Winners and losers of the NBA Free Agency: Hawks and Rockets get up while the Lakers stop
It is an agreement with theater between fans of the NBA and analysts to jump to premature conclusions a week or so in the free agency, and far from me wandering from tradition. So, here are the first winners and losers of the musical chairs of this season, so far:
The winners
Atlanta Hawks They are large enough to remember when a Hawks team led by Trane made the Eastern Conference finals some seasons ago. Since then, their decrease from the contender status has been steep: the Dejounte Murray experiment was and came, and the commercial chatter around Young have only become stronger. But this season seems considerably different and this is largely due to a low season from the front office of Atlanta. Somehow they convinced the New Orleans Pelicans to give up an unprotected choice of the first round next year just to climb 10 miserable points in the draft (!! more on the one later), and launched the players of the role insignificant terance mann and Georges Niang for Krristps Porzingis, Nickeilander-Walker and Luke Kennard. Almost during the night they became one of the deepest teams in the East. And they were already on something last year, with the overall choice of Zacharie Rinaccher, the most improved player Dyson Daniels and the defensive channel Jalen Johnson, who is returning from an injury. This is the best shot that Trene Young has ever had to make real noise in a weakened east.
Announcement
Denver Nuggets The Kroenkes, who own Nuggets, could never be accused of being fast and free with their money. Just last week, Josh Kroenke raised his eyebrows when he randy the idea of exchanging the best player on earth Nikola Jokić if the team’s tax invoice became too steep. But the merit where it is due: Denver is having an out of season formida. Milk-Milk-In-The-Sun’s Michael Porter Jr downloaded the Michael Porter JR (together with a choice of the first unprotected round of 2032, a bridge that they will cross when they arrive) in exchange for the magnet exchanged Cameron Johnson, much better next to Jokić and one who will earn about half. Bruce Brown Jr also reported with a minimum veteran agreement, an absolute theft for a player who seriously lost during his period as a journalist in the championship. A bizarre inversion of the last minute of Jonas Valanciunas, who according to what reported from the signature with Denver to return to Europe, aroused a short sensation. But everything said, the Nuggets have gone from “Are they really about to waste Jokić’s first?” “Bona Fide Contender” in a few days.
Houston Rockets Nobody is experiencing a better summer of the rockets. After a commendable season that saw them emerge as the surprise seed no 2 in a stacked western conference and, without a real superstar, the head coach IME UDOKA has earned a well -deserved coach nomination of the year. They entered offseason with a young, deep and exciting (but still imperfect), and an evident need for a shot at the end of the game and a nearby offensive. Enter Kevin Durant. Houston landed the Future Hall of Famer, giving up only the Jalen Green charged with a questioning market, the Mercurial Dillon Brooks and the modest shooting capital. They didn’t stop there. The Rockets maintained Fred Vanvleet, added the Backup Clint Capela center and silently grabbed the 3-and Dorian Finney-Smith wing of the Lakers. Now they are exactly where any team wants to be: deep, balanced and ready to face the reigning champion Thunder.
The losers
Pelicani of New Orleans Self -awareness is one of the most precious skills in life, especially when performing a front office NBA. The Pellicani, apparently, are scarce. They opened the offseason by exchanging for Jordan Poole (?), So they followed that skyscraper with one of the most disconcerting moves of the day of pulling in recent memory: exchange theirs unprotected 2025 Word of the first round to climb only 10 points in this year’s draft (from n. 23 to n 13 to be specific). For those who keep track at home: there is no reason to believe that New Orleans will even be a team of player in a western conference of the next season, not to mention reaching the playoffs and that choice they have given up could easily end as n. 1 ever (especially if the injury bug continues to afflict them). This means that there is a different possibility from scratch that the Pellicans have just distributed the rights to the generational perspective AJ Dybursa … for the privilege of climbing 10 slots in a draft in which they already had two first rounds. Lunazia.
Announcement
Milwaukee Bucks Listen, we all made desperate decisions in a panic haze to prevent someone from leaving. It is essential for the human condition. But the measure that the dollars are completely and fully cooked when the 31 -year -old Giannis Antetokounmpo requires an exchange, a result that seems more inevitable day by day, cannot be overrated. When Damian Lillard and his $ 56 million salary went down indefinitely with an Achille broken this spring, Milwaukee was panic and understandably. But giving up and lengthening Lillard means $ 22 million in dead money … Every year for the next five years. And they did this to create space to sign Myles Turner, which replaces Brook Lopez’s veteran at the start. Turner is a solid starting center, of course, but almost enough a motorcycle to revoke the essentially identical roster of a loser in the first round of the glory of the championship, and certainly it is not worth it almost $ 50 million Milwaukee will now pay between his salary and the acquisition of Lillard. Panic instinct is understandable. The results may prove to be catastrophic.
Lebron James and Luka Dončić From the front-office point of view, the Lakers are riding. The team has just sold for $ 10 billion from records to Dodgers who control the owner Mark Walter and, at least for now, still have the jewel of the crown of one of the most lops in the history of the NBA on their list. But for said crown jewel, Luka Dončić, and his childhood idol who became teammate Lebron James, the perspectives are not so rosy. The Laker Land company line is that they are giving priority to future flexibility compared to Win-think moves, but it seems a little ridiculous. To begin with, when it was the last time that a real turning point actually came to free agency instead of signing the maximum and requesting a trade later? And Lebron, now 40 and leaving a season in which he closed in sixth place in MVP and has created the second All-Nba team, clearly does not adapt to that long-term temporal sequence. Dončić, at 26 years old and entering his peak, does not have time to wait. Yes, technically they turned to their evident hole in the center adding Deandre Ayton in a buyout and Jake Laravia was a nice low -cost pickup forward. But after losing his friend and key collaborator of Dončić Dorian Finney-Smith in the free agency, according to what reported not in excellent terms, there are still serious holes in this list. And little signs the front office feels any urgency to fill them. Dončić and James deserve better.
Honor mention
Fans of the Indiana Pacers From a game away from a championship and one of the most exciting young teams of the League to fix the one -year cane without Tyrese Haliburton and watch the 10 -year veteran Myles Turner who walks in the free agency due, presumably, to the reluctance of the Pacers property to go to the luxury tax. They were a couple of difficult weeks to be a fan of Pacers and have my most sincere sympathies.