NBA teams that should rebuild

The NBA is a superstar-driven league. Teams will likely not win a championship without at least two star-caliber players. Even with that, sometimes a superstar pairing just doesn’t work out. The writing is on the wall for a few NBA teams that need to clean house and look to the future.

Blow it Up

These are teams that need to completely restart as they have no chance to win a championship with this roster.

Chicago Bulls

The Chicago Bulls made a couple of ‘win now’ moves in the previous years to acquire star talent and compete for a title. The Bulls put together a lineup of DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball and Zach LaVine, but it has failed spectacularly.

This era of Bulls basketball started with the acquisition of LaVine before the 2017-2018 season. Ball and DeRozan were added to the roster in 2021 in hopes of finally pushing the Bulls over the top. The 2021-2022 NBA season would be the only year the Bulls experienced playoff basketball during this era, resulting in a disappointing first-round exit.

Ball has been consistently injured and LaVine seems to have left the best part of his career behind him. The Bulls just traded DeRozan this offseason, but must go further. They are not going to find success with this core and should trade away all players with trade value for future draft picks.

New Orleans Pelicans

Similar to the Bulls, the Pelicans should be contenders year in and year out. They are headlined by Zion Williamson, an athletic freak who can dominate the court every time he steps on it. That is where the problem lies, however. Williamson has been constantly injured throughout his career.

Williamson has been in the league for six seasons and can only be considered healthy for two of them. Even this season he is expected to miss an extended period of time with a hamstring injury. No matter the team you build around him, if your star player is not on the court, it would be difficult to make even the playoffs, let alone compete for a title.

The Pelicans should look to ship out Williamson for any value he may still have, along with other solid players on their roster like Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum and Dejounte Murray. Doing this would give the Pelicans a ton of draft capital to rebuild this team for the future.

Lean into it

These are teams that are not good enough to win a title, but if they could land a high draft pick to pair with their current roster, they could be dangerous.

Washington Wizards

The Wizards have not been a good basketball team for the last couple of years. What they have been doing is acquiring a substantial amount of draft capital to rebuild their team.

In the first round this year they took a 19-year-old Alex Sarr who has shown flashes of talent in his limited minutes. Veterans like Jordan Poole and Jonas Valančiūnas are great role players who can help develop the young talent Washington will be adding to their team.

If the Wizards accept the fact they are not going to compete for a title and lose games on purpose to get a high draft pick to land a superstar, it could elevate this core to true title contention.

Brooklyn Nets

The Nets are in a similar spot to the Wizards but have far more talent already on the roster. Cam Thomas and Cameron Johnson are establishing themself as solid parts of a future Brooklyn Nets core. Dennis Schröder, the veteran leader of this team, is having one of the best years of his career.

While these players are having great years, none can step up and truly be the star the Nets need. They are winning too many games and need another year or two at the top of the draft to develop a superstar and put together a winning roster.

San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs are in the best position of any of the ‘lean into it’ teams. In the 2023 NBA Drafr, the Spurs selected Victor Wembanyama first overall. Wembanyama is a 7-foot-4 center, with the ball-handling skills of a guard. His nickname is ‘The Alien’ for a reason. The league has never seen someone like him.

Wembanyama won NBA Rookie of the Year, made an all-defensive team, and led the league in blocks the first year he touched an NBA court. The Spurs have their superstar in place, they just need someone to pair with him. In the offseason, the Spurs acquired veteran guard Chris Paul, a pass-first point guard who has experience playing with a dominant center.

Adding Paul will help Wembanyama develop his offensive game, while at the same time giving young players on the roster, most notably rookie guard Stephon Castle, a player they can look up to and learn from.

The Spurs are a star away from having one of the scariest duos of all time. This is the year to commit to a high pick. Cooper Flagg, a 6-foot-9 freshman guard/forward out of Duke will be selected No. 1 overall in the 2025 NBA Draft barring anything drastic from happening. A duo of Wembanyama and Flagg would dominate the league, and the Spurs need to do everything they can to make it happen.

Carter Brooks is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email cjb7448@psu.edu.