One-on-One: Is judgment day coming for Celtics, Sixers, Rockets, Raptors?

Keane: Meanwhile, the other half of the Western bracket has two flawed, young teams in a slugfest. Should Denver and Portland be happy with reaching the second round? Or are they precisely the teams who need to get aggressive and make moves to become actual title contenders this summer? 

Heery: You’re right about the Warriors -- I left them out because every NBA insider has conditioned me to assume this is the end of the KD era in the Bay Area. I pray that they’re correct because I’ve hated how predictable it has made the NBA -- embrace the chaos, KD! Chaos isn’t a pit; chaos is a ladder (to an even more entertaining NBA). 

As to your Blazers-Nuggets question, I think we’re officially at the point where Nikola Jokic is going to start attracting title-hunting veterans willing to take a pay cut in Denver this summer. Thus, in free agency, I think they turn down Paul Millsap’s $30M team option to give themselves some flexibility, see if he’ll return on a mid-level exception, and go bargain shopping for veterans. However, with so much young roster talent, I’d be doing some due diligence on potentially disgruntled stars like the Wizards' Bradley Beal. Imagine if they could land him without giving up Jamal Murray?

A little different story for the Blazers -- if there were ever a year for Damian Lillard to make a 2011 Dirk Nowitzki-type run to the Finals, it’s this year (as they are still capped out heading into next season). The Rockets and Warriors are going to look like the living after the Battle of Winterfell in the WCF. The Trail Blazers won’t beat the Warriors, but perhaps they could be the beneficiary of severe attrition if the Rockets limp out of the second round. Speaking of attrition, are we going to look back at the 2018-19 season as peak Joel Embiid someday?

Keane: It’s disheartening that an unstoppable force like Embiid was shut down by a sore knee and tummy troubles. Embiid’s gastroenteritis indicates the Sixers need to improve their food safety, especially since they almost killed Zhaire Smith with sesame seeds earlier in the year. Now he has a respiratory infection, and next week it’ll probably be greyscale. But Joel’s still dominant when he can stay on the court, so maybe the team should invest in some hand sanitizer and trust the disinfecting process.

Speaking of Jamal Murray, he’s played his way into a lucrative extension this playoffs. Maybe he’s not a true point guard, but Denver has the biggest point guard in the league with Jokic, so what they really need is a legitimate two-way small forward. Would another team want Malik Beasley or lottery pick/video game hustler Michael Porter Junior? Running it back, with every key player save Millsap aged 24 and under, it isn’t the worst possible outcome –- but they should see if Boston wants to exchange regrettable contracts. Mason Plumlee and Will Barton for Gordon Hayward? After all, you have to go all-in at some point, which former Denver GM Masai Ujiri decided this year in Toronto. 

The Raptors are in the odd position of hoping Kawhi Leonard and Marc Gasol both stay -– or they both leave so Toronto can totally rebuild. The nightmare scenario is a Kawhi departure and a Gasol opt-in, leaving Toronto with a star-less team paying Gasol, Kyle Lowry, and Serge Ibaka $82 million. Of course, they won’t care if the team finally gets out of the East, since Kawhi is the only one who can stop Night King Giannis and his army of undead three-point assassins.

Keane: Speaking of Kawhi, is he the biggest free-agent prize this summer, or is it Kevin Durant? And what’s your best guess at where they end up?

Heery: Despite recently writing about how the two of them have a playoff gear that nobody else (except LeBron) can get to, I don't have a definitive answer. Durant is the most gifted scorer ever, yet Kawhi is threatening to create the 60-50-90 Club these playoffs (FG-3FG-FT). Kawhi is a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, but Durant morphs into a longer version of Draymond Green when the Warriors need him to. Kawhi, 27, is almost three years younger, but Durant is just going to age into a perfect small-ball five, so like Anna Nicole Smith would say, "Age is just a number" here.

Give me KD because of his improved playmaking -- did you see him playing point guard in Game 3? -- but by the slimmest of margins. As for where they end up, the breadcrumbs all year have pointed to Durant going to the New York Kazoos and Kawhi to the Microsoft Clippers. But if the two of them really wanted to ruin the competitive balance of the NBA again, they'd team up on the Clippers (who have two max cap slots and Sweet Lou Williams).

Before we table this free-agency discussion until the end of the season, give me your biggest surprise free-agency signing of the summer. 

Keane: I think we’ll get to July 1 and Kevin Durant will decide to stay a Warrior. He’s become the alpha dog over Steph, and he won’t want to say goodbye to holiday dinners with Apple executives and record shopping in Oakland. Plus, the Warriors clearly have some cap-avoiding, long-term compensation tricks. How else did David Lee become a stockbroker after retiring?