5 Teams That Definitely Got Worse During 2025 NBA Offseason
We recently looked at the NBA teams that improved the most this offseason. Now it's time to take a look at the teams that have taken a step back.
A lot of these teams have committed large amounts of their cap space and do not seem to be trending in the right direction.
The bigger issue is that these teams seem to have no clear plan, and they are digging themselves a deeper hole in the process.
Phoenix Suns
1 of 5
The Phoenix Suns have been a disaster since Mat Ishbia bought the team. This offseason has not been much different. The Suns overhauled their front office and hired Brian Gregory, who has little NBA experience, as their new general manager. They also hired Jordan Ott, their third head coach in three years.
That front office and coaching shuffle was just the start of a series of moves. On draft night, they acquired Mark Williams from the Charlotte Hornets for the 29th overall pick and a 2029 first-round pick. They also spent the No. 10 overall pick on Duke center Khaman Maluach, who has a lot of promise but might still be a few years away from making a consistent impact.
The Suns' biggest move this offseason was trading Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets. Considering the situation, they got back a decent haul: Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the pick that they spent on Maluach and five second-round picks.
Green is a nice young player, but his skill set is very redundant with Devin Booker's. The hope is that they will be able to flip him down the road.
Since the Suns began the offseason above the second apron, they didn't have the ability to make a major splash in free agency. They did just come to an agreement with Booker on a max extension, keeping him under contract until 2030. That is good news for the Suns, but they're far from contending anytime soon.
The Suns are reportedly discussing a buyout with Bradley Beal, which will enable them to waive and stretch him. That would them below the second apron, but they'd also be left with a dead cap hit of nearly $20 million every year until 2030.
Waiving and stretching Beal would not be the same as the Bucks doing it with Damian Lillard, as that netted them Myles Turner. This move would benefit Ishbia, but it will not lead to more wins and is likely to hinder the Suns in the long run.
Sacramento Kings
2 of 5
The Sacramento Kings—or should we call them Chicago Bulls West?—have not made any strides this offseason. It's unclear what their long-term plan is.
Almost as soon as the season ended, Sacramento parted ways with general manager Monte McNair just two years after he was voted Executive of the Year.
The Kings' decline happened fast. The reunion of DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine did not yield the desired results.
Sacrament's big offseason move was to overpay Dennis Schröder on a three-year, $45 million fully guaranteed deal. He fills a ball-handler/playmaker need for Sacramento, but if you take a closer look at his fit, a problem stands out.
Sacramento finished this past season ranked 19th in three-point percentage. How are the Kings going to create space with DeRozan, Schröder and Domantas Sabonis sharing the floor? Committing $15 million annually for the next three years to a career 34.2 percent three-point shooter is not ideal.
It wasn't long ago that the Kings had both Tyrese Haliburton and De'Aaron Fox. Then they went full KANGZ on us.
New Orleans Pelicans
3 of 5
There might not be a more confusing team than the New Orleans Pelicans this offseason. Most of their moves have been perplexing. One move in particular has everyone scratching their heads.
First off, New Orleans changed its front office by parting ways with David Griffin and bringing in "two phones" Joe Dumars as its new executive vice president of basketball operations and Troy Weaver as general manager.
The duo's first big move was trading CJ McCollum, Kelly Olynyk and a future second-round pick for Jordan Poole, Saddiq Bey and the No. 40 overall pick in the 2025 draft. Poole is better than McCollum, but he won't significantly change the Pelicans' fortunes.
The bigger issue is that Poole has two years left on his contract, while McCollum is on an expiring deal that could have helped the Pelicans clear some money off their books. This was not a backbreaker, but it was definitely not a win for New Orleans.
The wheels fell off on draft night. They made a good selection by drafting Jeremiah Fears, a young guard whom they can bring off the bench to develop, with the No. 7 overall pick. It would have been easier to get him minutes if Poole wasn't in front of him, but that's neither here nor there.
The confusing move was the trade up for the 13th overall pick, which they used on Derik Queen. The Pelicans sent the 23rd pick and the more favorable of New Orleans' or Milwaukee's fully unprotected 2026 first-round pick to move up 10 spots. Queen has the potential to become a good NBA player, but acquiring him came at a massive cost.
Sending out next year's unprotected pick signals that the Pelicans believe they will be competitive next season in the extremely deep Western Conference. That's a big bet for a team that finished last season with 21 wins, which was 27 wins away from the eighth seed. This team is not poised for a 27-win improvement.
To give the Pelicans some credit, they did agree on a contract extension with Herb Jones, keeping him under team control on a friendly deal through the 2029-30 season. With that said, the draft-night trade might set them back even further.
Chicago Bulls
4 of 5
No team is lost in the wilderness quite like the Chicago Bulls. They have not made the playoffs since the 2021-22 season. Since then, they have been play-in tournament regulars.
Thus far, nothing they've done this offseason will change that fate.
Matas Buzelis is an intriguing prospect, and Coby White is good, although he's heading into a contract year and seems unlikely to sign an extension. In the meantime, the Bulls still need to sort out Josh Giddey's restricted free agency.
However, trading Lonzo Ball for Isaac Okoro didn't make much sense for the Bulls. It was a straight-up one-for-one swap, so the Bulls didn't acquire any draft assets despite Okoro having an extra year guaranteed on his deal. Ball has a team option for the 2026-27 season.
Okoro is very similar to Patrick Williams, just with a slightly better three-point shot. The comparison of their per-36-minute averages shows just how similar they are.
The Bulls have already committed $54 million to Williams over the next three years, along with an $18 million player option in 2028-29. Given that investment, they should be committed to getting as much as they can out of him. That won't happen if he starts losing minutes to Okoro.
The Bulls don't appear to have a clear understanding of the type of team they want to be. Instead, they're seemingly content to wander in the wilderness.
Toronto Raptors
5 of 5
The Toronto Raptors have fallen on some tough times. They made a change in their front office this offseason, parting ways with longtime team president Masai Ujiri.
They've otherwise been relatively quiet, but they make this list for their past sins.
The Raptors' big move was re-signing center Jakob Poeltl to a three-year, $84 million extension after they got him to pick up his $19.5 million player option in 2026-27. That might be a worthy tradeoff, even if he'll be fairly expensive in 2028-29 ($29.5 million).
But zooming out, this is an incredibly pricey roster that isn't going anywhere. Toronto is set to be a first-apron team with over $156 million committed to Scottie Barnes, Brandon Ingram, Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, and Poeltl.
Acquiring Ingram at the trade deadline and giving him a three-year, $120 million contract extension might have been a mistake. The Raptors also haven't gotten much return on investment on Quickley's five-year, $175 million extension, as he only played 33 games last season.
This offseason should have been a chance to shed some of these contracts and start building a team that works around Barnes, the jewel of the Raptors. Instead, this will be an expensive play-in team at best.
Mo Dakhil spent six years with the Los Angeles Clippers and two years with the San Antonio Spurs as a video coordinator, as well as three years with the Australian men's national team. Follow him on X, @MoDakhil_NBA.
