Offseason Deals: What do they know? Do they know stuff? Let’s find out!
An after the dust clears view of how the offseason deals impact our league.
Wizards-Suns-Warriors Two-Deal Cluster
Suns Get: Bradley Beal, Jordan Goodwin
Wizards Get: Landry Shamet, Jordan Poole, Ryan Rollins, Patrick Baldwin Jr
Warriors Get: CP3
How This Affects Us
• Jordan Poole is now undeniably a starter and therefor ineligible, which hurts
• Landry Shamet should still be a good pick, assuming he can stay healthy
• Jordan Goodwin is all set to take off, baby!
• Patrick Baldwin Jr and Ryan Rollins become potentials if Washington continues on the blow it up path
Boston-Wizards-Grizzlies Wonkiness
Boston Gets: Kristaps “The Alabaster Ewing” Porzingis
Washington Gets: Tyus Jones, Danilo Gallinari, Mike Muscala
Memphis Gets: Marcus Smart
How This Affects Us
• Tyus Jones is now a starter and therefor ineligible, which absolutely crushes me
• John Konchar continues to be invaluable as a backup guard in Memphis and should be a high draft pick
• Robert “Timelord” Williams is almost undeniably a bench player now, which is big time
• Gallinari and Muscala are interesting, because I like both of them and they’re both pretty good. We’ll have to see about their availability, but I’d imagine they’re eligible
Atlanta-Utah Sadfest
Atlanta Gets: Rudy Gay, who they traded to OKC, where he was waived
Utah Gets: John Collins
How This Affects Us
• Rudy Gay got tossed around and waived. Look for him to possibly pop up as teams get hurt and load up for the playoffs
• Somebody’s gotta take Collins’ starting spot. I think they’ll slide Hunter to the 4 and bring in Bey at the 3, but they’ve got a summer to figure that out. If that’s the case, the runway just opened up for Jalen Johnson and AJ Griffin to get some real playing time
• Collins stays a starter over in Utah and this frees up Kelly Olynyk for us and clarifies Taylor Hendricks’ place on the bench
Cavs-Heat-Spurs Fun
Cavs Get: Max Strus
Heat Get: Second Rounder
Spurs Get: Cedi Osman and Lamar Stevens, who they waived
How This Affects Us:
• Strus brings shooting to the Cavs bench and will contend with LeVert for that starting 3 spot. They’re making similar money, they’re the same height, this will be a true battle that I expect Strus to win. LeVert may have just fallen to us
• Heat are clearing out for Dame, which would obviously affect their roster and Portland’s
• Spurs waive Stevens. Look for him to pop up on a team light on wings. Sadly, that’s not a lot of teams
• Cedi Osman is a rollercoaster ride but he brings solid depth to the Spurs
Celtics-Spurs-Mavs
Celtics Get: Picks
Spurs Get: Reggie Bullock
Mavs Get: Grant Williams and picks
How This Affects Us:
• Given his defense and shooting, I reckon Grant Williams hops into the starting lineup for the Mavs. If he doesn’t, his draft stock has risen to 6MOY candidacy because he checks about every box the Mavs have
• I don’t think the Spurs would start Bullock over Keldon Johnson, but we’ll keep an eye on it. More likely, Bullock files into an increasingly busy wing rotation with McDermott, Osman, and the plethora of randos the Spurs still have. Depending on his shot, Bullock could lock down a major role, or fall by the wayside for younger, more rangy talent
Spurs Again
Suns get: Picks
Spurs get: Cam Payne, whom they waive
How This Affects Us:
• Last year, Devonte’ Graham was one of the more inconsistent backup PGs in our league. Clearly, this shows either the Spurs have faith in him, or that they believe Malachi Branham will improve enough to play a big role. You don’t let go of a veteran backup PG like Payne unless you like the guys you’ve got. Spurs re-signed last year’s starter Tre Jones, and I think they’ll go with Branham off the bench first. Definitely for the first two games of the season, since Graham’s suspended for a DUI
• Jordan Goodwin Hive stand up! With Payne out of the way, Jordan Goodwin is now the backup PG in Phoenix. He even got name dropped in a Shams tweet as part of the Suns’ plans going forward. Let’s goooo
Dame to Milwaukee
Bucks get: Damian Lillard
Suns get: Grayson Allen, Josef Nurkic, Nassir Little
Blazers get: Deandre Ayton, Jrue Holiday, Toumani Camara
How This Affects Us:
• Pat Connaughton or Malik Beasley step into the Bucks’ starting lineup, which raises Marjon Beachamp and AJ Green’s minutes
• TyTy Washington Jr becomes the Bucks backup PG
• Grayson Allen challenges Josh Okogie for the starting spot in Phoenix. Loser of that battle should get plenty of minutes
• Nassir Little adds even more competition to the Suns’ overflowing backup wing rotation
• Drew Eubanks stock went up even more with the inclusion of consistently-injured and defensively bad Nurkic
• With all the players Phoenix has signed, Jordan Goodwin and Ish Wainwright could be waived, as they both have non-guaranteed contracts
Jrue to Boston
Celtics get: Jrue Holiday
Blazers get: Robert Williams and Malcolm Brogdan
How This Affects Us:
• Jrue starts for Boston and they have to decide how they want to run it. Either Derrick White or Al Horford fall to us, and that’s exciting
• Boston forward depth is dicey to say the least. Luke Kornet, anyone?
• Blazers plan on trading Brogdan, so we’ll see where he goes
• Timelord’s staying in Portland, and that’s wonderful. Either Timelord or Sharpe will be eligible
Free Agency
• Suns Go Bananas
1. Josh Okogie – Likely Starter still
2. Drew Eubanks – Quality backup big who you should go draft
3. Yuta Watanabe – Yuta tha Shootah finds a great home. I said it last year and it’s still true: top-heavy teams rely on hard-working, great-shooting, no-drama backups. Yuta is that guy
4. Keita Bates-Diop – Underrated signing who might get some real time
5. Damion Lee – Vet backup guard/smaller wing
6. Chemizie Metu – Deep bench cut but with injuries and load management will play
7. Eric Gordon – No idea how they landed an aging but still elite-shooting 2 guard. There’s no way they start him (right???) so he’s quickly become a great second rounder to late first rounder
8. Bol Bol – Bol was the most exciting player in the league for about a month there, but as Orlando got healthy he fell by the wayside. On this wonky Phoenix roster, he has a chance to reach those heights again
• Lakers Get Busy
1. Gabe Vincent – Many will say he should start over DLo, but there’s very little chance of that happening, especially at the beginning of the year
2. Taurean Prince – Rock solid vet wing. I like it a lot
3. Rui Hachimura – He might start or Prince might take some of his minutes
4. Jaxxson Hayes – The hope here is that he’s more consistent and better to his teammates than Christian Wood. Not sure we’ve seen enough to assume he can do that
5. Cam Reddish – The ultimate flyer. With Vando, Rui, and Prince in front of him, though, Reddish is only valuable when they’re resting dudes
6. DLo – He’s baaaaack
7. Austin Reaves – Himmy returns
8. Christian Wood – Of all the teams to go out and sign Mr. Locker Room himself, I somehow wasn’t expecting it to be Hollywood FC. Fantasy victory in human form, Wood averaged 16 pts and 7 rebounds in 67 games last year, only starting 17. He seems primed for another huge year for our league backing up AD, and getting loophole starts when AD inevitably gets hurt and is rested. If everything works out with this new team (which I suspect it won’t) Wood is easily gearing up for another 6MOY contending season
• Cavs Learn from the Playoffs
1. Caris Levert extension – Starting money (although we’ll see with this Strus pickup)
2. Georges Niang – Locks down backup 4 in a meaningful, great shooter way
3. Damian Jones – Look at that, a passable backup 5. Cavs have become a team
4. Ty Jerome – We watched him do some stuff with Golden State last year, I like a cheap backup guard
5. Tristan Thompson – The prodigal son returns! Will he play? Hope not. Look for him to lead the league in bench motivations, but only pick him up if they’re resting everyone
• Pacers!
1. Bruce Brown is Comin’ to Town! – Starting SG with that kinda money. Pushes Nembhard to the bench, which is great for us
2. Obi Toppin – Topstar slides into the starting PF role I’d have to assume, given that they either don’t have any fours or Carlisle hates them all
• Warriors Double Down
1. Draymond’s sticking around – We’ll see what they do with Klay, but this pretty much seals the deal on CP3 to the bench
2. Cory Joseph – Great pickup when they’re resting guys, but unless Moody falls completely out of Kerr’s trust, he shouldn’t play much
3. Dario Saric – Perfect fit, love it. 29 yo PF/stretch 5 who slots into the empty backup 5 spot. He’ll be paired with CP3, every big man’s dream. 3rd rounder
4. Usman Garuba – He’s on a two-way and the Thunder cut him in August after signing him this summer, so that probably means he’ll play a ton of games and be great
5. Rudy Gay – Didn’t work out in Utah, but if any place can use a small-ball five it’s Golden State
• Heat Shift for Dame
1. Losing Vincent, Strus, and Oladipo opens up some serious roster space
2. Josh Richardson – the prodigal son returns. Richardson’s a Heat player through and through, I have him as a starter even if they really land Dame
3. Thomas Bryant – A backup 5 who not only isn’t Cody Zeller but is actually a high-upside solid backup 5. I love it for them
4. Re-sign Kevin Love – Just good overall
• Pistons Stop Making Sense
1. Joe Harris – Wack. Backup wing with sporadic at best shooting. Old. Redundant with Bogdanovic. I wouldn’t draft him but we’ll see
2. Monte Morris – Double wack. Guess this is the end of the Killian Hayes era
• Wolves Small Moves
1. Shake Milton – Might move up the pecking order just a little bit
2. Troy Brown Jr – Filling some minutes left by Prince
3. Daishen Nix – 6’5 224, played 57 games for the Rockets last year. He’ll be battling it out with Shake for deep-cut bench offense
• Houston Gets Spendy
1. Fred VanVleet for a ton of money – Opens the floor for Amen Thompson to have a huge year, especially with Kevin Porter Jr taking a disgraceful exit stage left
2. Dillon Brooks – Brooks gets more money than anyone thought he would and he solves Houston’s “Which of these young guys is gonna defend enough to play the 3 for Udoka” problem. He’ll be starting for sure
3. Jock Landale – Alpy’s still the starter, but Landale’s a hustle guy who can make plays around the rim. We’ll see how much Udoka likes him
4. Jeff Green – Houston now has enough old dudes to squeeze out the young guys Udoka doesn’t like. Green played real minutes for the consistently great Nuggets last year, so I expect him to do the same for the Rockets. Uncle Jeff rides again!
5. Aaron Holiday – Another adult in the room. Great for the locker room and for Udoka’s sanity. He got 13 mpg as backup PG for the Hawks last year. If Amen hits a rut, Holiday is a lock
• Clippers Hang On
1. Russ returns for next to nothing – This is massive for the Clippers. Russ is not only the healthiest person in the state, he took 2 years 8 mil to stay. Motivated Russ who fits this team perfectly. Here’s to hoping they don’t go get Harden
2. Plumdog Millionaire returns – Plumlee put up real numbers last year backing up Zubac and I don’t expect this year to be much different. Second or third round potential
3. KJ Martin – Great move for him. Houston’s full of young wings and they just got Dillon Brooks. The Clippers have exclusively old guys. Watch for KJ to play some serious minutes as they rest Kawhi and PG
4. Josh Primo – The Exposer is suspended the first four games of the year and he’s only on a two-way, but everyone on the Clippers has a chance at seeing the floor
• Mavs Get Old Dudes and Some Defenders
1. Seth Curry returns – Locks up backup PG on a defenderless team
2. Dante Exum returns to life – He’s already 27 and yet he’s only 27. Defense on a defenderless team, but defense that hasn’t played in the NBA since 2021
3. Derrick Jones Jr. – Not a scorer, not a playmaker, and averages around 3 rebounds per game. But he’s a wing and a good defender, so the Mavs are gonna play him plenty
• Toronto Waffles
1. Dennis Schroder – The Menace comes to the ‘Ron about 2.7 seconds after they lost FVV. An interesting move because Schroder has started for good and bad teams alike with impunity. This tells us they’re not tanking, but does it? Likely backup to Scottie Barnes
2. Jalen McDaniels – A team that loves long wings gets another. I like him as a functional rotation replacement if they lose Siakam or OG
• OKC Get Some Older Dudes
1. Davis Bertans – They acquired him in a draft-night trade and he’s as high-variance a player as we’re likely to draft. He could be completely buried behind younger, more exciting talent. Or, he could rehabilitate the shooting that landed him his current contract and he could help this team immensely. Up to you
2. Victor Oladipo – Not sure how long Vic’s hurt, but if he comes back he gives this backup group some defensive edge. Having been here before, the organization likes him enough to play him, I’d think
3. Vasilije Micic - 29yo, 6’5 EuroLeague champ, MVP, gives them some age and possibly hurts Cason Wallace’s chances of having a great year
• Philly Lose All Depth and Attempt to Regain It
1. Pat Bev - In the assumed wake of Harden leaving, Philly gets a capable old PG who is either going to mesh perfectly with Embiid or get suspended for fighting a teammate. Depending heavily on too many variables to predict, Pat Bev could easily start
2. Mo Bamba – Mo was good in Orlando last year when he was healthy, which the Lakers discovered wasn’t often. Tall as hell, shoots threes well. But he’s their third string center. If and when they rest Embiid, he’s a hot commodity
3. Montrezl Harrell – Had an all-time nosedive last season only playing 57 games for Philly. Despite that, I contend Harrell is a better fit for Nick Nurse than Doc Rivers. Stands a very real chance of not playing at all given that he’s their fourth string center, but could rediscover his form under a new offense
4. Danny Green – That’s right, he’s back together with both Philly and Nick Nurse. Will the 35-year-old play more than the 8 games he played for Cleveland, or the 3 he played for Memphis? I really would be surprised
5. Kelly Oubre Jr – Oubre put up 20 ppg last season as a starter for a flailing Hornets team. Regardless of the Harden situation, I expect him to get some serious shots up. In the last six seasons he’s never averaged fewer than 10.5 shots per game
• Bucks Do a Lot
1. Lopez and Middleton return – Thank the lord
2. Malik Beasley – Ham didn’t play him in LA because he didn’t play defense. Can’t imagine the Bucks will be thrilled about that, but he led the league in threes off the bench last year and they need guard depth. I expect him to see real minutes, although this Lakers fallout is worrisome
3. Robin Lopez returns – The Lopez Brothers are back and it’s all good vibes and old dudes in Milwaukee. I’m not panicking yet, but my finger is on the alarm. Do not draft Robin Lopez, he will not play
4. AJ Green returns – Looking at their wings, and more importantly the age of their wings, they’re hoping Green and Marjon Beauchamp take big strides this year Green got 10 minutes last season in 35 games. I don’t expect him to take off like a rocket or anything, but I think he’ll play more than that
5. TyTy Washington Jr – He’s on a two-way, but finally, some youth! 21 year old TyTy steps into a not-that-deep backup guard situation that I suspect will really feel the loss of my personal hero Jevon Carter. TyTy should see the floor a decent bit as the Bucks rest essentially everyone
6. Cam Payne – Big moves from the Bucks. Payne steps into huge minutes as the only fully-rostered veteran backup PG on the team. In his last four years in Phoenix, Payne played 8, 60, 58, and 48 games, but when he played he got 20 minutes, 10 points, and 4 rebounds
• Bulls Do Some Stuff
1. Jevon Carter brings scary tenacity – With no Lonzo again and no Pat Bev, Carter retains his role from the Bucks of backup PG who might and possibly should start. With Caruso definitely and Coby White possibly ahead of him, I don’t expect him to get a run of games like he had for Milwaukee last year
2. Torrey Craig – Depending on where they wanna go, Craig (32) could slot into the starting lineup instead of Patrick Williams. I think he’ll be a big-minute backup, but we’ll see
• Nets Shift Around
1. Dennis Smith Jr – Quality backup defensive specialist guard for a young, strange, wing-heavy team. Coming off a year of playing a lot and looking great, DHJ could put up serious minutes for this squad
2. Lonnie Walker IV – Nets get more backup guards to round out this all-forward roster. Walker might be more consistent than Sumner and Thomas were. Might
3. Trendon Watford – Watford was a bright spot in a terrible Portland year last season. Brooklyn continue stocking up wings for their inevitable get-rid-of-some-of-these-wings trade
• Sac Town Gets More Shooters and Bigs
1. Sasha Vesenkov – Reigning EuroLeague MVP, comes in to give them depth at the 4. I suspect it might take him a minute to get into the NBA swing of things, so they’ll start Barnes. But as the year goes on, Vesenkov could get a crack at that starting spot
2. Chris Duarte – They acquired Duarte in a trade but it’s not a big enough deal to warrant going in that section, so here it is. Duarte, despite an injury-filled and overall bad year last season, brings height (6’5) and shooting to an already good backup backcourt. I don’t expect him to get huge minutes, but he could earn a real rotation spot
3. JaVale McGee – Last year JaVale played in 42 games for the Mavs and started 7 (remember that wacky start to the season?). After picking up Nerlens Noel less than a month ago, the Kings have dropped him in favor of McGee. Their backups are now McGee and Len (who only played 26 games last year). Don’t forget, they also have Trey Lyles, Barnes, and Vesenkov to go small with. I wouldn’t go out of my way to draft either of their backup centers, but it’s a competition to keep an eye on in case one of them really shines
• Celtics Take Some Deep Cuts and then Go Nuts
1. Oshae Brissett – Brings some wing depth to Boston as a Grant Williams replacement. Could be in for some good minutes as the exact body type the Celtics love. He played in 65 games for the Pacers last year, and while the Pacers weren’t that good, they were crowded with wings. For him to get playing time at all, much less play in 2/3 of their games, is a good sign for Boston
2. Delano Banton – As a third string point guard, I don’t expect him to play a big role this year. But if Pritchard doesn’t rise to the occasion, especially defensively, 6’9 Banton’s ready to rock. That’s right, he’s a 6’9 PG
3. Svi Mykhailiuk – Svi’s only been in the league since 2018 but he’s changed teams 9 times. Regardless of bouncing around, he’s never played fewer than 56 games a season, so he’s doing something right. At 6’7, he fits what the Celtics want to do defensively, it’s just a question of the health of their backup guard/forwards and the efficiency of his three, which he shot at 48% last year. A viable option if a couple of likely health dominoes fall his way
4. Lamar Stevens – Played 1,000 minutes in each of the last two seasons for the Cavs. Continued wing depth for when this entire roster gets hurt. He’s someone I’m not going to lose faith in, but he just hasn’t shown us much
5. Wenyen Gabriel – Gabriel’s much-needed big man depth, but he’s not exactly a stat guy
• Pelicans Don’t Do Anything Drastic
1. Cody Zeller – One ex-Hornet leaves (Hernangomez) another ex-Hornet arrives. Proved to be a functional backup 5 last year with the Heat, but with the small-ball lineups Nola is likely to try, I don’t see him getting much time
2. EJ Liddell – 22 yo 6’6 wing. Don’t expect him to see the floor at all, but with the Pelicans injury luck, he might pop up. And what do you know, Murphy already might have a serious injury
• Charlotte Flounders
1. Miles Bridges – Muddying the water. He’s still got 10 games off, he hasn’t played in a year, and he beat the hell out of his wife in front of his kids, so there’s truly no telling what the Hornets will do at forward
2. PJ Washington – PJ’s back, which is good for Hornets because he’s a good player, but awfully interesting for their lineup. Either PJ or Brandon Miller are going to the bench. Unless they drop Rozier???
3. Frank Ntilikina – Frankie Smokes steps in as the Dennis Smith Jr. replacement. Defense-first guard who flamed out in Dallas. He played 47 games last year and had a positive +/- for the second year in a row (really stretching here). The Hornets are so bad defensively that I can see him getting a run
• Atlanta Get Real Old
1. Patty Mills – Patty got traded three times in as many hours but he’s landed in Hotlanta for now. Patty played in 40 games last year, averaging 6 points in 14 minutes. He’s no fantasy basketball star, but he steps into the Aaron Holiday 63 games at backup PG hole
2. Wesley Matthews – At 36 and on a team overflowing with young wings, Matthews looks like a locker room pickup
Lightning Round
• Grizzlies grab Derrick Rose – Might take minutes off Konchar for the first 25
• Joe Ingles to the Magic – They might start him at the 2, he might never see the floor
• Donte Divincenzo to the Knicks – The Big Ragu heads to the Big Apple to meet up with his Championship-winning ‘nova teammates. Great fit into the rotation, with pretty much no chance of supplanting RJ Barrett in the starting lineup until Barrett goes on a two-month dry spell
• Justin Holiday to the Nugs – Nuggets lost Bruce Brown and Thomas Bryant and went out and locked down a Holiday. He’s fine. He’s functional. Everyone looks great next to Jokic. He’ll play a little just so they don’t have to flood their second unit with rookies
• Omer Yurtseven to the Jazz – With all the bigs they have (Kessler, Collins, Olynyk, rookie Hendricks) Yurtseven is a deep cut, even for us
• Kevin Porter Jr Should be Gone – Porter was arrested for felony assault and strangulation of his girlfriend. The details are disturbing. She has a fractured vertebra and apparently ran into the hall of the hotel they were staying in covered in blood. Porter was released on a $75,000 bond. The Rockets are now attempting to trade him, but I can’t see any team giving anything up for a man destined for at the very least a suspension. The NBA doesn’t exactly lay the smackdown on this sort of thing (see the Miles Bridges quagmire) but based on that very same precedent I don’t see him playing again this season
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