We are nearing the midway point between the end of the NBA Finals and the start of training camp, and most of the league’s offseason business is done. A dwindling contingent of players, including Tyus Jones, Luke Kennard and Markelle Fultz, remains unsigned, but it is unlikely any of them swings a championship.
So it is time for NBA offseason report cards. We covered the Eastern Conference. Now for the West …
The defending Western Conference champs needed shooting and landed one of the greatest shooters in the game’s history. The 34-year-old Thompson is a few years removed from consecutive season-ending injuries and nowhere near the player he was when he earned five straight All-Star nods. But he still shot 39% on nine 3-point tries a game last season and will feast on feeds from Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving.
Otherwise the Mavericks swapped out some of their role players, bringing in Marshall, Grimes and Dinwiddie to replace the departed Jones, Green and Hardaway. Marshall and Grimes are still developing skills that should benefit a Dončić-led team, and Dinwiddie enjoyed a stellar year in Dallas two years ago. Ultimately, the success of this offseason will depend on Thompson’s health and the development of both Marshall and Grimes, but the Mavs have earned the benefit of our doubt about moves on their margins.
GRADE: B+
The 2023 NBA champions lost Caldwell-Pope to a three-year, $66 million offer from the Orlando Magic, which the Nuggets could have paid if ownership did not mind triggering some salary cap restraints. Instead, they let a valuable member of one of the league’s best starting lineups leave for no return. Denver also shed the salary of backup point guard Reggie Jackson, who played all 82 games last season.
In their place the Nuggets added Šarić — and potentially Russell Westbrook — and drafted Holmes, who suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in summer league. Šarić can eat some minutes as a reserve big, but no one replaces the loss of Caldwell-Pope, not even the further development of Christian Braun. Westbrook, meanwhile, would be an awkward fit on Nikola Jokić‘s team, but the one-time MVP could bring energy and attitude to a bench in need of juice.
GRADE: D
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PICKS: Quinten Post (No. 52)
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IN: Buddy Hield • Kyle Anderson • De’Anthony Melton
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OUT: Klay Thompson • Chris Paul • Dario Saric
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DEALS: Hield (4 years, $37.8 million) • Anderson (3 years, $27.7 million) • Melton (1 year, $12.8 million)
The Warriors made no attempt to retain Thompson, who spent the first 13 seasons of his career in Golden State. He was an integral part of their four championships, though his production has been in decline since missing two seasons to injury. There is no telling how much his departure will disrupt the locker room. How much the threat of his shooting spaced the floor for Stephen Curry will be clear.
Golden State did well to add talent with the flexibility they were afforded by Thompson’s departure. Hield is his own threat as a shooter. Anderson and Melton are also quality veterans who will help the Warriors win regular-season games. Of the three, though, only Anderson earned real playoff minutes last season.
GRADE: C
Sheppard has looked like the best player in the draft during summer league, averaging 21.8 points (on 50/28/75 shooting splits), 5.7 assists and 4.9 rebounds per 36 minutes in Las Vegas. If all the Rockets did is add another rising phenom — the latest a dynamic playmaking guard — the offseason was a success.
Which is good, since Houston did nothing else to upgrade the roster. The Rockets will bank on head coach Ime Udoka’s ability to build on last season’s surprising .500 record. Eventually, they will have to choose which young players make the most sense together among Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson, Cam Whitmore and Tari Eason, but this was not the summer to make that call.
GRADE: B
The Clippers essentially traded all of their remaining first-round draft capital and George for the right to pay Harden $70 million on a team that is worse than it was last season, when it lost in the first round. In no world does this make sense as a basketball strategy. It might sell more tickets in the team’s new arena.
Sure, the Clippers made some moves on the margins, adding Jones, Batum and Dunn with the salary cap exceptions that became available to them once George left. They are trying to build a team that can complement Kawhi Leonard, whose fourth straight season ended with an injury. And the lot of them do not raise this team’s ceiling any higher than it would be if both Leonard and George were available in the playoffs.
GRADE: F
Projected by many as a lottery pick, Knecht fell to the Lakers at No. 17. He is a 23-year-old rookie whose shooting ability should benefit a team led by LeBron James. The Lakers used their second-round pick to select James’ son, Bronny, who has averaged seven points on 32.7% shooting in summer-league action.
The Lakers did little else, whiffing on the handful of free agents for whom James would have accepted a discount contract. Instead, he received a max contract, which will take him through his 41st birthday. The only other thing the Lakers did was give $32 million to a player who did not crack their playoff rotation.
GRADE: D
The Grizzlies added Edey, a surprise lottery pick. The Purdue product is 7-foot-4 and plays the old-school way a 7-foot-4 Purdue product would play. Who knows what he will be in the NBA. That is the fun of him. Same…
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