The start of the new NBA season might still be more than a month away, but for some teams, the aim for next year is already clear.
If you’re the Los Angeles Lakers or the Brooklyn Nets, it’s winning a title. If you’re an Orlando Magic fan, you want to see clear development from young players. And for some teams, making a postseason spot is a necessity after missing out last season.
Of course, reaching the postseason itself is not the end goal for any team. Every team in the NBA has hopes of winning a title, whether that be right now or in the future. But making the playoffs is a sign of progress, a sign that the current path the team is on might result in success.
For a few teams next year, that all-important next step must be achieved in order to establish faith in whatever trajectory they are on.
Each scenario comes with different pressures on different people. For some, those in the front office are the ones under the spotlight for the roster decisions they have made. In other cases, it’s individual players that need to make the playoffs to restore their confidence in the team’s direction.
This coming NBA season promises to be full of excitement and competitiveness, with contention for playoff spots, particularly in the Western Conference, extremely high.
Making the postseason will not be straightforward next year, but these three teams simply have to or could well face big repercussions for their failures…
have built a completely new team</a> around one of the best scorers in the NBA in <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/09/01/3-nba-playoff-outsiders-postseason-2022/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/lavinza01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-%22 target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" ref="nofollow">Zach LaVine</a> by adding Nikola Vucevic, Lonzo Ball, DeMar DeRozan and others.</p>
<p>Next season will dictate whether the decision to sacrifice some of the future to chase success right now has paid off. The Bulls gave up two first-round picks to the Magic to get Vucevic and another in the sign-and-trade with the San Antonio Spurs to get DeRozan.</p>
<p>The hope last season was that by acquiring Vucevic, the Bulls had paired LaVine with someone who could play pick and roll and space the floor to propel the team into the playoffs. The latter did not materialize, as the Bulls missed out on the postseason and conveyed its eighth pick to the Magic.</p>
<p>But there are no excuses for the team this coming season. Chicago is in win-now mode and anything other than a playoff finish next season has to be deemed a significant failure, particularly given that the ages of some of those acquired means the window for winning is not all that large.</p>
<p>Chicago could have opted for the more patient path by waiting for Patrick Williams and Coby White to develop while adding more prospects through the draft. But its decision to go for glory means it was able to land a talented young playmaking point guard in Lonzo Ball, who is surrounded by guys that can score in a number of ways.</p>
<p>The problems will no doubt arise on defense. Ball is a solid defender and Williams certainly can be, but the team’s other starters have their issues. Vucevic is not known as a guy that can protect the rim all that well, while LaVine has made improvements on defense but still has a way to go.</p>
<p>It was a big risk to go after veteran offensive firepower in Vucevic and DeRozan, who are in the latter stages of their careers, and by taking the more impatient, win-now path, the Bulls have made the targets for the short-term clear.</p>
<p>It’s hard to see the Bulls making a serious run at the title without a true superstar on the roster, but missing out on the postseason would be nothing short of a disaster.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/09/01/3-nba-playoff-outsiders-postseason-2022/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Sacramento Kings </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_426183" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="size-full wp-image-426183" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/09/01/3-nba-playoff-outsiders-postseason-2022/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2200,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1310679848.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2200" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1310679848.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1310679848-768x528.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Teams that must make the NBA playoffs: 1. Sacramento Kings</h2>
<p>It’s been a tough 15 seasons for the Sacramento Kings.</p>
<p>With no playoff appearance since the 2005-06 season and with the team finishing below a .500 record last year, it does not seem that there is much to be positive about at all.</p>
<p>But the young talent on the roster should provide some cause for hope. <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/09/01/3-nba-playoff-outsiders-postseason-2022/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/f/foxde01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-%22 target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" ref="nofollow">De’Aaron Fox</a> has continued to improve since entering the NBA and had a career-best year last season, Tyrese Haliburton looks like he could be a serious talent, while Davion Mitchell will add some tenacity on defense along with some additional scoring to the team.</p>
<p>The trouble is that most of this optimism lies in the backcourt, particularly when factoring in Buddy Hield too. Sacramento still has some issues in the frontcourt and on defense, ranking last for defensive rating last season.</p>
<p>But despite the team’s obvious weaknesses, the front office has opted to continue along the same road. The team continues to focus on Fox as the key piece moving forward and has gone with the method of taking the best player available in the draft regardless of position as a means of improving.</p>
<p>Fox is now coming up to his fifth season with the Kings, however. Hield is approaching his sixth with the team, Harrison Barnes will be in his fourth, as will Marvin Bagley Jr.</p>
<p>If this team is going to succeed, it has to be soon. It has had the time to develop and grow together and at some point, the decision to not rejig the roster has to pay off.</p>
<p>The Kings cannot continue finishing with sub .500 records and picking in the mid-lottery. This team either has to make a leap, or the front office has to be proactive in making changes for the better, whether that’s in the short-term or the long-term.</p>
<p>Every season the team continues to miss the playoffs heaps more pressure on the franchise and those involved. For a team named after royalty, its last 15 years have resembled something closer to a joker as opposed to a king.</p>
<p>The bad news is that the West is highly competitive, and Sacramento is still lacking in key areas. While the play-in game opens up more possibility of the Kings making the postseason, it will still be enormously tricky.</p>
<div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="dark" data-text="Post-NBA Free Agency win-total predictions" data-url="https://hoopshabit.com/2021/08/16/predictions-nba-free-agency-win-total/" data-call-to-action="Next"> <div class="story-link-next"> <a class="story-link-next-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="story-link-next-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/09/01/3-nba-playoff-outsiders-postseason-2022/"https://hoopshabit.com/2021/08/16/predictions-nba-free-agency-win-total/"> <span class="call_to_action">Next:</span> Post-NBA Free Agency win-total predictions </a> </div>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—>">