The League Reloadedith the second (and final) retirement of Derek Baldwin having been made official, lots of teams have their eyes on winning a title this season, just as with his retirement after the 2020 season. The Larry O’Brien trophy had been won by the New Orleans Pelicans, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Philadelphia 76ers. Several teams and players have been waiting for the reign to be over.
“It was almost inevitable,” said one team executive. “If he was playing, there was a 100% chance that whatever team he was on was going to make the playoffs and a 95% chance that team would be taking home that trophy.”
“He was the cheat code for sure,” said former teammate Blake Griffin. Griffin and Baldwin played together in Los Angeles from 2016-2020, winning four championships in their time together. “What team wins 81 games in a single season? And a title on top of that? Cheat code.”
There has been a lot of movement in the offseason. Lots of players chose to opt out of their contracts to team up with players they thought had a greater chance of getting them to a championship. Teams around the league have reloaded in both conferences with the hopes of getting their shot at the title.
Players are coming back from injury, and player development looks to have gone to a whole other level.
“It’s like you can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Michael Bibby. Bibby played for the Brooklyn Nets from 2019-2026. He went out with an injury the year the Nets won their first championship and decided not to return once Derek Baldwin had been added to the roster.
There is still one team that stands in everyone’s way, the New York Knicks. Without Derek Baldwin in uniform, some teams feel they are more than ready to take down the reigning champions. The Knicks didn’t do much by way of upgrades this season as they are still looking to their young core of Noah Baldwin, Remy Benoit and Michael Mitchell to lead the way. All three players were drafted in 2028 and already have one NBA Championship under their belts, not to mention receiving tutelage night in and night out from one of the greatest players to step on the NBA hardwood. Despite Derek Baldwin being such an integral part of an already talented team, the rest of the league feels like they have a legitimate shot at the throne.
“I think this will be good for the league,” said one Western Conference team’s head coach. “Teams will begin to really start to compete again now that that there is a greater chance to be crowned champion as opposed to settling for winning the Western Conference Finals.”
Eastern Conference teams seem to have made the most upgrades in an effort to take down the New York Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets, who remain to be NBA’s powerhouses. While they may not usurp either team this season, expect the playoffs to have a different look in the East in the remaining 6 spots, especially those teams that haven’t consistently made a post season run.
Boston Celtics
The Celtics went from being on the verge of losing Jayson Tatum to free agency to drafting one of the top college players in the country, former Kentucky Wildcat Jackie Robinson. Robinson is expected to start over Gregg Wittman, who was one of Boston’s three first round picks in the 2029 Draft, but having Wittman come off the bench will add some depth to the team. The icing on the cake for the C’s this year was signing DeAndre Ayton during free agency. Everyone knew that Ayton was ready to leave the Los Angeles Clippers, but no one had an idea of where he would land. With Joel Embiid seemingly on his last legs, Ayton will be expected to come in and dominate the paint for this Celtics team that had a hard time clogging the lanes. If they can remain healthy, the Celtics will go from a lottery team to being playoff bound. Their last post season trip was in 2027 where they snuck in as the 8th seed.
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers are definitely making a push in the Eastern Conference. It’s clear they are building a roster around stars Scottie Barnes and Zaire Wade. Drafting T.J. Baxter out of LSU with the sixth pick, Cleveland is looking to bolster its back court as Wade moves to the two guard spot. Cleveland struck gold in Free Agency as well, signing Dragan Bender and Amari Bailey to multiyear deals. Bender was recently in the NBA Playoffs as a member of the Denver Nuggets last season. He lost his starting spot midway through the season to Bol Bol due to injury. He returned in time to join the team for their huge playoff run. But when the Nuggets weren’t looking to put more money on the table, the 33 year old Croatian decided to begin anew in Cleveland. Bailey was one of Chicago’s top players, but he felt the organization wasn’t looking to build a contender despite signing Sebastio Saramago, which led to his leaving as well.
Indiana Pacers
Struggling in the post with Myles Turner, the Pacers landed 6’11” center Cedric Peters out of the University of Houston. While Peters is still a bit of a raw talent, he has tons of upside and will be a compliment to Greg Longley. He will definitely add more muscle to Indiana’s post game. With Peters working the inside, this should allow Indiana’s back court duo of Daniel Wooden and Tony Peters to flourish again.
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers may look like a completely different team this year. Their first move was trading away Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma to the Atlanta Hawks before the All-Star break last season. This summer they lost Kawhi Leonard to retirement and Marcus Smart and D’Angelo Russell to free agency. They still have newcomers Shannon George and Lance Howell entering their second year in the NBA. Like Boston, the Lakers made a key pickup during free agency, signing Victor Wenbanyama to a three year deal this summer, as they looked to shore up their front court, after deciding not to re-sign Chieck Diallo. They also picked up Jalen Suggs near the end of the summer.
Miami Heat
Miami feels that they are just a few key pieces away from making a real deep playoff run and they are hoping to solve that problem with the signing of D’Angelo Russell. Russell was part of the Lakers 2022 championship team and they are hoping that by teaming him up with Kyrie Irving and Richie Fortson, it will alleviate the pressure that the stars are under to produce.
New Orleans Pelicans
The Pelicans drafted Will Conroy to kick off the season as they knew Jamal Murray had one foot out of the door. The Pelicans were able to retain Manuel Esparza with a three year contract. They also signed Malik Newman to a one year deal. Newman was an integral part of the 76ers’ championship teams and playoff runs. Someone with his pedigree is going to be a vital piece to this Pelicans team. How quickly Conroy can adapt his game to the speed of the NBA and length of the NBA season will determine the Pelicans postseason chances this year.
my guy is snapping on these graphics this week 
DB needs to host his own charity game next summer!
