In a year with few star free agents and even fewer teams with significant spending power, we still got more player movement than we probably expected in the NBA offseason.
A few big names switched teams by trade, trade rumours continue to hang above some others, and with just a few exceptions — such as the Oklahoma City Thunder, which sold pieces off for basically half of the next seven years of draft picks — many teams added to improve their playoff chances or at least reshuffle the deck.
We can think of five teams that are evident winners from this year’s free agency, although that isn’t to say that there are just five. Was it one of these teams that had the best offseason this year, or one of the rest?
Los Angeles Lakers
Notable acquisitions: Montrezl Harrell, Dennis Schroder, Marc Gasol, Wes Matthews, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (re-signed), Markieff Morris (re-signed)
Notable losses: Rajon Rondo, Danny Green, Dwight Howard, JaVale McGee, Avery Bradley
*Anthony Davis remains un-signed, but all indications are that he’ll return on a short-term, maximum contract.
This is a lot of roster turnover for the defending champs, but from a pure talent perspective, it’s hard to say that they didn’t win out. The Lakers are bringing in two of last season’s best bench players, Sixth Man of the Year winner Montrezl Harrell and award finalist Dennis Schroder, as well as adding a recent NBA champion in Marc Gasol.
Atlanta Hawks
Notable acquisitions: Danilo Gallinari, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Rajon Rondo, Kris Dunn, Onyeka Okongwu (6th overall pick)
Notable losses: Jeff Teague, DeAndre’ Bembry, Vince Carter
The Hawks, stacked with talented young players on rookie scale contracts, had money to throw around this year and a desire to get back into the playoffs. Add in Clint Capela, an acquisition at last season’s trade deadline who has yet to debut with the team, and the Hawks are definitely advancing their timetable back to the playoffs.
Phoenix Suns
Notable acquisitions: Chris Paul, Jae Crowder, Jalen Smith (10th overall pick), Dario Saric (re-signed)
Notable losses: Ricky Rubio, Kelly Oubre, Aron Baynes
The Suns were the team of the bubble, going undefeated and showing the NBA their mettle even if they weren’t able to salvage a playoff seed out of it. Still, this team showed that their team is now, so you love to see them make an all-in move by going for Chris Paul.
Milwaukee Bucks
Notable acquisitions: Jrue Holiday, D.J. Augustin, Bryn Forbes, Bobby Portis, Torrey Craig, Pat Connaughton (re-signed)
Notable losses: Eric Bledsoe, George Hill, Robin Lopez, Ersan Ilyasova, Kyle Korver, Wes Matthews
Listen, when you get Jrue Holiday — one of the NBA’s most underrated players — you’re in the mix as an offseason winner. With that said, this would be better if the Bucks were also able to get Bogdan Bogdanovic, or even if their reported sign-and-trade agreement hadn’t failed in such spectacular fashion. They could face a cash or draft pick penalty!
Portland Trail Blazers
Notable acquisitions: Robert Covington, Enes Kanter, Derrick Jones Jr., Harry Giles, Rodney Hood (re-signed), Carmelo Anthony (re-signed)
Notable losses: Hassan Whiteside, Trevor Ariza
Not every offseason can be about Chris Pauls or Jrue Holidays. The Blazers, another impressive team from the bubble, have been trying to find the right pieces around Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum for years, and they did well to add a bunch of those potential fits this offseason. Robert Covington, especially, could be the sort of big, two-way wing the team needs.
