Early Report Card Grades for NBA's Top Players On New Teams
NBA players relocate differently, most commonly through trade or free agency. Several vital names shifted teams before the season; some have immediately made an impact, while others have yet to suit up because of injury.
It's too early to close the book on "good" or "bad" acquisitions, but it's about time for a pre-Thanksgiving grade.
The following report-card list grades the NBA's top players on new teams for the 2024-25 season.
Tyus Jones: A
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For just $3 million, the Phoenix Suns were able to add the crucial missing piece in point guard Tyus Jones. The team is struggling with Kevin Durant recovering from a calf injury, but before he went down, the Suns won nine of their first 11 games.
Jones has been a massive get for Phoenix, averaging 11.3 points, 6.9 assists and just 1.1 turnovers per game. He's shooting a decent 37.5 percent from three, but that should climb once Durant is back in the rotation.
The Suns benefitted from the Washington Wizards choosing not to pay the veteran point guard and most other suitors short on flexibility. Jones took a minimum deal with Phoenix because of the opportunity to step into a starting role. So far, that's looked like a great call.
Chris Paul: A
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The San Antonio Spurs landed their franchise player in the lottery last year. To help Victor Wembanyama develop, the team brought in one of the best true point guards over the last two decades.
Paul has struggled to stay healthy on teams competing for playoff position, but on the Spurs, there's less "win-now" pressure. When healthy, Paul will help any team he's on run a more organized offense. The Spurs may have a losing record (7-8), but the franchise remains in range of the play-in tournament, and Paul has been a strong mentor through the early days of the 2024-25 campaign.
Alex Caruso: B-
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Few players can significantly impact the outcome of a game without scoring. Alex Caruso is one of the NBA's most disruptive defenders. The Oklahoma City Thunder got him in a trade with the Chicago Bulls for Josh Giddey, and the team has been one of the best in the Western Conference all season.
The team also finished first last year in the West, so it's too early to over-praise Caruso. He's shooting a career-low from the field (35.6 percent) and three-point range (20.5 percent), which may contribute to his dip in minutes from 28.7 in Chicago last year to 19.7 with the Thunder.
Still, Oklahoma City has substantial depth, and Caruso's more minor role may benefit him over the year (he turns 31 in February). He needs to regain his shooting stroke; otherwise, he is a positive for his new franchise.
Josh Giddey: B
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The Chicago Bulls got Giddey from the Thunder for Alex Caruso, and the 6'8" guard has been very solid. The team isn't doing particularly well (6-10), but the Bulls weren't exactly great last year.
Giddey has notably improved as a three-point shooter, up to a career-high 35.6 percent on 3.7 attempts. He's not a sharpshooter, but he takes it more confidently. Giddey otherwise fills up the stat sheet with 11.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 6.4 assists.
The Bulls are a work in progress, but the team got younger with Giddey (22) while moving on from older players like DeMar DeRozan and Caruso.
DeMar DeRozan: A-
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DeRozan seemed an odd fit for the Sacramento Kings as a primary midrange scorer playing with an All-Star-level guard (De'Aaron Fox) and big (Domantas Sabonis). So far, the group has made it work, and DeRozan is scoring 22.9 points per game with 4.1 assists.
Notably, DeRozan is spacing the floor at a career-high 40 percent. He only takes 2.1 attempts per game, but that may decide if he can fit properly alongside the Kings' best two players.
DeRozan has missed some time with some back issues, something to keep an eye on since the veteran wing is 35 years old.
Karl-Anthony Towns: A — Mikal Bridges: B
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It can be easy to forget that NBA players are not as plug-and-play as their NBA2K avatars. The New York Knicks needed time to adjust to wholesale roster change.
Following a slow start, the team has improved to 9-6. Towns is carrying his load offensively, averaging 26.8 points a game while shooting 55.1 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point range on 5.3 attempts. His rebounding is at 12.2, but where he and the Knicks needed to make the most significant adjustment was on defense since Towns is more of an offensive-minded player.
A team led by coach Tom Thibodeau wouldn't usually have the No. 22 ranked defense (115.6 points allowed per 100 possessions), but then No. 2 on offense at 122.1 helps make up for it.
Bridges hasn't adapted as well, moving from a starring offensive role with the Brooklyn Nets to more of a role player in New York. Still, he's averaging a heavy minute load (38.6 minutes) and scoring 16.3 a night. Bridges' three-point efficiency has dipped from 37.2 percent in 2023-24 to 31.6 percent.
Julius Randle: A
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Randle's buzzer-beating game-winner over the Phoenix Suns was a major moment for the still-adjusting Minnesota Timberwolves after the Karl-Anthony Towns trade (never mind that the NBA's post-game report noted that Randle traveled on the play).
Minnesota (8-6) isn't quite where it wants to be in the West yet, but integrating a high-usage forward like Randle will take some time. But Randle's numbers are solid thus far, at 21.6 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.4 assists in the year. He's also shooting a solid 38.2 percent from three-point range.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope: C+
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The Orlando Magic made a surprise playoff run last year and hoped to add a seasoned veteran like Caldwell-Pope, who has two titles on his resume, to help catapult the team into true contention.
Perhaps it's the injury to the team's best player (Paolo Banchero) or that Caldwell-Pope is less efficient without a star like Nikola Jokić or LeBron James—but KCP is averaging just 6.9 points a game while shooting 22.9 percent from three.
The Magic, paying him $22.8 million this year to bring badly needed shooting to the roster, aren't getting exactly what they had hoped. Caldwell-Pope is still an experienced, dogged defender. Ideally, for Orlando, his shot comes around as the season unfolds.
Klay Thompson: C
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The NBA is a results business, and the Mavericks have not been very good to start the season. The team has won three straight to climb to 8-7, but star Luka Dončić is dealing with a sprained wrist.
The team added Thompson to add shooting, and he's been average at 37 percent from behind the arc. That's a far cry from his career number of 41.2, and it's a dip from last year's 38.7 percent.
Thompson is giving Dallas 14 points a game (his lowest since his rookie season) while shooting 39.7 percent overall (a career low). He's also a lot slower defensively than in his prime when he could take on an opponent's best scorer.
The Mavericks have a lot of basketball left to play, but the Thompson acquisition hasn't made the team look better than last year's entry that advanced to the NBA Finals.
Paul George: D
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The Philadelphia 76ers took the gamble of maxing out Paul George (34) to pair with Joel Embiid (30) despite both players having a somewhat substantial injury history. The initial results are very, very bad. The team is at the bottom of the Eastern Conference at 2-12, and George has suffered a second knee injury.
The hope is that he won't be out for a few games, but the team is struggling. The good news is that the Sixers are still within range of the play-in tournament. It's not ideal, but if the roster can get healthy, sound and back on track, the year could be salvaged in the postseason.
George could go under "incomplete" in the Honorable Mention section, but his new $211.6 million contract stands out as the least current bang for the buck.
Honorable Mentions
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The Oklahoma City Thunder gave Isaiah Hartenstein one of the largest free-agent salaries for 2024-25 in July ($30 million), but he didn't suit up for a game until November 20 after fracturing his hand during the preseason.
Dejounte Murray suffered a similar injury in his debut for the New Orleans Pelicans. He should be nearing a return, but in the meantime, Dyson Daniels has been a sensation for the Atlanta Hawks as the key player the Pelicans gave up for Murray.
Buddy Hield has also been a perfect fit in Golden State, replacing the shooting lost in Klay Thompson leaving to play in Dallas with the Mavericks. Tobias Harris has been fine for the Detroit Pistons. He's not shooting well but is eating up minutes on a franchise that has improved over the last year.
Email Eric Pincus at eric.pincus@gmail.com and follow him on X/Twitter @EricPincus.
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