NBA 2017 Eastern Conference offseason grades
by Kevin Pelton on (original: http://insider.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/20222412/nba-2017-eastern-conference-offseason-grades)With July and the bulk of free agency in the books, now is a good time to look back at the moves teams have made to try to improve for the upcoming 2017-18 season and beyond.
After grading the West on Tuesday, here are my grades for East teams based on how well they took advantage of the opportunities they had to add to their roster via free agency, the draft and trades. Teams are graded on what's in their control, not the decisions of free agents to go elsewhere.
So how did your favorite team grade out? Let's take a look.
Atlanta Hawks: D+
New Hawks GM Travis Schlenk made the right call in terms of letting All-Star forward Paul Millsap walk. Still, Atlanta was unable to commit to a rebuilding process and took on too much bad salary in return for center Dwight Howard. (Replacement Miles Plumlee has an additional year on his contract, albeit at less money per season.)
Besides using cap space to take on Jamal Crawford's contract, netting a first-round pick in the process, the Hawks used most of their resources on short-term deals. Ersan Ilyasova got a one-year deal to return, and Dewayne Dedmon got a one-year deal with a player option. Unless Atlanta can trade them before the deadline, those players are unlikely to provide much value since the Hawks probably will still be one of the NBA's worst teams this season.
Boston Celtics: B+
The Celtics landed the big prize in free agency, convincing Gordon Hayward to pick them over the Miami Heat and the incumbent Utah Jazz. Because the cap came in lower than expected, clearing room for Hayward required Boston to part with a key player. The Celtics chose to trade ace individual defender Avery Bradley for Marcus Morris, a swap that is a financial upgrade and better balances the roster but still might be painful in the playoffs.
Signing Hayward spared Boston harsher criticism for losing out on potential trades for Jimmy Butler and Paul George. It's unclear whether dealing for George would have been worth the price because of his ability to leave next summer, but the cost for Butler probably would have been more reasonable with two years left on his deal.
The Celtics will also be graded long term on whether Jayson Tatum is good enough to justify trading down from No. 1 to No. 3. Despite Tatum's prolific scoring in summer-league play, I'm still somewhat skeptical.
Brooklyn Nets: B
No team was more aggressive using its cap space to add salary than the Nets, who took on long-term contracts for guard Allen Crabbe, forward DeMarre Carroll and center Timofey Mozgov. The latter two deals added valuable young talent to a team in need of it. Brooklyn got a first-round pick to take on Carroll's salary and former No. 2 overall pick D'Angelo Russell as the price for Mozgov.
The Nets now have an NBA-caliber perimeter rotation but remain thin in the frontcourt. They're counting on undersized Rondae Hollis-Jefferson holding down the starting job at power forward and have Mozgov and first-round pick Jarrett Allen as their only options at center.
Charlotte Hornets
: B+
Limited in salary flexibility by their desire to avoid paying the luxury tax, the Hornets nonetheless managed to add Howard while actually reducing their 2019-20 payroll by unloading Plumlee's onerous deal. Howard fills Charlotte's biggest need, another center to anchor the defense when Cody Zeller is on the bench.
Tax issues did force the Hornets to shop the bargain aisle for a backup to starting point guard Kemba Walker, and they landed Michael Carter-Williams on a one-year, $2.7 million deal. Charlotte will be perilously thin at the position should Walker miss an extended period. Still, the Hornets are favorites to return to the playoffs after a one-year absence.
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Chicago Bulls: F
With two years remaining on Jimmy Butler's contract, the Bulls could have held out for a better offer than they got from the Minnesota Timberwolves: guards Kris Dunn and Zach LaVine and the No. 7 pick for Butler and the 16th pick. Dunn will have to improve dramatically from a disappointing rookie season to become an NBA contributor, and LaVine's poor defense limits his value.
After the blockbuster trade, Chicago mostly sat out free agency, re-signing Cristiano Felicio to an above-market four-year, $32 million deal, and giving Justin Holiday two years and $9 million to return as a wing defender after a year in New York.
The Bulls might yet get a good deal re-signing restricted free agent Nikola Mirotic, but he plays the same position as lottery pick Lauri Markkanen, so it's unclear how Mirotic fits in long term.
Cleveland Cavaliers: C-
So much of the Cavaliers' offseason is about trades not made (they hoped to acquire Butler or George to bolster their chances of beating the Golden State Warriors) or one potentially on the horizon involving unhappy point guard Kyrie Irving.
In terms of the moves the team did make, Cleveland seemed to overpay Kyle Korver to return on a three-year, $22 million deal (albeit with $18 million guaranteed). The Cavaliers signed three players at the veteran's minimum. Derrick Rose looks like a good value but a poor fit, Jose Calderon is another weak defender on the second unit and Jeff Green theoretically fits Cleveland's needs but rarely makes good on that potential.
The Cavaliers could have used a better defender like Thabo Sefolosha (who got less money than Korver) or Luc Mbah a Moute (who signed with Houston for the minimum).
Detroit Pistons: D
A history of overpaying role players -- a tradition that continued with a three-year, $20 million deal for backup guard Langston Galloway -- finally caught up with the Pistons this summer, as luxury-tax concerns were a factor in them walking away from restricted free agent Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
Detroit replaced Caldwell-Pope with Avery Bradley, a move that cost another starter (forward Marcus Morris). Now the Pistons will have to try to re-sign Bradley as an unrestricted free agent next summer, when he's due a huge raise. In addition to signing (Galloway) and trading for (Bradley) shooting guards, Detroit also drafted one in the lottery (Luke Kennard), meaning a crowd at that position but little depth at small forward. The Pistons will need Stanley Johnson to take a step forward this season to return to the playoffs.
Indiana Pacers
: F
While the timing of George telling the Pacers he would not re-sign in Indiana no matter what put them in a tough spot, they still failed to capitalize on his trade value by taking Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis over the other deals on the table and ones that probably would have materialized. Oladipo has little if any net value above and beyond his $21 million salary, and Sabonis looks like a role player after an ineffective rookie season.
The rest of the summer has seen the Pacers add veterans on short-term deals. Though Cory Joseph is still young enough to have upside, Bojan Bogdanovic and Darren Collison aren't long-term pieces. Indiana can clear more than $50 million in cap space next summer, but that would leave Oladipo and Myles Turner as the lone NBA-caliber players on the roster.
Miami Heat
: D
After falling short in their pursuit of Hayward, the Heat decided to bring back the group that went 30-11 in the second half of last season ... at a high cost. After signing smaller one-year deals last summer, James Johnson (four years, $60 million) and Dion Waiters (four years, $47 million plus incentives) got paid. So too did newcomer Kelly Olynyk (four years, $45 million plus incentives).
Add in Tyler Johnson's salary -- which escalates from $5.9 million to $19.3 million next summer because of the "Gilbert Arenas rule" -- and Miami is capped out for the foreseeable future. We'll see if those contracts prove as tradeable as the Heat think. Johnson's in particular could get ugly on the back end, costing Miami in the long term.
Milwaukee Bucks
: C+
The combination of a strong young core and luxury-tax issues kept Milwaukee out of free agency this summer. After they re-signed restricted free agent Tony Snell to a reasonable four-year, $44 million deal, the Bucks' only signings have come for the minimum. Don't expect that to change.
Milwaukee currently projects over the luxury-tax line with a 15-player roster but could get under by waiving reserve center Spencer Hawes and stretching his $6 million salary. Otherwise, the only real business for the Bucks is a possible extension for forward Jabari Parker, who's still early in his rehab from a torn ACL.
New York Knicks
: F
Despite Phil Jackson's departure as team president, it's hard to find much to like about the Knicks' offseason. The change at the top, which saw Jackson replaced by Steve Mills and Scott Perry (imported from the Sacramento Kings under Mills), only came after New York drafted Frank Ntilikina over Dennis Smith Jr. -- in large part because of Ntilikina's fit in Jackson's beloved triangle offense. Though Ntilikina was hardly a reach, Smith looks like the steal of the lottery based on his college projections and summer-league performance.
Under Mills' guidance, the Knicks used the vast majority of their cap space on a lavish four-year, $71 million offer sheet to restricted free agent Tim Hardaway Jr., whose production with the Atlanta Hawks didn't merit that kind of deal. New York used its only remaining exception to re-sign backup guard Ron Baker for two years and $9 million, leaving a point guard rotation of Baker, 19-year-old Ntilikina and minimum signing Ramon Sessions.
Orlando Magic: B-
Though it's unlikely to change their fortunes much next season, the Magic had a solid offseason under new management with president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman and GM John Hammond. The one exception was the annual Orlando overpay of a backup point guard, with Shelvin Mack (two years, $12 million) joining C.J. Watson (subsequently waived) and D.J. Augustin (who has three years and $21.75 million left on his deal) as beneficiaries of the Magic's largesse.
A three-year, $18 million deal for wing Jonathon Simmons that is partially guaranteed the final season was a better investment of Orlando's cap space. The Magic also snagged stretch-5 Marreese Speights for the minimum, adding a spacing option in the frontcourt, and got solid value drafting Jonathan Isaac with the sixth pick.
Philadelphia 76ers: B+
After trading up from No. 3 to No. 1 to add Markelle Fultz to their group of potential stars, the Sixers wisely held the line on spending this summer, offering one-year deals in free agency. JJ Redick ($23 million) and Amir Johnson ($11 million) signed on at above-market rates, bolstering Philadelphia's chances at reaching the playoffs while allowing the 76ers to pursue a younger contributor next offseason.
I do wonder whether the Sixers might have changed plans had they known the Pistons would renounce Caldwell-Pope, making him an unrestricted free agent. But Philadelphia can still sign Caldwell-Pope next summer, and Bradley might be a better fit with the Sixers' young core. Philadelphia still has $15 million left to renegotiate and extend the contract of starting small forward Robert Covington and can also extend center Joel Embiid before he becomes a restricted free agent.
Toronto Raptors: B
Masai Ujiri resisted the desire to break up a successful roster that could contend in a post-LeBron James Eastern Conference. The Raptors re-signed point guard Kyle Lowry at a reasonable rate: three years, $93 million plus incentives. The value wasn't as strong with Serge Ibaka, who got $65 million over three years. Toronto was working under financial limitations with the luxury tax looming, which necessitated jettisoning Joseph and giving up a first-round pick so the Nets would take Carroll.
The money-saving moves allowed the Raptors to use their non-taxpayer midlevel exception on C.J. Miles, a better shooter than Carroll but not the same kind of defender. My big concern is how Toronto will fill the minutes Ibaka doesn't play at power forward. Miles is dramatically undersized for the position, meaning Toronto might be counting on second-year player Pascal Siakam taking a big step forward. How well the Raptors fill those minutes might determine how much they drop off this season, if at all.
Washington Wizards: C
Stop me if you've heard this before, but the Wizards were constrained by the luxury tax this summer. Unlike other East teams that skirted the tax or dodged it entirely, Washington is about $7 million over the tax line with a full roster after matching a max offer sheet from the Brooklyn Nets to starting small forward Otto Porter.
Still, tax considerations led the Wizards to let Bogdanovic walk and replace him with the cheaper Jodie Meeks on a two-year, $7 million deal. I prefer Meeks to Bogdanovic, but Washington could have waited around for one of the shooting guards left on the market, including Gerald Henderson Jr. and Anthony Morrow. Tim Frazier, acquired from the New Orleans Pelicans for a late second-round pick, should upgrade a weak spot backing up John Wall.
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8/2/2017 1:58 PM