Several teams who missed the playoffs have already made coaching changes.
Among the Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Sacramento Kings, Orlando Magic, New York Knicks, Washington Wizards, and Brooklyn Nets, which will improve its record the most in 2016-17?
Nick Denning: Minnesota. Hiring Thibs should end up being a great decision, and the continued development of KAT and Wiggins should see the Wolves improve next season. How much will depend on who they draft and sign in free agency, but things are headed in the right direction right now.
Josh Cornelissen: Los Angeles Lakers. Minnesota and Orlando both hired great coaches and will be better next year. But Luke Walton is going to change the culture of that team and instill a system that works in the modern NBA. With a star draft pick and a couple of free agents this team will increase their win total significantly. Unfortunately, they were so bad this season, so this doesn’t mean they’ll be relevant in the 2016-17 playoff hunt.
Daniel Coughlin: Minnesota. The Wizards will be better, but at 41-41 they don’t have all that much room for improvement. Similar situation in Orlando. Frank Vogel and this maturing roster should win more, but hitting 42 or 43 wins isn’t that much of a reach or improvement. The Wolves only won 29 games last year and .500 isn’t a stretch for the talent they have. Oh, and they have a great coach who treats the regular season like the playoffs. The caveat: Lakers free agency. If the Lakers front office doesn’t botch free agency this year, they could add one, two, maybe three new faces that could add 12-15 wins. But I doubt it.
Gabriel Allen: My gut says the Timberwolves will win at least 40 games. I think Towns asserts himself as a top-10 talent and continues to blow people’s minds. If Andrew Wiggins improves his ball-handling and jump shot some, it’s going to be a stellar season in ‘Sota. Years ago, I’d have been more confident in saying New York or L.A., but these days it seems the big markets have little advantage when chasing free agents. It’s tougher than ever to see a star-level player in the prime of his career choosing to join a squad that’s so far away from title contention. Sacramento and Brooklyn seem hopeless despite some solid coaching hires, and I can’t imagine Washington winning 50 games or Orlando winning 45 next year.
Jon Elliot: Orlando Magic. The Wizards and Timberwolves seem like logical choices, but Washington likely won’t improve too much in the wins column considering how close they already were to the playoffs. Minnesota has more room to grow, but they play in the West. It’s simply not a fair fight for them. Orlando has youth, athleticism, a coach with a career .580 regular season and .508 playoff record, and close to $50 million in cap space to lure free agents to Disney World. They’ve got the perfect setup for improvement next season.
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