Biggest Off-Season Winners & Losers (so far)

[RookieStar]

1. Hawks
2. Rockets
3. Nuggets
4. Bucks

Hmmmm one does not belong there..

[DrModesty]

1) Dallas - They got Flagg which is a monumental boost to the franchise. Gafford extension feels a little pricey given what we have seen since, but it is still fine. D'Angelo a solid and cheap stop gap for Kyrie.

2) OKC - Sure, it was always going to happen, but they got the MVP of the league to sign a 4 year extension. Sorber pick makes a lot of sense. Cheap extensions for deep rotation players.

3) Spurs - Got to add a blue chip prospect in Harper. Another lottery pick in Bryant. Signed a long term back up for Wemby.

4) Houston - Added Kevin Durant. I am a little more dubious than consensus on how impactful that will be, but it is still a strong player with a needed skillset at a nice trade price. DFS signing was good. Adams extension was solid. FVV extension was good. Jarabi extension was solid with good upside. Capela signing was solid.

5) Hawks - Got the Pels pick. Take a nice flier on Porzingis. Swapping out Mann for NAW is an upgrade. Roster around Trae makes the most sense it ever has. Timing the conference well.

Nuggets, Magic, Grizzlies are also having off seasons I like a lot.

[marson]

Houston
Denver
Hawks
Magic

[AussieBuck]

1. Hawks
2. Rockets
3. Nuggets
4. Bucks

Totally agree on the first 3, but Bucks?
Maybe I'm too low on Turner, but any upgrade from Lopez to him doesn't offset what they lose with their aging core being 1y older and losing their all-star PG (I'm comparing their 25-26 season to 24-25 where Lillard played and they still were kind of mid at best).

For me Orlando Magic are definitely on that list: Bane addition (even if they overpaid, IDK), some other lateral moves + internal improvement from their young core, and I see them as a powerhouse in the East.
Knicks low-key added some adequate bench pieces to a great starting 5.

Bucks were at a dead end, they needed to operate with 125M spent on Giannis, Kuzma and Portis while Dame is on the sidelines, when he wasn't helpful even when healthy.
They were also tax repeaters and very expensive, looking at losing key player in Brook Lopez due to aging out.
They now have a starting center who fits the bill, OK roster to compete in the east, maybe even win a round, and they won't be tax payers for this year and most likely the next which allows them to reset their books.
I don't think they had better options, it's not spectacular, but given their starting point, they made a lemonade out of a rotten lemon.
For the next 3 years, they'll have Giannis and Turner and flexibility to fill the roster with fitting pieces, with "only" 22.5M of dead money, most teams have this money lying around due to bad contracts.

^^^ this guy gets it.

[doogie_hauser]

From each conference Atlanta and Houston, although I really like Denver's moves too.

[nikster]

Yeah, it is Denver and Hawks on paper, but I have no faith in Hawks squad, but think that Pelicans pick will be goiden.

The Hawks aren't a championship team, but they got better. NAW, Porzingis (even if he's only healthy half the time), Kennard and Newell are good additions to the team. Plus, Jalen Johnson should be healthier and I bet Daniels and Risacher improve.

I just don't like relying on KP, and they really don't have much size if he's out. I guess they did okay with Capela only playing 55 games, but it's still a gamble.

[KGtabake]

I like the Nuggets so far.
For Houston I'm hesitant. Too much rely on Durant's health.

[Magicman125]

Houston is the winner of the offseason imo.

Then Denver, then Atlanta, then Orlando.

[RookieStar]

Speaking of ATL... they got KP. Did they ever find out that mystery illness of KP that led him to miss PO games? Reddit hae all sorts of wild theories including STDs lol

[Takwin]

1. Rockets
2. Hawks (literal equal to Knicks/Cavs, no joke)
3. Nuggets (two year window is wide open with Joker)
4. Grizz (they got FOUR firsts, still have Ja/JJJ, and lots of decent wings)

[They_Them_Hatin]

East- Hawks

West- Rockets

Both really turned mediocre players with bad contracts into better players.

I really liked what Denver did with what they had.

[wegotthabeet]

1. Rockets
2. Hawks (literal equal to Knicks/Cavs, no joke)
3. Nuggets (two year window is wide open with Joker)
4. Grizz (they got FOUR firsts, still have Ja/JJJ, and lots of decent wings)

First person to write Memphis.

They should be number one in my opinion. They just showed everyone the future of how to operate in the new CBA. Traded their third best player for a haul of picks. Great scouting, great development system. Excellent draft as usual. I’m not convinced they have the right two players to build around, but this is the template moving forward. Pay close attention.

[Sixers in 4]

1. OKC they resigned SGA and brought back the entire squad from their championship
2. Rockets improved not to the point of being favorites
3. Nuggets like their moves but not favorites
4. Raptors they finally fired Masai
5. Knicks they improved their bench. We won't talk about Mike Brown or their coaching search

[Sealab2024]

Hawks are my sleeper in the East. If they can get decent rim protection that defense is gonna be able to go with multiple looks and just be filthy. Meanwhile Trae has shooters around him now and can be the system on offense. An ECF appearance would not surprise me.

[nate33]

Probably unpopular opinion here, but I do agree with what Pacers are doing so far.
Without Hali, that team would probably be a first round exit team anyway, even if they even make it in the postseason (I wouldn't be surprised to see Cavs, Hawks, Knicks, Magic and Pistons all much better, so a single surprising team (Sixers? Bulls?) sends Pacers to the play-in), so they didn't commit any long-term money for Turner who will be 30yo when Hali returns, and who IMHO was kind of exposed in June (and despite the numbers I didn't like what I saw from him in May as well).
Now they have a gap year, I hope it will be to give more PT to youngsters, maybe giving the keys to Mathurin, all while they regained control of their 2026 FRP. Now bring in some cheap high-upside centers (ofc high-bust potential as well, otherwise they wouldn't be cheap) with team option on their 2nd or 3rd year, and as a new member of Pacers bandwagon I'll call it an excellent summer.

Any suggestions on these cheap high-upside centers who would be willing to sign a contract with a team option on their 2nd and 3rd year?

[WargamesX]

For me it’s Orlando and then the Nuggets and then ATL in that order

Knicks and Rockets get honorable mention

[Stone]

We haven't seen the eastern conference this week in a long long time. There is not even that much hope on the horizon.

[nate33]

4) Houston - Added Kevin Durant. I am a little more dubious than consensus on how impactful that will be, but it is still a strong player with a needed skillset at a nice trade price. DFS signing was good. Adams extension was solid. FVV extension was good. Jarabi extension was solid with good upside. Capela signing was solid.

The Durant move at such a low cost was good. FVV, Jabari and Adams extensions were good.

I don't really get the DFS signing. Houston was already loaded with big wing defenders with Amen, Eason, Durant and Smith (plus Whitmore for instant offense). I think they should have used their remaining resources to shore up the guard position with another guy who could score from the perimeter. And the Capela signing was a total head scratcher. They already have Adams and Sengun to handle all the center minutes. And if they plan on playing Sengun at forward, that just means good players like Smith and Eason will barely play.

It was poor resource management.

[kaansunman]

Rockets- They flipped Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks to KD and Dorian Finney Smith. Land back Capela and keeping Adams, they created a solid frontcourt to compete with the bigs of West. They extended with Jabari, Uncle Jeff is there to mentor, Tate and Holiday will provide you the depth. It's a huge upgrade to the roster and I am sure my Alpi will improve himself to the next level.

[Los_29]

1. Orlando
2. Denver
3. Houston

Orlando gave up a lot but it’s a wide open East and I think they can come out of it with that roster.