ESPN+ article that Joe Cronin (#2) clearly doesn't agree with
After a particularly hectic year of trades and free agent signings, let's examine what the league might have learned about how to construct a winning roster. The upcoming postseason might change views, of course, but many of the most important transactions from last summer and the trade deadline have already borne fruit, one way or the other.
Here are eight lessons from the past year of transactions, for all the teams trying to improve this summer.
1. Don't trade a 25-year-old generational superstar with no warninglol, duh...
2. The easiest way to help a young star is to surround him with shootersUnless that player is Scoot Henderson....
Detroit Pistons point guard Cade Cunningham is the heavy favorite to be named Most Improved Player this season. But which has improved more: Cunningham's own skill set or his broader team situation?
En route to finishing an NBA-worst 14-68 last season, the Pistons regularly used anachronistic, no-spacing lineups that were a better fit for 2004...Beyond the arc, the 2023-24 Pistons ranked 29th in makes, 27th in attempts and 26th in accuracy...brought in a host of new shooters to give Cunningham space to operate. Malik Beasley signed a one-year deal, and he now leads the league in made 3s with 292. Fellow shooters were added via a multiyear deal (Tobias Harris) and a trade (Tim Hardaway Jr.)...while the Pistons overall still rank as an average 3-point-shooting team, the additional spacing has done wonders for both their team -- now fifth place in the Eastern Conference with a 42-33 record -- and Cunningham's performance.
This lesson could apply to several teams this offseason but most of all the Orlando Magic, who rank 30th in 3-point makes and percentage and desperately need better shooters to surround Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner.
BTW, POR ranks 25th in FG% and 25th in 3pt FG%, but sure, no reason to address that at all though. And ORL? wow...
3. Beware pricey free agents in their 30sYou mean like paying $30+ million to 31yr old Jerami Grant?
Caldwell-Pope also has failed to live up to expectations in Orlando. The Magic have stumbled this season primarily because of injuries, but they surely hoped for more from their free agent splash. Caldwell-Pope had been a 40% 3-point shooter over the past five seasons before cratering to 32% in Orlando, while also putting up his lowest scoring average since he was a rookie.
I mean no other player was as much of a beneficiary of playing off of great players as KCP was, and while Banchero\Wagner are good, they are not Jokic. Saw this coming when they signed him to that contract, he is generally only as good as the players he plays with. KCP will be 33 next year
4. Don't sacrifice talent from a win-now roster because of long-term apron concernsPOR certainly benefitted (unfortunately) from this and caught MIN early in the year after that KAT\Randle trade, picking up 2 wins they likely would not have
So, the Timberwolves -- whose financial situation was extra complicated because of the franchise's ongoing ownership drama -- were proactive, shedding Towns' contract in exchange for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. The problem is, in doing so they made an NBA Finals contender worse...The Timberwolves already had lost more games by the end of February than they did all of last season, and they're fighting to avoid the play-in tournament after reaching the conference finals a year ago.
5. You don't need to trade your starThis is not applicable to POR, since....they don't have one
...the Cavaliers "never entertained the possibility of exploring Garland's value in the trade market. Nor did Garland ever indicate a desire to leave Cleveland."
You can scratch Garland off a potential list of acquisitions for POR...
6. Players on midsize contracts are valuable both on the court and in the trade marketContenders have a tendency to shift their roster into a stars-and-scrubs structure, often with little in between in the apron era...midsize contracts can still pack plenty of value, particularly when constructing trades, due to tighter salary-matching rules...Last summer, they signed Buddy Hield, De'Anthony Melton and Kyle Anderson to contracts worth between $9.2 million and $12.8 million per season. Hield has turned in a solid campaign and ranks second on the team in total points. Meanwhile, the Warriors swapped Melton for Dennis Schroder (and his similarly sized contract) in December, after Melton tore his left ACL, then used Schroder and Anderson to help match Butler's salary when trading for the six-time All-Star in February.
POR has Williams ($13.3) & Thybulle ($11.6), too bad Grant ($32), Ayton ($35.6) & Simons ($27.7) are so ridiculously overpaid. I would not expect a great price (or even necessarily a good one) for any of those players.
7. Don't pay superstar prices for a non-star in trade...the Knicks sent five future first-round picks and a swap across town to the Brooklyn Nets. It was a similar cost that other teams had recently paid in deals for Kevin Durant, Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. But Durant, Mitchell and Gobert were all perennial All-Stars, while Bridges had never been one of the top dozen players in his conference. Role players shouldn't cost a handful of first-round picks.
I'd say he is better than a role player, but yeah (5) 1st round picks is pretty egregious
8. Reinforce your strengths...Thunder general manager Sam Presti made two key moves to improve his roster: He signed Isaiah Hartenstein and traded young, offensively oriented guard Josh Giddey to the Chicago Bulls for veteran wing stopper Alex Caruso.
The Thunder already had the fourth-ranked defense last season, but they sought more ace defenders anyway. Caruso ranks as the most impactful per-possession defender in the sport -- a smidge ahead of Victor Wembanyama -- and Hartenstein ranks fifth, according to estimated plus-minus. The result is one of the best defensive units in NBA history, which is fueling the Thunder to the best point differential the league has ever seen.
Thunder general manager Sam Presti made two key moves to improve his roster: He signed Isaiah Hartenstein and traded young, offensively oriented guard Josh Giddey to the Chicago Bulls for veteran wing stopper Alex Caruso.
The Thunder already had the fourth-ranked defense last season, but they sought more ace defenders anyway. Caruso ranks as the most impactful per-possession defender in the sport -- a smidge ahead of Victor Wembanyama -- and Hartenstein ranks fifth, according to estimated plus-minus. The result is one of the best defensive units in NBA history, which is fueling the Thunder to the best point differential the league has ever seen.
So, there are some similarities here. POR also has a roster IMO, of strong defensive players. It would be no surprise for them to keep adding to that in the draft\offseason.
However....No star (SGA)? Pretty critical...
League average 3pt FG% is 36%, OKC has 4 rotational players (5 if you count Mitchell, who was shooting 43% before he went down with an injury 34 games into the season) that are shooting over 39%, POR has one (Walker, a barely rotational player)
League average FG% is 46.7%, OKC is shooting at a 48% clip, POR at a 45% clip....
