Kingslayers: Grading the East’s player acquisitions in the NBA playoffs

For 6 straight years, a team led by LeBron James has seized control of the NBA’s Eastern Conference and was featured in the finals. In that timespan, the rest of the East have been making moves to try and dethrone “King” James, but to no avail. 

Will the same be said for this year? Let’s look at the pieces employed by the East playoff teams this season and find out. 

1. Boston Celtics 

Al Horford

During the off-season, all eyes were on the Boston Celtics to make a major free agent signing. With a huge reserve of cap space, a roster of young upstarts and possession of the Brooklyn Nets’ prized draft picks, Boston seemed like a no-brainer destination. Instead, top star Kevin Durant joined the Warriors and Beantown blew all their money on Al Horford, the 30-year old mainstay of the Atlanta Hawks.

While Horford can prove to be a valuable asset to all teams, his career numbers don’t justify his price tag of $113 million. If Boston really wanted a middling scorer with okay range, horrible rebounding (a career-low 6.8 per game this season) and inconsistent defense, well, they got their guy. Enjoy. 

Grade: C 

2. Cleveland Cavaliers 

The defending champions have had a really weird season. Somehow, the 9^th-worst defense managed to sweep a scrappy Indiana Pacers team in the first round of the playoffs. But it still doesn’t erase the fact that they didn’t know what the hell they were doing in the season, as evidenced by their plethora of signings which we will try to describe in one sentence (for fun). 

Andrew Bogut – He lasted 57 seconds as a Cavalier. Next.

Grade: F

Dahntay Jones – “He’s the luckiest man alive, I can tell you that.” – James to Jones during their 2016 Championship Parade. Lucky again, Dahntay.

Grade: D 

Kyle Korver – Please stay healthy, Kyle. They need your threes.

Grade: A 

DeAndre Liggins – This defensive stud shouldn’t have been waived for Dahntay Jones. Period.

Grade: A- 

Larry Sanders – He suited up in garbage minutes for 5 games then got waived because he missed the team bus. Lame.

Grade: F 

Deron Williams – LeBron wanted playmakers, and they got him one of the best of the last decade.

Grade: B+ 

Derrick Williams – He is good and athletic if only Coach Tyronn Lue actually remembers that Richard Jefferson isn’t the only backup small forward.

Grade: C+ 

Walter “Edy” Tavares – The current D-League Defensive Player of the Year doesn’t deserve to wear suits on the bench. Use him, Coach.

Grade: B+ 

Yeah, that’s literally half the roster acquired just this season. You’re crazy, Cleveland. 

3. Toronto Raptors 

Serge Ibaka

The Raptors’ lone midseason acquisition was a great one. Already loaded with swingmen such as DeMar DeRozan, DeMarre Carroll and Norman Powell, Toronto traded Terrence Ross to the Orlando Magic for Ibaka, who had just been traded to the Magic by the Oklahoma City Thunder that off-season. 

Now playing for another playoff team, Ibaka will comfortably plug in the Raptors’ defensive weakness at the power forward spot with his shot-blocking and provide long-range shooting which is absent from DeRozan’s game. 

The only real losers here are the Magic, but then again, that’s why they’re not in the playoffs. 

Grade: A

4. Washington Wizards 

Bojan Bogdanovic

How you make a first impression with a new team? By averaging a career-high 19.8 points on 52% shooting and 40% from three in 26 games off the bench, that’s how. 

Grade: A+ 

Brandon Jennings

A real head-scratcher, this one. Despite already having backups in Bogdanovic and Trey Burke, the Wizards felt compelled to snatch the hotheaded Jennings off the New York Knicks’ waiver wire. 

And with the hothead came cold stats. 3.5 points per game on 27% shooting and 21% from 3? Yikes. 

Seriously, the phrase “waived by the Knicks” should be a bright red flag for team scouts by now. 

Grade: D- 

5. Atlanta Hawks 

Dwight Howard

Horford who? 

There are two things we learned after Howard went back home to Atlanta to replace Horford. One, he can go a full season without drama and two, he is still a beast. The 8-time All-Star and 3-time DPOY produced 13.5 points 12.7 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 0.9 steals a game on 64% shooting. All for a bargain price of $70 million. Always remember, Lakers center Timofey Mozgov got $64 million. 

Grade: A+ 

6. Milwaukee Bucks 

Michael Beasley

Once regarded as one of the best college players of all time, the former #2 overall pick Beasley is a shadow of the shadow of his former self. Although his natural knack for scoring in bursts never left him, the Bucks shouldn’t rely on him for anything other than that. 

Grade: C 

Matthew Dellavedova

A by-product of the Cavaliers’ two-year championship run, the scrappy Dellavedova has decided to bring his talents to Wisconsin, and he has yet to disappoint. 

With his innate hustle (minus the flagrant fouls) and good playmaking, the Australian guard is a great boost behind starters Giannis Antetokoumpo and Malcolm Brogdon.

Grade: B+ 

Quick note: The Bucks should really tone down the Barney references now that they’re one game away from elimination. It’s all fun and games until the real Raptors wake up. 

7. Indiana Pacers 

Al Jefferson

What a huge, hulking wreck of a signing. The now-swept Pacers paid up $30 million for a slower version of the already-slow Big Al. 

Even his patented defense and rebounding virtually disappeared after averaging just 0.2 blocks and 4.8 rebounds this season. His career high average? 1.9 blocks and 11.1 rebounds. 

Now, the Pacers can either trade him to a team stupid enough to take him or endure two more years of this. Either way, it’s just sad to think about what else is there left to happen.

Grade: D+ 

Jeff Teague

Teague should ask the Celtics for some lucky shamrocks because he’s walking on a lot of broken mirrors. 

Probably already tired of being swept in the playoffs by LeBron, Teague bolted from the Hawks to the Pacers in the hopes of a brighter future. Guess what? The Pacers got swept along with Teague. He is now 0-12 in his last 12 first round meetings with a LeBron James team. 

He’s not a bad player at all. He just needs a bit of luck. 

Grade: B+ 

Thaddeus Young

Young had always been a human Swiss Army Knife. You can ask him to do a bit of offense and defense as long as he stays healthy. For this season, he chipped in 11.0 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals on 53% shooting and a surprising 38% from 3. 

After staying his whole career with cellar-dwellers such as the Philadelphia 76ers, Minnesota Timberwolves and the Brooklyn Nets, Young may just need a few more years to find more playoff success. Indiana just isn’t there yet. 

Grade: B 

8. Chicago Bulls 

Rajon Rondo

Rondo definitely takes the cake for the rockiest first year of any player this season. After lifeless play caused him to be benched after 29 games, he led the Bulls in his final 15 games as a starter to a 10-5 record and a playoff berth. He then fractured his thumb after once again leading the Bulls to two upset victories over the Celtics in the first round. 

Rondo may be out indefinitely for the rest of the playoffs, but he has made his point clear that he is still one of the best. Take a bow, Mr. Rondo. The Bulls needed you after all. 

Grade: A- 

Dwyane Wade

The Windy City sure does catch the hottest drama. To continue the trend of superstar homecomings, the Miami Heat legend settled back in Chicago after an ugly fallout with team president Pat Riley. Unlike his partner-in-crime LeBron, the 35-year old Wade has certainly been caught by Father Time and has considerably slowed down. 

Despite his age, Wade still continues to produce at a high level that would certainly be useful for Chicago if ever he does decide to stay for a longer while. Enjoy it while you can, Chicago. 

Grade: B+ 

Isaiah Canaan, Michael Carter-Williams and Cameron Payne

(Also known as the three stooges Coach Fred Hoiberg used to support his denial of Rondo still being the best point guard he has.) 

Now Rondo is out indefinitely. Good luck, Coach. You’ll need it.

Grade: D+

– Rappler.com