NBA Teams Already Regretting Offseason Moves
The NBA offseason can be a truly transformational time.
Unfortunately, change doesn't always happen for the better.
With one quarter of the 2023-24 campaign already done, a few franchises have seen enough already to wish they could have done things differently this past summer.
Chicago Bulls
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The Chicago Bulls stumbled into this summer with a sub-.500 record ever since losing Lonzo Ball to a knee injury in Dec. 2022. For reasons known only to them, this front office still decided this was a core worth keeping and expanding.
They operated like a win-now team despite lacking enough win-now talent to matter in anything more than the play-in tournament race. And so far, they'd be denied entry to that dance as well.
They maybe didn't make a particularly egregious overpay, but the totality of their actions—namely, committing more than $141 million to Nikola Vučević, Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu, Jevon Carter and Torrey Craig—resulted in one giant head-scratcher.
Where did they think they were headed exactly? Had they forgotten this nucleus' previous failures to launch? Why was this going to be any different?
Chicago is less competitive than it's been at any point since forming the Vučević-Zach LaVine-DeMar DeRozan trio. The team sits 23rd in both winning percentage and net rating. This isn't quite tanking (which would at least feature the prize of high draft-lottery odds), and it definitely isn't playoff-quality hooping.
Whatever the Bulls are doing isn't working, and that should have been obvious this offseason—if not even sooner.
Detroit Pistons
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While the Detroit Pistons probably knew they weren't crashing the playoff party this season, they at least planned on escaping the center.
Upon inking Monty Williams to the richest contract in NBA history, majority governor Tom Gores said this team was "ready to step up to the next level."
And yet, Detroit has managed to backtrack, which shouldn't have been possible after posting last season's worst winning percentage. With the team slipping and sliding its way through a 20-game (and counting) losing streak, it's now on course to post the worst winning rate in NBA history (.087—a seven-win pace).
"This is 'deer in the headlights' in human form," James L. Edwards III of The Athletic wrote. "No one has answers because, well, they only know losing at this level."
The Pistons at least had a productive draft, taking Ausar Thompson fifth overall and acquiring Marcus Sasser, but their attempts to accelerate were puzzling at the time and have only grown more confusing with hindsight.
They weren't one coach away from breaking through, so why make that historic commitment to Williams? With multiple lottery-pick point guards on the roster, why sacrifice a future pick to bring in Monte Morris? And if being competitive was the aim, why not find a more productive way of using cap space than getting a pair of future seconds to take on the money owed to Joe Harris? Why not fill the void with an actual power forward or any other shooters?
There's nothing inherently alarming in a rebuilding team taking its lumps, but when a franchise signals its desire to rise and faceplants instead, things have clearly gone awry.
Golden State Warriors
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Stephen Curry is a generational great who improbably remains at the peak of his powers at age 35. He should be spending whatever's left of his prime in the heart of the championship race.
The fact that he isn't is a failure on the Golden State Warriors' part.
Admittedly, the summer only contributes so much to these struggles, as their biggest issues involve players who were already under contract (Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson). Still, it's not hard to imagine Golden State has at least questioned the nine-figure commitment it just made to Draymond Green given his ongoing availability issues—primarily of the self-inflicted variety.
"That's already 11 of the first 23 games Green has either missed entirely or been ejected while the competitive portion was yet to be decided," The Athletic's Anthony Slater wrote. "His absence has been a killer for a team that can't get any sustained rhythm. That is only expected to continue after this latest league review."
Green, who signed a four-year, $100 million deal this summer, is proving to be entirely unreliable. And that makes things exponentially more difficult for a team that can't rely on Thompson or Wiggins, either.
It also overshadows some of the solid moves this front office made on the margins, such as beefing up the bench with Chris Paul and Dario Šarić and leaving the draft with Brandin Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis.
Golden State was in a tight spot this summer, since letting Green walk wouldn't have left the club with any path to a viable replacement. Still, the early returns on his new pact—which could carry into his age-36 season—are entirely worrisome, as he's played a not-insignificant role in the Dubs' disastrous start.
Memphis Grizzlies
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For years, the Memphis Grizzlies ranked among the organizations best positioned to pursue a star. This summer, they finally dipped into their collection of trade chips and decided to splurge—on a potentially declining Marcus Smart.
The hope on Beale Street was that the 29-year-old, who cost the club a pair of first-round picks and brilliant backup Tyus Jones, could simultaneously cover for the suspended Ja Morant and fill Dillon Brooks' old role as the primary perimeter stopper. The reality is he had disappointed on both fronts before an ankle injury forced him off the floor.
Prior to the ailment, Smart was pairing a woeful 53.4 true shooting percentage with a career-worst 22.4 turnover percentage. His 0.6 defensive box plus/minus matched his second-worst. His value over replacement player dipped into the red for the first time (minus-0.1).
Tack on his subtle slippage last season, and it's fair to wonder whether he might be on the wrong end of his prime. That could prove disastrous for Memphis, which must fear it made its all-in move at the wrong time.
Smart doesn't look like this franchise's fortune-changer, and the price paid to get him could complicate further pursuits.
Washington Wizards
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When the Washington Wizards went about trading Kristaps Porziņģis and Bradley Beal this offseason, they weren't interested in tanking their way to the bottom.
"Although a dramatic shift has started, Washington may be as many as two seasons away from going into 'full-rebuild' mode, if it gets there at all," The Athletic's Josh Robbins reported in July.
If these Wizards can get nothing else right, they're at least incredible at unintentionally tanking. Their .136 winning percentage is easily the worst in franchise history, and their minus-10.3 net rating is the worst in the Eastern Conference (29th overall). Given this group's glaring need for young, blue-chip talent, all of these losses may eventually lead to a big win.
Remember, though, this wasn't planned. The Wizards actually attempted to construct a nucleus around Jordan Poole and Kyle Kuzma, who cost a combined $218 million for this season and the next three.
Kuzma, at least, feels movable, should Washington ever accept the size and scope of this rebuilding project. He isn't a bargain at his current $25.6 million salary, but it isn't so high that it should hurt his trade value.
Poole, though, owns one of the league's worst contracts, as his four-year, $128 million deal just started this season. He is, ostensibly, an offensive specialist, but he's shooting just 40 percent from the field and 29.5 percent from range while nearly matching his assists (3.3) with turnovers (2.9). Add dreadful defense to the equation, and you start to understand why the Wizards have lost his minutes by—brace yourselves—21.2 points per 100 possessions.
Granted, you'll see some unsightly numbers on any team as bad as this, but these are abysmal. Washington must be wondering what it was thinking by putting the Kuzma-Poole partnership at the center of its restructuring.
Statistics courtesy of Basketball Reference and NBA.com and current through games played on Dec. 12.
Zach Buckley covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on X, @ZachBuckleyNBA.
