These 5 NBA Teams Quietly Crushed the 2025 Offseason
Who’s ready to talk some more about how the Atlanta Hawks, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers crushed their offseason? Well, we regret to inform you that you've come to the wrong place.
This space is for the teams who have (so far) expertly navigated the NBA offseason without getting the same level of attention or acclaim.
Dominating the summer is a relative concept. It can mean different things to different people. For our purposes, we want to spotlight squads that didn't just get better or improve their outlook, but also did so without having to mortgage too much of their future asset stores or cap sheets.
The Orlando Magic are the quintessential example of a team that won't be here. The addition of Desmond Bane and Paolo Banchero's extension have received plenty of praise, but they don't get special treatment for forking over market value (or more) to upgrade the offense and lock down their most important player.
Charlotte Hornets
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Nobody should pretend to be in love with the Charlotte Hornets' center rotation. It is too heavy on Mason Plumlee, definitely too reliant on Moussa Diabaté and doesn't have much to offer beyond them.
Still, turning Jusuf Nurkić into Collin Sexton and a 2030 second-round pick is a stroke of brilliance. Sexton is the better player, with the more coveted skill set. Charlotte can use him to boost its spacing, pick up extra value for him in another trade or let him come off the books next summer just like Nurkić.
Speaking of shooting, the Hornets also drafted Kon Knueppel and Liam McNeeley—two snipers with wing size who can make plays for themselves and others off the bounce. The spacing around LaMelo Ball is going to border on divine for the first time ever.
That's enough to overlook the center rotation, especially when shipping out Mark Williams is the reason Charlotte has McNeeley, on top of an additional first-round pick in 2029.
Cleveland Cavaliers
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The Cleveland Cavaliers haven't done much, but what they have done is preserve their place near the top of the Eastern Conference pecking order while raising their overall ceiling.
Going from Isaac Okoro to Lonzo Ball is highway robbery. Cleveland got the better all-around player, who also just so happens to be on the better contract. Lonzo can't play as many minutes, but his shooting is a monstrous upgrade, and the Cavs aren't losing anything on the defensive end.
Letting Ty Jerome walk does eat into Cleveland's reserve ball-handling. It'll survive. Lonzo can jump-start transition possessions, and Craig Porter Jr. has always effectively papered over tiny gaps.
Jerome's on-ball work won't be missed nearly as much if Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell stay healthy, and Evan Mobley continues making strides.
Keeping Sam Merrill on a three-year, $27 million deal will end up being a steal we didn't talk about nearly enough. Among everyone who has tallied at least as many minutes as him over the past two seasons (2,470), Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Donte DiVincenzo and Malik Beasley are the only players to average over 10 three-point attempts per 36 minutes and hit them at a 38 percent clip. His defensive stands are also sneaky-sturdy. He works to fight around screens and will stay glued to fellow off-ball rovers.
Picking up Larry Nance Jr. for the league minimum is both the reunion we all needed and a boost for the secondary big-man rotation. His health is always a question mark, but he's no-risk, all-reward at this price point.
Let's not overlook the significance of re-signing president of basketball operations Koby Altman, either. He's the architect for one of the foremost contenders, and prior to his previous deal (this is his third contract), the Cavs during the Dan Gilbert era had never extended their lead executive.
Miami Heat
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Another offseason appears to be going by without the Miami Heat landing a marquee star or addressing its glaring void at point guard. That's OK. If anything, it's encouraging that they haven't impulsively unloaded draft picks and forfeited long-term flexibility for the wrong guy.
Miami is doing a bang-up job threading the needle between relevance and asset preservation. Norman Powell ranks among the most impactful offseason acquisitions, and landing him didn't add any money to next summer's cap sheet or require giving up someone who factored into the immediate or long-term direction.
Moving on from Duncan Robinson is a somewhat divisive decision, but Simone Fontecchio will approximate most of his offensive value without as much defensive downside—provided he's in for a bounce-back year. If he's not, there's no harm and no foul. He is also on an expiring contract.
The two-year, $24 million Davion Mitchell contract is perfectly acceptable for what he brings on the defensive end. Kasparas Jakučionis didn't have the cleanest summer league, but he played under more control after the California Classic and should be more valuable as a playmaker with Powell and Tyler Herro flying around him and alongside bigs who won't have problems catching passes. Though his actual utility is very much TBD, the 19-year-old has excellent upside for someone taken at No. 20.
Overall, the Heat are deeper, more dynamic and more flexible than they were last season. That's a big-time organizational victory.
Oklahoma City Thunder
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There is no shortage of attention being paid to the Oklahoma City Thunder. But that spotlight is more about them winning the championship and signing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to a supermax extension. This team's offseason includes more victories than just the routine Ws.
Sure, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams were always going to sign extensions. But the Thunder locked them up for five years without either getting a player option and with limited escalator language on the latter's deal. That's not a given. Just ask the Magic, who included both a player option and full-on 30-percent escalation language in Paolo Banchero's extension.
Oklahoma City also busted out new contracts for Ajay Mitchell and Jaylin Williams that are going to age absurdly well. The former's three-year, $8.7 million deal will never be worth even 2 percent of the salary cap. The latter's own three-year, $24 million deal takes up, on average, under 4.9 percent of the cap.
Zero brownie points are given for getting Thomas Sorber at No. 15 in the draft. He didn't play during summer league while recovering from left foot surgery. Brooks Barnhizer, the No. 44 selection, did play. And he looked good. Though he's on a two-way, he plays defense like he idolizes Mitchell, Alex Caruso and Lu Dort.
A few months from now, we might just be muttering, half-exasperatedly, half-incredulously, "The Thunder really did it again."
Washington Wizards
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Harp on what the Washington Wizards' record will be next season all you want, but the Will Dawkins- and Michael Winger-led front office continues to expertly prioritize the bigger picture.
Washington can have $80-plus million in cap space next summer after flipping Jordan Poole for CJ McCollum’s expiring deal. That's flexibility it can use to expedite the timeline, take back unwanted deals attached to more assets or both.
Bringing in Cam Whitmore is a genius dice roll when it only costs a pair of seconds. He has his flaws, but players with his size and shooting and scoring abilities are far from dime-a-dozen. Their draft will be a mixed bag for those who wanted them to take Jeremiah Fears and or are in love with Walter Clayton Jr., but Tre Johnson is every bit the sniper he's billed to be, and Will Riley has all-around-hustle intrigue.
Fliers on Dillon Jones and Malaki Branham won't generate a ton of headlines. But they, too, are reminders that this Wizards regime understands its place in the NBA's hierarchy and the patience and maneuvering it takes to improve upon it.
Dan Favale is a National NBA Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.
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