NBA Offseason Winners and Losers

Aug 3

Winners

Atlanta Hawks

Before last season, the Hawks were fresh off an Eastern Conference Finals appearance. However, they struggled to replicate their success, losing in the first round to the Miami Heat. So they added Dejounte Murray, a guy who nearly averaged a triple-double last season.

Murray’s fit in Atlanta is questionable, and it’s unclear how he will fit with another ball-dominant star in Trae Young. Still, he’s a significant upgrade over anyone else they had to pair with Young last year. The only player of value they lost is Kevin Heurter, but they replaced him with Justin Holiday and added a first-round pick for their troubles, so the loss is negligible. And while three first-round picks are a lot for any player, they will likely be late picks, and they offset the loss of one by swapping Heurter for Holiday. So this price will be well worth it for Murray.

Boston Celtics

The Celtics could have stood idle and bet on internal improvement for a young team, but Brad Stevens was determined to improve the roster. So he pieced together a bunch of mediocre bench players who barely played and added a first-round pick, likely between 24-30, to add Malcolm Brogdon. Last year, Brogdon averaged over 19 points, five rebounds, and almost six assists per game. Brogdon will significantly improve the Celtics’ offense while not hurting their defense.

Philadelphia 76ers

After being tied for second in the East last year, the Sixers were able to keep all their players besides Danny Green while adding PJ Tucker, De’anthony Melton, and Danuel House. Tucker and House have already played with James Harden and will likely fill similar roles as they did before. Melton will significantly improve the Sixers bench. They won 51 games last year with Harden only there for the end of the season, so some improvement was likely to happen anyway. The new addition added toughness, three-point shooting, defense, and in Melton’s case, scoring and playmaking. So it’s hard to imagine the Sixers not being much closer to the Bucks, Heat, and Celtics when it comes to East contenders.

Utah Jazz

Utah had likely reached its ceiling with this team, and Danny Ainge rocked the NBA world with a blockbuster trade out of nowhere. Receiving five first-round picks for Rudy Gobert will allow the Jazz to be involved in a trade for virtually any superstar that becomes available or give them a huge stepping stone to kick off a rebuild. Ainge was also able to pick up a first for Royce O’Neale, and the Jazz suddenly have more flexibility than just about any team in the NBA.

Losers

Dallas Mavericks

Dallas had the opportunity to trade Jalen Brunson before he became a free agent but chose not to. Instead, he signed with the Knicks, and Dallas lost their second-best player for nothing. Christian Wood will help immensely and came cheap, but you’re a loser when you fail to pick up assets for a young sidekick like Brunson.

Javale McGee will help, but centers like him are a dime a dozen, and it’s hard to justify giving him a three-year deal worth $20 million when Dwight Howard, Hassan Whiteside, and Demarcus Cousins are all still available, likely for the minimum. Montrez Harrell is also still available, although he would cost more. Dallas has bungled things up the last few years, trading Kristaps for practically nothing just a few years after bragging profusely about his addition. Should the Mavs stay on this path, it won’t be long until they’re faced with losing Doncic.

Los Angeles Lakers

This could change fast. Rumor has it the Lakers are pursuing Kyrie Irving, Buddy Hield, and Myles Turner in deals centered around Russell Westbrook and picks. If they can swap Westbrook and picks in either of those deals, they will be a winner fast. But for now, they’ve made negligible changes around the edges and just don’t look to have enough around LeBron and AD.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Well, the Timberwolves already had the second highest paid center in the league, and now they have the highest paid center in the league as well. Opposing guards are likely salivating over the amount of space they’re about to see in the pick-and-roll. For years Rudy Gobert has struggled to do anything but protect the paint defensively. On the other hand, Towns has struggled to do anything positive defensively. It’s hard to imagine a worse fit for the NBA’s “pace and space” era than two bigs who can’t guard the perimeter.

And considering the Timberwolves gave up five first-round picks to make it happen, one can imagine this becoming the worst trade in the history of the NBA. It’s almost impossible to imagine a scenario in which this works out. It also likely neutralizes Anthony Edwards’s prime because the Wolves weren’t even close to ready to win, and now they can’t make any trades involving draft picks for a decade. There’s a good chance some of these picks are lottery picks too.