The biggest domino of the NBA offseason finally dropped, and it landed in Philadelphia. That one move changed the temperature across the Atlantic Division, where the grades now tell a very different story for each team.
Boston comes out of the summer with a D+. Paying two players 70% of the cap is already a dangerous game, and the Celtics still might have been better off waiting for a cleaner path than settling for Paul George and a couple of low first-rounders.
George remains a very good player, but at 36, the decline could come quickly. Jayson Tatum is still a megastar, but he’s coming off an Achillies rupture, and if he’s not at 95% of what he was, Boston’s ceiling drops a lot.
Brooklyn gets a D, and the logic there is messy. The Nets should be better this season as their young players keep growing and Julius Randle raises the floor, but that doesn’t automatically make it a smart offseason.
They don’t control their own first-round pick this year, so adding Randle only eats up reps that could have gone to the youngsters. And with all that cap space, the haul was Mo Wagner and Keon Ellis?
Why not make a run at Peyton Watson or Walker Kessler? Sean Marks may be one of the nicest people in basketball, but the bigger question is simple: What is the plan?
New York lands at a B, and the loss of Mitchell Robinson is not as devastating as it’s been made out to be. His injury history matters, and his presence can trigger "hack-a" tactics, so the Knicks losing him isn’t a franchise-altering blow.
More importantly, that departure helped keep New York under the second apron, which gives the team this offseason’s favorite word: optionality. The Knicks also brought back Jose Alvarado, Landry Shamet and Mohamed Diawara on value deals.
Philadelphia is the clear winner, and it’s not close. Even before the LeBron James signing, the Sixers were already headed for an A after turning a 36-year-old with one of the worst contracts in the league into a 29-year-old All-NBA player for the price of two likely low first-round picks.
Then they drafted LaBaron Philon at No. 22, added Dean Wade and Anfernee Simons, and even the Ariel Hukporti-for-Andre Drummond swap looks like a win. The power forward hole was a real issue, but that got solved in the last 24 hours.
With the second greatest to ever lace them up now in the fold, this becomes an easy A+.
Toronto checks in at an A-, and the logic is straightforward: last year’s team was a good story, but it had a clear ceiling. If the Kawhi Leonard trade goes through, that ceiling jumps dramatically.
Leonard gives the Raptors the finisher they were missing, and he should fit cleanly next to Scottie Barnes, who does everything but finish very well. The defense could be vicious, too.
Leonard has two Defensive Player of the Year awards, but he might only be the fourth or fifth best defender on this roster. If Toronto’s goal was to give itself a better-than-solid shot at the final four, the mission was accomplished.
Still, there’s real risk attached. Leonard has been famously fragile, playing in about 60% of Clippers games during his time there, and there’s no reason to assume that changes as he enters his age-35 season. Toronto also gave up substantial draft capital, and with the lottery system changing, those 2030s picks could end up carrying more value than they look like now.
In Other News...
Nets Staffer Sees One Major Difference In This Rebuilt Roster
Brooklyns offseason has been busy enough to change the conversation around the roster, with the Nets trading for Julius Randle, bringing back DayRon Sharpe and Josh Minott, and adding Keon Ellis and Mo Wagner. They also moved Nic Claxton and watched Ziaire Williams leave for the Lakers, while the front office added more young talent through Joshua Jefferson and Tyler Bilodeau, giving the team a very different look than the one that finished last season.
One assistant coach around the team sees the biggest change in the same place the Nets struggled most a year ago: depth. The sense inside the building is that this group has more legitimate NBA rotation options and fewer nights where the bench feels stretched thin, which is a meaningful shift for a team trying to stabilize its rebuild. There is still plenty to sort out, including how the pieces fit together in the lineup, but the sense of a deeper, more functional roster is already one of the clearest reasons for optimism. [Read more 🡒]
Nets Fans Are Split On A Major Frontcourt Shakeup
Nic Claxtons exit closed a long chapter for Brooklyn, with the longest-tenured Net thanking fans and the organization after seven seasons. For a franchise still sorting out its identity, moving on from a familiar frontcourt anchor is the kind of decision that lands hard, especially when it comes in the middle of a broader effort to reshape the roster around a different look inside.
Sean Marks clearly chose to chase a sturdier, more experienced front line, and the reaction around the team has been just as divided as youd expect. Some see the move as a necessary reset that brings scoring and physicality to the paint, while others are still weighing what Brooklyn gave up against the promise of a new veteran centerpiece and a rookie addition who could help define the next phase. [Read more 🡒]
LeBrons Decision Just Raised The Stakes For The Nets
LeBron James is changing the shape of the Eastern Conference again, and the ripple effect lands directly on Brooklyn. His move puts one of the leagues most familiar postseason forces into the Atlantic Division for the first time, which means the Nets will have to deal with him on a far more regular basis than they ever have before. For a team trying to chart its own path in a crowded conference, that alone makes the margin for error a little thinner.
Brooklyn now has a new kind of obstacle baked into the schedule, with four meetings each season against a player who has spent years tilting playoff races. The bigger concern is what that could mean when the bracket is set, because a tougher road through the East may now run right through Philadelphia. Even before the first matchup arrives, the Nets can see how much more complicated their postseason picture may have become. [Read more 🡒]