Off-season winners and losers (so far)

[perks-a-beast]

I'll go by division...

BOS - Winners. Extended and re-signed everyone who matters. Got 2 promising rotation players in the draft who I think will help right away.

NYK - Winners. Got Mikal Bridges without giving up any important rotational pieces. Still need another center.

PHI - Winners. Not only got Paul George but made some nice signings to round out the roster around him.

BKN - Winners. Made the Bridges trade they needed to make and regained control of their picks from the Rockets. Top 5 pick incoming in a very good draft, headed in the right direction now.

TOR - Losers. They'll be paying a lot of mediocre players a lot of money this year. Probably not even good enough to make the play in tournament, and possibly not even bad enough to get a top pick. Safe to now say that Ujiri is massively overrated?

CLE - Losers. Made virtually no roster upgrades and are still stuck with the awkward backcourt and front court pairings of Mitchell/Garland and Allen/Mobley. Thought for sure they would have made a big move by now.

CHI - Neutral. Finally made moves towards rebuilding but are still saddled with Lavines albatross contract. Liked the Buzelis pick.

MIL - Neutral. The Prince and Wright signings were okay, but no improvements otherwise. Still expect pitiful perimeter D from them next year unless maybe Andre Jackson can take a huge step forward. Also, took two teenagers in the draft who are years away from being uears away when there were guys on the board who could have really helped them - not like Doc would even play them though, right?

DET - Losers. Hated the Holland pick, and the Harris, Hardaway, Beasley Pickups may make them too competent to tank for a meaningful pick. What the hell are they doing. Not to mention they're going to be paying Monty Williams for years to come. Yikes!

IND - Neutral. There wasn't much for them to do other than re-sign Siakam and continue to improve internally. Mathurin should really help next year.

MIA - Losers. No big splash via trades or free agency, running back a team that doesn't care about the regular season and I no longer think they're good enough to flip the switch in the playoffs. Completion has gotten way better in the ECF since their finals run.

WAS - neutral. Wizards remain in NBA purgatory. I can't say I was disappointed with their off-season since I had no expectations. Just continue to tank, fellas. Don't really like the Sarr pick. Should have taken Sheppard.

CHA - losers. Hated the Salaun pick. The Josh Green pick up was okay. Whatever.

ATL - losers. The trade return for Murray was mediocre at best. Risacher is the most underwhelming number 1 pick in over a decade.

ORL - Neutral. Didn't make a splash in free agency with their cap space other than doubling down on their already great defense with the KCP signing. Think they'll regret overpaying Wagner so aggreiously.

LAL - Losers. LOL.

LAC - Losers. Essentially swapped out Paul George with Derrick Jones and Nic Batum. Ok? You could argue no team is in a worse position moving forward as I'm pretty sure they don't have their own 1st rounder for a long time. Ouch. Clips are curses.

GSW - losers. the window for Curry being a top 10 player is slowly but surely closing, yet they refuse to take a swing on any big fish. Seems like they're over valuing their young guys. Maybe there is a Markkanen trade in the works?

SAC - Winners. Another team who is doubling down on what they're great at: offense. I really like the DeRozan signing for them despite his advanced age. Love the Devin Carter pick.

PHX - Neutral. I thought for a hot sec they were ready to rebuild when those Durant to Houston rumors came up. But nope. I don't really see them being worse than last year, though. Coach Bud should help, plus they made some sneaky good signings - Morris and Plumlee.

OKC - Winners. Caruso and Hartenstein acquisitions were home runs in my book. Plus, they got my favorite guy in the draft: Topic. How can Presti keep getting away with this? Also, worked out extremely team friendly deals with Wiggins and Joe.

DEN - Losers. Lost KCP and didn't really move the needle with any other signings. I guess they're just counting on improvement from their young guys like Braun, Strawther, and Watson? Not really a fan.

MIN - Winners. Loved what they did in the draft by getting Dillingham and Terrance Shannon Jr. Should help with their painful offensive droughts.

UTA - Neutral. Seems like there is still a Markkanen trade on the horizon, can't really say one way or another until that shoe drops. Note: Their 2025 pick goes to OKC if it falls out of the top ten, so they'll want to be as bad as possible next year.

POR - Winners. Clingan and Avdija were good pick ups. Henderson and Sharpe will continue to get a lot better. Blazers are heading in the right direction. Wouldn't be surprised to see them deal Ayton or Williams before training camp.

HOU - Winners. Sheppard falling into their laps is huge. Their roster is a bit of a log jam but the future is bright in Houston. They have so many assets that they'll be big time players in the trade market.

DAL - Neutral. Actually not really a fan of their off-season. Swapped Hardaway, Green, and Jones for Thompson, Grimes, and Marshall. Seems like a marginal improvement at best. Doesn't seem like Klay can guard anyone anymore...

MEM - Neutral. Not much was available to them other than welcoming back Ja and everyone who was injured last year. The Edey pick seemed like a big time risk, but who knows.

NOP - Neutral. Zion, McCollum, Ingram, Murray...a lot of guys on the teqm who need the ball on their hands. Also, they're extremely thin at center. Maybe an Ingram trade still to come, but I don't think the market is too hot on him.

SAS - Don't like the Castle pick. The veteran presence of Paul and Barnes will help a bit I'm sure. Not really a fan of the off-season they had as I've made abundantly clear in other threads, but ultimately it's hard to get down on a team who just added a generational talent and has a zillion picks going forward.