The Dunkyard continues its look at each teams champs & chumps – those who played above expectations as well as those who struggled to make an impact. We continue with the mediocre:

Brooklyn (28-54)

Champs: With knee injuries limiting Jeremy Lin (1 game) and D’Angelo Russell (48 games) Brooklyn were forced to rely on balanced production from the rest of the roster with relatively pleasing results. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (13.9-6.8-2.5, 47.2% FG, 16.9 PER) and Spencer Dinwiddie (12.6-3.2-6.6, 38.7% FG, 32.6% 3FG, 15.9 PER) developed into the leaders of this team while Caris LeVert (12.1-3.7-4.2-1.2, 43.5% FG, 34.7% 3FG, 14.3 PER) and Joe “Mr Average” Harris (10.8-3.3-1.6, 49.1% FG, 41.9% 3FG, 13.3 PER) developed into decent NBA players. Throw in a return to form from veteran DeMarre Carroll (13.5-6.6-2.0, 41.4% FG, 37.1% 3FG, 14.3 PER) and efficient play from rookie big-man Jarrett Allen (8.2-5.4, 1.2bpg, 58.9% FG, 17.5 PER) and the Nets were more competitive than their record suggests.

Chumps: Brooklyn paid Allen Crabbe (13.2-4.3-1.6, 40.7% FG, 37.8% 3FG, 12.3 PER) over $19m last season for mediocre return. He could be a (over-paid) prototypical 3-and-D player if he bothered to play any D. Is that the reason for Quincy Acy (5.9-3.7, 35.6% FG, 34.9% 3FG, 8.2 PER) shooting 80% of his shots from three-point range? If Brooklyn is trying to mould him into a 3-and-D threat it’s not working.

2018-19 Outlook: With no lottery pick in the draft the Nets will be focused on continued internal improvement from the players already on the roster. Getting full seasons from Lin and Russell should ensure Brooklyn stay in playoff contention longer than they did this season. Despite having no lottery pick watch out for GM Sean Marks to continue his creative approach to improving the roster.

New York (29-53)

Champs: The improvement of Kristaps Porzingis (22.7-6.6-1.2, 2.4bpg, 43.9% FG, 39.5% 3FG, 20.4 PER) to All-Star level was the highlight of a disappointing New York season. When the Latvian went down with an ACL in February so did any playoff aspirations for the 22-26 Knicks. That’s right, they went 7-27 the rest of the way.

Elsewhere on the roster Enes Kanter (14.1-11.0-1.5, 25.8mpg, 59.2% FG, 24.0 PER) continues to be one the most efficient players in the league, as well as one of my favourites, while Kyle O’Quinn (7.1-6.1-2.1, 1.3bpg, 18.0mpg, 58.2% FG, 20.0 PER) seems to be underappreciated by everyone except Knicks fans. Mid-season G-League pickup Trey Burke (12.8-2.0-4.7, 50.3% FG, 36.2% 3FG, 21.0 PER, 36 games) will hope his play has landed him a long-term basketball home.

Chumps: Tim Hardaway Jr. (17.5-3.9-2.7-1.1, 42.1% FG, 31.7% 3FG, 14.4 PER) is a role player who thinks he’s the best player on the team. He’s not even the best player named Tim Hardaway. Courtney Lee (12.0-2.9-2.4-1.1, 45.4% FG, 40.6% 3FG, 13.0 PER) had arguably the best season of his career and you still wouldn’t want him on your team. He’ll be 33 by the start of next season and history says he going to decline sharply from this point onwards.

Emmanuel Mudiay (8.8-2.6-3.9, 36.8% FG, 19.6% 3FG, 10.2 PER) came via mid-season trade and struggled to make an impact. He’ll need to improve in a hurry if he hopes to hold down the starting PG spot and escape the wrath of frustrated Knicks fans.

2018-19 Outlook: New York has the No. 9 pick in the draft and an opportunity to bring in a talented rookie. Any action in free agency will depend on Kanter’s decision to opt-in to the final year of his contract for $18.6m (or his assassination by the Turkish government).

There is cause for concern with the Porzingis injury, especially considering the track record of bigs with leg injuries, and the future of this franchise rests on his return to full health. He should be shut-down for the entire season regardless of when he’s available to play. There is no reason to bring him back for 20-25 meaningless games at the end of the season especially as the Knicks should be well placed for the No. 1 pick in the 2019 Draft by that time.

LA Lakers (35-47)

Champs: This team is led by the still-improving Julius Randle (16.1-8.0-2.6, 55.8% FG, 19.9 PER) despite Luke Walton’s decision to play him only 26.7mpg. Play the kid 36mpg (21.7-10.7-3.5) and we’re talking possible All-Star. Kyle Kuzma (16.1-6.3-1.8, 45.0% FG, 36.6% 3FG, 14.2 PER) was rewarded for a surprisingly good debut season by being voted into the NBA All-Rookie First Team.

Despite their initial struggles Los Angeles and its fans should be happy with the progress of their other young cornerstones. Brandon Ingram (16.1-5.3-3.9, 47.0% FG, 39.0% 3FG, 13.8 PER) was significantly better in his second season while Lonzo Ball (10.2-6.9-7.2-1.7, 36.0% FG, 30.5% 3FG, 12.5 PER) did his best to overcome injuries, horrible shooting and the circus that is LaVar to have a better rookie season than Steve Nash. We shouldn’t forget that these kids are both only 20.

Chumps: While the mid-season trade for Isaiah Thomas (15.6-2.1-5.0, 38.3% FG, 32.7% 3FG, 12.8 PER) may have been more to do with clearing cap space this off-season than anything else, everybody including Isaiah himself would have expected more from a guy who is only 12 months removed from MVP conversations.

Is there a softer 7-footer in the league than Brook Lopez? He had the worst season of his career (13.0-4.0-1.7, 1.3bpg, 46.5% FG, 34.5% 3FG, 16.4 PER) and grabbed just 3.0 defensive rebounds per game. Looks like he left his heart in Brooklyn.

2018-19 Outlook: This off-season will go a long way in determining Magic Johnson’s legacy as team President. They haven’t hidden their desire to bring in LeBron and Paul George during free-agency, however to accomplish this they need to either somehow dispose of Luol Deng’s untradeable contract or let Randle leave as a free-agent. The real risk for LA is if they strike out on LeBron/George and panic sign lesser players to cover up the disappointment. If Magic can resist this urge, sign Randle and Thomas to 1-year contracts and wait until 2019 to try again then the off-season will be a success LeBron or no LeBron.

Charlotte (36-46)

Champs: While he’s no longer the beast he was in his mid-20’s we should still appreciate what Dwight Howard (16.6-12.5-1.3, 1.6bpg, 55.5% FG, 20.5 PER) still produces at age 32. After the soap opera dramas of LA and Houston I’m happy to see him return to a smaller market city and playing well.

The development of Frank Kaminsky (11.1-3.6-1.6, 42.9% FG, 38.0% 3FG, 14.4 PER) and Jeremy Lamb (12.9-4.1-2.3, 45.7% FG, 37.0% 3FG, 17.0 PER) into important and confident bench players is at least something to be excited about on this team. Now if only they can do something about some of their starters….

Chumps: No, I didn’t forget about Kemba Walker (22.1-3.1-5.6-1.1, 43.1% FG, 38.4% 3FG, 20.6 PER) in the ‘Champs’ section, he just happens to be the most overrated “Superstar” in the NBA. He might be loved by Charlotte fans but the Hornets will not experience any sort of success with a shoot-first, defensive liability as it’s point guard and leader.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much better to say about Nicolas Batum (11.6-4.8-5.5-1.0, 41.5% FG, 33.6% 3FG, 14.4 PER), who has no enthusiasm to play basketball after he signed his 5-year $120m contract in 2016, or Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (9.2-4.1-1.0, 50.4% FG, 12.5 PER) who we hoped one day would be the next Scottie Pippen. Instead, he’s just a far worse version of Gerald Wallace.

2018-19 Outlook: Despite finishing under .500 and missing the playoffs Charlotte is over the salary cap and unable to sign any major free-agents. They do have the No. 11 pick in the draft and an opportunity to focus on the development of last years No. 11 pick Malik Monk. Kemba Walker enters the final year of his contract and will likely seek a max extension. Charlotte will be smart to avoid this and entertain trade offers, but I’m sure they’ll give it to him anyway.

Detroit (39-43)

Champs: After a bright 10-3 start Detroit faded and found themselves in the same place they have ended up for most of the last decade….out of the playoffs. They also found themselves again unable to support the All-Star talents of Andre Drummond (15.0-16.0-3.0-1.5-1.6, 52.9% FG, 22.9 PER). The mid-season trade for Blake Griffin (19.8-6.6-6.2, 43.3% FG, 34.8% 3FG, 18.5 PER) was at least a valid attempt to change this. If the Pistons can get a healthy, motivated and rejuvenated Griffin next season then a return to the playoffs may be closer than it looks.

Chumps: Third year forward Stanley Johnson (8.7-3.7-1.6-1.4, 37.5% FG, 28.6% 3FG, 9.0) hasn’t shown any improvement since his rookie year and looks well on his way to being a poor mans Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (….or a homeless mans Gerald Wallace!)

2018-19 Outlook: It’s probably a good thing that Detroit doesn’t have a first-round pick in this years draft, they don’t make good decisions: Luke Kennard (2017 No. 12), Henry Ellenson (2016 No. 18), Stanley Johnson (2015 No. 8), Kentavius Caldwell-Pope (2013 No. 8), Brandon Knight (2011 No. 8), Austin Daye (2009 No. 15). Did the 2003 No.2 Darko Milicic shambles render them NBA Draft impotent?

In a possible coaching coup the Pistons have signed on Dwane Casey as head coach. Fresh off a 59-23 season with the #1 seed Toronto Raptors it could be the change that both sides need.

LA Clippers (42-40)

Champs: In a period of 7 months the Clippers found themselves sans Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. The fact that they ended up with a winning record should be applauded and is in large part thanks to the play of Lou Williams (22.6-2.5-5.3-1.1, 43.5% FG, 35.9% 3FG, 20.2 PER) who will no doubt be rewarded with the Sixth Man of the Year award.

The Griffin trade is already baring fruit. Montrezl Harrell (11.0-4.0-1.0, 17.0mpg, 63.5% FG, 24.7 PER) has taken full advantage of the additional available minutes. In his 32 post-trade games Tobias Harris (19.3-6.0-3.1-1.2, 47.3% FG, 41.4% 3FG, 17.7 PER) played career-best basketball. I almost feel sad that the Clippers have probably found the small forward that may have completed their championship puzzle. Almost.

Chumps: A lot of the Clippers poor performers can use injuries as an excuse. Danilo Galinari (15.3-4.8-2.0, 39.8% FG, 32.4% 3FG, 13.8 PER) managed only 21 games while Milos Teodosic (9.5-2.8-4.6, 41.9% FG, 37.9% 3FG, 11.6 PER) was limited to 45 games. Include Patrick Beverley (11 games) and Avery Bradley (6 post-trade games) and you could probably fool me into getting excited about the 2018-19 Clippers.

Not everyone can use the injury excuse though, Wesley Johnson (5.4-2.9, 20.1mpg, 40.8% FG, 33.9% 3FG, 9.8 PER) is definitely blowing someone to not be playing G-League basketball while Doc Rivers must see something in rookie Sindarius Thornwell (3.9-1.9, 15.8mpg, 42.9% FG, 37.7% 3FG, 8.2 PER) that nobody else does to play him 73 games….or it’s Stevie Wonder in disguise.

2018-19 Outlook: LA find themselves with both the No. 12 and No. 13 picks in the draft thanks to the Griffin trade which makes them one of the teams to watch on draft night. Keep them? Trade them? Package them to move into the top 10? Endless possibilities.

The elephant in the room for the Clippers is DeAndre Jordan. With the ability to opt-out of the final year of his contract he is going to have plenty of suitors in free agency. Considering how close he was to joining Dallas in 2015 and the Clippers clearly in rebuild mode don’t count on him returning to LA.

Denver (46-36)

Champs: The evolution of Nikola Jokic (18.5-10.7-6.1-1.2, 49.9% FG, 39.6% 3FG, 24.4 PER) has been one of the more enjoyable NBA storylines over the last 2 seasons. Is he already a better version of Marc Gasol? Denver need to do everything in their power to hold to Jokic and surrounding him complementary pieces such as Gary Harris (17.5-2.6-2.9-1.8, 48.5% FG, 39.6% 3FG, 16.5 PER), Jamal Murray (16.7-3.7-3.4, 45.1% FG, 37.8% 3FG, 16.1 PER) and Will Barton (15.7-5.0-4.1, 45.2% FG, 37.0% 3FG, 16.2 PER) and having them grow together is a great start.

Not for the first time I need to apologise to a player I had completely written off. Trey Lyles (9.9-4.8-1.2, 19.1mpg, 49.1% FG, 38.1% 3FG, 17.9 PER) forced his way into the rotation and could be the long term answer to Denver’s PF problem.

Chumps: The short term answer to Denver’s PF problem is to trade Kenneth Faried (5.9-4.8, 14.4mpg, 51.4% FG) as soon as possible. He had more “DNP – Coach’s Decision” than games (32) this season and keeping him around can only have a negative effect on the team. The Nuggets will also hope Wilson Chandler (10.0-5.4-2.2, 31.7mpg, 44.5% FG, 35.8% 3FG, 11.0 PER) doesn’t pick up his player option on the final season of his contract. The Nuggets should be able to put his $12.8m to much better use.

2018-19 Outlook: I really shouldn’t be grouping Denver in with the mediocre considering their record but it’s two straight 9th-placed finishes in the Western Conference. It’s almost a “Playoffs or Bust” scenario this season. The first thing to be done is to decline the $1.6m team-option on Jokic’s contract and sign him to a maximum contract. All that’s required after that is getting good value from their No. 14 draft pick, a healthy Paul Millsap re-joining the team (you almost forgot he’s at Denver didn’t you?) and applying the “Buffalo Theory” to the end of the roster and the Nuggets might end up being this seasons Cinderella story.