1 Sentence to Describe Every NBA Team's 2024 Offseason So Far

Zach Buckley@@ZachBuckleyNBAX.com LogoFeatured Columnist IVJuly 18, 2024

1 Sentence to Describe Every NBA Team's 2024 Offseason So Far

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    Paul George and Tyrese Maxey
    Paul George and Tyrese MaxeyGarrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images

    The 2024 NBA offseason has been eventful.

    Not landscape-altering, not hoops-hierarchy-changing, but busy. Busy with coaching changes, trades, draft picks and free-agency moves.

    With the transaction activity slowing down, it's time to sort through all this basketball business and figure out exactly what happened over these past few weeks. What better way to do that than with a one-sentence summary of each franchise's summer so far, right?

    Glad you agree, so let's get going with the abbreviated breakdowns.

Atlanta Hawks: Lottery Jackpot Was Nice, But Where Is This Headed?

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    NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Zaccharie Risacher
    NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Zaccharie RisacherLev Radin/Anadolu via Getty Images

    It feels entirely appropriate that the Hawks, who are kind of the NBA's embodiment of ho-hum, would strike draft-lottery gold in a year without a jackpot-prize prospect at the top.

    Maybe No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher will exceed expectations, but hopes aren't super high for him becoming a cornerstone talent. B/R's draft expert Jonathan Wasserman, for instance, comped Risacher to Harrison Barnes, a solid player but nowhere near a star.

    The Hawks carried two stars into this offseason, but they're only leaving it with one (assuming they're done dealing). They shipped Dejounte Murray to New Orleans for a package built around two future first-round picks, Dyson Daniels and Larry Nance Jr., but Trae Young remains despite loud trade chatter around him at certain points this summer.

    The Hawks might be willing to make more significant subtractions if the San Antonio Spurs didn't control their next three first-round picks. That has the Hawks stuck on the loading screen. They look decent, which is about the last thing teams want to be in a league where the biggest rewards go to those on the extreme edges of the competitiveness scale.

Boston Celtics: Running It Back with NBA's Best Roster

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    Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, Al Horford, Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday
    Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, Al Horford, Jaylen Brown and Jrue HolidayNathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images

    The Boston Celtics turned the 2023-24 season into a wire-to-wire display of their dominance. They won seven more games than any other team, bested the No. 2 team in net efficiency by 4.4 points per 100 possessions and blitzed through a 16-3 postseason performance en route to their record-setting 18th NBA championship.

    Boston clearly has a great thing going and recognized as much. That's why the Celtics bought back into this core wherever they could. Jayson Tatum scored a bar-raising extension, Derrick White secured his own nine-figure payday and backup bigs Luke Kornet, Xavier Tillman and Neemias Queta all inked new deals.

    This roster will cost a fortune to manage—which is perhaps a big reason why the majority stake in this franchise is up for sale—but when the potential return on investment is additional championship rings, it's hard to fret too much about the finances.

Brooklyn Nets: Roll Out the Tank

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    Mikal Bridges
    Mikal BridgesNathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images

    The Brooklyn Nets' offseason is a work in progress. It's also obvious where this organization is headed after Brooklyn brokered back-to-back big deals, first sending Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks for five first-round picks and then getting control of their next two first-round picks back from the Houston Rockets.

    In other words, the Nets sent out their best player for a future-focused package of picks and set themselves up to reap the rewards of a loss-filled season. They just so happened to do so right ahead of two draft classes seemingly loaded with high-end talent.

    The Bridges trade was likely the first of several subtractions intended to build up draft capital and let the loss total skyrocket. This should be the kind of everything-must-go liquidation that radically reshapes the roster for years to come.

Charlotte Hornets: Taking Baby Steps Toward a Brighter Future

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    NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Tidjane Salaün
    NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Tidjane SalaünNathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images

    The Hornets have, at times, attempted to field a competitive club around LaMelo Ball. They've shown more patience and long-term vision this summer, which may not yield immediate success but should allow for more sustainable growth over time.

    The first offseason under executive vice president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson has been one of value extraction.

    Three years and $75 million was a reasonable rate for Miles Bridges, a 26-year-old who averaged more than 20 points per game in his past two seasons. Charlotte smartly wiggled into the Klay Thompson sign-and-trade to land 23-year-old three-and-D wing Josh Green and gained second-round picks by taking on Reggie Jackson and Devonte' Graham in salary dumps.

    Combine that with the Hornets' big swing on Tidjane Salaün as this year's sixth overall pick, and it's clear they are planning for the future. As they should be, considering their most important players—Ball, Brandon Miller and Mark Williams—are all under the age of 23.

Chicago Bulls: What Took So Long?

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    Alex Caruso and DeMar DeRozan
    Alex Caruso and DeMar DeRozanRich Storry/Getty Images

    After logging an embarrassing amount of mileage on the treadmill of mediocrity, the Chicago Bulls finally chose a different path this summer. They cashed in their Alex Caruso trade chip, sign-and-traded DeMar DeRozan away and would seemingly move on from Zach LaVine and Nikola Vučević if they managed to find actual suitors.

    It's tempting to congratulate this front office for turning the page, but the Bulls wasted so much time reaching this point that they torpedoed the rewards of this teardown.

    Caruso somehow netted only Josh Giddey, whose trade value had seemingly tanked amid a rough playoff showing. The DeRozan sign-and-trade brought back Chris Duarte and a couple of second-round picks. The Bulls could easily wind up with nothing of note from that trade.

    Prioritizing the future is still the right way to go—and surely played a big part in giving Patrick Williams an above-market five-year, $90 million deal—and it already brightened a bit when Windy City native Matas Buzelis slipped to the No. 11 pick. Still, things could look a lot different had Chicago accepted this inevitability way before and maximized the return on the trade chips it had.

Cleveland Cavaliers: They Lengthened Their Runway

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    Donovan Mitchell
    Donovan MitchellDavid Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images

    The Cleveland Cavaliers cracked everyone's list of teams to watch this summer. With only one playoff series victory to show for Donovan Mitchell's first two seasons in Northeast Ohio, there were real wonders over whether there'd be a third. Or if there was, which other members of Cleveland's core would still be around him.

    As it turns out, everyone is staying. For now, at least.

    Mitchell inked a three-year extension, Darius Garland shut down his own trade talks, and neither Evan Mobley nor Jarrett Allen was subtracted from this defensively dominant, offensively limited frontcourt combo.

    The Cavaliers have a chance to keep pushing this forward and hoping the puzzle pieces finally align for more postseason success. With more time to create chemistry, a new head coach calling the shots (Kenny Atkinson) and a fresh first-round pick added to the fold (Jaylon Tyson, No. 20), maybe Cleveland has what it takes to solve problems that have previously tripped it up.

Dallas Mavericks: The Drive-and-Kick Game Should Be Dominant

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    Klay Thompson, Naji Marshall and Quentin Grimes
    Klay Thompson, Naji Marshall and Quentin GrimesPhotos by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images

    Among the pick-your-poison scenarios presented by the Dallas Mavericks' offense, most playoff defenses they faced chose to live with the drive-and-kick threes Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving created for the role players.

    Well, now a lot of those looks will wind up in the hands of Klay Thompson, who arrives with four championship rings and one of the richest shooting resumes this league has ever seen (sixth-most triples in NBA history, career 41.3 percent splash rate).

    "I think we now have one of the best shooters in the NBA, maybe the best. And you add that to Luka and Kyrie, it's only going to open up the floor," Mavericks head of basketball operations Nico Harrison told Mike Curtis of the Dallas Morning News. "I think he opens up the floor for them and they open up the floor for him. I really think it's a really good combination."

    This offense will be electric. Can the defense hold up, though? That's where Thompson clearly lost the most to the consecutive campaign-erasing leg injuries he suffered, and it's where Dallas will miss the departed Derrick Jones Jr. and Josh Green.

    If newcomers Naji Marshall and Quentin Grimes can offset enough of that loss, though, maybe the Mavericks come out ahead.

Denver Nuggets: The Youth Better Be Ready

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    Christian Braun
    Christian BraunDavid Berding/Getty Images

    During the Denver Nuggets' push to the 2023 title, seven different players logged at least 300 playoff minutes. Three have now exited in free agency.

    Bruce Brown Jr. and Jeff Green both jumped ship last summer, while Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, whose Bird rights the Nuggets held, bolted for a three-year, $66 million deal with the Orlando Magic this offseason.

    Reggie Jackson was ninth on that title team in playoff minutes, by the way, and sixth on this year's squad in regular-season floor time. The Nuggets salary-dumped onto the Charlotte Hornets this offseason.

    The Nuggets haven't added anyone of note to cover these gaps, as they seem largely (and uncomfortably) reliant on their youth to ascend into these roles. Christian Braun probably steps into Caldwell-Pope's starting role, but is he ready for that kind of expansion? How about Payton Watson? Can any of Julian Strawther, Jalen Pickett and Hunter Tyson handle regular rotation duties?

    That's an awful lot of questions to be asking about a team rostering the best player on the planet in three-time MVP Nikola Jokić.

Detroit Pistons: Veteran Shooters Should Help, but Spacing Concerns Are Real

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    Tobias Harris and Ausar Thompson
    Tobias Harris and Ausar ThompsonBrian Sevald/NBAE via Getty Images

    The Detroit Pistons, who've posted four consecutive sub-.300 winning percentages, could've sought out quick-fix solutions this summer. They largely avoided that temptation.

    They splurged in a couple spots (namely, the two-year, $52 million pact they handed Tobias Harris), but they avoided making many long-term, big-money investments. Save, of course, for the five-year rookie max given to Cade Cunningham, who remains the most important player on the roster.

    This seems like smart business, as veteran shooters like Harris, Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr. should all give Cunningham some badly needed spacing. Having said that, the Pistons' shooting-starved young nucleus added yet another non-shooter with No. 5 overall pick Ron Holland II, who shot 23.9 percent from deep for the G League Ignite this past season.

Golden State Warriors: It Sure Looks Like It's Lauri Markkanen or Bust

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    Jonathan Kuminga and Stephen Curry
    Jonathan Kuminga and Stephen CurryRocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images

    When is the championship-level supporting cast coming for Stephen Curry? Because as much as his skill-driven game is built to age gracefully, it doesn't actually make the 36-year-old any younger.

    The Warriors subtracted his Splash Brother, Klay Thompson, and the best backup he's ever had, Chris Paul. That's fine. Curry wasn't winning a title with either of them next season. They also filled up their supporting cast with De'Anthony Melton, Buddy Hield and Kyle Anderson, rock-solid veterans, all of whom seem like system fits.

    Solid players aren't taking this team from the play-in tournament to championship contention, though. Only a difference-maker could do that, and it's hard to find a better fit for the Dubs than Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen, a skilled 7-footer who can thrive on or off the ball.

    Unfortunately, it's even tougher to tell whether the Warriors and Jazz can bridge what appears to be a sizable split in their negotiations to this stage.

Houston Rockets: Waiting for Phase-3 Acceleration, But Young Core Keeps Expanding

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    NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Reed Sheppard
    NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Reed SheppardLev Radin/Anadolu via Getty Images

    Last summer was all about splashes in Space City, where the Houston Rockets lavished cash on potential culture-changers like Fred VanVleet, Dillon Brooks and head coach Ime Udoka. This summer has been far more subtle.

    Aaron Holiday scored a new contract, and the Rockets acquired AJ Griffin via a draft-day deal. Other than that, they held onto their much-discussed No. 3 pick and smartly spent it on Reed Sheppard, who has been one of the brightest stars at summer league.

    That isn't a transformative offseason by any stretch, but it should keep things headed in the right direction until Houston is ready for its next major move. That will come at some point, and the Rockets should be ready to roll when opportunity knocks.

Indiana Pacers: Rewarding Club for First Conference Finals Trip in a Decade

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    Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam
    Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal SiakamCole Burston/Getty Images

    The Indiana Pacers were seemingly determined to fix their perpetually problematic power forward position over the past year. Clearly, they think they've done that.

    They traded for Obi Toppin last summer, watched him author the most productive campaign of his career and promptly paid him $60 million on a new four-year deal. They acquired Pascal Siakam in January, saw his impact throughout a playoff run that reached the conference finals and handed him a four-year max contract. And before too much speculation took off regarding 2023 No. 8 overall pick Jarace Walker, they did what they could to torpedo trade talks.

    These are all sensible moves from a team that clearly (and understandably) thinks it turned a big corner last season and has a chance to improve going forward. Only three players on the roster have five-plus NBA seasons under their belt, so the odds of internal improvement are in their favor.

Los Angeles Clippers: The Championship Window Has Closed

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    Head coach Ty Lue, James Harden and Kawhi Leonard
    Head coach Ty Lue, James Harden and Kawhi LeonardDavid Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images

    For reasons known only to them, the Los Angeles Clippers never gave Paul George what he wanted in free agency and effectively chased him out the door. Just like that, whatever dreams they once had for the dynamic George-Kawhi Leonard duo were officially dashed.

    The five seasons they spent together will be remembered more for their absences than on-court successes, the latter of which wound up being just three series wins (none since 2021).

    Leonard is still around, of course, and James Harden returned on a two-year, $70 million deal. The front office even sniffed out a few values in free agency, like Nic Batum (two years, $9.6 million) and Derrick Jones Jr. (three years, $30 million).

    None of this changes the big-picture takeaway: The Clippers' championship hopes are now a thing of the past.

Los Angeles Lakers: Major crisis averted, but where are the upgrades?

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    LeBron James
    LeBron JamesMatthew Stockman/Getty Images

    The Los Angeles Lakers avoided the doomsday scenario that this summer could have been. LeBron James could have looked elsewhere in free agency, but not only did he re-sign with the Lakers, he took enough of a pay cut to allow them to sneak under the second apron and maintain the flexibility to make more changes.

    Or maybe that should say some changes, rather. Because outside of replacing former head coach Darvin Ham with first-time skipper JJ Redick and drafting both Dalton Knecht and Bronny James, L.A. really hasn't changed a thing from last season, when it won 47 games and was ousted from the first round of the playoffs in five games.

    What happened to the bigger swing this squad was supposed to take this summer? The Lakers at one point had three first-round picks to trade (including the one they eventually spent on Knecht), but they've yet to cash in the future assets to find the win-now support James needs to make something out of his age-40 season.

Memphis Grizzlies: A Sleeping Giant in the West—if Zach Edey Is Ready to Roll

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    Zach Edey
    Zach EdeyJoe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images

    Give the Memphis Grizzlies a healthy and available Ja Morant, and they're a regular-season machine. Between 2021-22 and 2022-23, they went a combined 107-57, the fourth-best win rate in the league.

    Morant's 2023-24 campaign was effectively erased by a suspension and injury, but his absence forced Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. to pick up the offensive slack and grow their games in the process. The Grizzlies could be even better now than they were before, and that's without factoring in the chance of Marcus Smart getting more comfortable after a full offseason with the franchise or all of the young players showing improvement.

    The big question on Beale Street, though, is whether No. 9 overall pick Zach Edey is ready to man the middle. He was the best player in men's college basketball each of the past two seasons, but his fit in the more perimeter-oriented NBA remains a question mark.

    If Edey holds his own defensively and doesn't spoil the the offensive spacing, the Grizzlies could reclaim their spot among the best in the West.

Miami Heat: A Potentially Loud Summer Was Uncomfortably Quiet

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    Jimmy Butler
    Jimmy ButlerDavid Dow/NBAE via Getty Images

    Speculation season was interesting in South Beach. There were rumblings of a third-star pursuit or even a Jimmy Buter blockbuster.

    In the end, though, none of that materialized. Bam Adebayo got paid. Butler didn't ink an extension, but he also didn't push for a trade. Kevin Love, Haywood Highsmith and Thomas Bryant got new deals. Caleb Martin skipped town. Alec Burks arrived on a minimum contract.

    The Heat did very little to get better, all while several of their top competitors in the East made notable upgrades. That's fine if health and internal improvement were all this group was missing, but Miami is at real risk of being left behind by the conference's elites.

Milwaukee Bucks: Training Camp Better Be More Productive Than the Offseason

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    Damian Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Doc Rivers
    Damian Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Doc RiversPatrick McDermott/Getty Images

    The Milwaukee Bucks never seemed likely to make major changes this summer. Not unless they were willing to sacrifice a key member or two from their core, at least.

    Given how little this front office had to work with, this was a solid offseason. Free agency delivered Taurean Prince, Delon Wright and Gary Trent Jr., all on minimum deals. Before that, the draft produced AJ Johnson and Tyler Smith, giving this group an injection of youth, athleticism and hopefully more shotmaking.

    That's solid work around the margins, but is it enough to help the Bucks rally from consecutive first-round exits? In a word: no.

    In order for that to happen, Milwaukee must use training camp to create better chemistry between Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, so it can squeeze as much as it possibly can out of its stars.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Offense Was the Clear—and Correct—Focus

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    GM Tim Connelly, Rob Dillingham, Terrence Shannon Jr. and head coach Chris Finch
    GM Tim Connelly, Rob Dillingham, Terrence Shannon Jr. and head coach Chris FinchDavid Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images

    The 2023-24 season was a smashing success for the Minnesota Timberwolves. There's no other way to frame the fact they posted their second-highest winning percentage ever (.683) or traveled as far as they'd been in franchise history (Western Conference Finals).

    The campaign also revealed what this team needs to take the proverbial next step. While the Wolves had the NBA's best defense, the offense ranked 17th in efficiency. In their toughest playoff moments, their shortages in shooting and shot-creation loomed as fatal flaws.

    That's what made Minnesota's draft decisions so intriguing. The Wolves traded up to No. 8 to get Rob Dillingham and then nabbed Terrence Shannon Jr. with the No. 27 pick. Both are ignitable scorers, and while they are unproven, their best-case scenarios would be hugely helpful for this squad.

    The Wolves will miss Kyle Anderson, but Joe Ingles will help pick up some of the playmaking slack while adding another reliable three-point shot to the fold.

New Orleans Pelicans: What's happening at center?

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    NEW ORLEANS, LA - JULY 9: Dejounte Murray #5 of the New Orleans Pelicans poses for a portrait at the Ochsner Sports Performance Center in Metairie, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2024 NBAE (Photo by Derick Hingle/NBAE via Getty Images)
    Derick Hingle/NBAE via Getty Images

    The New Orleans Pelicans entered this offseason in need of a pure point guard, and they landed a good one in Dejounte Murray. The last time he piloted an offense (with the 2021-22 San Antonio Spurs), he averaged 21.1 points and 9.2 assists and secured an All-Star spot.

    They also came into this summer seemingly determined to move on from Jonas Valančiūnas, who wasn't an ideal fit with Zion Williamson. Valančiūnas wound up signing with the Washington Wizards, and New Orleans replaced him with...uh, good question actually. They actually even traded his backup Larry Nance Jr. in the Murray move, so this position group could look entirely different.

    Unless someone exceeds expectations, it won't be for the better. Rookie Yves Missi has impressive hops, but he's as raw as you'd expect a 20-year-old, one-and-done freshman to be. Veteran Daniel Theis has experience, but he has averaged fewer than 17 minutes each of the past two seasons.

    The Pelicans' search for a full-time center is hopefully ongoing.

New York Knicks: 'Nova Knicks Could Be Celtics' Biggest Threat in the East

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    Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson
    Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart and Jalen BrunsonNathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images

    The Knicks are all-in—and all Villanova. They upped their count of championship Wildcats from three to four this summer when they parted with five first-round picks to reunite Mikal Bridges with his college teammates Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo.

    They also shelled out to keep OG Anunoby on a five-year, $212.5 million deal. While they couldn't find the funds to bring back Isaiah Hartenstein, they seemingly made a calculated wager that two-way wings trumped interior insurance.

    Boston's championship run may have guided that bet. The East runs through the Celtics—more specifically, through star wings Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown—for the foreseeable future. Bridges and Anunoby are two of the best options to throw at the Jays, so even if fans don't love the costs of building this wing tandem, they should at least recognize the thought process behind the moves.

Oklahoma City Thunder: Loaded Roster Looks Like the Best in the West

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    Alex Caruso and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
    Alex Caruso and Shai Gilgeous-AlexanderJoshua Gateley/Getty Images

    The top of the Western Conference is crowded with really-good-to-great teams. The Oklahoma City Thunder might still be a step above the rest.

    They arguably deserved that distinction before the offseason started, as they just claimed the conference's top seed with a rotation almost exclusively populated with 25-and-under talent. Few teams have more internal avenues to improvement, which is a wild notion given how dominant this group has already been.

    Oklahoma City still took things a step further this offseason by (somehow) acquiring Alex Caruso for only Josh Giddey and then paying a premium to add Isaiah Hartenstein.

    Caruso is such an exceptional dot-connector, and he could snag spots in both the opening and closing lineups. Hartenstein, meanwhile, addresses OKC's needs for size, strength and rebounding while adding new wrinkles to the offense with his short-roll playmaking.

Orlando Magic: Making Incremental Improvements to an Already Solid Squad

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    Jalen Suggs and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
    Jalen Suggs and Kentavious Caldwell-PopeFernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images

    Team trajectory alone liked the Orlando Magic's chances of building off their breakthrough, 47-win season. Orlando improved its own odds of making that happen by first drafting one of the more polished prospects in the class in Tristan da Silva (No. 18) and then using its cap space to lure Kentavious Caldwell-Pope out of Denver.

    The 2024-25 season won't be defined by that deal. Caldwell-Pope is one of the better three-and-D role players around, but he's a complementary piece. The same goes for da Silva, whose versatility gives him real jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none vibes. They might enhance what the Magic do, but they won't dramatically change things.

    That's perfectly fine. Barring perhaps a megadeal with Paul George, Orlando's fate was bound to be determined by the continued development of Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. Considering how far the young forwards have already come, that's not a bad thing.

Philadelphia 76ers: All-In Wager on Free Agency Hit Big

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    Kyle Lowry and Paul George
    Kyle Lowry and Paul GeorgeTim Nwachukwu/Getty Images

    The Philadelphia 76ers could've taken a monster swing at this past season's trade deadline. Doing so could've spoiled their mountains of cap space this summer, but there was hardly a guarantee of that cap space delivering top-end talent. The free-agent pool was noticeably shallow, and Paul George loomed as the only potential difference-maker on the market.

    That Philly managed to lure George away from his native Southern California leads the list of this summer's biggest triumphs.

    On paper, George is a perfect fit with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. That's partly because he's among the Association's most malleable stars, but it's also that a two-way wing is an ideal complement between a scoring guard and a star center.

    Somehow, the Sixers' summer didn't stop there. They added Caleb Martin, Andre Drummond and Eric Gordon, re-signed Maxey, Kelly Oubre Jr. and Kyle Lowry and possibly plucked two rotation players out of the draft in Jared McCain (No. 16) and Adem Bona (No. 41).

    This was a master class in roster management.

Phoenix Suns: Doing the Best They Can

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    Royce O'Neale
    Royce O'NealeChristian Petersen/Getty Images

    The way-over-the-second-apron Phoenix Suns swear they aren't stuck. Or they aren't bothered by the position in which they're stuck, at least.

    Maybe they believe what they say—there are certainly reasons to be optimistic about any roster with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker on it—or perhaps they know they can't say anything else. They are wholly responsible for this position, so complaining about it would reflect poorly on their own decision-making.

    Given what few resources Phoenix could access, the front office did a decent job. Royce O'Neale, Josh Okogie, Damion Lee and Bol Bol all returned. Monte Morris and Mason Plumlee both arrived in free agency. The draft produced Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro.

    Still, you can only celebrate minor victories so much for a team that denied itself the chance of taking any bigger swings.

Portland Trail Blazers: The Blueprint Comes Into Focus If Donovan Clingan Works

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    Donovan Clingan
    Donovan ClinganCandice Ward/Getty Images

    The Portland Trail Blazers are only a year into the post-Damian Lillard era, so they're still very much in transition. There are more veterans than you'd expect to see on a rebuilding team, not to mention plenty of positional overlap on the roster.

    The Blazers kept mostly quiet this summer, save for sending out Malcolm Brogdon in the Deni Avdija trade and spending the No. 7 pick on Donovan Clingan. Still, Portland potentially added two long-term starters with those moves, so let's not just gloss over their significance.

    Big-picture, there's still plenty of tearing down to be done. And if Clingan is ready to roll, then changes are overdue at the center spot, where at least one (if not both) of Deandre Ayton and Robert Williams III looks totally expendable. At some point sooner than later, Portland should be able to sniff out a Jerami Grant trade as well.

Sacramento Kings: Improved Roster, But to What Degree?

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    DeMar DeRozan
    DeMar DeRozanRocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images

    The Sacramento Kings needed to make a summer splash. They made a summer splash.

    It was a successful summer, then, right? Well, that's hard to say.

    The Kings' splashy sign-and-trade for DeMar DeRozan gives them substantial jolts of scoring and playmaking. Not to mention, it should make this offense near impossible to stop in late-game situations, as it pairs this season's Clutch Player of the Year runner-up (DeRozan) with last season's winner (De'Aaron Fox).

    Still, if Sacramento could lab-create a third star to team with Fox and Domantas Sabonis, wouldn't that player be a better floor-spacer than DeRozan? They would certainly be younger and far more resistant on the defensive end, too.

    The Kings should get good mileage out of DeRozan, but it might still not be enough to crack the West's top tier.

San Antonio Spurs: Not Quite a Fast-forward, But We're Moving at 1.25x Speed

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    Chris Paul and Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich
    Chris Paul and Spurs head coach Gregg PopovichThearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

    This was a fun summer in the Alamo City.

    No, the San Antonio Spurs didn't cash in their trade chips and really start speeding things up around Victor Wembanyama, but they did start to surround him with proven, polished talent.

    Having Chris Paul serve as the on-court extension of Gregg Popovich feels like a cheat code. Paul might be 39 years old and a shadow of himself as a scorer and defender, but his decision-making remains top-notch (6.8 assists against 1.3 turnovers in 2023-24). He'll continuously put Wembanyama in favorable situations, not to mention hopefully have plenty of point-god wisdom to share with No. 4 pick, Stephon Castle.

    And while the Spurs wiggled into the DeMar DeRozan sign-and-trade to gain a 2031 first-round pick swap with Sacramento, they won't complain about having Harrison Barnes around. He's still a reliable three-and-D forward who plays within himself. He'll give San Antonio solid minutes as long as he's around and hopefully have some pointers to pass along to Devin Vassell.

Toronto Raptors: External Activity Was Limited, But Major Internal Moves Were Made

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    Immanuel Quickley and Scottie Barnes
    Immanuel Quickley and Scottie BarnesSteve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images

    The Toronto Raptors kept largely quiet outside the organization. They added Davion Mitchell and Sasha Vezenkov in a trade that cost them Jalen McDaniels, and they saw Gary Trent Jr. exit in free agency, but that was kind of it on both the free-agent front and trade market.

    Toronto saved its biggest deals for in-house. Scottie Barnes scored a five-year max extension, while Immanuel Quickley got a five-year, $175 million deal. Those two moves set the Raptors' foundation moving forward.

    There are hopefully more core players already in town, too. Maybe that's Toronto native and 2019 No. 3 overall pick RJ Barrett. Perhaps it's a more recent pull from the draft like Ja'Kobe Walter (No. 19 pick), Jonathan Mogbo (No. 31) or Gradey Dick (last year's No. 13 pick). Hopefully, it's some combination of multiple players from this mix.

Utah Jazz: Foggy Outlook Until There's Clarity with Lauri Markkanen

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    Lauri Markkanen
    Lauri MarkkanenAlex Goodlett/Getty Images

    The Utah Jazz have had a good offseason already. They pulled three prospects from the draft: Cody Williams (No. 10), Isaiah Collier (No. 29) and Kyle Filipowski (No. 32). In free agency, they added Drew Eubanks and brought back Johnny Juzang. They also watched Kris Dunn head out.

    What they haven't done, though, is make a decision on their long-term future with Lauri Markkanen. Until that domino drops, it's hard to take away anything about this team, since Utah is either building around an in-prime 27-year-old or essentially starting from scratch.

    This could drag out for a while, but a resolution will come by Aug. 6. That's when he is both first eligible to ink a renegotiation-and-extension and last eligible to be extended and traded by the Feb. 6 trade deadline.

Washington Wizards: This Is Still the Infancy Stage of a Lengthy Rebuild

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    Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington and Kyshawn George
    Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington and Kyshawn GeorgeScott Taetsch/Getty Images

    The Washington Wizards waited too long to pull the plug on the Bradley Beal era. The blank-canvas state of their roster is a painful reminder of that.

    The Wizards have little in the way of long-term building blocks. The hope is that last year's No. 7 pick, Bilal Coulibaly, is one of them. Washington also wishes at least one of its three first-round additions—Alex Sarr, Carlton Carrington and Kyshawn George—will cement themselves as such.

    It's all still up in the air, though, since we're talking about a teenaged sophomore-to-be and three unproven rookies. And that's kind of it for players likely to shape this franchise's future.

    No offense to the veteran additions who arrived this offseason (Malcolm Brogdon, Jonas Valančiūnas and Saddiq Bey), but they could be long gone from the District whenever it is that this team matters again.

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