With the majority of the offseason’s moves in the rearview, we can now reflect on what has truly been a wild summer in the basketball world. Some teams capitalized on the chaos. Others sat back and watched it unfold.
But the biggest losers were the teams that had expectations to meet and failed, even though so much was available. Here are the five teams that had the most disappointing offseasons.
5. Brooklyn Nets
With the cap space flexibility the Nets had, they were expected to swing for the fences this offseason. Brooklyn’s front office had other plans, though, with their two biggest acquisitions coming through the draft and via trade.
The signings that they did use their cap space on? Keon Ellis and Mo Wagner. That isn’t going to move the needle in a conference that is rapidly improving.
To be fair, this year’s free agency class wasn’t particularly attractive. Most of the newsworthy roster moves this offseason materialized through trades. Brooklyn didn’t overpay for anyone out of desperation to sign a name, which is the smart play in the long run.
At the same time, executives expected them to be aggressive buyers, which they were far from. So while they were conservative and avoided bad moves, they didn’t make many moves to begin with.
4. Denver Nuggets
If the Peyton Watson negotiations go well for Denver, their offseason won’t look as bad, but overall, they took a big step back. Tim Hardaway Jr departed for Miami after finishing third in Sixth Man of the Year voting.
They also let go of Jonas Valanciunas, who was the best center that ever backed up Nikola Jokic.
Still, any team led by the Joker is a contender, but they haven’t done enough to maximize this window of his prime.
They also matched an offer sheet that pushed them into the second apron to retain Spencer Jones. Jones did have a standout rookie year, but for that to be the most notable move of the summer is disappointing.
3. Cleveland Cavaliers
We could have been calling the Cavs one of the biggest winners of the offseason, but instead, we’re left with much to be desired.
At one point, all signs seemed to point to Cleveland as LeBron’s next destination. However, LeBron ultimately went to Philly, and now we’re left with the remains of a shaky conference finals team.
They lost some quality rotational pieces like Dean Wade and Keon Ellis, while their biggest signing was Mario Hezonja, who hasn’t played in the NBA in five years.
A full season of James Harden might be able to boost their regular-season record, but their lack of improvement will likely haunt them in the playoffs.
2. Detroit Pistons
Cade Cunningham is an offense by himself. That doesn’t mean he couldn’t benefit from some offensive help, which is exactly what the Pistons didn’t get.
Tobias Harris, who was their most reliable offensive option for the entirety of this year’s playoffs outside of Cade, signed with San Antonio. They also lost Caris LeVert, who was one of their better on-ball creators.
They did replace them with John Collins and Isaiah Joe, but in the absolute best-case scenario, they end up at a net zero. A guaranteed role for Daniss Jenkins can be helpful, but as far as free agency goes, Detroit did next to nothing.
1. Golden State Warriors
On one hand, the Warriors didn’t add anything, but on the other hand, they pretty much didn’t lose anything either. The Dubs were another team that got caught up in the LeBron sweepstakes and ended up empty-handed.
Steph Curry was as great as ever this past year, but the Warriors still missed the playoffs, which makes their decision to stay put even more baffling. They will also be missing Moses Moody and Jimmy Butler for much of this season, which only adds to the lack of direction.
The Warriors are poised to waste away another golden Steph Curry season, to the misfortune of anyone who wanted to experience the last few years of greatness.