In our fifth story of the series, we finally came to the most exciting Northwest Division. Compared with the previous four (Pacific, Atlantic, Southwest and Central), this division saw four of its teams – the Denver Nuggets, the Utah Jazz, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Oklahoma City Thunder – go through important changes this summer.

Nuggets need to win now

Denver Nuggets biggest gains: extending Jamal Murray's contract for five years, 170 million U.S. dollars; acquiring Jerami Grant from the Oklahoma City Thunder; and exercising the 30.4-million-U.S.-dollar team option of Paul Millsap.

Denver Nuggets biggest losses: So far none

We can tell that the Nuggets are happy with their franchise and that's probably the best they can get. The fact that the team played in total 14 games in the two series in the playoffs last season proved that the Jokic-Murray pair and the system established by coach Mike Malone worked. All they need to do is to make up their deficiency and wait for Murray to grow better.

One lesson Denver learnt from the playoffs was that they need bigger wingman. Torrey Craig cannot do everything and Millsap is already 34 years old. Fortunately, the team landed Grant, a explosive 25-year-old forward with 2.06-meter height, 2.2-meter wingspan and could deliver 1.3 blocks per game last season. Besides, his two-year, 18-million-U.S.-dollar contract won't become a burden.

Picking up Millsap's team option is in the interests of both sides. The Nuggets still need the veteran to play a bigger role in the playoffs while 30.4 million U.S. dollars may be his last big contract. If the team makes a good breakthrough this season, they can discuss a smaller new deal and if things go the other way, breaking up will be easy for both sides.

The Nuggets have to achieve something in the new season – maybe not the championship, but at least Conference Finals. In the 2019-20 season, Murray is still in his rookie contract, Grant can exercise his player option and Millsap is still with the team, making it the best chance for the Nuggets to move forward.

Big changes do not turn Trail Blazers into a different team

Portland Trail Blazers biggest gains: extending the contract of Damian Lillard for four years, 194 million U.S. dollars; acquiring Hassan Whiteside from the Miami Heat; keeping Rodney Hood with a two-year, 16-million-U.S.-dollar deal; landing Kent Bazemore from the Atlanta Hawks; signing Anthony Tolliver with a one-year, 2.6-million-U.S.-dollar contract; and extending the contract of C.J. McCollum for three years, 100 million U.S. dollars

Portland Trail Blazers biggest losses: Sending Evan Turner to the Atlanta Hawks; sending Maurice Harkless to the Los Angeles Clippers; letting Al-Farouq Aminu leave for the Orlando Magic; letting Seth Curry leave for the Dallas Mavericks; and letting Enes Kanter leave for the Boston Celtics

Rip City went through some dramatic changes this summer after learning their biggest weakness again in the playoffs – their forward position. Turner, Harkless, Aminu, none of them is an even qualified offensive option and they were replaced by Bazemore and Toliver, two much better shooters. The team also kept Hood, their biggest surprise in offense in the playoffs last season. The three are expected to offer bigger support to Lillard and McCollum in the new season.

As for big man, since Jusuf Nurkic won't be able to play for a long time, Whiteside should be an okay replacement – he is a better finisher but lacks the passing ability of Nurkic. Portland will need Zach Collins to do better in this position.

Such dramatic changed also led to some unpleasant results. First, Portland lost their reliable wingman defense, leaving bigger pressure for Whiteside and Collins. Second, without Turner, Lillard and McCollum will have to do all the orchestrating work but that is still acceptable because the team have already determined to build their franchise around the back-court pair when they decided to extend their contracts.

Mitchell holds key to Jazz's success

Utah Jazz biggest gains: introducing Mike Conley from the Memphis Grizzlies; signing Bojan Bogdanovic with a four-year, 73-million-U.S.-dollar contract; signing Ed Davis with a two-year, 10-million-U.S.-dollar contract; and signing Jeff Green with a one-year, 2.6-million-U.S.-dollar contract

Utah Jazz biggest losses: sending Jae Crowder to the Memphis Grizzlies; sending Kyle Korver to the Memphis Grizzlies; sending Derrick Favors to the New Orleans Pelicans; and letting Ricky Rubio depart for the Phoenix Suns

First, we need to congratulate the Jazz for making themselves one of the most competitive teams in the Western Conference. They finished the upgrade by replacing Rubio with Conley and rationalizing their front-court unit. Bogdanovic is like another Joe Ingles but with better scoring ability, better 3-pointers and better defense. Davis cannot score or defend like Favors but he is better option for switch defense and bigger threat for offensive rebounds. Green can do everything Crowder does and do it better.

Conley is the most important upgrade for Utah. Rubio is bigger, a better passer and probably a better defender but he cannot pose enough threat in offense and lacks shooting. Fortunately, Conley is way better at both. His penetration, big-heart shooting and remarkable screen play will get the team out their struggling offense.

One thing must be pointed out is that the Jazz will still need to count on Donovan Mitchell to be the decisive factor. Conley is good but he had the best part of his career with Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph; Bogdanovic shouldered the biggest role in offense with the Indiana Pacers last season and the team lost because they could not score. Unlike them, Mitchell has the potential to be the solution to the team with his offense. New teammates will offer him better support and he needs to do better than before.

Playoffs or rebuilding, OKC can choose without stress

Oklahoma City Thunder biggest gains: landing Chris Paul from the Houston Rockets; landing Danilo Gallinari from the Los Angeles Clippers; landing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander from the Los Angeles Clippers; keeping Nerlens Noel with a one-year, 2-million-U.S.-dollar deal; and collecting more than enough future draft picks

Oklahoma City Thunder biggest losses: sending Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers; sending Russell Westbrook to the Houston Rockets; and sending Jerami Grant to the Denver Nuggets

Three days ago, the Thunder reached an agreement with Patrick Patterson over buyout, finally putting an end to the miserable years of paying the largest luxury tax while being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

Surprisingly, the Thunder are still hopeful for the playoffs. Paul is a much better orchestrator than Westbrook and poses bigger threat than Mr. Triple-Double, too because he can hurt the opponent from both the 3-point line and in the middle range. Meanwhile, Paul is more reliable than Westbrook in defense.

Gallinari surely cannot replace George but he does three things better than Grant: scoring, rebounding and physical competition. Alexander is able to respond to defense that leaves him open and Noel deserves more time with his great rim protection. One difference for the team is that OKC will need bigger contributions from everyone but that should be hard because both Steven Adams and Dennis Schroder are capable of digesting more ball possessions.

OKC is now in a very comfortable position. They don’t have to drive their fans crazy by tanking because they have enough draft picks the most valuable assets on the market to seek what they want – high ranking picks in better drafts, quality role players, free agents who are willing to stay and, what general manager Sam Presti does best, finding the next NBA MVP.

The Minnesota Timberwolves remained boring as they always did. The team won't let Karl-Anthony Towns go and surely no team will be interested in Andrew Wiggins and his big contract. They lost some good pieces this summer like Derrick Rose, Taj Gibson, Dario Saric and Toliver.

In the past four years, people held some expectations on the Timberwolves for the young talents they got but received only disappointment. So far, there is no sign that the new season will be any different.