consider Kemba, MKG, and Biyombo with Vonleh pending. We should be the top defensive team in the league for several years as long as we stick to that identity, but it's up to Cho to find the right pieces to complement the aforementioned Hornets' players

[fatlever]

what does it mean if a player has a + next to their name?

[fatlever]

In a vacuum, ignoring location, history etc.. Utah, Milwaukee and Minnesota are probably my three favorite rebuilds of the bunch as of today. Philly is probably my least favorite, too many question marks right now. Boston is probably the hardest to rank. Their entire rebuild is pretty much tied up in the insane amount of 1st round picks that have coming their way over the next few years.

I'd put Charlotte and Detroit in the middle of the pack, since they will both be great defensive teams that will struggle to score efficiently.

Utah has the best collection of young talent, but they also are probably in the worst position in terms of future salary. Unless Exum becomes a superstar I don't see them having the potential to ever be great. They should be a solid 40-50 win team for the duration of that nucleus however.

Milwaukee has two great young prospects in Parker and Giannis, but the money they have tied up in Sanders hurts. They also have the worst arena situation are are one of the worst destinations for free agents.

Minnesota has probably the best chance at a superstar of the bunch with Wiggins and he is surrounded by several other quality young guys and they have picks and cap space once Martin and the other vets expire. However, like Milwaukee they will struggle to attract free agents.

In real world, I'd take the Celtics over all of these teams assuming I get the franchise and everything that comes with the Celtics. The Celtics will always have a massive advantage over most teams, especially the teams on this list, because of the city and the history. All they have to do is save assets and have cap space and they can get superstars.

[yosemiteben]

Glad to see MKIA not afraid to talk good about the CLT rebuild. Honestly I feel the same - MIL has two of the most promising pieces in Giannis and Jabari, but I'm pretty happy with the pieces we have going forward.

[Hornet Mania]

Milwaulkee has the highest ceiling, Charlotte has the highest floor (obviously, we're the only one of these teams to make the playoffs since the rebuild began).

I'd go:
1. Bucks
2. Wolves
3. Hornets

The rest of the list is either too incomplete (Detroit) or has yet to prove the young pieces will ever be good enough to reach 35 wins (Boston, Orlando, Utah, Philly). I made an exception for Sota because Rubio/Pek have both been key contributors to a winning team, and Wiggins/Lavine/Shabazz/Dieng/Top 5 pick is just as solid as any lineup of prospects the other basement dwellers can trot out.

[mrknowitall215]

Glad to see MKIA not afraid to talk good about the CLT rebuild. Honestly I feel the same - MIL has two of the most promising pieces in Giannis and Jabari, but I'm pretty happy with the pieces we have going forward.

I never had a problem with any of Cho's draft picks but Cody Zeller, whereas I would've went with Nerlens Noel instead. The MKG pick I liked even though I probably would've opted for Andre Drummond, but I thought it was a excellent pick, whereas I was thrilled they didn't take Thomas Robinson or Bradley Beal. Needless to mention the Kemba Walker selection, I agreed with the Bismack Biyombo pick too, whereas I have no regret for Cho not selecting Klay Thompson or Kawhi Leonard. As good of a player as Thompson has become, they're not doing much damage in the Western Conference without the rim protection of Andrew Bogut, and that's the type of defensive anchoring I see Biyombo providing. Players that can legitimately protect the rim at a elite level are few & far between, so I agreed with the Biyombo pick, and still do

With that said, I do have a problem with the players that Cho have surrounded his drafted core with, but that's another subject

[HornetJail]

what does it mean if a player has a + next to their name?

injured



I picked Minnesota. The fact that they got out of Kevin Love's sub-mediocrity treadmill and lucked into Wiggins sealed it.

[Snidely FC]

Minnesota
Wiggins & Lavine are prototypical next generation multi-position players long lanky with handles and hops through the roof.
Like Shabazz and Dieng too. Bennett's still only 21. Just added Payne.
I think they'll trade Rubio to score more assets.
I'd be excited watching that team if I was a MIN fan.

[Elden Payton]

Milwaulkee has the highest ceiling, Charlotte has the highest floor (obviously, we're the only one of these teams to make the playoffs since the rebuild began).

I'd go:
1. Bucks
2. Wolves
3. Hornets

The rest of the list is either too incomplete (Detroit) or has yet to prove the young pieces will ever be good enough to reach 35 wins (Boston, Orlando, Utah, Philly). I made an exception for Sota because Rubio/Pek have both been key contributors to a winning team, and Wiggins/Lavine/Shabazz/Dieng/Top 5 pick is just as solid as any lineup of prospects the other basement dwellers can trot out.

Well said.

I agree with Minny being the second best but nearly all their roster will be gone by the time they ever make playoffs.

The West is brutal and the teams out East have that advantage with a rebuild.

[Hornet Mania]

Milwaulkee has the highest ceiling, Charlotte has the highest floor (obviously, we're the only one of these teams to make the playoffs since the rebuild began).

I'd go:
1. Bucks
2. Wolves
3. Hornets

The rest of the list is either too incomplete (Detroit) or has yet to prove the young pieces will ever be good enough to reach 35 wins (Boston, Orlando, Utah, Philly). I made an exception for Sota because Rubio/Pek have both been key contributors to a winning team, and Wiggins/Lavine/Shabazz/Dieng/Top 5 pick is just as solid as any lineup of prospects the other basement dwellers can trot out.

Well said.

I agree with Minny being the second best but nearly all their roster will be gone by the time they ever make playoffs.

The West is brutal and the teams out East have that advantage with a rebuild.

The conference disparity is definitely not brought up enough when judging rebuilds. The Pelicans would be in the running for a top-5 seed in the East, but out West they're almost certainly going to miss out, and people are already saying stuff like "lol, yeah Davis' stats are good but get back to me when he's a winner." Conference strength definitely needs to be taken into account when judging these rebuilds, and their future chance of success.

[stinger14]

Went with Minnesota, and the addition of A. Payne this past week was the tiebreaker with Milwaukee, and they should be in position to add more top talent in this year's draft.

Wolves
Bucks
Hornets
Jazz
Pistons

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

I'm just not sold on Sota. My gut feeling is that they will still be bad 3+ years from now.

[Eoghan]

Too early to really judge Philly, one of their main guys is still playing in Europe.

As much as I like Minny's collection of talent, they're in the West and managed by Flip Saunders so it'll likely be for naught.

Utah: In the West, can't figure out what to do with their bigs.

Orlando: Too much like Charlotte, just amassing young, athletic defenders that can't shoot. They need to spend some money and balance that roster out.

Charlotte: Like Orlando except better coaching and a modest attempt to acquire shooting in FA.

MIlwaukee: More lucky than rebuilding. Their decrepit owner finally passed the team on to new blood at a very fortuitous time. Getting Antetokounmpo out of that turd of a draft was just lucky, Jason Kidd actually being decent at coaching is sort of lucky. They still have some issues to sort out like whether Sanders wants to play basketball or if Knight is really their PG of the future. I don't know how Giannis and Jabari are going to coexist, other than that I like their outlook.

Detroit: Outside of getting Drummond they suck. They can't build around him and their other picks and young guys are mediocre at best.

Boston: I like their coach but their young pieces don't seem to fit IMO. No real PG, their best bigs can't defend in space and still don't know if James Young is going to be special or not (I do like him, though).

If I ranked them I'd go:
*Philly
Minnesota
Utah
Orlando
Charlotte
Milwaukee
Boston
Detroit
*Philly

[MasterIchiro]

#1

Minnesota
[5] Rubio (23 yrs old)
[13] Lavine
[1] Wiggins -
[14] Shabazz
[1] Bennett -
Payne
[21] Dieng
+ top 3 pick

Minnesota has the highest upside and will be the most fun to watch along the way, even if they lose or struggle in the West. They have cap space and pieces they can deal down the road for additional future assets such as Pek + Martin + T. Young.

#2
Philadelphia
[11] Michael Carter-Williams
[+] Robert Covington-
KJ McDaniels
[12] Dario Saric
[6] Nerlens Noel
[3] Joel Embiid
+ top 3 pick
+ Heat pick

Philly is somewhat of a wild card considering Saric and Embiid but they have a bunch of cap space and 2 high picks coming their way. The top 3 picks have potential to be stars. I like all of them.

#3
Milwaukee
[8] Brandon Knight
[15] Greek Freak
[2] Jabari Parker -
Khris Middleton
[14] John Henson

Talent wise they are on par with the Hornets but their pieces fit together more snugly and they have a potential franchise star in Jabari. Their ceiling is lower than the teams above and they don't have vets they can turn into additional long term assets. They play well as a team and if Jabari reaches his potential they can be top-3 in the East regularly.

#4
Charlotte
[9] Kemba Walker
Lance Stephenson (24 yrs old)-
[26] PJ Hairston
[2] Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
[4] Cody Zeller-
[9] Noah Vonleh
[7] Bismack Biyombo

Heavy on the defense, nonexistent offense. Imbalanced. Pieces don't fit. Failed to acquire shooting for years - didn't add young shooters while other teams stockpiled them. None of the vets are really considered assets unless they decide to unload Al Jefferson which they won't. I don't see a potential star on this roster. The Hornets could still get lucky, miss the playoffs, win a top 3 pick and grab D. Russell or spin Zeller into a shooter. Kemba + Cliff are good ambassadors for the team and give them the most potential to lure big name free agents. Cap space has been managed well with could help when A. Davis and/or Steph Curry become available. As of now though, there really isn't much upside, pieces don't fit and there doesn't seem to be a way to drastically change the look of the team next year.