Cleveland Cavaliers: Where Kevin Love ranks among other starting centers
#21 – Willie Cauley-Stein – Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors have undergone a facelift this offseason. Out is Kevin Durant, DeMarcus Cousins, and Andre Iguodala. Klay Thompson is out for the foreseeable future after tearing his ACL in the NBA Finals.
light. Related Story. Beilein's style should be embraced by players
In is D’Angelo Russell and Willie Cauley-Stein. Cauley-Stein will be vital to the Warriors. He should be able to feast within the Warriors offense with Draymond Green throwing him lobs as he is one of the better finishers at the rim in the NBA.
Last season, per Basketball-Reference, Cauley-Stein had per-game averages 11.9 points and 8.4 rebounds.
#20 – Derrick Favors – New Orleans Pelicans
The New Orleans Pelicans have done an excellent job of maintaining a solid roster despite trading one of the best players in the NBA to the Lakers. A big part of that was winning the lottery and grabbing Zion Williamson.
However, they have also done an excellent job of adding pieces to surround him and stud two-way guard Jrue Holliday. In the Davis trade, they brought back Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, and Josh Hart. They also signed JJ Redick and traded for Derrick Favors.
Favors is an excellent player who doesn’t necessarily get the praise he deserves. Last season, per Basketball-Reference, Favors had per-game averages of 11.8 points and 7.4 rebounds. He also sported a very good PER of 21.8.
#19 – Hassan Whiteside – Portland Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers will be without big man Jusuf Nurkic for a large chunk of the 2019-20 season. To cover up that hole, they traded for Hassan Whiteside, and his expiring contract.
Whiteside was on the verge of becoming a star in the league after a couple of excellent seasons in Miami, including one in which he averaged 17 points and 14.1 rebounds per game per Basketball-Reference.
The emergence of Bam Adebayo made Whiteside expendable. Portland will hope Whiteside can get back to his rebounding and defensive ways to assist Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum to get them over the hump in a wide-open Western Conference.