1 Word to Describe Every NBA Team's Offseason – Bleacher Report

Sometimes, less is more. That certainly applies in this case as we begin to summarize the 2023 NBA offseason.
Whether your favorite team’s summer can be described as “ascending” or “promising,” or “disoriented” or “disaster,” sometimes it really is easy to define a few months’ worth of work into a single word (with some additional context, of course).
Here’s how best to describe every NBA team’s offseason.

The Atlanta Hawks couldn’t have been more mediocre last season, finishing 41-41 overall and eighth among the 15 teams in the East.
They did little to move the needle forward this offseason, with their biggest transaction being merely to dump John Collins and his remaining contract on the Utah Jazz.
Getting Dejounte Murray signed to a four-year, $114 million extension was nice, but it ultimately won’t improve the on-court product this season. Onyeka Okongwu and Saddiq Bey are both eligible for rookie extensions, although nothing’s been worked out as of yet.
This should be one of the more active teams in the trade market, but for now, it’s been a very underwhelming offseason for a franchise that’s failed to take the next step.

Whether you’re in the camp of loving or hating the Boston Celtics’ offseason, there’s no denying that swapping a staple of the franchise in Marcus Smart for Kristaps Porziņģis was a major gamble.
Porziņģis was terrific for Washington last season but is just 16 months removed from being dumped by the Dallas Mavericks for Spencer Dinwiddie and Dāvis Bertāns. Now 28 and entering his ninth season, Porziņģis has only played an average of 50.3 games per year for his career.
The Celtics recently announced that Porziņģis has been diagnosed with plantar fasciitis and is undergoing a four-to-six-week rehab program.
A two-year, $60 million extension means Boston has over $96 million committed to Porziņģis over the next three years. That’s quite a gamble.

The Brooklyn Nets re-signed Cameron Johnson to a four-year, $94.5 million deal, although it took a Joe Harris salary dump to the Detroit Pistons to orchestrate. Lonnie Walker IV and Dennis Smith Jr. were added to the rotation, while Seth Curry left to sign with the Dallas Mavericks.
In the end, this new-look group appears to be a very mediocre one in the Eastern Conference. Brooklyn doesn’t have the horses to run with the Milwaukee Bucks or Boston Celtics but won’t be bad enough to battle the Washington Wizards for the worst record in the conference, either.
The Nets were 13-15 after the All-Star break, limping into the playoffs where they were promptly swept by the Philadelphia 76ers. Brooklyn’s net rating of minus-1.6 ranked just 22nd in the NBA and put the team on a 37-win pace over an 82-game schedule.
Maybe we see another leap from Mikal Bridges, Nic Claxton and Johnson and anything this team gets from Ben Simmons at this point is a bonus.
At the end of the day, this is a good (but far from great) team in the East.

Getting a true running mate for LaMelo Ball has been a priority for the Charlotte Hornets for years now, and thanks to a disastrous 2022-23 season, the team may have finally found one with No. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller.
While Miller, 20, may not look like a star out of the gates, he’s got an ideal NBA frame and skill set to thrive as a wing next to Ball.
The Hornets still need to work out P.J. Washington’s restricted free agency, and Miles Bridges’ future with the team is anything but settled after he signed a $7.9 million qualifying offer, having sat out last season ahead of pleading no contest to a felony domestic violence charge.
If Miller hits as a second star on this roster, however, this offseason will have been deemed a success.

The Chicago Bulls will be part of an elusive fraternity we’re hereby referring to as “the .500s,” a group that includes the Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets and others in the East who should finish around 41-41 overall.
Chicago is largely bringing back the same roster that went 40-42 last year, re-signing Nikola Vučević, Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu and trying once again to squeeze winning basketball out of Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan.
This just isn’t going to happen, not even with the additions of Jevon Carter and Torrey Craig. The core of LaVine, DeRozan and Vučević had a net rating of just plus-0.7 together in 3,334 possessions, according to Cleaning the Glass. This team desperately needs a true point guard and should be checking in on everyone from Tyus Jones to James Harden.
Chicago will be fine this season, although sometimes in the NBA, this is the worst place to be.

The Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t need to make any major roster moves this offseason, instead adding to a terrific young core that simply needed more shooting and depth.
Cleveland finished last season just 24th overall in three-point attempts, a product of having two non-shooting big men, a small forward who was hesitant to shoot in Isaac Okoro and the removal (and later buyout) of Kevin Love.
The Cavaliers should look far more modernized this year with Max Strus likely starting over Okoro and Georges Niang serving as a floor-spacing power forward next to both Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley at times. Getting Ty Jerome (38.9 percent from three, lifetime 50.9 percent three-point attempt rate) was a sneaky-good addition to the backcourt as well.
Look for more three-pointers to fly in Cleveland this season and more driving lanes to be open for Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and others.

The Dallas Mavericks were forced to bid against themselves for Kyrie Irving this summer or lose him for nothing in free agency. While they ultimately made the right decision by re-signing the All-Star point guard, Dallas is trapped in the Irving experiment for at least three more years at the notable cost of $40 million per season.
The rest of the roster has been filled out with role players (Grant Williams, Tim Hardaway Jr., Maxi Kleber, Seth Curry, Dwight Powell) with the hopes that either Josh Green or Jaden Hardy can flash some more star potential. First-round picks Dereck Lively II and Olivier-Maxence Prosper could become contributors eventually.
Nothing Dallas did should give us much confidence that it will definitely be back in the playoffs, especially with teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder and New Orleans Pelicans trying to break into the top eight teams in the West as well.
This avalanche began when the Mavs botched Jalen Brunson’s contract-extension talks and has only gained force with the addition of Irving. The Mavericks are trapped with a lackluster roster around two All-Star talents, which in the loaded West, may not get them far.

The word “party” was also considered here to describe the Denver Nuggets’ offseason, as the champions began their summer with one of the biggest celebrations the city has ever seen.
After the lights were turned off and everyone went home, however, the Nuggets simply didn’t have a great offseason.
Bruce Brown and Jeff Green left to sign bigger contracts elsewhere, and Denver made the questionable decision to use what little cash it had left to give 33-year-old Reggie Jackson a two-year, $10.3 million contract with a player option. Considering he played 18 total minutes in the playoffs, it seems like the money could have been better spent elsewhere.
The Nuggets are undoubtedly not as deep as the team we just saw hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy two months ago, although they should still be the title favorites heading into 2023-24.

There’s still too many big men on this roster, but overall, the Detroit Pistons took a real step forward this summer.
Adding Ausar Thompson with the No. 5 pick fills a lot of needs, as the 6’7″ wing can do almost everything on the floor and averaged 13.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.8 blocks and shot 46.5 percent overall in four summer-league games. He’s got all the tools to become an elite, multi-positional defender.
Detroit used a large portion of its cap space to add Joe Harris in a salary dump from the Brooklyn Nets. The veteran shooting guard knocked down 42.6 percent of his threes last season, a number that should help lift the Pistons’ 22nd-ranked efficiency as a team (35.1 percent).
Perhaps most importantly, Cade Cunningham is healthy once again and thriving at Team USA camp with the select team, putting to rest any concern that he wouldn’t be ready for the start of the season.
Overall, it’s been a very promising summer in the Motor City.

The Golden State Warriors are better in the short term after flipping Jordan Poole for Chris Paul, although any and all age jokes should now be considered fair game.
If Andre Iguodala retires, Paul will be the third-oldest player in the NBA only behind LeBron James and P.J. Tucker, and will celebrate his 39th birthday during the second round of the playoffs.
Golden State also added a pair of veterans in Cory Joseph and Dario Šarić and lost 26-year-old Donte DiVincenzo to the New York Knicks, bringing their average age to 29.0, the highest in the NBA.
Draymond Green and Klay Thompson will each turn 34 during the season. Stephen Curry will be 36 in March.
It’s entirely possible that Golden State has a fifth championship since 2014-15 in it, but swapping Poole for Paul only closes the title window sooner.

No team spent more money in free agency than the Houston Rockets, a total of $264.9 million and over $65 million more than the next-closest team (Dallas Mavericks).
Armed with the most cap space of any team headed into the summer, the Rockets paid handsomely for Fred VanVleet (three years, $128.5 million), Dillon Brooks (four years, $86 million), Jock Landale (four years, $32 million) and Jeff Green (two years, $16 million).
With all this spending, however, Brooks’ contract is the only bad one of the bunch.
VanVleet has a $44.9 million team option in Year 3, Landale’s deal isn’t guaranteed past the $8 million this season and Green’s second year is a team option as well.
Getting a proven point guard in VanVleet was huge for this Rockets team, even at this price point. Houston has one of the best young cores in the entire NBA, with a former champion now on board to lead the way.

Things are looking up for the Indiana Pacers after a productive offseason that should have them back in the East play-in picture this year.
Signing Tyrese Haliburton to a five-year extension was a no-brainer. Landing one of the best free agents in Bruce Brown was a pleasant surprise, especially since he agreed to a team option next season.
The Pacers even filled their biggest need, at power forward, by selecting Jarace Walker in the lottery and trading for Obi Toppin, who has previously thrived when given a bigger role.
Keeping veterans Myles Turner and Buddy Hield signaled that this team wants to win and grow at the same time, something we should see from Indiana in 2023-24.

The Los Angeles Clippers’ roster was screaming for a major shake-up this offseason, and even with the addition of some young blood in Kobe Brown and Kenyon Martin Jr., it is still the second-oldest in the NBA, trailing only the Golden State Warriors.
We still have no reason to believe Kawhi Leonard and Paul George can play more than 57 games in a season (something neither has done in four years as teammates), and the core of Marcus Morris Sr., Nicolas Batum, Robert Covington, Mason Plumlee and Norman Powell are all in their early-to-mid-30s.
The Clippers are eligible to trade two first-round picks (2028 and 2030) and have enough interesting young(ish) players (Brown, Martin, Bones Hyland, Terance Mann) to build somewhat of a trade package around.
Being this stagnant is only going to allow some of the up-and-comers in the West (Oklahoma City Thunder, New Orleans Pelicans, Minnesota Timberwolves) to pass the Clippers, possibly as early as this season.

The Los Angeles Lakers were a mess at this time last year as they chose to keep Russell Westbrook, while their “major” moves included trading for Patrick Beverley and signing Lonnie Walker IV, Troy Brown Jr., Juan Toscano-Anderson, Thomas Bryant and Damian Jones.
While it was fair to criticize the job Rob Pelinka did at the time, it’s also right to admire what he’s accomplished over the last six months.
A roster turnover that began at the trade deadline only got better this summer as the Lakers retained a lot of their key players instead of trying to make a big splash in free agency. In addition to re-signing Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves to three- and four-year deals, Pelinka got Anthony Davis to agree to a three-year, $186 million extension. Had Davis played this season out, he could have signed a new five-year contract that would have easily topped $300 million.
Adding Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, Cam Reddish, Jaxson Hayes and re-signing D’Angelo Russell made for a terrific offseason overall and helped vindicate Pelinka after his prior mistakes.

Was there any other word to best describe what the Memphis Grizzlies did to navigate a tricky situation this summer?
Ja Morant received a 25-game suspension in June after appearing to wield a gun on social media for a second time.

Trading for Marcus Smart was the perfect way to cover for Morant’s absence to begin the season and give this team a playoff-trusted veteran to place next to him when Morant returns.
Smart’s 6’9″ wingspan and overall strength should allow Memphis to easily play three-guard lineups along with Desmond Bane, who the Grizzlies extended for five years after his breakout season (21.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 40.8 percent from three).
Adding Derrick Rose as another vet in the locker room that Morant can lean on was important as well, and the 34-year-old should still have a rotation role this season.
Memphis added a key starter to this group without sacrificing any major players outside of Tyus Jones, who was heading for free agency next summer. Overall, a really nice job by the Grizzlies.

According to the Miami Herald‘s Barry Jackson, the Portland Trail Blazers are “still showing no interest in doing a deal” with the Miami Heat a month-and-a-half after Damian Lillard’s trade request.
The Blazers have no motivation to get a deal done now with training camps not starting until October. Teams often need a deadline to get a trade completed, and the rebuilding Trail Blazers are in no hurry to part with their franchise player in the middle of August.
Outside of waiting for Lillard and losing Max Strus and Gabe Vincent in free agency, Miami has made some good moves. Adding Josh Richardson, Thomas Bryant and re-signing Kevin Love will help give the Heat some extra depth for when (if?) a Lillard trade goes through.
All signs still point to Lillard going to the Heat. But for now, Miami’s offseason is incomplete.

The Milwaukee Bucks went into the summer knowing they couldn’t retain every free agent. Even after letting a few go, Milwaukee is still facing a $58.4 million luxury-tax bill alone on top of a $182.8 million roster.
With that being said, the Bucks signed whom they needed to re-sign.
Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez are both returning, albeit $141 million richer. Jae Crowder even agreed to come back on a one-year, $3.2 million deal, while Malik Beasley surprisingly inked a one-year, veteran-minimum deal as well.
Milwaukee did lose Joe Ingles to the Orlando Magic and Jevon Carter to the Chicago Bulls. Those two were important role players who gave this aging team some necessary wing and backcourt depth.
The Bucks did just enough to keep themselves at the top of the East and competing for championships.

The Minnesota Timberwolves had a fairly quiet offseason outside of signing Anthony Edwards to a five-year max extension that could be worth up to $260 million.
While those numbers are eye-popping at first, this could turn into one of the best-value contracts in the NBA before it’s over. Edwards is a superstar in the making, and he should soon pass Devin Booker and Donovan Mitchell for “best shooting guard in the NBA” honors.
Of the 443 times in NBA history that a player has played in a playoff series at 21 or younger, Edwards’ scoring averages rank third (31.6 points per game) and 11th (25.2 as a 20-year-old in 2021-22) overall. The former mark trails only Luka Dončić (35.7 PPG) and Tracy McGrady (33.8 PPG).
Now starring for Team USA at the FIBA World Cup, we need to start mentioning Edwards as a top-15 player in the league.

While there were whispers about the New Orleans Pelicans possibly trading Zion Williamson or moving up in the draft to select Scoot Henderson, nothing of major significance ultimately happened in New Orleans this offseason.
Jaxson Hayes and Josh Richardson left in free agency, only to be replaced by Cody Zeller and No. 14 overall pick Jordan Hawkins. Herb Jones inked a four-year, $53.8 million to stay with the franchise as well.
While this turned out to be an uneventful offseason, the Pelicans already have the pieces in place to start going on deep playoff runs. The Pelicans outscored opponents by a whopping 17.3 points per 100 possessions with Williamson and Brandon Ingram on the floor last year, although injuries limited their time together to only 12 games.
As always, health will determine the Pelicans’ place in the West this season.

The New York Knicks’ plan to reassemble the 2015-16 NCAA champion Villanova Wildcats is going swimmingly so far. If New York can somehow acquire Mikal Bridges as well, it might be over for the rest of the league.
This offseason, the Knicks signed Donte DiVincenzo to a four-year, $46.9 million contract and gave Josh Hart a four-year, $80.9 million extension. Those two should share the floor with Jalen Brunson for the foreseeable future.
Brunson was terrific in his first season with the Knicks as expected, while the combination of him and Hart had a net rating of plus-22.2 in 490 total possessions together. Add in another former college teammate in DiVincenzo, and this team earns a high mark in chemistry.
The New York Wildcats Knicks should take another step forward this season.

At some point, they Oklahoma City Thunder are going to flip the switch from “fun, young team” to “these guys are going to destroy the NBA.”
This is the year OKC arrives.
They surprisingly went 40-42 last year, and their entire young core should all be better now. Getting a healthy Chet Holmgren back will be the biggest difference-maker, as the Thunder had 13 different players log minutes at center last season.
Having a true rim protector and lob target like Holmgren will help OKC ascend to a new level. The additions of Vasilije Micić, Dāvis Bertāns and Victor Oladipo should provide some veteran help as well.
Don’t be surprised to see the Thunder approach 50 wins and a top-six seed, even in the loaded West. This group plays hard every night and has a ton of young depth eager to prove themselves.
The OKC takeover has begun.

There’s a lot to like about this Orlando Magic roster. They won 34 games last season and were flirting with a spot in the play-in tournament.
After adding a pair of top-11 draft picks, a crafty veteran in Joe Ingles and a (hopeful) return of Jonathan Isaac from adductor surgery, this roster is suddenly congested, though.
The core of Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Anthony Black and Wendell Carter Jr. all need major minutes. Markelle Fultz, Cole Anthony, Jalen Suggs and Jett Howard are all recent top-15 picks as well. The Magic paid Ingles too much (two years, $22 million) for him to ride the bench, and Gary Harris started 42 of his 48 games last season.
We’re already at a full 10-man rotation without even factoring in Isaac, Moe Wagner, Chuma Okeke, Goga Bitadze or Caleb Houstan yet.
Training camp should feature plenty of battles, as Orlando’s rotation players will have to earn their playing time this season.

Other options here could include trainwreck, implosion or catastrophe. Any or all would do.
After another playoff meltdown and the Houston Rockets ruining whatever leverage he had left by instead signing Fred VanVleet, James Harden now has the Sixers by the steering wheel and is slowly running them off the road.
Few players have ever gone on record to call their boss a liar before, so there’s no way to predict where this saga turns next.
Harden is mad because he didn’t get the max contract that team president Daryl Morey reportedly implied he would get after he took a pay cut last offseason. The Sixers initially agreed to pursue a trade with Harden this offseason, but they recently called off those talks, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Morey has gotten out of bad situations before (see Simmons, Ben), but this one feels like his greatest challenge yet.

From the moment he purchased the Phoenix Suns, new team governor Mat Ishbia has been aggressively pursuing a championship.
Trading almost every remaining first-round pick swap and future second-rounders to get Bradley Beal was yet another high-risk, high-reward move to get the Suns closer to a title, second tax apron be damned.
With Devin Booker, Durant, Beal, Deandre Ayton and a lot of smart veteran-minimum signings this offseason, Phoenix should finish near the top of the West and be a nightmare in the playoffs. Booker and Durant already set postseason records as teammates with almost no prior experience together, and they now get a full training camp and regular season to build upon their rapport.
This roster and payroll could be in rough shape in a few years as Durant moves closer to his late 30s, although the current version is championship-worthy.

Whether he ultimately ends up with the Miami Heat or not, it’s probably safe to say that Damian Lillard has played his final game with the Portland Trail Blazers.
This doesn’t have to be an exclusively sorrowful time for Portland fans, though. It’s a transformational period into something new.
No. 3 overall pick Scoot Henderson looks like a future All-Star. Shaedon Sharpe played his entire rookie year at the age of 19 and averaged 23.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists while shooting 37.8 percent from three-point range over his final 10 games.
The Blazers already have a terrific young foundation to build on, and it should only get better with whatever they get for Lillard. With so few teams rebuilding at the moment, Portland could very well end up with the No. 1 pick of the 2024 draft as well.

The Denver Nuggets taught us the power of continuity and sticking with players. The Sacramento Kings are apparently following that playbook.
Using cap space to give Harrison Barnes a three-year, $54 million deal and signing Domantas Sabonis to a four-year, $186 million extension signaled that Sacramento believed in this core more than chasing outside free agents.
Sabonis, Barnes, De’Aaron Fox, Keegan Murray, Kevin Huerter and EuroLeague MVP Sasha Vezenkov are now all under contract for the next three seasons or longer, giving this group some real time to grow together.
With Sabonis being the next-closest player in the NBA to Nikola Jokić, perhaps the Kings are on to something.

The San Antonio Spurs had one of the best offseasons in the history of their franchise, which speaks volumes.
Victor Wembanyama is in the perfect location to maximize his career, one that could have him among the all-time greats. We’ve never seen a player with his combination of size and skill set, as the 19-year-old can dribble, pass and shoot from anywhere on the court.
There’s a real chance that Wembanyama could turn out to be a generational talent, much like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Luka Dončić or Tim Duncan before him.
The Spurs may not win a lot of games this season, but Wembanyama’s development will be far more important.

Remember “the .500’s” club that featured the Chicago Bulls, Brooklyn Nets and Atlanta Hawks? The Toronto Raptors might be lucky to join them this season.
After going 41-41 last season, they lost point guard Fred VanVleet to the Houston Rockets in free agency. VanVleet was the leaders on this team, and he posted a swing rating in the 84th percentile or higher in each of the past three seasons.
Instead, the Raptors gave Jakob Poeltl and Dennis Schröder over $100 million in new contracts and guaranteed 35-year-old Thaddeus Young’s contract for $8 million.
With Pascal Siakam and O.G. Anunoby both flight risks next offseason, Toronto’s plan is, well, disorienting at the moment.

The Utah Jazz are one of the more difficult teams to get a read on right now.
This offseason, they acquired John Collins via trade and gave Jordan Clarkson a two-year extension that included $9.2 million in new money this season. That suggests they aren’t punting on the year.
However, they also added three rookies in the first round, and Walker Kessler and Ochai Agbaji are only going into their second season.
Expectations should probably be tempered. This isn’t one of the better rosters in the Western Conference yet, even with Lauri Markkanen establishing himself as an All-Star.
The Jazz have had an ambitious offseason with their new additions. Just don’t expect them to go on a playoff run this season.

After years of spinning their wheels in the middle of the Eastern Conference, it was inevitable that the Washington Wizards would need to trade Bradley Beal and begin a rebuild.
It was the right thing to do, especially with so few other teams currently trying to tank. Washington could walk into a top-three pick next June with the roster as is.
However, the Wizards figure to keep tearing down.
Kyle Kuzma got his money this offseason and can now be shopped around the trade deadline. Tyus Jones, Danilo Gallinari, Delon Wright and other vets will likely follow.
Washington is now taking the long, lonely path back to relevance. Things figure to get worse before they get better.

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