The biggest weakness of every NBA championship contender

The 2020-21 NBA regular season has ended, and while we do not yet know the final seeding of the NBA Playoffs, we do know there are six clear championship contenders.

Let’s take a closer look at each of these six teams and identify the one Achilles heel that could lead to their downfall.

Brooklyn Nets: Lack of Cohesiveness

If you are looking at an eight-man rotation for the Brooklyn Nets playoff rotation, you are looking at Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Joe Harris, Jeff Green, Blake Griffin, Landry Shamet, and Bruce Brown.

That rotation has only played together for 195 minutes in 2020-21. That is just 5.7% of the team’s total minutes this season, and this is a brand new team with a brand new coach. The talent is there, but the lack of playing together can be deadly in a big playoff series.

Los Angeles Lakers: Injuries

The defending champions had a rough go of the regular season. In fact, it was so rough they are going to need to make it through the 2021 Play-In Tournament to actually be in the playoffs.

The major reason for this has been injuries to key players. Anthony Davis missed 37 games, LeBron James missed 28 games, and Marc Gasol missed 20 games. While everyone is available to play now, the lack of reps together lately could be the one thing the field needs to take down the champs.

Los Angeles Clippers: No LeBron James

The Clippers do not have many weaknesses. They have shooting and scoring with Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. They have elite defense with Rajon Rondo and Patrick Beverley. They have the championship experience with Leonard and Rondo, and they have the depth with Marcus Morris Sr., DeMarcus Cousins, and Nic Batum.

Their biggest weakness is that they do not have LeBron James. The Clippers would likely be clear favorites in the West, but they do not have James, who has made every single NBA Finals when he has been a part of the playoffs since the 2009-10 season.

Utah Jazz: Donovan Mitchell's questionable status

The Jazz have been the best team in the NBA all year long. However, they have been without Mitchell since April 16. The Jazz went 9-6 during that period. They still managed to clinch the No. 1-seed, but they are just not the same team anymore.

It's now possible the Jazz will need to jump right into a serious series with the Warriors or Lakers in the first round.

Milwaukee Bucks: Lack of scoring depth

The Bucks have a superstar in Giannis Antetokounmpo and an all-star in Khris Middleton. However, outside of Jrue Holiday, they do not have another consistent offensive threat.

The next best offensive weapon for the Bucks is a 32-year old Brook Lopez. If you look at every other title contender, they all have a much better fourth scoring option than Lopez. The fifth scoring option is even worse, as Bobby Portis is their next biggest scorer.

Philadelphia 76ers: Lack of shooting

The Sixers picked up Seth Curry and Danny Green in the offseason to try to shore up their shooting woes. However, the team is still 12th in the league in 3-point percentage and 16th in 2-point percentage. They are 20th in the league in overall field goal percentage.  

The big question is whether the 76ers can win in the new NBA when one of their two best players is afraid to shoot from beyond 10 feet away from the basket. We will just have to see if they can finally overcome their shooting woes in the playoffs.