The J's 2023-2024 California NBA Rankings
1. Sacramento Kings
Main Question- How can they make the jump to legit title contender?
The J’s Predict Win #~52
2022-2023 Record: 48-34
Biggest Offseason Change- Adding Nerlens Noel, Aleksandar Vezenkov, Chris Duarte
The slump is finally over and the Sabonis and Fox led future looks bright as ever. The Kings made a huge jump last year, putting together a near perfect regular season, especially considering they held a 30-52 record at the end of the 2021-2022 season. The change in culture around Kings basketball is largely credited to head coach Mike Brown. Brown is not at all new to success in the NBA, as he won three championships as an assistant coach to Steve Kerr and the Warriors, and was the head coach to a young Lebron in Cleveland back from 2006-2010. Brown received coach of the year honors in 2023, and broke the notorious 15 year playoff drought for Sacramento. Besides a change of culture though, Sacramento’s youth fully broke onto the scene in this past year and has shown no signs of slowing down. This youth movement is led by De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis, as they both received their first All NBA honors last year in their first full season as a duo. Even though Fox was a selection in the 2017 draft, he is only 25 years old and just put up career high numbers while giving the reigning champion Warriors and Stephen Curry a run for their money in the first round of the playoffs.
The Kings didn’t have to shatter the glass in moves this offseason, because why fix what isn't broken. Still, they signed reigning EuroLeague MVP Aleksandar Vezenkov, 13th pick in the 2021 NBA draft Chris Duarte, and former 6th pick in 2013 Nerlens Noel. The Kings have also continued re-signing talent that got them the third seed in the western conference last year. These re-signings are headlined by Domantas Sabonis and Harrison Barnes, both of which were vital pieces in last year’s run. Sabonis secured generational wealth with his newly minted five-year $217 million extension. Point of all of this being: Sacramento is committed to winning, and this contract proves it. They seem to have the perfect storm of growing youth, established veterans, and a new culture that wants to win now. Making the playoffs as a top seed in the west seems like a foregone conclusion for this team, the real question is can they make the jump to championship contender? The J predicts 52 nights where the beam is alive and well in Sacramento and even more purple lit nights when playoff time rolls around.
2. Golden State Warriors
Main Question- How much does this core have left?
The J’s Predict Win #~47
2022-2023 Record: 44-38
Biggest Offseason Change- Chris Paul In, Jordan Poole Out
The 2022-2023 season was a confusing year for the defending champion Warriors. It seemed like locker room issues and a lack of overall road performance plagued the team all year long. Still, Stephen Curry continued to impress down the stretch for this Golden State team, then put an exclamation mark on his 14th season with the first ever 50 point game seven in NBA history. Klay Thompson also had a bounce back year where he averaged 21.9 ppg in his 69 games played. The Splash Brothers value is understood, but Draymond Green’s value for the Warriors is confusing and often misunderstood by many. Golden State is prioritizing keeping him around, as the 33 year old point forward who averaged 8.5ppg and 7.2 rpg last year signed a $100 million-four year contract to re-up in San Francisco for at least four more years. With this, the same core that built a dynasty in the 2015-2019 years will be running it back for next season. The question is, how much does this core have left? And is another championship in the realm of possibility for them?
The Warriors had one of the biggest trades this offseason when they dealt a package of Jordan Poole, Patrick Baldwin Jr, Ryan Rollins, a 2030 first-round pick and a 2027 second-round pick for 12x all star Chris Paul. Paul is a hall of fame shoe in, but the main question is how will he fit in with Steve Kerr’s fast paced offense? The Warriors have long struggled with turnovers. In fact, they were the worst in the league at turning the ball over last year, where they averaged over 16 turnovers per game. In theory, Chris Paul handles this issue and brings careful playmaking to an already talented team. Brand new GM Mike Dunleavy Jr took a risk and mortgaged an important piece of their future in Jordan Poole for a 38 year old Chris Paul. Now all Dunleavy can do is watch and hope the gamble pays off.
Don’t call them a funeral home just yet, but there is major doubt that this team can legitimately compete without a youth movement in Golden State. A lineup of Chris Paul, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, and Draymond Green has an average age of 35.6 years old. The Warriors need a takeover from young names like Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski, Kevon Looney, and Moses Moody if they want to have a fighting chance moving forward. The J predicts 47 wins for this Warriors team, and it's our best effort at staying unbiased. Still, here's hoping this isn't the dying breath of a finished dynasty.
3. Los Angeles Lakers
Main Question- Can they replicate their post trade deadline success for 82 games?
The J’s Predict Win #~45
2022-2023 Record: 43-39
Biggest Offseason Change- Adding Gabe Vincent
It was a rollercoaster 2022-2023 for these Lakers. They were a complete wildcard heading into the playoffs because most didn't even expect them to be there. It’s not every year that a team that starts their season 2-10 and completely retools at the trade deadline has a chance to make a run at the finals. Suppose anything can happen when that same team is led by Lebron James. Lebron wasn't really the difference in this switch though, it can mostly be accredited to the trade deadline acquisitions of Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbuilt, De’angelo Russell, and the departure of Russell Westbrook. All of these guys will be back for 2023-2024, so it will remain to be seen if they can recreate their post trade deadline success, even with the same cast.
The Lakers also added Gabe Vincent this offseason, which should help improve their point guard depth. Formerly undrafted, Vincent was a huge part of the Heat’s underdog run to the finals as an eight seed. Although Vincent was the largest change of the offseason, the Lakers made bigger splashes in their re-signings of 2023 trade deadline acquisitions of D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura for a combined $87 Million over multiple years. They also extended rising star and previously undrafted Austin Reaves for $53 million over four years. This is all an effort to recapture the Lakers post trade deadline success where they had a record of 18-9 and it catapulted them into the playoffs and later the Western Conference Finals. The real question for the 2023-2024 Lakers is can they replicate it for a full 82 games, with the same cast of players. Even though this Lakers squad may continue to gel and grow with its young talent, this team is led by the second oldest player in the NBA in 38 year old Lebron James who is going into season 21. Despite everything that happened in the early stages of 2022, the Lakers looked great in their post- trade deadline season last year, even making a conference finals appearance before being swept by the eventual champion Denver Nuggets. 45 wins plays a bit of the middle here, but we think the Lakers will find some middle ground between the pre and post trade deadline of 2022-2023.
4. Los Angeles Clippers
Main Question: Is the experiment over? Has the clock run out?
The J’s Predict Win #~39
2022-2023 Record: 44-38
Biggest Offseason Change- Podcast P
I would be called out for lunacy if I told someone in 2017 that a team with the big three of Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Russell Westbrook would get only 39 wins. But this once pronounced superteam has been plagued with injury ever since its beginning in 2019 and shows no signs of putting up a fight against father time. So the real question is how much does this core have left in the tank, and how long will Clippers management stay faithful to this core? Acquiring Russell Westbrook majorly helped this Clippers team stay relevant after Paul George’s leg injuries in 2023, but it still felt like these Clippers had no real chance at contention all year. The style of basketball that Kawhi Leonard and Paul George play are great individually, but it feels the Clippers haven’t had a legit chance at contention for a title whether that be due to injuries or lack of depth during their tenure in LA. With their three stars continuing to age and injure, and a shortage of offseason changes made, regression seems inevitable.
Paul George’s podcast by the name of ‘Podcast P’ has exploded on the NBA scene this offseason, headlining with multiple 900k+ view episodes with guests of Klay Thompson, Demar Derozan, Tyrese Haliburton, and Draymond Green. This is about all for an uneventful Clippers offseason where they have essentially decided to run it back with their 2022-2023 squad. This begs the question, Has the clock run out? Are the championship optimisms over? All signs point to yes for both of those questions. Father time is undefeated, and the Clippers are led by three aging stars. Not to mention Paul George coming off more knee issues and Kawhi Leonard only playing 52 games in the past two years.* This was brought up on Podcast P in the episode with Tyronn Lue where the Clippers coach mentioned, “I told Kawhi and PG… Let's be serious about [the regular season]” Despite this, it’s not outlandish to assume that the duo will hit their status quo for games missed. We predict some pretty big regressions from this team heading into 2023. A Kawhi Leonard and Paul George led team would be a ton of fun to watch compete for a title, but don’t be surprised if they get torn down and stripped for parts if these Clippers continue to underperform.
All four of these California teams have done some legitimate resigning and restocking this offseason. Seemingly all of these teams are ready to compete with their set of stars and upcoming talent. The league's first California matchup will be on October 27th when the Warriors and Kings face off for a rematch in Sac-town. 2023-2024 looks to be another historic year for basketball in California.
