It seems too early to name the team’s winners and losers in the NBA offseason with the potential trades for Damian Lillard and James Harden are still hanging out there .
Lillard’s trade talks are slowly moving toward a three- or four-team deal. League sources tell NBC Sports that the seemingly slow pace of a Heat/Trail Blazers trade is down to its complexity and everyone winning: Portland doesn’t want to keep Tyler Herro in any deal (they have already Anfernee Simons, a similar player on a similar contract), the Blazers would also like to trade Jusuf Nurkic (three years, $54.4 million still owed), and while the Nets have a choice to be the third team facilitating, they want to send Ben Simmons into the business (two years, $78.2 million) and no one is terribly interested in taking him back. Harden’s trade is partly blocked by teams like the Clippers waiting to see how Lillard’s situation unfolds.
Although these trades have not been made, some teams have improved, or slightly worse, so far during free agency. Here is a list of the biggest winners and losers:
(Note: There’s no Portland or Philadelphia on this list as losers for their asking stars, only because we don’t know the returns yet. While Portland franchise talisman Damian Lillard , asked to be traded, they had the fifth-worst record in the league last season, so drafting Scoot Henderson and getting rebuilding blocks may not be the losing game.)
While the Lakers reached the Western Conference Finals a season ago, the The Denver Nuggets swept them out of the playoffs and showed Los Angeles there was another gear to hit. The traditional way for the Lakers to find this equipment is to sign another star – and one wanted to come to Los Angeles in Kyrie Irving. He sat courtside during Lakers playoff games.
The Lakers are winners of free agency because they ignored that instinct and built wisely with quality players around LeBron James and Anthony Davis. In free agency, the Lakers re-signed Austin Reaves (the most they could offer, four years, $56 million, but that’s below market value), re-signed Rui Hachimura (three years , $51 million), re-signed D’Angelo Russell (two years, $37 million, and he gets a player option the second year), signed Gabe Vincent as a free agent (three years, $33 million), signed Taurean Prince (one year, $6 million) and took a good minimum fliers on Jaxson Hayes and Cam Reddish.
LeBron James loved it.
These Lakers are a better version of the team that just made it to the Western Conference Finals — a deep, versatile, big roster. While I’m not convinced these Lakers’ peak is better than the Nuggets’ or Suns’ peak (and maybe not the Grizzlies’ or Warriors’ peak either), it’s a team built for the playoffs. who could be a real post-season threat next April and May.
WINNER: Phoenix Suns
Phoenix went all-in with Bradley Beal trade , creating a great trio with Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. They still have Deandre Ayton (although they tried to trade him for depth, teams weren’t interested in $30 million a season for center), and add returning point guard Cameron Payne and the Suns were already at nearly $169 million in salary. They could only offer minimum contracts.
The Suns made these minimum deals: Eric Gordon, Josh Okogie, Damion Lee (technically Lee and Okogie got 20% early bonuses off the minimum, but they’re still minimum deals), Yuta Watanabe, Keita Bates-Diop , Drew Eubanks and Chimézie Metu. It’s solid work with guys who are usually worth more than the minimum and take a little less to chase a ring.
We’ll see how it all goes for new coach Frank Vogel, if he can turn Ayton into a quality returning center, and if Beal and KD can stay healthy, but the Suns have the pieces to be a real threat. for Denver at the top of the West.
Speaking of what…
LOSER: Denver Nuggets
Always basking in the glow of winning a title , Denver is not a big loser this summer. The core players from their title run – Nikola Jokić, Devin Booker, Michael Porter Jr, Aaron Gordon, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – will be back and still in their prime. Denver will be the deserving title favorite going into next season.
However, losing Bruce Brown and Jeff Green hurts — they’re quality players who played vital playoff minutes. Brown took the big payday — two years, $45 million — from the Pacers, while Jeff Green got $6 million to jump to Houston.
Christian Braun and Peyton Watson will be asked to take on bigger roles. The Nuggets brought back Reggie Jackson and DeAndre Jordan. Ultimately, the supporting cast in Denver is a bit worse, and while that might not matter, the margins sometimes do in the most important moments.
Cleveland has its big four locked in: the backcourt of Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell, the frontcourt of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen (though the Cavs would have tested the trade market for Allen).
Where the Cavaliers needed help was on the wing and shooting three. Enter Max Strus (four years, $63 million) and Georges Niang (those three years, $26 million for Niang may seem high, but he naturally suits them as a shooter, and Mobley/Allen hide his defensive flaws). These are quality mics at a position of need. The Cavaliers look set to step up next season and could be a big threat in the East.
When Toronto lost Kawhi Leonard for nothing in free agency, the sting of that departure was barely noticed as the Raptors raised their first-ever banner to the rafters. When Kyle Lowry left for nothing, it was easy to tell that he was declining while Fred VanVleet was improving, so it wasn’t really a loss.
Now Fred VanVleet walked through the door for nothing – sign as a free agent in Houston for up to three years, $130 million – and it should be noted that all of these losses for nothing add up. The Raptors roster is getting thinner and thinner, a
There are still teams calling the Raptors and checking the commercial availability of Pascal Siakam, league sources tell NBC Sports (Toronto denied calls about OG Anunoby). So far, Toronto haven’t done anything, and it feels like they’ve missed their window to face this group or swing them into the next era of the team. Maybe they have a surprise left move, but the Raptors are still in limbo.