It has now been 2 weeks since NBA Free agency has officially started. All of the noise has died down, after $1.8 billion was spent on NBA contracts during the first day of free agency.
Kevin Durant, the biggest prize of Free Agency – took his talents to Golden State. His decision not only shook up the Thunder organization, but the entire league – as teams frantically ran to their backup plans after missing out on the former MVP.
Some teams did better than others, but that’s just part of the game. Basketball is a business and not all business decisions work out. With the Salary Cap boosted over 20 Million dollars, teams had a lot of money to play with, as we’ve seen in the past – that’s not always a good thing.
Basketball players and their agents can sense vulnerability and desperation from GMs a mile away. I have a good feeling that in a few years we’ll look back at some of these contracts and wonder “what exactly were these teams thinking?”.
Here are the winners and losers of 2016 off-season
Winner: Golden State Warriors
(July 6, 2016 – Source: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images North America)
Even after a monumental choke in the NBA Finals, Golden State would have been a favorite to win the 2017 NBA Finals without any huge offseason addition. That didn’t stop Steve Kerr and the Golden State front office from swindling Kevin Durant from the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Yes, Golden State did lose a few bench pieces and Andrew Bogut – but they got a top 3 player in the NBA. They’ll be fine in that respect.
They also drafted Damian Jones and Patrick McCaw, two players that will be great for the Golden State Warriors system of play. A good draft and signing Kevin Durant will make any team look like an offseason winner, let alone the Western Conference Champions.
Loser: Miami Heat
(April 28, 2016 – Source: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images North America)
After overachieving without Chris Bosh for an entire season, the Heat didn’t have a difficult offseason plan. The plan? Re-sign Whiteside and Wade, keep Deng, and pray that Bosh somehow plays in 2016-17. Miami did end up re-signing Whiteside, but losing Wade and Deng hurts.
Miami did end up re-signing Whiteside, but losing Wade and Deng hurts. They missed out on Kevin Durant as well, which was expected.
Signing Derrick Williams, Willie Reed and Wayne Ellington won’t do your team too many favors. The Heat dropped the ball this offseason, and their poor offseason is going to be a huge part on why they’ll miss the postseason this upcoming season.
Winner: Boston Celtics
(April 18, 2016 – Source: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images North America)
The Celtics are probably one of the strangest teams to figure out in the East. They have constantly found a way to win games without a “star” or go-to player. Still, that can only take you so far – as we’ve seen them lose in the first round of the playoffs for the last 2 seasons. Danny Ainge knew he needed to get a star in free agency and he got a great player in Al Horford.
Boston also drafted a future star in my opinion in Jaylen Brown. The Celtics have done a solid job setting themselves up for the 2016-17 season, and with more draft picks coming in next season – this Celtics team can be scary in a few years.
Loser: Oklahoma City Thunder
(May 29, 2016 – Source: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images North America)
The Thunder were 1 game away from the NBA finals and now they’ll be fighting for just a playoff spot this upcoming season. What all went wrong for OKC? I don’t think anyone knows completely, but what I do know is that Kevin Durant is gone. Sure, on paper the Thunder might find a way to make a playoff push and they might get into the 2nd round if they really overachieve – but who’s counting on that?
Westbrook’s future with the team is a huge question mark as of now since he refuses to re-sign. Maybe it’s best that the Thunder trade him before the season starts? but who will take on his 1-year contract?
It’s all bad for the Thunder right now and this is something that Billy Donovan did not sign up for when he took the head coaching gig from Scott Brooks. Russell Westbrook could straighten out all of this mess if he re-signs, but could you blame him for not going back?
Either way, The Thunder took a huge step back and could possibly be in rebuild mode very soon.