Biggest Offseason Questions For Eliminated NBA Playoff Teams

Detroit Pistons: How Do You Add Offensive Playmakers To Help Cade Cunningham?

All regular season, the Pistons’ No. 2 defense (by points allowed per 100 possessions) led the way for the team’s surge all season, but the offense was also plenty capable. Detroit averaged 117.3 points per 100 possessions all season, which was No. 9 overall.

Still, the wheels came off in the playoffs, as the team scored less than 100 points four separate times – including the elimination game against the Cavs. Just two players (Cade Cunningham and Tobias Harris) averaged more than 15 points per game for the entire playoffs, and the team’s starters scored a combined 47 points on Sunday.

After Jalen Duren averaged just 10.2 points per game in this postseason, does the team pay up to retain the likely All-NBA selection? Can they move off of players like Duncan Robinson and Kevin Huerter to get deeper and more varied on offense, or will they have to part with a bigger name to make an upgrade?

Detroit’s core is young, so this is unlikely to be their last shot at winning with Cunningham as the centerpiece. But the playoffs made it clear that he needs more consistent shooters to help him.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Is It Time For a New Approach Around Anthony Edwards?

There’s no shame in the T-Wolves losing to the Spurs in six games during the West Semifinals, especially since Minnesota was significantly hobbled and didn’t have Donte DiVincenzo at all.

At the same time, San Antonio scored over 130 points three different times in that series, and Victor Wembanyama looked virtually unstoppable against Rudy Gobert over the last few games.

That’s not to directly compare to the two French big men, as much as it’s to point out that holding up at center is one of the key ways Minnesota can stay near the top of the new Western Conference. And if they can’t, then is it time to start shifting some pieces around to stay competitive?

The process of pivoting the roster started with trading Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks nearly two years ago. It may have to continue with moving on from Julius Randle and even Gobert (who deserves credit for helping fuel, along with Edwards, this run for the last few years) as the team either leans into size more or gets more athletic.

Philadelphia 76ers: How Can Philly Move On to Its Next Era?

Firing Daryl Morey is a clear signal that there will be changes for the Sixers, but the team is also currently handcuffed by two of the least movable contracts in the NBA: Joel Embiid’s and Paul George’s.

The two players are set to make a combined $112 million in 2026-27 and $119 million in 2027-28. George is unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2028, while Embiid has a $67.3 million player option for 2028-29 that he will almost certainly exercise.

Meanwhile, the team has also shifted around the two veterans into an exciting young backcourt.

Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecomb are both under 27 years old right now, each with team control for the next three seasons. At just 21 years, Edgecomb is only scratching the surface of his potential, while Maxey is entering his prime. Ideally, those two are combined with skill and athleticism at the forward spots and you can run a lot of teams off the floor from there.

To acquire experienced players in those roles, it probably means not only dealing Embiid or George, but attaching picks and/or young players as well. Either way, Philadelphia is likely headed toward the luxury tax.

Los Angeles Lakers: How Do You Keep LeBron James And Plan For The Future?

Luka Doncic’s late-season injury robbed fans of a (potentially) more interesting Lakers playoff run, and it also created a larger question: How does this team function without LeBron James?

Since January 1 of this year, Los Angeles was 33-18 and LeBron had settled comfortably into a support role on offense that was directly benefiting the team. And then, when Doncic was injured, he stepped up in a way that partly resembled the LeBron of old.

The Lakers would be hard-pressed to keep James at a salary figure of near $60 million, especially when L.A. needs to make decisions on other key players with a longer-term future on the club; most notably, Austin Reaves.

But with rival executives openly stating they’d pay James “whatever he wants,” the Lakers will need him to take a significant discount to keep him while surrounding James, Doncic and Reaves with better running mates.

Boston Celtics: Is It Take To Break Up Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown?

Without Tatum for much of the season, Brown played at a potential MVP level, averaging 28.7 points per game while Boston secured the East’s No. 2 seed.

When he said that this season – despite missing Tatum and dropping a playoff series to the Sixers after leading 3-1 – was his “favorite” in his career, it understandably raised some eyebrows in Boston. Brown has since clarified, but didn’t shy away from the idea. It was clear he enjoyed running the show for the Celtics.

That’s not necessarily a reason to trade the former NBA Finals MVP. Though his $57.1 million salary may be.

The Celtics were always going to pay both Brown and Tatum the supermax salaries they’d earned. But as new ownership assesses what’s next, they’re on the hook paying Brown, Tatum and Derrick White a combined $145 million next year, for a team with minimal room to upgrade while coming off a first-round loss.

Trading Brown or Tatum isn’t the preferred fix. It may have to be, though, if the team wants to maximize its championship contention window with at least one of the two stars.