Reviewing the 2019-20 NBA Teams

November 9th, 2020

To recap the 2019-20 NBA season, I decided to take the time to review each NBA team’s season performance, and then proceeded to make preliminary projections for next season, though the NBA draft and free agency have not happened yet. There, I have decided to project fairly modest estimates of what each NBA team may plan to do in the offseason based on their personnel, where they finished in the season, and moves they have made to project what they might or should do next.

In the following days, I will review NBA teams from each of the six divisions. When I have finished reviewing them, you will find a link to each of the teams’ reports.

The Eastern Conference

Miami Heat’s superstar forward, Jimmy Butler was excellent in the Orlando bubble, and his tremendous play in the postseason helped lead his team to the 2020 NBA Finals.
(Photo: Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images, via NBA Chicago)

Day 1 (November 10th): The Southeast Division
Miami Heat
Orlando Magic
Washington Wizards
Atlanta Hawks
Charlotte Hornets

Boston Celtics’ forward, Jayson Tatum, and Toronto Raptors’ Kyle Lowry are two of the best players in the Atlantic Division, and both the Celtics and the Raptors could make deep playoff runs in 2021.
(Photo: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images, via CBC)

Day 2 (November 11th): The Atlantic Division
Boston Celtics
Toronto Raptors
Philadelphia 76ers
Brooklyn Nets
New York Knicks

Milwaukee Bucks’ superstar forward, Giannis Antetokounmpo is a two-time MVP, and his team could get the most regular season wins again for the upcoming 2020-21 NBA season.
(Photo: Pool/Getty Images, via Slate)

Day 3 (November 12th): The Central Division
Milwaukee Bucks
Indiana Pacers
Chicago Bulls
Detroit Pistons
Cleveland Cavaliers

The Western Conference

Denver Nuggets’ star players, Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic led their team to have an excellent postseason run in 2020, and things could get really interesting in 2021.
(Photo: Aaron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

Day 4 (November 13th): The Northwest Division
Denver Nuggets
Utah Jazz
Oklahoma City Thunder
Portland Trail Blazers
Minnesota Timberwolves

Houston Rockets’ former GM Daryl Morey made a memorable last-ditch effort to try to catapult his team into title contention by experimenting with very small-ball, and while they fell short in the playoffs, they received another strong, MVP-caliber season from superstar guard, James Harden.
(Photo: The Houston Chronicle via chron.com)

Day 5 (November 14th): The Southwest Division
Houston Rockets
Dallas Mavericks
Memphis Grizzlies
New Orleans Pelicans
San Antonio Spurs

LeBron James and Anthony Davis led the 2020 Los Angeles Lakers to win the NBA title this year in the Orlando bubble. The Golden State Warriors have won three titles in the 2010s, in 2015, 2017, and in 2018.
(Photo: Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images, via Essentially Sports)

Day 6 (November 15th): The Pacific Division
Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Clippers
Phoenix Suns
Sacramento Kings
Golden State Warriors

When reviewing the NBA players, I will give their season a letter grade, as this will mostly be based on their season performance, but it also may reflect their improvement or if they met or exceeded expectations that I had for them this season.

In projecting NBA players for the 2020-21 NBA season, I decided to grade them on a 1 to 5 star scale, which would be as follows:

5 stars (A) – Surefire Hall of Famer/MVP/Legend
4.5 stars (A-) – Perennial All-Star/Superstar
4 stars (B+) – All-Star
3.5 stars (B) – Very good player/Borderline All-Star
3 stars (B-) – Good player/All-Star potential
2.5 stars (C+) – Above average NBA player
2 stars (C) – Average NBA player
1.5 stars (D+/C-) – Back-end rotation player
1 star (D) – Fringe roster player
0.5 stars (D- and below) – Not NBA material (Hint: No NBA players were given this grade)

Basketball-Reference was a very good resource to use when rating NBA players and teams for the 2019-20 season, and it has a lot of statistical data that can be analyzed. Also, NBA.com, RealGM, and Spotrac were also useful, and Spotrac was especially useful to look up contract information.

Over the next few days here in November leading up to the 2020 NBA Draft, I’ll post my reviews of NBA teams, and may also post a second 2020 NBA Mock Draft based on analyzing each teams and their needs. I won’t factor this nearly as much as the first one, as this new one had no time limit. Still, it may be something to look at, and that may be posted fairly soon.