As the last pieces are starting to fall in place, it’s time to look back at the craziest summer in NBA history. Superstars teaming up, superteams falling apart, you name it… Today we’ll be going over every team’s summer and grading it accordingly. We start by the biggest failures.
The failures
Only two teams deserve an F, and it says a lot that the Knicks aren’t one of those with the summer they had.
The Charlotte Hornets are the biggest losers this summer hands down. They were understandably unwilling to give Kemba Walker a supermax deal, as that would give them no room to improve with the other massive contracts they already had. But then the Hornets gave Terry Rozier III, an extremely inefficient backup point guard, $57m over 3 years. Another terrible contract for the worst franchise in the league.
The Hornets are the only reason that the Oklahoma City Thunder don’t take the prize of having the worst summer. At least the Thunder got 11 first-round picks, Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Danilo Gallinari in return for Russell Westbrook and Paul George. Still, it can’t be what they imagined after holding the 3rd seed in the Western conference for the bulk of last season. They lost 2 MVP-caliber players, and are now facing a long rebuild.
Not bad enough to get an F, but still pretty horrible
At some point you have to scratch your head while looking at what the Cleveland Cavaliers are doing. Collin Sexton was a top-10 pick for the Cavs just last year and had some pretty good scoring numbers, definitely post All-Star break. His playmaking wasn’t there however, but what was around him wasn’t exactly top-level talent. So it doesn’t make a lot of sense for the Cavs to draft yet another point guard in Darius Garland. Seems like they could have traded down to stack more players and given Sexton more talent to work with. It also doesn’t make any sense that the Cavs held on to Love as they are rebuilding.
Remember when the New York Knicks were getting Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and Zion Williamson? I think we all do. Instead, they saw Zion go to the Pelicans while the other 2 decided to team up in New York, only for the Brooklyn Nets. The only reason they don’t get an F is because they were at least able to add some level of talent. R.J. Barrett, Julius Randle, Marcus Morris, Bobby Portis, Taj Gibson, Reggie Bullock and Elfrid Payton are all pretty underrated, but they aren’t what the Knicks hoped for and that’s why they get a D-.
The Washington Wizards are kind of unlucky, but that’s the hard world of the NBA. They lost pretty much everything they acquired for 2 talented wings in Otto Porter Jr. and Kelly Oubre Jr. John Wall is obviously out for the entire season with an Achilles rupture. Bradley Beal hasn’t signed his extension yet. Those are pretty scary things to look at as a GM. But they were able to sign Isaiah Thomas, maybe he could find his MVP-level form again. Rui Hachimura is certainly a rookie to look out for and Davis Bertans, who they traded for, can stretch the floor like the best of them.
The Minnesota Timberwolves added Jarrett Culver, and that was about it. They lost their 6th man Derrick Rose. Taj Gibson went to New York, Dario Saric was part of the deal to trade up for Culver and they also lost backup point guard Tyus Jones, who had the best assist-to-turnover ratio in NBA history last season. The additions of Jordan Bell, Jake Layman and Shabazz Napier aren’t nearly enough to make up for the talent lost.
Middle of the pack
Ja Morant is the only reason that the Memphis Grizzlies are a borderline C- team. The return they got for Mike Conley wasn’t that good for a fringe All-Star who is arguably the best player in franchise history. On the other hand, they added Dwight Howard and Andre Iguodala and are looking to trade both for assets before the season starts, and contenders might be more than happy to pick up either one of them.
The Phoenix Suns added Cam Johnson and Dario Saric on draft night for the rights to Culver, they were able to keep Kelly Oubre Jr. and they finally signed a capable point guard in Ricky Rubio to relieve Devin Booker of some ball handling duties. They gave up on Josh Jackson and T.J. Warren, who were both traded for basically nothing (sorry Kyle Korver).
The Toronto Raptors didn’t add a whole lot this summer, but it is already a win to be able to say that the Larry O’Brien trophy is one of them. Of course, they lost Kawhi Leonard, arguably the best player on planet earth, and Danny Green, which means that they traded DeMar DeRozan and Jakob Poeltl for 2 one-year rentals and a chip. Pretty good.
Dirk Nowitzki was able to say goodbye to the Dallas Mavericks, and now they get Dirk 2.0 in Kristaps Porzingis. Adding Seth Curry, Delon Wright and Boban Marjanovic (and Porzingis technically) isn’t going to leapfrog them to the top of the Western Conference, but they might be able to contend for a playoff spot.
Definitely the worst summer the Golden State Warriors have had in a while. They lost to the Raptors in the finals, lost Klay Thompson to an ACL injury, lost Kevin Durant, who made them unstoppable and they decided to pull the plug on the Boogie Cousins experiment. Yes, they were able to get back D’angelo Russell for KD, but at what cost? They had to clear cap space and that meant trading away Andre Iguodala and waiving Shaun Livingston. The Warriors will still be good, but not the force they were for the past 5 years.
Other than adding Al-Farouq Aminu and holding on to Nikola Vucevic and Terrence Ross, the Orlando Magic didn’t make a whole lot of noise this summer. Keeping a playoff team together and adding a veteran wing isn’t going to make a whole lot of difference. They are still waiting to see what happens with Markelle Fultz and his injury however.
The Sacramento Kings are another team that didn’t do a whole lot. They gave a big contract to Harrison Barnes, added veteran wing Trevor Ariza and 2 centers in Dewayne Dedmon and Richaun Holmes. The only piece they lost was Willie Cauley-Stein, but people in Sacramento didn’t lose too much sleep over that one.
The San Antonio Spurs were quite mad when Marcus Morris Sr. decided to go back on his initial agreement to sign with the Spurs and ultimately decided to join the Knicks. Expecting Morris to join, they traded away Davis Bertans. At least the Spurs can expect Dejounte Murray to come back for next season.
Coby White and Thaddeus Young were the only real additions for the Chicago Bulls, while the only thing they lost was Robin Lopez. A point guard was needed in Chicago, and Coby White certainly has the tools to make his young teammates better.
The Detroit Pistons added Sekou Doumbouya in the draft and Derrick Rose and Markieff Morris in free agency. Pretty good, but nothing major. They were also entertaining some trade offers for Blake Griffin, but nothing yet.
The Boston Celtics got rid of Kyrie Irving and Terry Rozier III, 2 players with a way too big ego for a team with that much talent. Losing Horford and Marcus Morris was less pleasant for the Celtics. Adding Enes Kanter was a bargain and Romeo Langford can become a really good backup, but now all the focus is on the young guys and Kemba and how their chemistry will develop. Well, maybe not all the focus. At least some of it will be given to Tacko Fall, who is literally a giant, even amongst NBA players.
Successful summer
The Portland Trail Blazers got rid of some terrible contracts and took on some bad ones. Kent Bazemore adds a 3-and-D versatility the Blazers didn’t really have before; Hassan Whiteside gives them rim protection, also a big hole in the Blazers’ system; Pau Gasol gives some veteran leadership to guys like Zach Collins, who had a lot of problems with foul trouble last year. Not to mention that Nassir Little falling to them in the draft at the 25th pick was an absolute steal. They signed Dame and C.J. to huge extensions and were able to keep Rodney Hood, so look forward to another solid season for the Blazers.
The Los Angeles Lakers definitely improved. They gave up a lot for Anthony Davis and missed out on Kawhi Leonard, but the pieces they added around LeBron and A.D. are very solid. Cousins, Cook, Dudley, Rondo, KCP, Avery Bradley, McGee and Danny Green all (re-)signed with the Lakers after the Kawhi news broke. The only reason the Lakers don’t get an A is because they don’t have a starting caliber point guard and lack shooting.
South Beach got a lot more entertaining as the Miami Heat added Jimmy Butler this summer out of nowhere. They had to give up a future pick, Josh Richardson and Hassan Whiteside to get him, but got back an All-Star and Meyers Leonard. Tyler Herro absolutely balled out in summer league and showed flashes of what he can become. They also won’t mind dumping Whiteside’s huge salary to the Blazers. One man’s trash in another man’s treasure.
It’s hard to tell if the Milwaukee Bucks got a whole lot better, but they get put in the B-range anyway. Giannis is still improving, even though he’s the MVP. They also added his brother Thanasis to make sure Giannis sticks around when his contract runs out. Giving Brogdon what he wanted was impossible, but they got back Wesley Matthews who is very solid as a 3-and-D guy. Robin Lopez is a good backup center behind big brother Brook, and Kyle Korver gives Giannis another shooter to kick the ball out to when the defense collapses on him.
The Philadelphia 76ers are playing a dangerous game. Breaking up Bobi and Tobi? They’re crazy. All jokes aside, the 76ers will be a pest to play against. Their lineup of Simmons, Richardson, Harris, Horford and Embiid will be big and long and a tough defensive team. Richardson moves back to his natural shooting guard role, Tobias Harrs goes back to the 3 and Horford has always said that he prefers to play at the PF spot. Their depth and shooting are still big question marks however.
The Brodie and the Beard are back together and playing for the Houston Rockets. The Rockets only had to give up Chris Paul’s bad contract but got a more talented player in Westbrook to go along with Harden. The fit is questionable, but if there is one coach to make this work, it has to be Mike D’Antoni. Other than that, no big news for the Rockets this summer.
The Denver Nuggets kept their team together while getting Michael Porter Jr. and Jarred Vanderbilt back and got the rights to Bol Bol on draft night. Sometimes, that’s all you need to have a successful summer, because this team is so young and good.
The Atlanta Hawks made some smart moves this offseason. They added Cam Reddish and De’Andre Hunter on draft night, giving them wing versatility. They picked up Jabari Parker, who now basically has one last chance to prove himself. Trading for Damian Jones gives them a young athletic center. Very underrated summer by the Hawks, who now have a solid young core that can grow together.
The Indiana Pacers lost a lot of their key pieces. 6 of their top 8 rotation players in the playoffs are no longer on the team. Darren Collison surprisingly retired at age 30, Tyreke Evans got suspended for 2 years for violating the league’s anti-drug protocol. Other pieces left in free agency. On the other hand, they were able to add T.J. Warren for basically nothing, got Jeremy Lamb as a backup for Oladipo, Malcolm Brogdon got a huge bag to come to Indiana as well and T.J. McConnell is a very efficient backup point guard. Once Victor Oladipo returns, this team is one to be reckoned with.
Top of the class
Losing Anthony Davis and still being considered top of the class? Yes, that’s how good the New Orleans Pelicans’ summer was. Of course, they got lucky when they hit the jackpot in the Zion lottery. Then they traded A.D. for Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and a barrage of first-round picks. Not to mention that they also added Jaxson Hayes and Nickeil Alexander-Walker in the draft. The additions of Derrick Favors and J.J. Reddick surprised basically everyone, while they also didn’t give up on Jrue Holiday. They might not be ready next season, but they are for the future.
Skeptical to put them here, but the Brooklyn Nets deserve they place at the top. Kyrie and K.D. is a formidable duo, but can Kyrie be a leader with Durant out? Will Durant come back the same player he was? There are question marks, but this list is also kind of looking at what can be, not necessarily what is. Adding DeAndre Jordan and Taurean Prince kind of went under the radar. They also had to give up D’Angelo Russell to get K.D., but that was a small price to pay in the Nets’ eyes.
The Utah Jazz deserve their place at the top. Trading for Mike Conley while not giving up that much and adding Bojan Bogdanovic in free agency were both steals. They are deep and are a defensive menace who will lock up almost any team in the league.
Talking about locking up, let’s look at the Los Angeles Clippers. They added 2 of the best two-way players in the league in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. That’s all you need to know really. Yes, they gave up Gallinari, SGA and a haul of picks, but they are ready. Truth be told, they deserve to be in a class of their own, and that is kind of the case, as they are the only team to get an A+.
Courtside 