Post by verysilentone on Jun 2, 2024 19:34:20 GMT
Offseason Grades: Atlantic Division
Boston Celtics
Additions: Keiner Asprilla, Hugo Lopez, Karim Lopez
Departures: none
Grade: C+
I would say this offseason was a bit underwhelming. After taking a big step last season, the Celtics held steady and basically only used their 3 1st round picks. They did not bring in any free agents despite having over 30 million in cap space. They have a solid young core, but without camping them or trying to flip some youth for some higher end talent, it’s tough to say where this team is going. Nikola Topic is a pending free agent and there are no other point guards on the roster behind him. As far as what they did do, I think they had a great draft in getting both Asprilla and Hugo Lopez, who are both considered future potential superstars. Fran Fraschilla has never seen a European draft prospect that he doesn’t love, but the Spanish guard can score at all three levels, is a good ball handler and an opportunistic defender. Anfernee Simons has a stronghold on the 2 guard spot, but if Gonzalez develops, he could make an impact next season after another year overseas. Asprilla is making an early impact for the team as the backup big man. The massive Colombian native is grabbing almost 9 rebounds a game off the bench and is considered to have great potential. If he continues to develop offensively, he could combine with Caleb Wilson to give the Celtics a great young frontcourt. I’m giving this grade based off the draft, but I really would love to see the Celtics try to build on the young core and maybe cut some of the dead weight off the roster. There is room for improvement on the roster and financial space to get it done with 33 million in cap space.
Brooklyn Nets
Additions: Achor Achor, Charles Bassey, Sidi Gueye, AJ Dybantsa, Caleb Love, Alijah Arenas, Marcus Johnson
Depatures: Cameron Johnson, Santi Aldama, Patrick Baldwin JR, Lonnie Walker, Jordan Hawkins, Coby White, Spencer Dinwiddie
Grade: B+
Additions: Achor Achor, Charles Bassey, Sidi Gueye, AJ Dybantsa, Caleb Love, Alijah Arenas, Marcus Johnson
Depatures: Cameron Johnson, Santi Aldama, Patrick Baldwin JR, Lonnie Walker, Jordan Hawkins, Coby White, Spencer Dinwiddie
Grade: B+
Most of the Nets notable moves came through the draft, but unlike the Celtics they did use some of their available cap space to augment the picks that they made in the draft. Obviously, the big story here is number one overall pick, AJ Dybantsa. He was almost unanimously considered the best overall prospect and considered to be one of the future stars in this league. He is ready to be the top option for Nets and will score as well as any young prospect that we have had. He is a good passer and has good handles and can score from anywhere. He is just 19, so the future is very promising. With their 2nd top ten pick, the Nets decided that they needed more offense and selected Alijah Arenas. Arenas has compared himself to Jamal Crawford and the comparison works as an offensive sparkplug. He has been struggling from the line in the early going, but you can see the potential with his other shooting numbers. With his NBA bloodlines and his scoring ability, he will be another fun player to watch in Brooklyn. The Nets addressed one of their biggest needs with their 3rd first round pick, by selecting Ohio State point guard Marcus Johnson. With Arenas and Dybantsa being two top scorers, someone needs to get them the ball and Johnson is an excellent passer and the best pass first point guard in the draft. He won’t provide much scoring, but he should be the perfect complement to his draft mates. As I noted, the Nets did use some cap space this offseason adding a couple of solid pieces in Caleb Love and Charles Bassey. Love spent the last three seasons in Houston and showed some great scoring potential spelling Jalen Green. He was probably hoping to land somewhere where he would get more playing time, but he wasn’t able to win the job over Arenas. However, Love has continued to score with ease off the bench and the Nets got him on a team friendly three year deal. Bassey signed an identical three year contract hoping to prove to the league that he can be a starting center. He has bounced around the league a bit with the Spurs, Hornets, Raptors(2x), Knicks and Bucks. He has always been a solid rebounder and bench piece. I’m not sure what the Nets plans are with him, but once again another solid signing for them.
Additions: Oso Ighodaro, Lakota Taylor, Jordan Miller, Lonnie Walker, Ryan Langborn, Norman Powell,
Departures: Tobias Harris, Chimezie Metu, Jaden Daniels, Buddy Hield, Keon Ellis, Russell Westbrook
Grade: C
The Heat are in a tough spot with 166 million committed to just three players, but I would have liked to see them use some of their exceptions to round out the roster a bit. Their departures are probably as notable as the players that they brought in. Tobias Harris, Buddy Hield and Jaden McDaniels are all capable players. Hield probably should’ve started for them last year, but was left on the bench. I will say the Heat did make some great last minute signings. I would like to see them develop Jordan Miller with a late bloomer camp. He is basically a power forward in a small forward’s body, so he fits what the team is trying to do, but he can actually start at small forward, so he is a better fit than Harris was. Powell and Walker are the outside scorers that the team needs but refuses to use. The Heat will get some much needed cap relief this offseason. It will be interesting to see if they switch around their strategy and build a more traditional roster or if they keep building through the post.
Additions: Franz Wagner, Alex Toohey, Dwyane Aristode, Xavier Staton, Asa Newell, Brandon Podziemski
Departures: Charles Bassey, Kevon Looney, Paolo Banchero, Max Christie
Grade: B (Not including the trade of Claxton/Murray)
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Additions: Orlando Robinson, Jerami Grant, Duncan Robinson, Max Christie, Zack Kinziger, Trae Young, Tre Mann
Departures: Rienk Mast, Jalen Johnson, Kawhi Leonard, Cason Wallace, DeAnthony Melton, Tyler Kolek
Grade: B-
It was not a huge offseason for the Magic unlike the previous offseason where they were able to improve from 20 wins to 41. However, this doesn’t mean that it was a poor offseason. They were able to find a taker for the Jalen Johnson contract, which they had been looking to do for a while. They also were able to replace him with a similar player in Jerami Grant, but at an eighth of the cost. Unfortunately, they did lose Cason Wallace, who decided to sign with Milwaukee, but they managed to replace his scoring by signing Trae Young to play at the offguard spot. Young has struggled with turnovers the last few years, but the big question is whether he is strong enough to be able to get his own shots against bigger guards. Kinziger looks like a great find late in the first round. The Magic did very well in signing some role players to cheap multiyear deals. The four year deal to Max Christie stands out. He is still just 24 years old and is coming off a year in which he scored 12 points per game. He should continue to improve at just 24 years old and the Magic will benefit from the value in that contract.
Additions: Michael Porter Jr, Julian Strawther, Lachlan Olbric, Kevon Looney, Elijah Williams, Josh Green, Tyler Kolek
Departures: Joel Embiid, Orlando Robinson, Jonathan Isaac, Derrick White, CJ McCollum, Grayson Allen
Grade: C+
This one is tough. The grade is mostly based off of the loss of Embiid. It’s tough to say you had a good offseason when losing a player of that caliber. However, the moves that he made were great. He traded into the draft twice. They were able to grab SF Elijah Williams at 18 and later were able to get Lachlan Olbric in the 2nd round. Williams is the son of Monty Williams and has an advanced understanding of the game and has also been a lockdown defender throughout his prep career. The addition of Michael Porter Jr gives him an all star to model his offensive game after. If Williams turns into a solid third option, I think the 76ers will be happy with that selection. Olbric was projected as a lottery pick and I’m grading this pick knowing that the intention was likely to have him be mentored by Joel Embiid. Olbric is a strong interior scorer but is not considered much of a perimeter threat. He is also a solid rebounder. He is a bit older but still would’ve benefitted from learning under Joel Embiid. The other big addition was Kevon Looney, who the 76ers acquired after trading their free agent signing Isaiah Hartenstein. Looney is a tremendous rebounder and on ball defender inside. He will definitely not replace Embiid’s scoring, but he will be a big part of the core that is looking to help fill the void. Strawther, Green and Kolek are all solid pieces on cheap one year deals. It’s always tough to judge an offseason favorably when a team loses such a big piece, but the 76ers had a clear direction and added some good pieces.
Additions: Max Strus, Malcolm Brogdon
Departures: Drew Cisse, Deni Avdija, Gary Payton Jr
Grade: C
The Wizards have improved quite a bit over the last seasons, but they didn’t really add much to the roster this offseason. Luckily, their roster is very young and will continue to improve on their own. Their only additions were a couple of veterans in Max Strus and Malcolm Brogdon. They are not the shiny new toys, but they will help to replace the production from Deni Avdija. The only reason for the lower grade is the max contract offered to Bilal Coulibaly. He is playing well and I’m sure he had other large contract offers, but he has not really shown much to be worthy of a max contract. Signing promising young players to large contracts seems like the cost of doing business to some extent, but it’s hard to be excited about seeing that salary figure. It is just a four year deal and he still has a ton of potential, but it seems a bit questionable.
I was originally planning to make 2 articles and split it by conference, but then I started doing this and realized that it would take a long time. I will attempt to do the other divisions, but no guarantees. This took much longer than I thought lol.
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