NBA Draft Kit: Pacific Division Positional Battles

After blowing a 3-1 advantage in the finals versus Cleveland, Golden State decided to shake things up just a bit. A tad. A smidge. The Warriors decided it might help if they lured the one of the three greatest players on the planet to join their squad. Good idea! That big move and more has created a few position battles in the always exciting Pacific Division. Let's dive into the changes:

Golden State Warriors

It's impossible to argue with the Warriors bringing in Kevin Durant, but it did come at a cost. To clear up salary space, gone are Harrison Barnes, Andrew Bogut, Festus Ezeli, Leandro Barbosa, Brandon Rush and Marreese Speights. That some serious bench strength out the door. In addition to Durant, the Warriors also added David West (last leg of shameless quest for a ring tour?), Zaza Pachulia and human enigma JaVale McGee. Pachulia will start at center, but the bench situation is messy.

Scorer off the Bench:Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, David West

The Warriors' bench was an underrated group over the past two seasons, providing scoring balance and great chemistry. Livingston, Mo' Buckets, Iggy and Barbosa each provided unique sparks. Now the bench crew looks decidedly different. Livingston is now 30 years old, but he has actually improved his shooting each year since 2010-11, topping out at 53.6 percent from the field last year. But his game is more about facilitation. Iggy's scoring is going in the opposite direction, with the shut-down defender averaging a career-low seven points per game last season. Iguodola is also no spring chicken at 32. Speaking of aging vets, West is now 36 and coming off a pretty modest season of 7.1 points and 4.0 rebounds in 18.0 minutes per game with the Spurs.

But, frankly, the Warriors may not need much bench scoring with Durant, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson in the starting lineup. Look for all four stars to individually get minutes with the second squad in an effort to get each of them more shot attempts.

Los Angeles Clippers

Four of the five starters are etched in stone with Chris Paul, J.J. Redick, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan locked in. Newly acquired Marreese Speights and Brandon Bass will back up the bigs. Minutes-wise, the big question is at the three

Small Forward:Luc Mbah a Moute, Paul Pierce, Wesley Johnson

A less-than-ideal situation from last year continues in 2016-17. Mbah a Moute is the default starter after starting 61 games last year, but it's noticeable that The Prince only averaged 15.6 minutes per game during five appearances in last year's playoffs. On the other hand, it's hard to believe that 38-year-old Paul Pierce will beat out Mbah a Moute for minutes. This is The Truth's 19th year in the Association. That leaves additional Clippers holdover Wes Johnson who, at 29, no longer is considered to the have the potential upside of his no. 4 draft spot pedigree (2010).

This situation reeks of a February "win now" trade by Doc Rivers. Stay posted.

Los Angeles Lakers

Can we all raise a glass and be thankful that the horrendous Kobe Bryant farewell tour is finally over? Ugh, that was difficult to watch. Mitch Kupchak's Lakers can now finally focus on grooming their high-upside youth. (Side Note: I was at a Cubs game on Sunday, when the catcher seemed to get a foul ball in the family jewels. I was very happy to hear a fan a few rows back scream "Mitch Kupchak!" Love it.) Kupchak and new coach Luke Walton will need to figure out the minutes situation at both forward spots.

Small Forward:Luol Deng, Brandon Ingram, Nick Young

The Lakers signed Deng to a considerable four-year, $72 million contract in July, proving they still have to pay a premium to draw talent. At least Deng's deal makes more sense than Timofey Mozgov's (four years, $64 million). And Deng could be a valuable mentor to 19-year-old Brandon Ingram, the no. 2 pick in this year's draft. Deng allows the Lakers the option to bring the young Ingram along slowly, and he will certainly be a better influence Nick Young, who will probably be cut. I loathe Young and frankly enjoyed typing that last sentence.

Power Forward: Julius Randle, Larry Nance, Yi Jianlian

Randle started 60 games during his (essentially) rookie season last year. The numbers were encouraging but had room for improvement: 11.3 points, 10.2 rebounds and 0.4 blocks in 28 minutes per game, but with 42.9 percent shooting, which is unacceptable for a power forward. Larry Nance started 22 games and shot better, but the counting stats were worse when starting (7.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 0.4 blocks per game from 55.6 percent shooting). Nance doesn't have Randle's pedigree or expectations, so expect his 20 minutes per game from last year to go down, making room for newly signed Yi Jianlian. Yi is a low-risk, high-upside signing for LA, agreeing to the veteran's minimum with incentives that could push it to $8.0 million. You may recall the Chinese veteran from the four years he struggled with the Bucks, Nets, Wizards and Mavs. Or you may have seen him average 20.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game during five appearances during this summer's Olympic games in Rio. Yi could be surprise gem or a mid-season cut, who knows. But he's certainly worth monitoring.

Phoenix Suns

It's not often that a rebuilding team plans to start a 31-year-old (Jared Dudley) and 33-year-old (Tyson Chandler). The backcourt is set with a steady dose of Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Knight and Devin Booker, but the situation at center and power forward is a little odd.

Bigs: Jared Dudley, Dragan Bender, Tyson Chandler, Alex Len, P.J. Tucker, T.J. Warren

Bender turns 19 in November, while Len is 23. I'm sure neither of them remember when Chandler teamed up with Eddy Curry for a failed twin tower experiment in the early 2000's. With Bledsoe having three years left on his contract and Knight with four, it's unclear if Phoenix's approach is to win now or improve for the future. Len was given every opportunity to shine last year, with mixed results. In 46 games as a starter, Len neared a double-double by averaging 11.3 points and 9.1 boards per game, but that came with woeful 41 percent shooting. Big men CANNOT shoot that poorly. The Suns would probably love to deal Chandler, but his sinking production probably won't get much in return. His 7.2 points and 8.7 rebounds per game were six-year lows, dating back to his rough 2009-10 season with Charlotte. And his 0.7 blocks per game was a career-low – and we're talking about a 15-year career. At 33, Chandler's career is headed in the wrong direction.

Bender, the no. 4 pick this summer, is probably too raw and young to contribute much this year, hence the three-year deal given to 31-year-old Dudley. At 6-foot-7, Dudley is expected to start at power forward until Bender (7-1) is ready. Dudley played in a surprising 81 games with Washington last year, averaging a modest 7.9 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. That doesn't scream "starting power forward." He did drain 1.2 treys per game and will again be a cheap source for threes next season. Another rookie option at the four is 19-year-old Marquese Chriss, the no. 8 overall pick this year. Unfortunately, Chriss is even rawer than Bender, having started playing basketball as a high school freshman. The 6-9 Chriss averaged only 13.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game in his lone year at the University of Washington.

Believe it or not, Tucker averaged 31 minutes in all 82 games last year. I'm not making that up, I promise. With a long development curve expected for Bender and Chriss, Tucker could see the same crazy minutes at both forward spots. Warren, who's entering his third season, might have more upside for 2016-17 than the two rookies, but he's coming back from a foot injury that prevented him from running for four months. Ouch. Keep an eye on Warren the preseason.

Sacramento Kings

What were the Kings thinking in drafting two centers when arguably that is their only area of strength? It's worth repeating DeMarcus Cousins' tweet from draft night:

Lord give me the strength 🙏🏿

— DeMarcus Cousins (@boogiecousins) June 24, 2016

Shooting Guard:Arron Afflalo, Ben McLemore, Garrett Temple, Malachi Richardson

This is not exactly the same backcourt that Boogie played with in Rio. Is it me or has shooting guard been a problem since Mitch Richmond left? I'm tempted to assume that Afflalo and McLemore are just keeping this seat warm until the Kings finally deal Cousins at the trade deadline. Despite playing over 33 minutes per game, Afflalo averaged only 12.8 points per game for the Knicks last season. That said, he shot a respectable 38 percent from behind the arc, hitting 1.3 threes per game. He should again be a source of cheap threes Afflalo's arrival is bad news for McLemore, who started 53 games last year despite low production of 7.8 points, 2.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 0.8 steals per game while shooting only 43 percent from the field. Further eating into McLemore's minutes is Temple, a defensive specialist who can guard both backcourt spots, though his fantasy upside is quite limited.

I can see some nice fantasy draft discounts on both Afflalo and starting point guard Darren Collision this fall. I also see another lottery season and more bad draft picks for Sacramento next summer.