Most Important Questions Already-Eliminated Western Conference Playoff Teams Will Have to Answer This Summer
The 2018 NBA playoffs are still ongoing, but for four Western Conference teams, the dream of winning the title this year has already been shattered.
Now that they are no longer competing on the court, these eliminated teams have other matters they will need to attend to if they want to avoid another early playoff exit in 2019.
Listed below are the biggest questions looming over those eliminated playoff teams.
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1. For the Minnesota Timberwolves: What is Andrew Wiggins' ultimate upside as a player?
Andrew Wiggins entered the NBA in 2014 to plenty of hype. The then 19-year-old forward had been garnering a fair amount of attention as there were fans billing him as the NBA's next big thing, and it's hard to blame them for feeling that way.
Wiggins was and still is a hyper-athletic wing player who seemingly needed to only hone a few more skills and he would be on his way to being one of the best two-way threats in the entire league.
It's been nearly four years since then, and though Wiggins has certainly been a productive player, he hasn't exactly done enough to start making people think that he's a legitimate superstar.
During the Minnesota Timberwolves' recent playoff run, Wiggins' numbers were pretty much in line with what he posted over the course of the regular season, per Basketball Reference. While it's good that Wiggins maintained his level of play, the franchise probably wanted to see more out of him.
It's too early for the Timberwolves to consider trading Wiggins — and given his large contract, there's no guarantee that suitors will be lining up to trade for him anyway — but it's reaching that point where the franchise needs to see if he still has room left to grow, or if this current version of him is what he'll be throughout his career.
2. For the San Antonio Spurs: What should they do with Kawhi Leonard?
It's every NBA team's dream to have a legitimate superstar on the roster because having that type of player gives the franchise a real shot at winning the title.
That's why the situation the San Antonio Spurs currently find themselves in has to be so difficult to deal with.
Kawhi Leonard is supposed to be the Spurs' superstar and for a few years, he was playing exactly like that, but then, this year came along, and things just seemingly took a turn for the worse.
Leonard was never really able to shake off his injury issues and the media constantly focused on the relationship between player and team.
After this tumultuous season, it's hard to imagine that the relationship between the two parties has not been weakened even just a bit.
There are rumblings hinting that other NBA teams will be trying to trade for Leonard this summer, and it will be interesting to see if the Spurs will give in or decide that they still want another season with their superstar.
3. For the Portland Trail Blazers: Is trading Damian Lillard something that should be considered?
By far the most surprising result of the first round of the Western Conference playoffs was the Portland Trail Blazers getting swept by the New Orleans Pelicans.
It was a stunning result, not just because the Pelicans were the lower seed, but because the Trail Blazers were just thoroughly outmatched.
Ordinarily, when a team suffers a series loss like that, they head into offseason looking to make widespread changes, but that won't be easy for the Trail Blazers.
Per Hoops Hype, the Trail Blazers' payroll figure for next season is already well over $110 million, and that's without even factoring in potential new contracts for Jusuf Nurkic and Shabazz Napier.
To put it simply, they lack the kind of cap flexibility that will enable them to restructure the roster.
The only way they may be able to significantly overhaul the roster is if they deal one of their two best players, and there could be teams out there willing to give up premium assets in exchange for Damian Lillard.
Whether or not the Trail Blazers will be willing to do something like that will be worth monitoring this summer.
4. For the Oklahoma City Thunder: What is the right way to build around Russell Westbrook?
Heading into the 2017–18 NBA season, the overhauled Oklahoma City Thunder were getting some buzz as a potential dark horse candidate to emerge from the Western Conference.
Throughout the regular season, the Thunder did show some flashes of how good they could be when everything was clicking, but then, they would also mix in those frustrating nights when they seemingly played down to bad teams.
The Thunder's inconsistency was the only constant for their season, and that eventually led to their first-round demise.
Now, with Paul George possibly heading to the Los Angeles Lakers, the members of the team's front office will need to find a new way to build around franchise star Russell Westbrook.
How they go about doing that will be crucial as they will need to hit on just about every signing and acquisition if they want to remain competitive in a still improving Western Conference.
Westbrook is not a conventional point guard, so finding players who will complement him perfectly will be a challenge.
In an ideal world for the Thunder, they will be able to convince George to stay, but if he does leave as expected, the franchise will need to act quickly to make sure they still have talented players to surround Westbrook with.
A new era may be dawning soon in Oklahoma City, and its success could hinge on how the members of the front office decide to build around Westbrook.
