NBA Free Agents 2012: Most Important Signings of the NBA Offseason

As the NBA offseason continues to drag along, most of the significant moves have already been made. Of course, there's one more major piece out there who has yet to change hands (cough, Dwight Howard, cough), but it's not too soon to judge the most important signings of the summer. 

These three moves affect more than just the product on the hardcourt. They change the course of the franchises they involve. 

Read on to discover the three most important signings of the NBA offseason. 

Steve Nash to the Lakers

Anytime one of the league's best point guards changes teams during the offseason, it's bound to be a move that contains a lot of significance. 

That's doubly true when the player involved is Steve Nash and he's leaving a team and city that truly loves him after all the effort he's poured into his career with the Phoenix Suns.

That's triply true when the other team involved is one of the NBA's premier franchises and plays basketball in one of the nation's biggest media markets.

When Nash completed a sign-and-trade to the Los Angeles Lakers, he not only thrust the purple and gold-clad team right back into title contention, but he also provided Kobe Bryant with another star backcourt member. 

As a result, we may see The Black Mamba maintaining his high level of play for a little bit longer now that some of the pressure is lifted from his shoulders. 

Deron Williams Remains with the Nets

Deron Williams remaining with the Brooklyn Nets allows the newly relocated team to jump into the group of contenders in the Elite Conference. 

Additionally, the presence of D-Will will help to spur on a burgeoning rivalry with the New York Knicks. As big as "The City That Never Sleeps" may be, it's not big enough for both the Nets and the Knicks. 

The home opener at the Barclays Center will feature the first installment of this growing rivalry, but it certainly won't be as heated as it will likely get in the future. 

Had Gerald Wallace, Brook Lopez or Joe Johnson gone elsewhere, the rivalry still would have existed, just to a lesser extent. However, had D-Will spurned the Nets and signed with another team, the rivalry would have ceased to exist before it even got started due to the sheer disparity in talent between the two franchises. 

Blake Griffin Signs an Extension

When Blake Griffin signed a five-year extension with the Los Angeles Clippers for $95 million, he did far more than just establish his financial security for the foreseeable future.

Griffin ensured that the Clippers were no longer a league laughingstock, but rather a team to take very seriously. 

This might be a precursor to an upcoming Chris Paul extension as well and was almost certainly a factor in some of the other free-agent signings by L.A. 

Griffin is one of the rising stars in this league and has already established himself as one of the NBA's best players.

Say what you will about his attitude, flopping and limited game at this early stage of his career, but Griffin is a dominant power forward.