The Winners and Losers of the NBA Offseason
The NBA Offseason is all but over. Sorry, Kevin Durant, but it’s time for my definitive winners and losers from this year’s summer.
I’m not waiting on the Nets and Kevin Durant any longer. From the NBA Draft to free agency, I’ve found the biggest winners and biggest losers from this offseason. I’m sure absolutely none of this will blow up in my face. wink wink.
Houston Rockets – Winner
The Houston Rockets did relatively little to earn themselves a ‘winner’ spot on this list. Since the Rockets are rebuilding, their entire offseason is centered around the draft – and it was. With the third overall pick, the Rockets selected Jabari Smith. The lengthy forward from Auburn can stretch the floor and play all five positions.
Houston didn’t have to do anything for that pick. Since they had a top-3 selection, they were guaranteed either Banchero, Holmgren, or Smith. Sure, it was a good pick, but it wasn’t some act of front office wizardry. What I’m about to tell you is.
Remember the James Harden trade? No, not that one, the other one? Well, the Rockets got a lot of picks from the Nets. And when I mean a lot, I mean it;
But the Nets are contenders. Those picks will be at the back end of the first round. That’s not to say they’re worthless, but they’re not anything special. O-
{The Nets Implode}
Brooklyn’s implosion directly affects the Rockets. More so than any other team in the league. Since all those first-rounders are unprotected, the worse the Nets get, the more valuable those picks become. And guess who has all those unprotected picks?
In addition to getting a solid prospect at the top of the draft, the Rockets just kicked back, relaxed, and watched as their Nets stock went up 1000%. Not too shabby.
Washington Wizards – Loser
This one is short and sweet. I’ve said this over and over and over and over and over again. The Washington Wizards, like their baseball counterpart, should be rebuilding. Instead, they’re in a perpetual state of mediocrity.
In recent seasons, bringing in aging stars has been the theme. Kristaps Porzingis is the latest one. Those moves only set to piss me off mildly. What Washington did this offseason pissed me off royally. Let’s talk about that Bradley Beal supermax extension.
Bradley Beal is an All-Star caliber player. He’s one of the better scoring two guards in the entire NBA. Those are the positives of Beal. Now, here’s a long list of the negatives;
- Injury-prone
- Doesn’t make his teammates better
- Can’t get better than he is currently
- Got into a beef with Kent Bazemore. Yes. That Kent Bazemore
This is all to say that the Wizards considered all of the following and still gave the man $251 million dollars. It just doesn’t make any sense. Washington, again, has all the young assets in the world to be rebuilding. Deni Avidja just cooked Auburn in an exhibition game.
Instead, they continuously shell out big money for players that don’t deserve it. Even worse, Beal’s deal includes a no-trade clause, meaning they’re likely tied to each other for the rest of time. And that isn’t a good thing.
Re-signing Beal won’t move the Wizards in any direction. They’ll be lucky to snag a 7th or an 8th seed this season. Here comes another 42-win season, everybody!
Brooklyn Nets – Loser
Again, this one speaks for itself. While we all knew the Nets were a drama-filled mess, they took things to a new level this offseason.
Where do I even begin? Kevin Durant demanded a trade on June 30th, which has set off a chain reaction across the entire league. Kyrie Irving also got thrown into trade rumors involving the LA Lakers, although I doubt that’s going to happen.
Now, back to Durant. After weeks of silence, it came out that Durant hadn’t softened his stance on wanting a trade. In his mind, the front office hadn’t done enough to surround him with talent, even though he was partly the reason they were in this mess in the first place.
Durant then gave Joe Tsai an ultimatum. Either get rid of head coach Steve Nash and GM Sean Marks or trade him. In a shockingly public decision, Tsai tweeted in support of the front office. So, Durant’s getting moved, right?
Well, here’s the thing. Nobody in the league has the capital to get a player like Kevin Durant. The Rudy Gobert megadeal kind of reset the market. If Gobert can go for that much, how much will KD go for? That’s not to mention the potential for a Donovan Mitchell deal, also involving the Jazz.
We can meander about potential trade destinations and packages for hours. But, from the start, I’ve said that this will drag on for months. So far, I’ve been right, and it looks like we’re nowhere near a resolution. The Nets went from being perennial contenders with Harden, Durant, and Irving.
Now, just over a year later, all parties involved have to be saying, ‘what went wrong?’
Utah Jazz – Winner
For years, the Mitchell/Gobert-led Jazz never broke through in the West. They become stagnant. No matter how good they looked in the regular season, we all knew they were a flawed postseason team. And finally, after bringing in Danny Ainge, the master of the self-implosion, Utah shook things up.
They cut ties with Rudy Gobert, robbing the Timberwolves in the process. As of yet, the Jazz haven’t made any more moves. But, that could have been the tip of the iceberg. We’re dealing with Danny Ainge here. He’s the master of thinking ten steps in front of everybody – all with championship aspirations in mind.
What about Donovan Mitchell? After first being reported that Utah wanted to build around him, newer reports suggest Ainge may be willing to part ways with the All-Star if the right package presents itself. That package would have to include 7 first-round picks. Yes, you read that right.
Losing Gobert all but takes the Jazz out of contention. Mitchell has four years left on his contract (3 if you include a player option in 2026). Will he sit idly by and watch the Jazz retool? Maybe, maybe not. In that case, shouldn’t Danny Ainge go all in and tank? Bite the bullet, trade Mitchell, and tank for Victor Wembanyama.
Regardless of what the Jazz do, they’re in control of what happens next. Whatever Ainge wants to do with this team, he can do it. Finally, the Jazz are doing the opposite of playing things safe.
Lebron James – Loser
Lebron James is the most influential basketball player of all time. I don’t think that can be debated. In the age of social media, Lebron is one of the biggest figures in the world. It doesn’t hurt that he plays for a world-known organization like the Lakers, either.
James is one of the few athlete billionaires…ever. This is all to say that Lebron James has a lot of power. His history of dictating front office moves is lengthy. But, in recent years, it seems that that power is dwindling. In the waning stages of his second Cleveland stint, the Cavs didn’t trade future draft capital because they knew Lebron might leave in free agency. A similar thing is happening in LA right now.
Whether he wants to admit it or not, Lebron wanted Russell Westbrook. Now, he’s more or less stuck with him. I’m sure James is thrilled about the idea of reuniting with Kyrie Irving. For chaos purposes, I’m hoping for the same thing. But why haven’t the Lakers gotten Irving yet?
Well, it’s because they don’t want to lose multiple first-round picks. The only draft capital LA has left is in the distant future. That distant future may not include Lebron. Jeanie Buss and co don’t feel inclined to shell everything out for this roster.
The Lakers hardly did anything this offseason after their disastrous 2022. At any other point in James’ career, his team would be bending over backward to avoid that from happening again. Instead, the Lakers seem poised to run things back.
And Lebron James may be coming to the reality that he’s not so powerful anymore. Take that, Rich Paul.
Jalen Brunson – Winner
The decision to offer big money to a free agent is a long, well-thought-out one. It’s always a gamble, and there’s always a risk things won’t work out. But don’t tell that to Leon “invisible” Rose and the Knicks. After weeks of hiding in the subways like a rat, Rose emerged to overpay the crap out of Jalen Brunson.
I’ve been down this road before. While I like Brunson, and I think he offers New York some much-needed stability, the Knicks pulled out all the stops for no reason. Hiring Brunson’s dad? Clearing up cap space days in advance? There was no need for all that.
New York’s deal was the only one like it. While the Mavericks offered a similar amount of money, they wouldn’t give Brunson four years. To my knowledge, the Knicks were the only team to offer Brunson that much money per season.
I don’t think Brunson will fail spectacularly, but he has some hefty expectations to live up to with that contract. Still, how he managed to fool the Knicks into giving him $104 million dollars is beyond me.
Contending Teams – Loser(s)
Some contending teams have had a tough offseason. Other than Boston, most contenders (and contending hopefuls) had a tough offseason;
Golden State Warriors
Some expected the Warriors to foot a $400 million dollar bill to keep everyone around and run things back. Instead, they lost Payton, Bjelica, and Porter. While the Warriors are counting on their youngsters, there’s no denying they lost a lot of talent.
And that’s not mentioning the upcoming potential extensions for Wiggins and Jordan Poole. Draymond Green even wants more money. Interesting to see where the Warriors go from here.
Los Angeles Lakers
All the Lakers have done to try and get back to the Finals is sign Lonnie Walker and tell Austin Reaves to stop trying. And Russell Westbrook is still here. Yikes.
Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers may have too much of a good thing. While they have one of the deepest and most talented rosters in the league, finding playing time for everybody is going to be challenging. That was before they added John Wall, a player who doesn’t fit their scheme and may not even start.
Oh yeah, and they lost Hartenstein, someone who is better than Wall. Yeah, I said it.
Miami Heat
Losing a 38-year old PJ Tucker isn’t a loss in my eyes. I’m not criticizing Miami for any moves they’ve made – it’s more for the moves they haven’t made. In the playoffs, they lacked good perimeter depth and defense.
So far, all they’ve done to address this is re-sign Victor Oladipo. Clearly, guys like Herro and Duncan Robinson aren’t as effective in the playoffs. Pat Riley has done nothing to address this, which is scary. Oh yeah, and the Heat still don’t have a backup point guard.
Dallas Mavericks
Adding Christian Wood was a solid move, but they still lost Jalen Brunson. No matter how much they believe in Josh Green, Luka just lost his best teammate to date. Dallas is seemingly done making moves, and I don’t think they got better after making it to the Conference Finals.
Draft Capital – Loser
In recent seasons, draft picks have been traded more and more. With all these superstars on the move, they’ve become the bargaining chips for teams. The Bucks, Lakers, Nets, Jazz, Mavericks, and T-Wolves have emptied their tanks in the pursuit of talent.
This offseason was no different. Minnesota unhauled five first-round picks (one pick swap) for Rudy Gobert. Brooklyn sent a first-rounder to the Jazz for Royce O’Neale. Atlanta dealt 4 picks to the Spurs in the Dejounte Murray deal.
Even though we’ve seen so many teams regret giving up their future in big swings like these, it won’t stop teams from making these moves. But, we’ve seen an interesting pattern with all these pick-heavy deals.
About half the league has no picks, and half the league has the rest. OKC is simply hoarding picks from the rest of the NBA while teams like the Clippers have nothing to work with. Is there a message from all of this? Maybe.
But, I do one thing for sure. The war on draft picks is far from over. Draft picks have never been less safe since the days of Ted Stephien. Now that’s a throwback.
What Are Your Thoughts On These Winners and Losers? Leave A Comment Down Below!
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