Eastern playoffs could end up in league chaos

Owner Josh Harris told ESPN's Jackie MacMullan, "I think we have enough talent to win [it all]. We want to make sure, at a minimum, to go further in the series than we did last year. "

So what happens to Sixers now?

They will have to spend a lot of money to keep Tobias Harris and Jimmy Butler. Ditto for JJ Redick, who has signed a second consecutive contract for a year and will be a self-starter sought after although he has begun his 35-year season. Then there's Joel Embiid, whose health remains a long-term question mark, no matter how frustrated he is with that line of thinking.

Embiid is good enough that having a healthy version of himself can keep the Sixers in competition. But to remain truly among the Eastern elite, they will have to keep at least two of Harris, Butler and Redick, or all three, while making additions to the bench of judges, which constitutes a major weakness after great movements. season.

2. How much will it cost to maintain Harris and Butler

Thursday (HE hours)
• Raptors at 76ers | 20h | ESPN

Friday
• Bucks at the Celtics | 20h | ESPN
• Nuggets at Blazers | 22:30. | ESPN

Saturday
• Rocket Warriors | 20:30. | ABC

Sunday
• Raptors at 76ers | 15:30. | ABC

Deciding what Harris will get will be easy. Several teams are almost sure to follow him with maximum offers of four years, knowing that the combo forward is an excellent shooter capable of launching pick-and-roll while maintaining a good presence in the locker room. It will be attractive for any team with maximum space. To keep it in Philadelphia, it is almost certain that it will have to offer a contract for up to five years ($ 188 million) or very close.

Butler's market is a bit more complex. He has many miles on his body and has certainly had tumultuous stays in Chicago and Minnesota. Yet he remains one of the league's elite players in both directions and, more importantly, he is a great player – as he has shown with his Ga performance , e 2 in the second round of the playoffs against the Raptors to lead Philadelphia to a changing series victory. With several teams in large markets with max cap and eager to chase the autonomous players, it is difficult to see Butler fail to get a maximum contract.

If Philadelphia signed again with both players and kept Redick, the luxury tax could be impossible to avoid – before filling the bench, or giving Ben Simmons the maximum extension of the contract Brand has already announced.

So, to keep everyone, Philadelphia will sign up for the long term tax. But the alternative is to lose coins acquired at an extremely high price.

Implications at league scale: In a summer when there will be so many big stars available, the future projects of Harris and Butler – and, to a lesser extent, Redick – will be of interest to many teams. If Philadelphia qualifies for the NBA finals, it seems much more likely that the Sixers would be willing to spend as much to keep this group together as if they lost to the Raptors.

The fact that Harris and / or Butler remain in Philadelphia will determine not only whether the Sixers remain an elite Eastern contender, but also whether the many teams in the league with maximum capacity have two fewer options to pursue.

Boston Celtics | 31 percent chance of moving forward

The biggest stakes are they lose

Anyone who has even passively followed the NBA this season has been aware of the ups and downs of Irving in recent months. At every point, Boston seemed to be on the right track, there was a moment – often involving Irving – when things changed again.

At the center of all these discussions was the subject of knowing where Irving would play next season. Right now, things around the Celtics are as good as they have been all season. The team swept its first-round series against the Indiana Pacers, then opened their clash with the Bucks with a win on the emphatic road Sunday afternoon.

Good luck knowing where Irving will be next season. Whatever the day, he does not think about staying in Boston and teaming up with Kevin Durant to play for his hometown, the New York Knicks, or to join LeBron James, this time on the other side of the country.

Whatever his decision, the Celtics and the league will suffer many consequences – and could easily be influenced by Boston's progress.

2. Less likely to negotiate for AD?

What's going on with Irving could easily have an impact on the biggest domino waiting to fall: what will happen with Anthony Davis this summer?

But despite all this success, Milwaukee has a weight that weighs on everything for the next 14 months: Antetokounmpo, who could soon be the best player in the world (if it is not already), is ready to sign an extension of supermax contract to stay in the Upper Midwest for years to come?

If this is the case, the Bucks can breathe a sigh of relief and continue to rely on one of the league's elite players. It's not it? So, it's time to start thinking about trading – in what could be the most important deal in the history of the league since … the Bucks traded Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975.

Every game won by Milwaukee this season – even an appearance in the NBA Finals and a title – would help the Bucks' quest to prove that they had the talent needed to win in the long run. But a second-round exit would reinforce many of the doubts that exist throughout the season as to the viability of this group to become a true championship contender. And that could make it even more difficult for Milwaukee to demonstrate that Antetokounmpo is the best place to win for years to come.

2. Is this kernel worth the price?

The other thing that weighs on the Bucks right now: future free agencies of several key pieces of the team. How much will it stay and how much will it cost to keep them?

While the Bucks mitigated a potential free-will issue by committing to extend their contract with Eric Bledsoe over the course of the season, several other key players – including star player Khris Middleton, debutants Malcolm Brogdon and Brook Lopez and the Nikola Mirotic Reserve the free market this summer.

In theory, the Bucks can keep them all – but that would certainly certainly blow Milwaukee into the luxury tax. This is something the property is ready to do, according to some sources, depending on how far the team has come this season.

A trip to the finals of the NBA would facilitate the passage to the tax. Go to the conference finale? It's a harder one. Losing to the Celtics? More difficult still.

And since all of this goes back to the goal of trying to recruit Antetokounmpo in the long run, the decisions that Milwaukee takes this summer are all the more essential to getting things right.

Implications at league scale: If Antetokounmpo refused an extension, it would be a seismic event as few times the league has ever seen.

In the meantime, however, the biggest Milwaukee domino to watch for by the league is Middleton. Proven in the playoffs and threatening to score regularly in a league where the quality of wing play is a high-end commodity, Middleton should be able to command a maximum salary this summer, be it at the Bucks or elsewhere.

Toronto Raptors | 69 percent chance to move forward

The biggest stakes are they lose

1. The Toronto case for keeping Kawhi

The question now is whether Toronto's decision to trade for Leonard will work the way the Oklahoma City Thunder did by negotiating with Paul George a year earlier. Leonard has one of the tightest circles in the league, and his true thinking is something that few people really know intimately. Nevertheless, it is assumed that his choice this summer will return to one of two teams: the Raptors or his hometown, the Clippers.

George chose to stay in Oklahoma City despite his first round defeat last year. It is therefore not entirely guaranteed that if Toronto loses now or reaches the final, it will affect Leonard's decision. Nevertheless, the Raptors will definitely feel stronger at every game that they will succeed in winning over the next few weeks.

2. Large-scale reconstruction?

If Leonard chooses to stay, the Raptors will go ahead with him and Pascal Siakam as the base of their team for the next seasons – a combination that will easily be enough to keep Toronto in the title race at the championship in a near future. But if Leonard leaves? The Raptors will have big decisions to make.

Find everything you need to know about the playoffs here.

Among Kyle Lowry, Marc Gasol (assuming he chooses his $ 25 million player option), Serge Ibaka and Fred VanVleet, the Raptors will have contracts expiring at $ 91 million in 2019-20. They could just try to be as competitive as possible next season and then leave their books completely erased to chase free agents. Or, Toronto could use these contracts as commercial bait to attract new talent to help Siakam move forward.

There is also Danny Green, who shot 45.5% of the 3-point distance this season and who remains an elite defensive option on the wing. Given the shortage of 3-D players in the NBA these days, Green will be highly coveted this summer. If Leonard stays, it would be logical for the Raptors to pay what it takes to keep Green. If not? He will be in great demand.

Implications at league scale: Leonard 's free agency has been a constant topic of discussion for over a year. This will remain until he makes his decision, and if one of the league's elite players chooses to stay in the East or leave the West could have a major impact on the league's balance of power – which, thanks to the rise of these four teams, seems finally to stabilize after decades of Western imbalance.

Although Lowry and Gasol are in their thirties, they remain excellent players who could spark interest in the free market if Toronto decides to move on. And if Green leaves Toronto, it will suit just about any team competing, given his ability to shoot and defend himself on the wing. Given that all will likely stay in Toronto if Leonard stays – and maybe none of them would – he would make a huge impact on the 2020 NBA championship.