A question for every NBA team in the 2024-2025 Southwest Division – Sports Broadcasts

The NBA season is just around the corner and to preview the year ahead, our panel of experts was asked to come up with a question for each team.

Here it is for the Southwest Division!

Houston Rockets: Can their young talent continue to develop and help buoy a shaky offense?

After languishing at the bottom of the league for three seasons, the Houston Rockets made great strides in the fourth year of their rebuild. The acquisitions of free agents Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks were instrumental in catapulting Houston from 22 to 41 wins, while young talents like Alperen Şengün and Jabari Smith Jr. made vital and brilliant strides within their own ranks.

The backbone of the Rockets’ play-in hopes lay in their defense. They flirted with a top-five finish for most of the season and finished seventh in defensive rating – led by players like Brooks, VanVleet and Amen Thompson. However, due to a shaky, plodding offense at No. 20, they ultimately fell five games behind the 10th seed.

As the 2024-25 season begins, their hopes of a postseason appearance depend on their young roster getting the offense closer to league average or better. Jalen Green is preparing for year four after another disappointing, up-and-down campaign. As a driver, can he refine his speed and accuracy? Can he become a true floor-agent for a team desperate for one?

How can Smith build on his positive second season? Will Şengün make his breakthrough into a real star and further diversify his scoring opportunities?

What does versatile combo guard Reed Sheppard offer in his first season? Does the appeal of his on- and off-ball duality reduce VanVleet’s ball-handling burden and shift less focus to Green’s long-awaited leap?

What is Thompson’s usage/role and how pronounced are his batting and playmaking effects? Is there any progress on his sweater? Can Cam Whitmore use the encouraging final four months of the 2023-24 season to become an electric, malleable backup scorer?

Tari Eason was injured last year and is a strong defender, but further development as a finisher and shooter would also be welcome.

The overall development of some or all of these players should be the responsibility of the Rockets. I expect their aggressive, networked defense to be stingy again. But to truly advance to the next league in this crowded Western Conference, the offense must improve. The most plausible route for this improvement is through the pool of young, recently talented conscripts. –Jackson Frank

New Orleans Pelicans: Will they ever make the right deal?

We can talk about Zion Williamson’s health all day, but the truth is that even with him in a uniform, the New Orleans Pelicans will be hampered by their poor roster construction.

To seriously compete for an NBA championship, your roster must reach a certain talent ceiling. The Pelicans are qualified in this regard. But in addition to talent, you also need a balanced lineup to keep up with the big dogs.

With Williamson, Dejounte Murray and Brandon Ingram, the Pelicans have too much play on the ball and not enough spacing or defense. Their talent doesn’t fit properly, which affects their abilities.

But don’t worry. In theory, it is easier to acquire fitness than talent. So the Pelicans should be able to move one of their three stars for role players that will give them more shooting (24th in 3-point attempts) and/or rim protection (21st in blocks per 100 possessions).

Williamson is the best of the bunch, and they just traded for Murray. That makes Ingram the most obvious candidate. Unfortunately, at this point he did very few applicants.

Can the Pelicans find a way to replace Ingram with players who complement Williamson and Murray? If so, they will instantly become one of the best teams in the West. But if not… oh man. – Mat Issa

San Antonio Spurs: How far can Wemby’s fame push Spurs?

Spurs will go as far as Victor Wembanyama can take them. After a historic rookie season, expect Wemby to be in contention for an All-NBA selection. Even if Wembanyama reaches those heights, San Antonio will face an uphill battle for a play-in spot in a crowded Western Conference.

San Antonio’s offseason additions – most notably Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes – hope to improve their offense from a 26th-place finish last season. Another jump from Devin Vassell in the first year of his $135 million rookie extension would help the offense tremendously. Vassell has already established himself as one of the league’s premier up-and-coming wingers and should continue to grow as a secondary initiator alongside Wembanyama.

Despite the veteran additions, developing young talent will be crucial to Spurs’ long-term future prospects. The fourth overall pick, Stephon Castle, should step in as an effective defender and connecting playmaker, but can he develop the scoring threat that a player on the ball needs? Will one or more of Jeremy Sochan, Malaki Branham or Blake Wesley take another leap?

Aside from Wembanyama and Vassell, San Antonio’s roster includes stopgap veterans and unproven young players. Making the playoffs would be a phenomenal achievement for this Spurs team, but even another Wembanyama bounce may not be enough. Building confidence in the long-term viability of the young core would pay dividends for San Antonio’s bright future. – Ben Pfeifer

Dallas Mavericks: How will they balance defense and offense with Klay Thompson?

After acquiring PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford, the Dallas Mavericks developed a strong defensive identity that allowed the sixth-fewest points per 100 possessions after the trade deadline. It got them to the NBA Finals, where their offense inevitably let them down.

The Mavs tried to balance things out this summer by trading Derrick Jones Jr., their wing stopper, for the Golden State Warriors’ longtime sharpshooter Klay Thompson. Bringing Klay, who has always been familiar with the Dubs’ offense, into the Mavericks’ isolated system will bring its own set of questions.

But how will the Mavericks handle the compromise defensively? Thompson is no longer the defender he once was and cannot take on the role of “stopper” like Jones Jr. did. How do the Mavericks succeed at the point of attack with Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and Thompson — three players who aren’t necessarily praised for their defensive contributions?

Jason Kidd and the Mavericks coaching staff have done a good job of isolating Doncic and Irving’s defensive weaknesses by surrounding them with elite defensive talent like Jones Jr., Washington, Gafford and Dereck Lively, but could Thompson’s presence be the breaking point the last straw? ? — Es Baraheni

Memphis Grizzlies: Can they sustainably clear the ground for their stars to operate?

First, let’s take a moment and hope that the Grizzlies have a relatively healthy season. Because above all, nothing will matter if they don’t.

However, on the court, the question that has loomed over the healthy version of this team since Memphis committed to its core of Ja Morant, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. has been: Do they have enough shots?

Bane is obviously one of the league’s best in this department, but Morant is a below-average shooter and Jackson Jr. is shifty to say the least. After an impressive shooting year in 2019-20, Jackson has regressed to a 32% shooting percentage over the last four seasons, and while I believe he can do better – at some point you are who you are.

The question doesn’t necessarily go away when I look at the rest of their rotation. Big rookie Zach Edey has shown some practical flair as a shooter, but that’s still incredibly theoretical at this point. The presumed fifth starter, Marcus Smart, is a below-average shooter for his position, similar to Morant.

Luke Kennard is the other shooter on this team, and while he can provide some fire from behind the arc, he really shines on defense. Maybe Santi Aldama can make a leap as a shooter. He’s hit 35% of his shots at good volume over the last two seasons, and his length makes him a fairly versatile option for starter-heavy lineups.

Still, I’m just happy to see the Grizzlies back at full strength. Shooting worries be damned. — Es Baraheni