NBA · 1 year ago

Winners & Losers From Day 1 of NBA Free Agency

Ben DiGiacomo

Host · Writer

Loser: Los Angeles Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers ultimately stuck to their guns and didn’t give in to what Paul George demanded. They took a moral victory in their statement, but losing George is still an organizational disaster. No statement can change that fact. Given all they gave up for him five summers ago, to not get anything in return for him walking out the door is a travesty. If the reports are accurate and the Golden State Warriors offered a trade package of players and picks in a sign-and-trade for PG and the Clippers were too petty to send him to Golden State, you have to ask why. Western Conference or not, the Clippers should have known they had no chance to retain PG given his demands, so they should have taken what they could have had from Golden State and swallowed their pride. It's not like the Clippers are sending him to the cross-town Lakers. In that sign-and-trade, you would at least have some assets to begin a mini-rebuild, but now, the Clippers would be lucky to make it out of the Play-In Tournament.
Winner: Philadelphia 76ers
Say what you want about the Philadelphia 76ers past seasons of failures and disappointments, but they got this one right. Forming a big three is tough with the new salary cap constraints, but the 76ers got it done, and frankly, it couldn’t have been built anything. This isn’t going to be like the disaster that the Phoenix Suns are currently dealing with; these three should complement each other flawlessly. You have the superstar big man in Joel Embiid, a supernova point guard in Tyrese Maxey, and now, the All-NBA three-and-D wing enters the fold in Paul George. Plus, they brought in one of the league’s best backup centers, Andre Drummond, managed to retain Kelly Oubre Jr., and signed Eric Gordon for the minimum. This roster is still a work in progress, and nothing will ultimately matter unless all three are healthy during the playoffs, but this is as much of a home run as the 76ers could have asked for.
Loser: Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets got punched in the mouth this postseason by the Minnesota Timberwolves, and while they are in a tough spot financially, they are in a worse place than when free agency started. As a championship contender, it doesn’t get worse than that. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope wasn’t a superstar by any means, and I understand the Nuggets not wanting to hand him $22 million annually. However, it’s still an all-around disaster for the Nuggets. The Western Conference is only improving, and now the competition in the East is even stiffer. The Nuggets assume they’ll be fine sliding a young guy in for KCP and acting like nothing happened. That won’t be the case!
Winner: Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks have been doing everything right thus far this offseason, and Mavs fans should be excited for what the rest of the offseason may have in store. Handing Naji Marshall a three-year, $27 million may be one of my favorite signings thus far, as his fit in the Mavericks lineup is seamless. Still, more importantly, they’re doing everything they can to land Klay Thompson. Say what you want about Klay at this stage in his career, but at the end of the day, he would make the Mavs a better team. It remains to be seen if they’ll ultimately get Klay, but being in the mix aggressively is precisely what you want to see from a team that just got embarrassed in the Finals.
Loser: Washington Wizards
Everyone knows that the Washington Wizards will be irrelevant next year, but what have they been doing the past few days? They wisely selected Alex Sarr as their second overall pick as a potential stretch-four or future center, then proceeded to sign Richaun Holmes for a two-year, $25.9 million deal. I forgot Holmes was still in the NBA since he’s almost always hurt. I was baffled by the agreement, but they also handed Jonas Valanciunas a three-year deal worth $30 million. When you are a team with no expectations and are trying to let their franchise star figure it out, signing two veterans at the same position makes little sense. Well, that’s the Wizards for you.
Winner: Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic are a few years away from being genuine contenders in the East, but this summer was huge for them in taking the next step in their young core’s development. They were big-game hunting for big names such as D’Angelo Russell, Malik Monk, and Paul George, and when those guys got nabbed up, they wisely pivoted to landing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Could one easily argue that they overpaid to land KCP? Absolutely, but the Magic have money to burn, and he wasn’t leaving a phenomenal situation with the Denver Nuggets to come to the Magic. He’ll be an ideal addition to their lineup on the court, but more importantly, off of it, he’ll be a great veteran leader for their young core to look up to and learn to win from. The money is money, but the Magic ultimately landed the guy. That’s what matters the most for a team that can afford it.
Loser: Miami Heat
Looking around the Eastern Conference, what do the Miami Heat think they will accomplish this season? The Boston Celtics aren’t going anywhere, the New York Knicks just went all-in, the Philadelphia 76ers now have a very daunting big three, the Orlando Magic continue to improve, and the Milwaukee Bucks can’t be as bad as they were in the second half of last season. The Miami Heat talk about themselves like they are some world-class franchise, which they are, but they have no interest in competing this season or setting themselves up for future success. Instead of trading him, they’re allowing Jimmy Butler to ride out his contract and not doing anything around him to improve the roster. Maybe the Heat are just banking on opening up a ton of salary cap to lure a top free agent, but it’s hard to see them plug-and-play a different star next season and be able to compete with the Celtics, Knicks, or 76ers truly.
Winner: Northeast Basketball
The Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, and New York Knicks are arguably the three best teams heading into next season. They set the league office up spectacularly to create all the marquee matchups they want. The league understandably wants to do everything it can to empower small-market franchises, which it has. Still, when the big-market teams are jockeying against each other for dominance, there is just another level of excitement around the sport. Especially how the 76ers-Knicks first-round series went this postseason, a fun season awaits.
Loser: Los Angeles Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers ultimately stuck to their guns and didn’t give in to what Paul George demanded. They took a moral victory in their statement, but losing George is still an organizational disaster. No statement can change that fact. Given all they gave up for him five summers ago, to not get anything in return for him walking out the door is a travesty. If the reports are accurate and the Golden State Warriors offered a trade package of players and picks in a sign-and-trade for PG and the Clippers were too petty to send him to Golden State, you have to ask why. Western Conference or not, the Clippers should have known they had no chance to retain PG given his demands, so they should have taken what they could have had from Golden State and swallowed their pride. It's not like the Clippers are sending him to the cross-town Lakers. In that sign-and-trade, you would at least have some assets to begin a mini-rebuild, but now, the Clippers would be lucky to make it out of the Play-In Tournament.
Winner: Philadelphia 76ers
Say what you want about the Philadelphia 76ers past seasons of failures and disappointments, but they got this one right. Forming a big three is tough with the new salary cap constraints, but the 76ers got it done, and frankly, it couldn’t have been built anything. This isn’t going to be like the disaster that the Phoenix Suns are currently dealing with; these three should complement each other flawlessly. You have the superstar big man in Joel Embiid, a supernova point guard in Tyrese Maxey, and now, the All-NBA three-and-D wing enters the fold in Paul George. Plus, they brought in one of the league’s best backup centers, Andre Drummond, managed to retain Kelly Oubre Jr., and signed Eric Gordon for the minimum. This roster is still a work in progress, and nothing will ultimately matter unless all three are healthy during the playoffs, but this is as much of a home run as the 76ers could have asked for.

Winners & Losers From Day 1 of NBA Free Agency

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