5 Teams Regretting the 2024 NBA Offseason
The 2024 NBA offseason isn't over yet, which is a good thing for the following five teams.
Whether it be a lack of activity thus far, players leaving in free agency, failing to pick a direction or other factors, there's been a fair amount of disappointment about how the past few weeks have gone.
Simply put, these teams should all be regretting how the summer has transpired.
Atlanta Hawks
1 of 5
If the Atlanta Hawks' plan is to wallow in mediocrity while not controlling any of their draft picks for the next three years, then this organization is doing a bang-up job.
Atlanta did the smart thing by trading Dejounte Murray, yet took a draft-pick heavy return over actually improving the roster.
Last season with Trae Young on the floor without the players who either were traded or signed elsewhere (Murray, Saddiq Bey and AJ Griffin), the Hawks had a net rating of minus-4.3 in 698 possessions with a defensive rating of over 120.0 (18th percentile, via Cleaning the Glass).
Unless the Hawks do something else this summer, this looks like a team that will take a step back from the 36-46 record it mustered a year ago.
No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher's pro comparison is Harrison Barnes according to Bleacher Report draft expert Jonathan Wasserman, which isn't going to be enough to lift this team into the playoffs anytime soon. Clint Capela is entering the final year of his contract and there's been no extension yet for promising power forward Jalen Johnson.
Atlanta doesn't have the option to tank since the San Antonio Spurs own their first-round selection in 2025 and 2027, with the right to swap in 2026 due to the original trade for Murray.
There has to be another move coming for Atlanta, as this current roster isn't good enough to make the playoffs and won't even get a lottery pick to show for it.
The Hawks should be pursuing trades for veterans who complement Young and now have two extra first-round picks from the New Orleans Pelicans in order to do so.
As of now, this has been an extremely disappointing offseason for Atlanta with no real direction in sight.
Chicago Bulls
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Let's give the Chicago Bulls a little credit to start.
The franchise at least looks willing to embrace a youth movement, especially ahead of what projects to be some strong draft classes.
Josh Giddey is going to be really good in his new role as a full-time point guard, and at 21, still has a lot of room for growth. He's a foundational piece that will be well worth giving up Alex Caruso and his expiring deal for in the long run.
Outside of the trade for Giddey and the selection of Matas Buzelis at No. 11 overall in the draft, this has been a rough offseason in Chicago.
DeMar DeRozan and Andre Drummond should have been traded before the February deadline. By waiting for both players to go into unrestricted free agency, Chicago lost Drummond for nothing and only received Chris Duarte and a pair of second-round picks. The San Antonio Spurs got a first-round pick (top-10 protected in 2025) and two second-round picks from the Bulls by sign-and-trading DeRozan in 2021 and now get a 2031 unprotected first-round pick swap from the Sacramento Kings by taking on Harrison Barnes in the three-team deal.
The Bulls had the best player in the trade (DeRozan) yet somehow still didn't get the best asset in return (the unprotected pick swap). Chicago simply waited too long to trade the All-Star forward.
Zach LaVine and his three-year, $138 million contract is still floating out there waiting for a buyer, one that the Bulls may have to send draft equity to in order to get out of his deal.
The offseason hasn't been all bad in Chicago, but there've been plenty of mistakes made along the way that have led to an overwhelmingly disappointing summer.
Denver Nuggets
3 of 5
The financial reality of the new second apron world in the NBA has already begun to handicap some teams, although the Denver Nuggets' previous mistakes are now coming back to haunt them.
The headliner this summer is going to be the loss of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the Orlando Magic, as a three-year, $66 million deal was enough to convince him to leave Denver after two highly-successful seasons.
With Denver projected to cross the second apron with a new contract for Caldwell-Pope, there didn't appear to be any real competitive offer to try and get their starting shooting guard to stay.
The money was technically there, although general manager Calvin Booth had already spent it on Zeke Nnaji and Reggie Jackson last summer.
Giving Nnaji a four-year, $32 million extension and Jackson a new two-year, $10.3 million deal with a player option were terrible moves at the time and severely impacted the Nuggets offseason now. That's $14.2 million in salary that could have been put towards re-signing Caldwell-Pope this summer. Instead, the veteran guard has left for nothing in return while the Nuggets sent three second-round picks to the Charlotte Hornets just to get out of Jackson's contract.
There's still been no contract extension for Jamal Murray, who can sign a max deal for up to $208 million over four years. Other extension-eligible veterans like Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell, Jalen Brunson, Bam Adebayo and Derrick White were already completed before players reported to their Olympic teams, which makes it strange that Murray didn't sign his.
In what looked like a potential dynasty, the Nuggets' poor spending choices have already begun to erode away the core of this team.
Denver should still be considered a championship contender next season, although this team is already far worse from the one we saw hoist a trophy just a short 13 months ago.
Los Angeles Clippers
4 of 5
Paul George's importance to the Los Angeles Clippers can not be understated.
This past season the Clippers had a net rating of minus-2.2 (42nd percentile, via Cleaning the Glass) in 701 possessions with Kawhi Leonard and James Harden on the floor and George off. With George, this number jumped all the way to plus-10.6 (94th percentile).
It's clear the Clippers never had a backup plan in case George left.
The additions of Derrick Jones Jr. and Nicolas Batum are fine, but neither comes close to replicating everything the All-Star wing brought to the team. Kris Dunn, Mo Bamba and Kevin Porter Jr. aren't filling the void left by George, either.
According to George on Podcast P, Los Angeles low-balled his contract offers every step up the way. Had the Clippers simply offered George the same three-year, $152 million contract they gave Kawhi Leonard in January, he would still be in L.A.
Getting James Harden back on a two-year deal was important, although no other team was going to give him close to $35 million per season. Keeping star players happy is important, but so is leverage. In this case, Harden didn't have much yet still cashed in.
The Clippers suffered a huge cut to their roster without George and now the rest of the sharks in the West will be smelling blood and an open homecourt advantage spot at the top of the conference.
While much of the West got better, the Clippers took a huge step back.
Los Angeles Lakers
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Relying on internal improvement when your best player is the oldest in the entire NBA is a bold plan.
New head coach JJ Redick will be working with largely the same roster that Darvin Ham won just a single playoff game with a year ago. Rookies Dalton Knecht and Bronny James have made this group younger, but are replacing two playoff-tested veterans in Taurean Prince and Spencer Dinwiddie.
The Lakers are still a tier or two below teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves. The Phoenix Suns, New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors all made moves to get better this offseason, and the Memphis Grizzlies should return to contender status as well.
By standing pat, we could easily see the Lakers slip all the way to the No. 10 seed or lower, especially if James and Anthony Davis miss time due to injury.
It doesn't have to be this way.
The Lakers have first-round picks they can trade in 2029 and 2031. They can agree to swap first-round picks in 2026, 2028 and 2030. Five second-round picks can be traded as well.
By picking up his $18.7 million player option, D'Angelo Russell can serve as a valuable salary-matching tool in potential deals, with five players in total under contract between $10.7 million and Russell's $18.7.
The Lakers do have some options to bring in additional talent to help James and Davis, yet have done nothing outside of the draft and hiring Redick.
Not doing everything in their power to place the best possible roster around arguably the game's greatest player in what could be his final season is something the Lakers will regret.
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