Grading the NBA Offseason: Winners and Losers

With the NBA offseason winding down, teams around the league are almost done making new signings and transactions. Some teams have helped themselves, while others haven’t done much to improve and compete next season. Here’s a look at some of my winners and losers.

Winners:

Brooklyn Nets

If any team swung for the fences this offseason, it was the Brooklyn (no longer New Jersey) Nets. General Manager Billy King made a bold move last season by acquiring star guard Deron Williams, with no promise that he would stay beyond that year. Incredibly, by trading for former All-Star Joe Johnson, and re-signing Gerald Wallace, King convinced Williams to sign a long term deal. He then proceeded to re-sign/ possibly overpay Brook Lopez and Kris Humphries, creating a very interesting starting lineup. It’s clear the Nets don’t care about spending money and want to compete now in their brand new arena. Look for them to possibly make the playoffs next season and compete with Miami, Chicago, and Boston for the top seeds in the rapidly improving Eastern Conference.

New Orleans Hornets

The Hornets are one team who accomplished everything they set out to do this offseason. They drafted stud Anthony Davis and promising scorer Austin Rivers with the first pick and tenth picks in the draft, respectively. They also retained their best player, Eric Gordon, after he signed an offer sheet with Phoenix Suns. They were also able to dump the salaries of Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza. Done, done, and done. I'm really looking forward to see how the Hornets continue to develop and add to their promising core.

Los Angeles Lakers

(Note: As a Celtics fan, the following paragraph was incredibly difficult to write.)

The Lakers made one move this offseason (minus the pending signings of Antawn Jamison and Jordan Hill). ONE!! And it’s arguably the best acquisition of the entire offseason. Scrapping their future for the present, Los Angeles miraculously traded for aging star point guard Steve Nash without giving up any players in return. They did trade 4 draft picks, but it’s hard to believe that this was the best trade option available for the Phoenix Suns. The Suns receive no players to help them next season, and hand Nash over to division rival Los Angeles so they can make a run for a championship. Compile this with Memphis gift-wrapping Pau Gasol to them a few years ago, and it seems like every other team wants the Lakers to win. Can they be unlucky once??? I know the Chris Paul veto was bad, but that doesn’t count (I'm bitter).

Losers:

Toronto Raptors

Speaking of Steve Nash, he was one of the only offseason targets of the Toronto Raptors. They could pay him more than anyone else, and had home-court advantage in a sense, considering Nash is Canadian. Unfortunately, the Raptors were unable to lure him to Toronto. To compound their loss, Toronto signed guard Landry Fields to an exorbitant offer sheet to make it harder for the New York Knicks to sign-and-trade for Nash. With Nash going to the Lakers, the Raptors were left with Fields and his unnecessarily large contract. Toronto did add Kyle Lowry and last year’s #5 overall pick Jonas Valanciunas, but losing Nash had to hurt the most.

Orlando Magic

The Magic were in the news often this offseason because of the ongoing trade rumors involving star center Dwight Howard. As of today, Howard is still on the team, with the Magic’s future direction up in the air. They still don’t have a coach, and this isn’t exactly a dream starting scenario for new GM Rob Hennigan. The team still looks the same as last year for the most part, except for loss of Ryan Anderson, who ended up being too expensive for Orlando to re-sign. This is particularly ironic when you consider all of the bad contracts the Magic have, including the recent contract extension of Jameer Nelson. Not quite sure what this team is up to, but they’ll have to make a decision soon regarding Howard in order to move on.

Philadelphia 76ers

The Sixers were last season’s Cinderella team, defeating the #1 seeded Chicago Bulls in the first round of the playoffs, before forcing #4 Boston to seven games. After that successful run, you’d think Philadelphia would try as hard as possible to improve in the short run and try to compete. I’m not quite sure they’ve done that at all. They selected two promising prospects in the draft (Maurice Harkless and Arnett Moultrie), but it’s very unclear if either of them will produce right away. They also re-signed center Spencer Hawes, who has his bright moments, but he isn't someone I would not give $14 million dollars to, especially when they had to amnesty Elton Brand to afford him. The Sixers also replaced Lou Williams with Nick Young, so those two moves kind of cancel each other out. Philly then signed much-maligned big man Kwame Brown, creating one of the more bizarre frontcourts in recent memory. If Hawes and Brown both start, the Sixers will have one player who can’t guard anyone, and another whose offensive game revolves solely around wide-open dunks. This is going to be interesting.