The Winners
Los Angeles Lakers
Despite Lavar Ball rocking Lakers colors and stirring the pot with Joel Embiid and De’Aaron Fox, the Lakers had a great summer so far with Lonzo outperforming expectations and winning Summer League MVP. Lonzo averaged 16.3 points, a league best 9.3 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.0 steal per game. He truly displayed how much potential he has and why he’s a frontrunner to win Rookie of the Year this upcoming season.
Lonzo wasn’t the only bright spot for the Lakers. Kyle Kuzma, the 27th overall pick lit up Las Vegas and had a phenomenal championship game with 30 points, 10 rebounds, and winning the Championship game MVP honors.
Minnesota Timberwolves
After the Celtics rejected a swap for Jimmy Butler in exchange for the third overall pick, the Timberwolves saw an opportunity to get Jimmy Butler. The move was unexpected on draft night but what the Timberwolves gave up for Butler is what make them winners. They swapped Zach LaVine and Kris Dunn and the 7th overall pick for Jimmy Butler and the 16th overall pick. The Wolves roster already has a strong young core of Andrew Wiggins and Karl Anthony Towns and will now add Jimmy Butler, Jeff Teague, and Taj Gibson who bring veteran leadership in the locker room. In addition, Coach Thibodeau is already quite familiar with Butler’s game from their days together in Chicago so integrating him into the scheme shouldn’t be much of an issue.
Golden State Warriors
The Golden State warriors completely changed the dynamic of how teams should pursue free agents last offseason. After dominating the league and winning their second NBA championship in three years, the Warriors had quite an impressive offseason. First, the Warriors signed Stephen Curry to a max contract ($200M over 5 years) and retained Kevin Durant on a high value contract ($25M per year). In addition, they retained many of their key championship run players including Shaun Livingston (3 year, $24M), Andre Iguodala (3 year, $48M), David West (1 year, $2M), and Zaza Pachulia (1 year, $3.5M). Golden State also traded for 38th overall pick Jordan Bell who had a pleasant average of 5 points and 9 rebounds in summer league. Finally, the Warriors added Nick ‘Swaggy P’ Young who is a streaky shooter but is more than capable of knocking down open looks and Omri Casspi, another dynamic shooter who has spared with Steph in the past.
Other Notable Winners: Houston Rockets, OKC Thunder, Miami Heat, Denver Nuggets, Sacramento Kings, Dallas Mavericks
The Losers
Cleveland Cavaliers
Lebron James is concerned about the Cleveland Cavaliers offseason moves which automatically raises some flags. After getting nearly swept in the NBA Finals, the Cavaliers fired General Manager David Griffin and Vice President of Basketball Operations Trent Redden. In addition, the Cavaliers roster didn’t improve while several other teams including Houston and OKC added some key missing elements to bolster their rosters. The Cavs failed to land Carmelo Anthony because they were unable to find a taker for Kevin Love. In addition, recent reports indicate that Carmelo would prefer a trade to the Rockets over the Cavaliers.
Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz lost allstar point guard Gordan Hayward. They added Thabo Sefolosha, Jonas Jerebko and Ekpe Udoh. At least Utah Jazz fans got a kick out of Rudy Gobert singing Loyal minutes after Hayward announced his decision.
New York Knicks
The Good: Phil Jackson is gone. The Bad: Just about everything else. Carmelo Anthony is still a Knick. Kristaps Porzingis is unhappy. Tim Hardaway Jr. is back with the Knicks on a 4 year, $71M contract. Funny story, the Knicks traded Tim Hardaway in 2015 for Jerian Grant who was later traded for Derrick Rose. Derrick Rose’s contract was renounced this offseason in order to sign Tim Hardaway for his second stint with the Knicks…Classic Knicks…
Other Notable Losers: Brooklyn Nets, Indiana Pacers, Portland Trailblazers
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