The five most confusing teams are included in the lineup configuration: The Celtics are empty in the frontcourt and the Suns point guard is missing

Translator's note: The original text was published in Bleacher Report. The data in the text were as of the time of publication (July 25th local time), and the date involved has been converted. The views in the article have nothing to do with the translator and the platform. The offseason in the NBA is a time to reflect. Regardless of what stage of their competitive cycle, they will use the offseason to conduct an internal review and determine the best path ahead. From a strong team to a team in the early stages of reconstruction, the final result should be a reasonable lineup compared to the short-term or long-term direction.

But this is not always the case.

Some teams always enter the silent period of the offseason (that is, now) and the days afterwards. These situations may range from a single but specific problem area to a wide range of inconsistencies, and they deserve attention.

This is what we are going to do here.

We will provide a brief pain point analysis for each case. Again: This doesn't necessarily matter to the entire lineup, although of course it can be. We are more concerned with teams with obvious loopholes that should be addressed before the start of next season.

Charlotte Hornets rookies Con Kneipel and Liam McNeley both have the figure of wingers, but are not really wingers in defense. Tijani Saron and Miles Bridges are more like strikers, but Bridges' situation is up to date. Brandon Miller seems to be the only real wing player in the roster. The Hornets are also obviously satisfied with continuing to move forward with a center rotation composed of Moussa Diabat, Mason Plumley and... Ryan Calke Brenner.

Diabart deserves further exploration, but it is best to have a more high-end option around Knippel, McNeley, Lamelo Ball and Colin Sexton. A 6-foot-6-inch (about 1.98 meters) tall Grant Williams doesn't solve the problem.

Suddenly, it felt like the Hornets had too much configuration in the defender position. Trey Mann and Spencer Dinwiddie are also in the lineup. The same goes for Nick Smith Jr.

The Hornets are better off figuring out how to transform Josh Green or Pat Connaughton (or someone else) into real wing depth and/or center position upgrades.

The Boston Celtics are preparing for a transitional season while Jason Tatum recovers from an Achilles injury, but it does not serve as a reason for them to send out their current frontcourt roster - unless their goal is to completely slapped. Given that Jaylen Brown and Derek White are still on the team, we have to assume that it is not Plan A.

The rotation of the Celtics' fourth and fifth positions is currently composed of Sam Hauser, George Nyan, Xavier Tilman, Nemias Kota, Josh Minot and Luca Galza. This lineup is rough. Especially when the Celtics continue to cut operating costs, it’s only a matter of time before House or Nion gets cut.

Perhaps the Celtics will get another player in the fourth and/or fifth position in subsequent trades. Or they may be secretly hoping that Al Horford will get tired of being "kidnapped" by restricted free agent Jonathan Cumingga and then return with a basic salary.

No matter what the Celtics are doing, no matter how much they want to stay out of it, their frontcourt needs more energy. The New Orleans Pelicans sent out the No. 23 draw and a 2026 unprotected first-round pick, trading upwards of 10 picks to Derek Quinn, which is a clear signal that their plan is becoming very good. Otherwise you won't give up an unprotected first-round pick. The problem is: there is little hope to reach a "very good" level, with heavy reliance on two rookies (Queen and Jeremiah Fells), a cornerstone who is vulnerable (Zion Williamson) and a main defender who is temporarily out of the box (Dezontay Murray). The Pelicans' prospects are complicated by the injury to Quinn's left wrist that requires surgery, and his injury will not be re-evaluated until the start of the regular season.

You can absolutely convince yourself that Zion can stay relatively healthy and play highlights, because it seems at least a possibility. The Pelicans also have some other influential players in the roster, including Trey Murphy, Herbert Jones, Yves Missy and Jordan Poole.

But this core lineup does not have the skeleton of a team that competes for the championship. At least, it feels like the Pelicans still lack a space opener and an elite basket protector. (It should be noted that neither Fells nor Quinn meet these two criteria.)

This raises the question: If the plan is to become very good, why didn't the Pelicans do more to become really good? Their offseason operations were either immature or were sadly disconnected from the league they were in.

Phoenix Suns

Buy out of Bradley Bill to save the Suns one shooting guard. They have about 11 left now.

Of course I'm kidding. But it's almost the same. The Suns' roster looks funny, but it's mainly to point out that they have no point guard at all.

Devin Booker can undertake some important organizational tasks, but will be overloaded when shouldering both the main organization and scoring responsibilities. He also seems to always perform best when pairing with more dynamic big players. The Suns happen to have one such player (Oso Iguodaro).

In the remaining center rotation lineups, the Suns stocked up a group of No. 5 players who only hit the basket: Carman Maluach, Mark Williams and Nick Richards. Without a more high-end pass-and-air tactics master by their side, all of them will not be able to perform at their rightful level. This is especially (and painfully) true for Maluach, who was selected at the 10th pick in June, who looked very eager for an experienced on-field commander during the Summer League.

Relying on Booker, Jaylen Green and Colin Gillespie to assume the responsibility of point guards can only work in pieces. This is not a good way to optimize the current lineup and its overall offensive cap.

Sacramento Kings

Domantas Sabonis explicitly asked the Kings to introduce a point guard this summer. Their response was to sign "point guard" Dennis Schroeder at a high price.

Between Schroeder, Keeon Ellis, Zach Laven, Malik Monk and Devin Carter, the Kings seem obsessed with defeating the Suns for the throne of "the team with the most unorthodox point guards".

Demar DeRozan is a forward on the defensive end, but a defender on the offensive end, and I would give Nick Clifford a title on the edge because he is great.

Then, there is the Jonas Valanciunas thing. The King got Valanciunas before the deal deadline last year, which was an excellent operation. Now, the Kings' inside rotation behind Sabonis is led by Dario Saric, Drew Eubanks and Isaac Jones.

After this, there is only one question left to ask: Why is Doug McDermott back? Which active member of the Kings will trade for the Chicago Bulls next?