Busy & Shortened NBA Off-Season Promises Another Interesting Year
With another exciting NBA season set to begin, there were a few major off-season moves were noting.
Here’s a quick breakdown of some roster moves since the end of last season that are worth taking note of today.
A few of these moves were already chronicled in our previous look at the NBA off-season, so we won’t include them here.
Last year’s champs made a few solid moves
The Los Angeles Lakers will defend their championship with what is likely a better overall roster. The Lakers picked up Dennis Schroder in exchange for Finals hero Danny Green and also grabbed Montrezl Harrell from the cross-town rival Clippers. Both new additions are consistent Sixth Man of the Year contenders.
The Lakers also added Wesley Matthews for very little money and swapped Dwight Howard for Marc Gasol.
Oh yeah, they also signed their two superstars, LeBron James and Anthony Davis to multi-year contracts. The Lakers will certainly still be a huge force to be reckoned with in the near future.
Nets get two huge stars back from injury
Both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving will return to a vastly improved Nets roster this year. They return to what is a fairly talented core roster. Expect better things from the Nets over the next few years.
Golden State has roller coaster off-season
The Warriors, unfortunately, lost Klay Thompson for yet another season to an Achilles injury. However, they did use the #2 pick to grab James Wiseman and will again get a healthy Stephen Curry on the court again.
The Warriors also have Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Oubre Jr. to round out what should be an interesting team this season.
Westbrook – Wall trade was this off-season’s blockbuster deal
There was a great deal of speculation about Westbrook’s then-teammate James Harden leaving Houston, but ultimately it was Westbrook who was dealt in a deal for Washington’s talented John Wall and a first-round pick.
Both teams should be better off for the deal, though Harden’s situation has not been completely resolved yet either. The Rockets did also add DeMarcus Cousins in an attempt to revive his career.
The 76ers pick up shooting for Simmons and Embiid
Philadelphia will look different but familiar this season after acquiring Danny Green and Seth Curry. The Sixers are looking to spread the floor as they once did prior to trading for Horford.
They also added Dwight Howard while saying goodbye to Al Horford and Josh Richardson.
It definitely looks like the 76ers aren’t ready just yet to give up on the Simmons-Embiid era and should be interesting to watch develop this season.
Atlanta secures some huge free agents
The Hawks had a bold off-season after they signed Bogdan Bogdanovic and Danilo Gallinari. The Hawks also added veteran Rajon Rondo and Kris Dunn to a team with a decent amount of talent including Clit Capela, John Collins, and of course Trae Young.
Hayward signs with the Hornets
Gordon Hayward’s tenure in Boston ended after he signed with the Hornets after a lot of rumors about moving elsewhere. Hopefully he can bite the injury bug and get back to his usual self in Charlotte to add some much needed life into that franchise.
Blazers make some moves
Portland also had a fairly busy off-season and ended up adding Robert Covington, Derrick Jones Jr. and Enes Kanter.
This adds some more depth to a roster already full of talent with Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum, Jusuf Nurkic, Carmelo Anthony and Rodney Hood.
Giannis signs a record $228 million extension with the Bucks
Last but not least, reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo agreed to a five year deal with the Bucks and will continue to give them a shot at a title every year for some time.
The Bucks were also able to add All-Star Jrue Holiday to an already talented squad and shall remain one of the East’s favorites moving forward.
“The Greek Freak”s re-signing with a small market franchise like Milwaukee is a huge win in that regard too and something for many smaller franchises to consider moving forward.
