I think Dallas probably has 6 locked up and might be able to climb into 5th unless Atlanta decides to start throwing games (they seem to be competing so far, but they've had a huge buffer that is rapidly shrinking). The Mavs are really fucking good at tanking and are obviously incentivized given their draft pick protections. Lakers really need to lose against Washington, Charlotte, and Nola to climb the draft board. Memphis by all accounts wants to convey their draft pick this year so they want to move out of the top 8.
Zion should be enough for AD tbh, looking like a generational talent.
Boston will need an all-star PG who can score at will once Kyrie leaves
I dunno, the association team is stealing all of the South Bay Lakers talent. Might be a little thin to make the playoffs next year.
They will have the cap space available to just absorb AD's contract into cap space (matching salaries only comes into play when you are at the cap). Of course, if they had a big free agent on the line then they would also need to send out some of their big existing cap holds like Lonzo and Ingram as well to make it work.
