How will the West be won? For a select group of NBA teams with title aspirations, it may require one more roster move before or during the 2024-25 season.
The Dallas Mavericks have hopes of another NBA Finals appearance, but they face stiff competition in the Western Conference. That includes the Denver Nuggets, who are one year removed from their first championship and eyeing a return to the top, if they can solve one major issue.
After a breakout season, Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves could be looking at a surprise lottery pick to shore up their second unit. Meanwhile, two teams looking to improve after early postseason exits -- the New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings -- made major summer moves but still may be missing one player.
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are also eyeing an improved playoff run after last season's first-round defeat. Can the team find a way to add a versatile wing to aid the pursuit of the franchise's 18th title?
After breaking down a key weakness for five of the Eastern Conference's top teams, here's what the five West teams must figure out with NBA training camp less than three weeks away.
Jump to:
Nuggets | Lakers
Timberwolves | Pelicans | Kings
Denver Nuggets
Roster hole to fill: 3-point shooting
Finding offense from beyond the arc could become a significant concern in the Mile High City.
Last season, Denver finished 25th in 3-pointers made and last in the league in 3-point attempts per game. And that was before guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, one of only three players on last season's roster to average at least four attempts from 3 per game, departed in free agency.
Denver's biggest summer signing was Russell Westbrook, who happens to be the worst volume 3-point shooter in NBA history. The 16-year veteran is a career 30.4% shooter from behind the arc, the lowest of the 48 players who have attempted at least 4,000 3s.
Caldwell-Pope's likely replacement in Denver's starting lineup, Christian Braun, shot over 38% from 3-point range last season but on just 2.0 attempts per game. His 3-point production during the playoffs has also been low: 6-for-28 in 31 games over the past two postseasons.
Denver will also hope to find shooting from second-year guard Julian Strawther, who should see an increased role. The 29th pick of the 2023 draft was one of the standouts of this year's summer league, scoring 28.5 points across three games -- and, more importantly, shooting 40.9% on 11.0 3-point attempts per game.
Still, it's a lot to ask of Strawther, who played 10 minutes per game as a rookie and shot 29% from 3-point range before his season was cut short by a knee injury.
Expecting Denver's stars to pick up the slack might not work, either. Murray (42.5% from 3 last season) and forward Michael Porter Jr. (39.7%) could increase their respective 5.8 and 6.8 average attempts from deep last season, but neither has ever averaged much more than that in their careers.
Center Nikola Jokic could also take more than last season's 2.9 attempts, but the three-time NBA MVP has never averaged more than 3.9 per game in his nine-year career.
Denver will expect Jokic's brilliance to lift it once again to elite offensive production no matter how much -- or how little -- shooting there is across the roster.
Los Angeles Lakers
Roster hole to fill: Two-way wing play
The Lakers' struggles at this position can be traced to a single move: trading Caldwell-Pope and Kyle Kuzma for Westbrook in the summer of 2021.
Since moving on from Caldwell-Pope -- and to a lesser extent, Danny Green in a 2020 deal for guard Dennis Schroder -- Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka has been chasing the perfect 3-and-D wing to play alongside James and Anthony Davis.
And after following their run to the conference finals in 2023 with a first-round exit in 2024, the Lakers enter another season with the same roster hole.
James and Davis each played more than 70 games for the first time as teammates, but the Lakers finished in the bottom half of the league in three key stats: 24th in 3-pointers made per game, 28th in attempts and 17th in defensive rating.
Austin Reaves has developed into a good offensive player on a team-friendly contract, while D'Angelo Russell, who opted into his $18.6 million deal during free agency, shot a career-high 41.5% from deep last season on 7.2 attempts per game. But their partnership is a defensive liability, as Reaves and Russell had the sixth-worst defensive efficiency among backcourt duos with at least 1,000 minutes in 2023-24, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Gabe Vincent, the team's top free agent signing of the 2023 offseason, spent most of the season battling knee issues and struggled in the playoffs. Jarred Vanderbilt, arguably the team's best perimeter defender, averaged less than one 3-point attempt per game last season.
The Lakers are a shade below the second apron and have salary they could move, such as Russell's expiring deal. They also have two tradeable future first-round draft picks plus four second-rounders.
But it could take multiple 3-and-D players to balance the roster, and those are at a premium in the market. And, without those players, it's hard to project a top-six spot in the West -- something the Lakers haven't done since winning the title in 2020.
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Minnesota Timberwolves
Roster hole to fill: A boost in the backcourt
It was a magical spring in Minnesota. The Timberwolves won 56 games and reached their first conference finals since 2004, just the second time in their 35-year history they advanced past the first round.
Edwards emerged as a legitimate superstar, Mike Conley was a perfect steadying force at point guard and Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns formed solid frontcourt chemistry.
But while Minnesota had the league's best defensive team last season, it finished just 17th in offense. Conley is approaching his 37th birthday and Gobert and starting forward Jaden McDaniels are defense-first options. As impactful as Naz Reid was as a third big coming off the bench who provided offensive punch -- a role that earned him the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year honors -- Minnesota could have benefited from another option at guard.
Rookie guard Rob Dillingham could become exactly that player, which is why the team's surprise move up the draft board to select him at No. 8 was one of the offseason's most fascinating maneuvers.
Across his one season at Kentucky, Dillingham averaged 15.2 points, 3.9 assists and shot 44% from 3-point range -- and drawing comparisons to three-time Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams during the draft process. A prime version of Williams could provide the offensive pressure release valve that Minnesota needs.
That said, Dillingham is listed at 6-foot-1 and 176 pounds and doesn't turn 20 years old until January. And one of the oldest truisms in the NBA is that the best way to lose games is to play young guards. For a team with championship aspirations, it's a tall order to ask someone like Dillingham to immediately step in and play significant minutes.
Then there is Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who has revived his career in Minnesota. The five-year veteran shot 39% on four 3-point attempts last season. With Kyle Anderson, Monte Morris and Jordan McLaughlin no longer on the team, there are a handful of extra shots and minutes available for Alexander-Walker if he can expand his offensive role to complement his perimeter defense off the bench.
Minnesota's move for Dillingham was so creative because it was, as a second apron team, the only way the Timberwolves could take on extra salary this season. So, for better or worse, this roster is likely the one they will carry into the postseason.
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New Orleans Pelicans
Roster hole to fill: A big man to help Zion
The Pelicans made an offseason splash when they acquired Dejounte Murray from the Atlanta Hawks as their new starting guard. But between moving on from Larry Nance Jr. in that deal and Jonas Valanciunas leaving in free agency, New Orleans quickly saw itself staring at one of the biggest positional holes for any contending team in the league: its center position.
Technically, the Pelicans have several centers on their roster. They drafted 20-year-old Yves Missi, a 6-foot-11 big out of Baylor, in the first round, signed former second-round pick Karlo Matkovic after his impressive performance in summer league and signed veteran Daniel Theis.
None should be considered a season-long starting option, but a more intriguing option has emerged: starting 6-6 Zion Williamson at center.
With Williamson at center and moving CJ McCollum to a sixth man role, the Pelicans would then get their five best players -- Williamson, Murray, Brandon Ingram, Herbert Jones and Trey Murphy III -- together on the court.
It creates one of the league's most fascinating five-man units but one lacking interior size due to playing three wings with Williamson at center. There doesn't appear to be a better option available. Not starting either Murphy or Jones at the expense of a traditional center would be a significant talent downgrade in the starting unit.
Plus, the Pelicans have every incentive to see if that five-man unit can be a successful one.
Why? Because, after a summer of Ingram's name being bandied about as a trade candidate -- ideally for a big to plug in next to Williamson -- he remains on the roster on an expiring contract. A deal could easily still materialize between now and the February trade deadline, but if that five-man lineup takes off, then the team could stick with it over the long term instead.
All of this, though, is still contingent on Williamson remaining healthy. He played his most games in a regular season (70) but got hurt during the play-in games and missed all of the Pelicans' first-round sweep by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Whether Williamson is the full-time center or not, reinforcements will be critical for a Pelicans team that has hopes of being a legitimate threat in the West. And, until either Ingram receives a contract extension, or the trade deadline passes, the Pelicans will remain one of the league's most discussed teams in the trade market.
Sacramento Kings
Roster hole to fill: Solving their spacing
It was understandable why there was a full-on celebration in Sacramento when the newly acquired DeMar DeRozan sat courtside with Kings owner Vivek Ranadive during summer league action.
There haven't been many times in their history when the Kings have landed a player of DeRozan's caliber. He joins Sacramento after an impressive three-year run with the Chicago Bulls, where he made two All-Star teams, was a two-time finalist for the NBA's newly created Clutch Player of the Year award and remains one of the league's most durable stars.
But the addition of DeRozan shrinks the floor even more for coach Mike Brown's offense.
With DeRozan linking up with De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis, the Kings have three starters who mainly operate inside the arc.
While Fox averaged 7.8 attempts from 3-point range last season (12th in the league), DeRozan has only averaged more than three 3-point attempts once in his 15-year career. Sabonis, meanwhile, has barely averaged one attempt per game in the past two seasons. That could affect the development of third-year forward Keegan Murray, who will likely become Sacramento's fourth offensive option.
And while DeRozan is a talent upgrade over Harrison Barnes, the latter's shooting was an asset, as he's a 38% career shooter from 3 on more than four attempts per game.
How well Sacramento's new All-Star trio is effective in stretching and defending the court will determine whether the team can get into playoffs after last year's disappointing exit in the play-in tournament.
ESPN Stats & Information's Matt Williams contributed to this story.