The 30 Most Impactful Moves of the 2024 NBA Offseason
Good lord, what an NBA offseason.
Most of the glitziest transactions went down early, though this summer did not feature the feels-like-an-annual-tradition trade demand from a star. But there was still plenty of important business—with a capital B.
Distilling the entire offseason down to the 30 most impactful moves is, as a result, a difficult mission. I have chosen to accept it anyway.
Pretty much everything that has happened since the end of each team's 2023-24 season is eligible for selection. That includes head coach hirings and firings, which will be rolled into single transactions whenever they make the cut and mainly focused on the arrivals rather than the exits.
There will be just two exceptions: Draft selections are not featured unless the picks themselves are part of a trade, and we will be taking the movement factor literally. Re-signings and extensions will not be included unless they required cap space to complete. (i.e. Jayson Tatum's supermax is not on this list, but the Lauri Markkanen renegotiate-and-extend definitely will be.)
Moves will be looked at through the lens of 2024-25 first and foremost, with longer-term implications receiving secondary consideration. To keep using head coaches as an example, if a particular hire doesn't make the top-30 cut, it's because I'm skeptical that we'll see the change have a material impact next year.
Transactions will be presented in chronological order to avoid angering anyone who mistakes this as a rankings exercise. The dates of completion will be pulled from the official listing on Spotrac rather than the date on which it was first reported. And now, we reflect on all that was this summer, in the name of all it could mean for this season.
Charles Lee to Charlotte
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Aside from the selection of (likely) project Tidjane Saluan at No. 6, nothing this offseason has signaled the Charlotte Hornets' commitment to long-term functionality and culture overall than hiring Charles Lee as head coach.
Basically everyone has celebrated the decision. Going with a first-timer implies that the Hornets won't do anything to unnecessarily skid out of their rebuild, and Lee is revered around the league for his player development and defensive principles.
This by itself is massive. Charlotte has not traditionally acted like an organization with the benefit of time.
But what does this look like on the court? Especially on defense?
Does Lee get LaMelo Ball to consistently be more than stockstill and inattentive? Can a healthy Mark Williams parlay his physical tools into stingy interior defense you more regularly feel?
How creative does Lee get without a premier wing-checker? Does Josh Green level up? Can he channel Brandon Miller's impressive defensive energy as a rookie into a perimeter bedrock? Will Lee consider downsizing at the 5? Does he give Salaun's "The dials all go to 11" motor an extensive look before the trade deadline? Or even after it?
Thoughtful team-building practices are clearly afoot in Charlotte. Until they're more of a finished product, though, Lee will be tasked with a lot of the heavy lifting.
Mike Budenholzer to Phoenix
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Based on reporting that, despite its published date, clearly preceded the end of the season, the Phoenix Suns had no choice other than to dismiss head coach Frank Vogel after one year. Their title window is too small to schlepp forward with someone who doesn't have the necessary buy-in from the most important jersey-wearing stakeholders.
About-facing to Mike Budenholzer makes the decision that much easier. He is a clear offensive upgrade.
Strike Tyus Jones' arrival from the record, and you could, at minimum, likely count on the Suns taking more threes, generating more movement and getting more creative with how and where they get the ball to Kevin Durant—and maybe even Bradley Beal.
Phoenix has more questions on the defensive end. It propped up a top-12 machine last season, but the core lineups currently want for wings, a lot is still on the shoulders of an almost-36-year-old Durant, and any drop-off from Jusuf Nurkić could spell disaster regardless of how aggressive (coming up to the level of the screen) or conservative (drop coverage) the team is trying to play.
JJ Redick to the Lakers
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JJ Redick might be a brilliant head coach. Or he may not. Or he could need time to marinate and grow—to gain experience—before settling into his role as a high-impact head honcho.
We just don't know. Because we've never seen him do it before.
That's what makes this Los Angeles Lakers hire so polarizing. They are going from one first-time NBA head coach in Darvin Ham to another, all while assuming, based on their relative offseason inactivity, there's more juice to squeeze out of the exact same roster.
Will we see more motion inside the Lakers offense? Does Anthony Davis become more of a hub, at long last shifting a measurable responsibility off LeBron James? Will this team defend any differently, any more aggressively, under Redick? Does he get the Lakers to give a damn about offensive rebounding? Will Max Christie break out under his stewardship?
Most critically, what does this mean for the Lakers' timeline, if anything? Are they more so planning for the future? Or is Redick the type of coach who moves the needle enough to increase the team's urgency?
Alex Caruso to Oklahoma City, Josh Giddey to Chicago
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Props to the Chicago Bulls. Seriously. They turned one of the most sought-after trade targets into an extension-eligible Josh Giddey and zero draft picks despite negotiating with the NBA's billboard for future-first-round stockpiling. It's impressive, honestly.
Remove the troll hat, and Chicago's direction remains tough to understand. Are the Bulls rebuilding? Attempting to tread water inside the play-in ocean? Both? Neither?
Also: How will Giddey look running the offense? Does Chicago have the requisite spacing around him to optimize that setup? Should the Bulls worry at all about taking the ball out of Coby White's hands too much? Is the team prepared to extend Giddey? And if not, why value him so highly in trade terms? The list of inquiries can go on.
Regardless of how well this pans out for Chicago, the Oklahoma City Thunder will look like rocket scientists. They added to their All-Defense candidates while seriously upgrading the half-court floor-spacing—all without giving up a single draft pick or, frankly, player who factored into their bigger picture.
Brooklyn-Houston Swap Picks
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Regaining control of their next two first-rounders is the biggest, most important move the Brooklyn Nets made this summer. Make no mistake, the Mikal Bridges trade was splashier. But it arguably doesn't happen if the Nets don't recapture the incentive to rebuild—to tank—for the next two years.
Brooklyn extracted enough from the New York Knicks to ship out Mikal Bridges independent of its own draft obligations. The Nets might make that deal no matter what happens with the Houston Rockets. But that doesn't discount the value of having your own firsts outright in 2025 and 2026. Until proven otherwise, those are Brooklyn's primary building blocks.
Houston, meanwhile, received a smattering of stuff to deepen its draft-pick stash. The gist of the Rockets' return: They are shorting the Phoenix Suns' future.
It's an interesting, if not ingenious, gambit. Controlling Phoenix's firsts in 2027 and 2029 is especially interesting. Is Houston loading up on distant picks for a general consolidation trade? Or does it have a particular target in mind, perhaps one whose name rhymes with Bevin Dooker? Or Devin Kurant?
Career bullhorns will argue that the Rockets just jettisoned at least one top-five pick. They may be right. But again, there is no guarantee the Nets belly flop into the tank if Houston doesn't facilitate the return of those selections. Plus, it's not like the Rockets have a ton of wiggle room to incorporate more imminent first-rounders anyway.
Rob Dillingham to Minnesota
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When the Minnesota Timberwolves' acquisition of the No. 8 pick that turned into Rob Dillingham first broke, it didn't include outgoing context. Imaginations ran wild for a few seconds. Did the Wolves flip Karl-Anthony Towns or Jaden McDaniels in the name of cutting costs?
As it turns out, they did the exact opposite: double-down on now and later at the expense of waaaay later.
This is among the most fascinating dice rolls in recent memory. Sending out a 2030 first-round swap (top-one protection) and unprotected 2031 pick signaled what we already expected: Minny isn't running from its second-apron fate. That's objectively cool.
At the same time, the Timberwolves valued Dillingham as if he's everything they need—another self-starter and shot-maker who can tee up looks for others but doesn't need to monopolize ball control. Minnesota will be viewed as an organizational mastermind if he pans out right away or down the line.
Still, the "right away" of it all is complicated. What if, like most rookies, Dillingham needs time to acclimate? Do the Wolves have the stomach for growing pains? And the playmaking depth behind Anthony Edwards and Mike Conley to navigate high-stakes waters if Dillingham is more project than established player by the postseason?
Regardless of the vantage point you hold or the inevitable outcome, this is a move we're going to talk about for years.
Oh, yeah, the San Antonio Spurs! Their logic is less debatable. They could have used No. 8 to deepen the rotation (and preferably shooting) around Victor Wembanyama, but collecting the rights to a pair of distant first-rounders suggests they will swing a course-altering trade for a proven co-star in due time.
Kenny Atkinson to Cleveland
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Installing Kenny Atkinson as head coach to replace J.B. Bickerstaff seems like a vote of confidence in the Cleveland Cavaliers' Core Four—conviction that admittedly becomes much easier to maintain after Jarrett Allen, Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley all signed extensions.
To Bickerstaff's credit, he experimented and innovated a bunch while the roster battled stop-and-start availability at the top. But the full-strength product always felt like it was leaving meat on the bone. The Cavs placed inside the 40th percentile of points scored per 100 possessions with their Core Four on the court.
Granted, that offensive rating hit the 92nd percentile during the 2022-23 campaign. But even those returns felt disjointed at times—too separatist and certainly not postseason-proof.
Atkinson has always leaned more into an experimental and analytical approach, and now he's coming off an assistant coaching stint with the Golden State Warriors, a team that prides itself on reading and reacting. How much of this track record, both past and most recent, translates to Cleveland? Will Darius Garland have the ball more? Will both he and Mitchell get moving away from it more often?
Mobley will almost certainly increase his three-point volume. By how much, though? And will we see more dual-big sets with him and Allen? Does Atkinson attempt to plumb the depths of Mobley's handle? Will there be more big-man—and overall star—staggering patterns?
Despite having everyone who matters most under team control for at least the next three seasons, the stakes in Cleveland are high.
J.B. Bickerstaff to Detroit
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Firing Monty Williams with five seasons left on his deal and replacing him with J.B. Bickerstaff is a move that's most impactful for what it infers: that the new Detroit Pistons front office regime, led by Trajan Langdon, has the latitude to rebuild as it sees fit, as well as on its own timeline. (For now, anyway.)
Too often there is a disconnect between a team's direction and how it operates. (See: Bulls, Chicago.) Detroit does not seem to be facing that dilemma. Its future should reap the benefits.
Bickerstaff's potential impact is tougher to parse. He will be an upgraded chaperone for Jaden Ivey simply by acknowledging his existence. Tactically, though, there's loads left to chance.
Critiques of Bickerstaff's time with Cleveland tend to laser in on his rotations and tolerance for experimentation—for risk. He shed part of that stigma by the end of 2024-25. Injuries up and down Cleveland's roster forced him to adjust lineup structures and play styles (and shot profiles). He carried some of those ideological tweaks with him as the roster got healthier.
Detroit should cling to that iteration of Bickerstaff—the one who will come in, get funky with lineups, encourage the team to play faster in the half-court and manufacture better three-point volume.
Mikal Bridges to New York
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Frame the Mikal Bridges bounty however you like. It was, in no uncertain terms, a ransom—so much so the Brooklyn Nets may have okayed the deal even if they didn't re-acquire the rights to their next two firsts from Houston.
This is an instance where the selling side needs no extensive justification. The Nets brokered a megastar return for a zero-time All-Star. Viewed in conjunction with getting back their next two firsts, devil's advocate cases do not exist.
Bridges' fit with the New York Knicks is similarly beyond reproach. That's because his defense, off-ball movement and shooting render him a divine fit anywhere.
The price paid is more of a debate. New York cashed in its best trade chips on someone who may or may not be capable of taking the No. 2 reins. Leaving that to chance when surrendering five first-rounders and one swap is objectively risky business.
Optimistic absolutists will point out that the Knicks still have Julius Randle to ferry second-wheel creation. True! But will he even be ready to start the season? Those unconcerned with the opportunity cost will also argue it isn't nearly as stark when considering New York's long-term outlook, that it didn't send out any rotation players and the Jalen Brunson extension, which came in noticeably below market value and may have been contingent on amassing as many Villanova alumni as possible.
All of these points are fair—and correct. But the Knicks are betting that Bridges is the finishing piece to a bonafide title contender. That mindset is equal parts warranted, worth applause and, on some level, totally harrowing.
Deni Avdija to Portland
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Love it or hate it, the Washington Wizards' end of this transaction is easy to understand. Deni Avdija is about to begin a team-friendly extension you don't simply move...unless you're slow-playing your rebuild and don't see a distant scenario in which Avdija extends off his low number or you're good enough to justify bankrolling what could be a lucrative third deal.
Washington is catering to the latter view. Whether it pays off is a matter of course. It's certainly justifiable in the meantime.
Bub Carrington's size, passing and IQ give the Wizards a potential floor general to evaluate against the future, and Malcolm Brogdon could net another first if they are willing to take back unsavory money. They also own the second-most favorable 2029 first-round pick from Boston, Milwaukee and Portland—-no worse than a semi-intriguing get relative to the long-term financial outlay and sustainability challenges that come with it for two of those teams.
Figuring out the Blazers' endgame is harder. Avdija is just 23 and arms them with a bigger-picture wing who both defends his butt off and promises secondary playmaking. This still skews toward a win-now type of move for a team not ready to make them. Even if you were out on the 2024 draft and wrote off Brogdon as an expiring placeholder, forking over the 2029 pick was a real gamble.
Perhaps Portland is so good by the end of Avdija's deal it doesn't matter. Or maybe he optimizes the development of those around him—namely Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe and Donovan Clingan—in ways we don't yet see. Heck, perhaps the Blazers end up being one of the league's friskier defenses and Avdija works in service of pleasantly accelerating their rebuild.
Whatever the ultimate outcome, this won't be a defining move, one way or the other. But it's sure as hell an interesting one.
Quentin Grimes to Dallas
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Acting early on the salary-dumping market proved to be a stroke of genius by the Dallas Mavericks.
Wiping off Tim Hardaway Jr.'s money cost only a couple of seconds, created a massive trade exception they still have and cleared the way for them to go about their other business. That other business: opening access to the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, most of which went to Naji Marshall, and giving them the hard-cap wiggle room to bag Klay Thompson while surrendering only a 2031 second-rounder and Josh Green.
Oh, and because the Detroit Pistons were apparently feeling particularly charitable, the Mavs also grabbed Quentin Grimes. A right knee injury ended what was hardly a banner 2023-24 campaign, but when healthy, he profiles as a point-of-attack defender who spaces the floor around Dallas' primary creators.
Better still, the Mavs have the ability to extend him or play out the restricted free agency game next summer—making Grimes a "throw-in" who could plausibly be around for the long term.
Dejounte Murray to New Orleans
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The Dejounte Murray trade materially altered the course of two franchises. And contrary to most deals, it says more about the selling side.
Reorienting the roster around Trae Young is probably the smart call by the Atlanta Hawks. It may also be the only one.
He is better equipped to spearhead an offensive identity than Murray, and moving him has limited upside when you don't control your next three first-round picks. Incentive dwindles even further when there's no obvious team that'll fork over The Godfather Special for his services. Good luck saving face at the next presser if you ship out Young for less than the Brooklyn Nets received in the Mikal Bridges blockbuster.
Who are the Hawks now? Trae Young's team. Which is to say, we don't have any idea.
Motives are clearer for the New Orleans Pelicans. They needed a second primary playmaker. Murray came at a reasonable cost, is about to start a team-friendly extension and has improved his shooting enough to work alongside other ball-handlers.
New Orleans' overarching logic isn't nearly as airtight months later. Murray's arrival complicates Brandon Ingram's future, and the trade itself leaves the Pelicans even thinner at the 5 spot. The Ingram and center situations may be resolved all at once, but the lingering nature of both is nothing if not uncomfortable.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to Orlando
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Losing Kentavious Caldwel-Pope is a major blow for the Denver Nuggets.
It doesn't matter how you feel about the immediate outlooks for Christian Braun, Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther. Nor does it matter how much you question KCP's defensive viability versus certain matchups (aka Anthony Edwards).
He was no worse than Denver's fifth-most important player and had a strong case for fourth during the regular season. Letting him walk outright when you received nothing in return and simply could have kept him is stark asset mismanagement. At best, it opens a runway for internal development the Nuggets could've still had with him.
On the flip side, the Orlando Magic are reinvesting in their strengths. Best of luck to anyone attempting to score on a KCP-Jalen Suggs backcourt. They are going to make life hell on opponents.
Orlando's offensive benefits are tougher to square away. KCP boosts their shooting and gives them another guy to get moving off the ball. But do they have the necessary secondary shooters to carve out room for him to navigate the floor? And how much does his outside touch matter when the team opted against adding another table-setter and instead actively lost two in Joe Ingles and Markelle Fultz?
This move is a bet on continued growth from Paolo Banchero, Jalen Suggs, Franz Wagner and Anthony Black. That's not unreasonable. Should the Magic have done more for the offense than just add KCP? Especially when this was their last opportunity to work through an offseason before their core youngsters start second contracts? We'll have to wait and see.
Oh, and as an added bonus, Orlando also increased the value of Denver's 2025 first-rounder by poaching one of its most important players—a selection the Magic themselves own (top-five protection).
Jonas Valančiūnas to Washington
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Truth be told, the importance of Jonas Valančiūnas' entry into his Washington Wizards era has less to do with him individually and more to do with the trickle-down effects elsewhere.
First and foremost, there's Alex Sarr. Does Valančiūnas' arrival mean he'll primarily be used at the 4? Is he coming off the bench? And what does it say about the Wizards' faith in him scaling up—both to center and inside more important lineups—-if Valančiūnas is still on this team past the trade deadline?
Don't forget about the New Orleans Pelicans' end of this, either.
Facilitating Valančiūnas' exit is akin to doubling down on their shaky center rotation. That's not unforgivable on its face. Valančiūnas' is not a net-plus defender. But he does offer size and the ability to end possessions on the glass. That has real value—particularly to a team that struggled to do the latter with him off the floor last year, and that also bade farewell to Naji Marshall, another strong positional rebounder.
Naji Marshall to Dallas
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Naji Marshall as a Derrick Jones Jr. alternative has the potential to be a home run.
The latter is more portable and, for the most part, staunch on the defensive end. But Marshall has shown he can hang with certain smalls, and whatever gaps this transition creates on the less glamorous end he more than makes up for at the other.
If you're the Dallas Mavericks, you're better off with his shooting over DJJ's standstill improvement. Marshall has only cleared a 35 percent clip once through four seasons (last year) but should command more respect from defenders given the extra directionality he has in his off-the-dribble attacks.
Dallas is also getting a standout positional rebounder, as well as someone who can do more with the ball in transition. Neither part of his game should be overlooked. Marshall's presence on the glass could be a skeleton that unlocks some five-out lineups, and any extra on-ball pizzazz in transition fits with the increased speed at which the Mavs played last year.
Paul George to Philadelphia
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More than two months later, the Los Angeles Clippers' (public-facing) explanation for letting Paul George leave and sign with the Philadelphia 76ers makes zero sense. Attempting to shield themselves with the challenges incumbent of the second apron would ring hollow no matter what. But it would at least carry a modicum of meaning if we didn't know they offered him a deal that, in tandem with James Harden's return, would have left them inside the second apron.
Including a fourth year may have been the sticking point. That, again, doesn't make any sense. You pay an All-NBA-caliber player when you have no recourse for upgrading from him and then figure out the rest later. If you are unwilling to travel that path, well, then, why the hell wasn't PG available at the trade deadline? Los Angeles is now damned to paper-tiger territory next season—at best.
Poaching George is a massive win for the Sixers. He, more than anyone else, validated their cap-space conservation at a time when the market rendered him their only option.
This entire summer would be remembered as franchise malpractice if they were left to dole out placeholder contracts to a bunch of non-stars. They instead enter next season as one the Eastern Conference's most viable challengers for the Boston Celtics' throne.
Isaiah Hartenstein to Oklahoma City
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Everyone under the sun wanted the Oklahoma City Thunder to add size, physicality, rebounding and at least a dab of offensive dynamism. Signing Isaiah Hartenstein checks basically all of those boxes.
Tossing him into the rotation instantly renders the Thunder a better matchup for frontlines in Denver, Dallas and Minnesota. The offensive implications should not be written off, either. His playmaking and floater-ing out of short rolls may prove lethal inside Oklahoma City's spacing, and the Thunder shouldn't hesitate to have him launch trail threes or corner treys.
Whether a Hartenstein-Chet Holmgren frontcourt becomes the team's default is almost irrelevant. Hartenstein works alongside and independent of him. The structure of his contract—three years, $87 million, with a team option in 2026-27–aligns perfectly with eventual paydays for Holmgren, Jalen Williams and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The New York Knicks, meanwhile, lost their best big man as the result of this union in OKC. That's not on them. Early Bird rights restricted how much they could offer.
None of which makes losing him any easier. Adding Mikal Bridges helps, but the Knicks need to hope that the combination of Mitchell Robinson, Precious Achiuwa, occasional Jericho Sims minutes and Julius Randle-OG Anunoby frontline arrangements are enough to offset everything they just lost.
And, er, it might not be. Robinson is already expected to remain sidelined until at least December or January following offseason left foot surgery, according to SNY's Ian Begley—who also notes that it's unclear whether Randle will be ready to rock by training camp himself.
Klay Thompson to Dallas, Kyle Anderson and Buddy Hield to Golden State
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Klay Thompson's place on the NBA's impact scale has veered into eye-of-the-beholder territory. He is 34 with two serious leg injuries in his rearview and is no longer capable of ratcheting up the one-on-one defense that helped fuel his heyday as one of the game's best two-way players.
There is a chance, if not a strong likelihood, his departure from the Golden State Warriors affects them more emotionally than functionally. Some might even argue that his exit is addition by subtraction.
Of course, the Warriors actually added here. They brought back Buddy Hield and Kyle Anderson as part of this move and still have a chunk of their traded player exception from Klay available after using some of it to take in Slo Mo.
Even if the end to Thompson's Warriors tenure doesn't leave Golden State reeling, it should weaponize a Dallas Mavericks offense that has never surrounded Luka Dončić with a shooter in the same universe as Thompson, let alone one who can disembowel defenses with his off-ball movement and capacity to drill jumpers while still in motion.
This is not to say the fit is perfect. I mean, it might be. But Dallas' primary bigs—Dereck Lively II, Daniel Gafford, P.J. Washington—will have their work cut out for them defensively when Klay, Luka and Kyrie are all sharing the floor.
Adding Naji Marshall and Quentin Grimes gives head coach Jason Kidd plenty of contingencies. As of now, though, the Mavs seem to have picked up Thompson with the intention of deploying him inside their most core lineup. It'll be fascinating to see whether that logic holds when the games begin.
Jonathan Isaac Renegotiate-and-Extend with Orlando
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Jonathan Isaac's renegotiation-and-extension with the Orlando Magic is yet another move that's more impactful for what it represents.
We already know he's one of the most valuable per-minute defenders in basketball. And while the four-year, $84 million renegotiate-and-extension is an investment in his staying healthy—injury protections don't kick in until 2026-27—it's further proof of Orlando's attachment to what's already in place.
Nudging up Isaac's 2024-25 salary by more than $7.5 million required the use of cap space. This deal also adds $15 million in guaranteed salary to next season's books. Going this route while also maxing out Franz Wagner one summer early effectively means the Magic have little regard for cap spacing moving forward.
Relative to the past few free-agency landscapes, this isn't a big deal. And though cap space can be used for trades, Orlando has a ton of desirable matching salaries on its books to use as consolidation and/or big-swing anchors.
Still, this summer was the last in which the Magic could tout absurd maneuverability before having to reconcile loftier cap holds for its own. Exiting that phase of their roster construction with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope as their biggest—and, really, only—outside acquisition is anti-climactic.
Time will tell whether that's OK.
Caleb Martin to Philadelphia
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The Philadelphia 76ers get an A-plus in creativity and gamesmanship for the Caleb Martin signing. Squeezing him into their salary-cap machinations was real sicko stuff. Martin is guaranteed $35 million over four years, with unlikely incentives potentially taking it closer to $40 million. Philly also weakened a could-be-but-probably-isn't rival in the process (even though Miami could have paid Martin if it wanted).
Sixers fans will invariably have moments of frustration with Martin's offense—and perhaps availability. He can be too passive at the more glamorous end, doesn't always take or make enough threes, isn't the most efficient inside the arc and struggled to finish around the basket next season.
At his apex, though, Martin is the consummate connector—a ball and body mover who can stretch the floor and keep defenses tilted whether he's on or off the rock. Philly will be smitten if it gets that version of him on offense.
This move is still most pivotal for its defensive implications. The Sixers don't have a ton of depth at their second frontline slot. Along with Guerschon Yabusele, Martin can help Philly be more selective in how they deploy Paul George on defense.
Martin is also someone who, when healthy, has more malleability than advertised. He can be moved up and down the positional and matchup-difficulty spectrum. While he may be more important to the Sixers' title equity than is comfortable, landing him at around 5 percent of the salary cap through his age-33 season (player option) is a freaking steal.
Chris Paul to San Antonio
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Expectations for the addition of a 39-year-old point guard to a rebuilding roster aren't usually so high.
Then again, the San Antonio Spurs aren't your usual rebuilding team.
They have Victor Wembanyama.
A 22-win Spurs squad outscored opponents last season by 5.2 points per 100 possessions, with an almost-average offense, when Wemby shared the floor with Tre Jones. Signing CP3 now gives this group capable point guard play for 40-plus minutes, if not a full 48 minutes, of every game.
Any scenario in which San Antonio streamlines everyone's offensive role is big-time. Stir in the prospect of rookie Stephon Castle learning the floor-general ropes from CP3, and this one year, $10.5 million is money well spent. And then some.
Tobias Harris to Detroit
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Kudos to Jason Miller of Getty Images for the above Tobias Harris-in-a-Detroit-Pistons jersey photoshop. It looks so real. Graphic design must be Miller's passion.
People laughed at the money it took for Detroit to get Harris. Two years and $52 million, fully guaranteed, is a lot for someone whose previous team and fanbase vacated his bandwagon seasons ago—plural.
Critics need to get over it. This isn't a home-run signing. But Harris, in all likelihood, is better suited to a situation that doesn't need him to be the third wheel on a title contender. And though the money isn't ideal, it's lightyears from back-breaking. He becomes an expiring contract after this season, and when you are as bad as the Pistons, you must overpay to get quality talent—unless, apparently, you're re-signing Simone Fontecchio.
Anyway, the Harris signing keeps in theme with Detroit's effort to buttress its spacing. Even more notably, it pretty much ensures the Pistons' dual-big days are over.
You don't sign Harris to predominantly play the 3 in the year 2024. The Paul Reed pickup doesn't change that. The Pistons were already leaning in this direction, but the Harris arrival seals it: Isaiah Stewart is a backup 5, and Detroit should be better off for it.
De'Anthony Melton to Golden State
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Buddy HIeld will receive a lot of attention as the de facto Klay Thompson replacement. And Kyle Anderson's playmaking infusion may be considered critical in the wake of Chris Paul's departure.
Neither move, though, has the potential to be as impactful for the Golden State Warriors as the addition of De'Anthony Melton.
If his back is A-OK, the Dubs landed someone who guards above his weight, with fringe All-Defense effectiveness, and is content playing away from the ball and knocking down threes. Melton is at once someone who can level up the entire defense and streamline the existence of every other perimeter player around him. There is even a universe in which he renders Andrew Wiggins more expendable than many already believe him to be.
Cap dorks (guilty) will wonder whether the Dubs should have tried tacking on another year to Melton's one-season deal at the mid-level exception. But the expiring terms are actually more team-friendly than not.
Traveling the one-year route keeps the Warriors flexible if they prefer to move on, and the salary is high enough ($12.8 million) that the 120 percent raise they can offer Melton next summer using non-Bird rights should be more than enough to keep him in town.
DeMar DeRozan to Sacramento
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Few moves over the offseason incited more collective division among talking heads and keyboard warriors than Sacramento Kings' sign-and-trade for DeMar DeRozan.
Skepticism as the default is fair. There will be spacing obstacles in certain lineups. Keegan Murray and Keon Ellis and even De'Aaron Fox will have a smaller margin for error on defense. Guaranteeing a 35-year-old at least $58.2 million through 2026-27 ($73.9 million in total) is inherently risky regardless of how well they've aged to date. And, yes, that 2031 first-round swap could wind up having outsized value.
Put all of those concerns on the table, and the Kings still needed to make this move. The offense last year was not the thermonuclear-AF machine formulated in the lab during the 2022-23 campaign, when they ranked first in points scored per possession. Last season's attack dropped to 14th in overall offensive efficiency and 15th when operating in the half-court (down from second).
Not surprisingly, Fox was the only rotation staple last season to score more than half his buckets unassisted. None of Sacramento's perimeter players, meanwhile, posted a noticeably above-average free-throw-attempt rate. DeRozan addresses both issues (among others). And while he introduces some hurdles, his addition profiles as more of a much-needed feature than potential bug.
Journeying outside Sactown, this sign-and-trade transaction may graduate to not-so-sneaky brilliance for the San Antonio Spurs. That 2031 swap adds to their future-draft-obligations stockpile, and Harrison Barnes should be a boon for their half-court spacing.
I have zero good things to say about the Chicago Bulls' role in this three-teamer. Anytime you send out the best asset in a trade without receiving the second- or even third-best asset in return, you've done something wrong.
Derrick Jones Jr. to the Clippers
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Scooping up Derrick Jones Jr. should do wonders for the Los Angeles Clippers this side of Paul George's departure.
To be absolutely sure, he doesn't even begin to replace PG's on-ball offense or overall floor-spacing. But a dearth of athleticism has plagued the Clippers for too long. A 27-year-old Jones continues to deliver that—and a good amount of rim pressure—in spades.
His plasticity on the defensive end, meanwhile, will help soften George's exit. It should also, more importantly, lighten the load placed upon Kawhi Leonard, particularly when combined with the sign-and-trade for Kris Dunn). If Jones is able to replicate the modest success he had on catch-and-shoot threes last year—34.8 percent in the regular season; 37.1 percent in the playoffs—the Clippers will have bagged a two-way impact player for a cut rate.
For what it's worth, Los Angeles may have also weakened a conference rival in the process of landing DJJ. Though the Dallas Mavericks have Quentin Grimes and Naji Marshall to replace a lot of what Jones brought on defense, neither has his athleticism or positional malleability.
Marshall comes closest to the latter. He can guard some smalls, but quicker assignments will give him trouble. DJJ's physical tools scaled to most perimeter situations, and while Dallas' defense has the overarching personnel to survive, his absence will be worth tracking out of the gate.
Malik Beasley to Detroit
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Here is the list of every player who has made at least 900 threes on a 38 percent or better clip over the last five seasons:
- Malik Beasley
- Stephen Curry
- Buddy Hield
- CJ McCollum
- Duncan Robinson
Landing such an esteemed floor-spacer for $6 million is a standout move for any team. It is particularly huge for a Detroit Pistons squad that is only just now gaining access to Cade Cunningham-plus-enough-shooting lineups.
Next to re-signing Simone Fontecchio, the Pistons may not have made a decision more immediately impactful than adding Beasley.
Gary Trent Jr. to Milwaukee
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Gary Trent Jr. is an imperfect player, as Toronto Raptors fans know all too well. He will gamble on defense, cannot really guard up and suffers from serial tunnel vision when attacking off the dribble.
His exit nevertheless stings. He was, without question, their best motion shooter last season. Even if Gradey Dick is ready to take up that mantle, he won't promise the same level of defensive playmaking for a team that just shifted to a more conservative defensive approach and, well, could use more defensive playmaking.
GTJ fleeing Toronto for the minimum makes this hurt even more...unless you root for the Milwaukee Bucks. His faults and foibles aren't nearly as tough to work around for a team with higher-end talent at full strength, and when the alternative included leaning (probably) too much on Delon Wright and AJ Green.
Minimum signings are often over-romanticized in the moment. This isn't one of those times. Since the 2020-21 season, GTJ is downing over 38 percent of his triples on more than seven attempts per game while posting a steal rate north of two. Only two other players are hitting these benchmarks over the same span: Lonzo Ball, who has appeared in just 90 games amid knee issues, and Paul George. Milwaukee got this—a projected starter and likely closer—for the minimum. Hot damn.
Russell Westbrook to Denver
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The entire idea behind signing Russell Westbrook to the minimum is that he shouldn't make this list. Reserve point guards aren't supposed to have a ton of influence over the fate of their team.
And yet, this is Russell Westbrook, one of the most polarizing figures in the sport.
Glass-half-fullists will hold out hope that his fit is divine. Nikola Jokić has a way of elevating the play of everyone around him, and the Denver Nuggets bench needs a jolt of adrenaline, ball-handling, rim pressure and, overall, dependable talent.
To believe Westbrook can fill this void is to believe the 35-year-old remains capable of change. That's not without merit. He made adaptations while with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Whether he's capable of more wholesale evolution is very much up for debate. Can he improve his shot selection? Get moving and embrace playing off the ball even more? Can he bump up his finishing at the rim? The volume at which he screens? His capacity to play beside other shaky shooters?
Answer some combination of these questions in the affirmative, and Westbrook becomes the kind of bargain-bin net-value add for whom contenders thirst. Fail to play within the larger context of the Nuggets offense, and his signing could become the kind of miss that shatters Denver's already tenuous depth.
Tyus Jones to Phoenix
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Tyus Jones landing on the Phoenix Suns for the veteran's minimum is truly wild stuff. And it's not just the financial value but what he brings to the rotation.
People have been begging the Suns to add an offensive organizer who could stabilize the team during stretches in which it appeared aimless and turnover-happy. Game managers don't get much more game manager-y than Jones, a true assist-to-turnover-ratio deity.
Michael Jordan is currently the only other player on record with as many seasons averaging an assist rate north of 25 with a turnover percentage below nine. For good measure, Jones also banged in 42.2 percent of his standstill triples last year.
This addition does pose some obstacles at the other end. Phoenix was light on dependable wing defenders in the first place. How will it fare should its core lineup include three guards and Kevin Durant? To be clear, you make this move anyway—11 times out of 10. But this is food for thought as the season gets underway and we skip ahead to crunch-time and playoff situations.
Not much attention is paid to the Washington Wizards' fallout from losing Jones. They have Bub Carrington and Malcolm Brogdon and, yes, Jordan Poole to steer the offense. Still, it doesn't say much for Jones' time in Washington that he bolted for so little. And the Wizards definitely should have been more open to moving him at the deadline rather than end up here, losing him for nothing.
Lauri Markkanen Renegotiate-and-Extend with Utah
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Re-negotiating and extending Lauri Markkanen does a few things for the Utah Jazz, and one big thing for the rest of the league.
Let's start with the Jazz. They are shelling an extra $24 million this season in addition to being on the hook for Markkanen's four-year, $196 million extension. The money feels about right. The commitment itself is a bigger deal.
Perhaps this agreement renders Markkanen a more valuable trade chip down the line. Immediately, though, it allows Utah to go about its rebuilding process without having to wonder whether he can leave for nothing next summer.
That clarity comes at the expense of the rest of the league. Markkanen's trade restriction will not lift until after the February deadline following this deal, thereby removing one of the most coveted names from the rumor mill at least until next offseason.
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