{"id":949707,"date":"2026-07-21T13:51:25","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T13:51:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/949707\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T13:51:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T13:51:25","slug":"nba-offseason-grades-for-every-west-team-clippers-have-had-the-best-summer-for-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/949707\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA offseason grades for every West team: Clippers have had the best summer&#8230; for now"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Just as was the case with our Eastern Conference grades yesterday, our 2026 Western Conference offseason grades are somewhat incomplete. Multiple teams here are in open pursuit of\u00a0<a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/400553\/lebron-james\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">LeBron James<\/a>. Another is waiting anxiously for a\u00a0<a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/1715792\/kawhi-leonard\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kawhi Leonard<\/a>\u00a0verdict, and there are a few notable restricted free agents whose futures haven&#8217;t been settled. These grades will eventually be updated should circumstances demand it. They reflect the offseasons we&#8217;ve seen thus far.<\/p>\n<p>For now, as a reminder, we grade based on how successfully a team accomplished its goals relative to the resources it had at its disposal. The greater your opportunity, the higher your standard. You do not get credit for lottery luck. You get credit for maximizing the resources you had. With that in mind, let&#8217;s dive in.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/news\/nba-offseason-grades-for-every-east-team-2026-76ers-celtics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><\/p>\n<p>NBA offseason grades for every East team: 76ers, Hornets ace moves, Celtics among many in C- range<\/p>\n<p>\n                    Sam Quinn                <\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" alt=\"NBA offseason grades for every East team: 76ers, Hornets ace moves, Celtics among many in C- range\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/jaylen-brown-sixers-getty.png\" loading=\"lazy\" height=\"152\" width=\"270\"\/><\/p>\n<p>    <\/a><\/p>\n<p>                            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/teams\/LAC\/los-angeles-clippers\/\" aria-label=\"home team page\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"TeamLogo-image\" alt=\"team logo\" src=\"https:\/\/sports.cbsimg.net\/fly\/images\/team-logos\/344.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n                                                <\/a><\/p>\n<p>    Los Angeles Clippers: A-<\/p>\n<p>The obvious elephant in the room here is the terrific Kawhi Leonard trade they made potentially not happening because of the Aspiration Investigation. That turns a great offseason into a bad one very quickly. For now, we&#8217;ll assume the trade happens, and if it does, it&#8217;s an absolute victory for the <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/teams\/LAC\/los-angeles-clippers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Clippers<\/a>. To turn a 35-year-old with his injury concerns and a looming extension into two unprotected first-round picks in the 2030s plus a non-trivial 2027 first-round swap, considering they already owed a separate swap to the <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/teams\/OKC\/oklahoma-city-thunder\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> is a potentially transformative deal. Between the Leonard, <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2245326\/ivica-zubac\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ivica Zubac<\/a> and <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/1685255\/james-harden\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">James Harden<\/a> trades, the Clippers have executed a brilliant organizational pivot from a decayed contender into a young, flexible and asset-rich rebuilder.<\/p>\n<p>Not only did they get <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2268082\/rui-hachimura\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Rui Hachimura<\/a> for less money than he made for the <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/teams\/LAL\/los-angeles-lakers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lakers<\/a> last season, but they even managed to sneak a team option onto the second year of his deal. Convincing Kobe Sanders to sign for four years at essentially the minimum with the last two years non-guaranteed is a big win on the margins. They&#8217;ve escaped the &#8220;scary offer sheet&#8221; phase of Bennedict Mathruin&#8217;s restricted free agency with no more cap space floating around, so he&#8217;ll likely be back on favorable terms. If there&#8217;s a concern here, it&#8217;s with No. 5 overall pick <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/29332336\/keaton-waglers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Keaton Wagler&#8217;s<\/a> uneven summer league performance, but he&#8217;d hardly be the first top pick to bounce back from a slow start in Las Vegas. The Clippers have a ways to go, but they&#8217;ve set themselves up wonderfully this summer.<\/p>\n<p>                            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/teams\/UTA\/utah-jazz\/\" aria-label=\"home team page\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"TeamLogo-image\" alt=\"team logo\" src=\"https:\/\/sports.cbsimg.net\/fly\/images\/team-logos\/359.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n                                                <\/a><\/p>\n<p>    Utah Jazz: B+<\/p>\n<p>The <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/teams\/UTA\/utah-jazz\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jazz<\/a> had two long-term problems simmering this offseason that didn&#8217;t necessarily need to be solved immediately, but would have gotten worse over time if they hadn&#8217;t. The first was a six-starter problem, as one of <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/28906140\/darryn-peterson\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Darryn Peterson<\/a>, <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/28951907\/keyonte-george\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Keyonte George<\/a>, <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/29556699\/ace-bailey\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ace Bailey<\/a>, <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2844693\/lauri-markkanen\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lauri Markkanen<\/a>, <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2892693\/jaren-jackson-jr\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jaren Jackson Jr<\/a>. and <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/3178012\/walker-kessler\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Walker Kessler<\/a> would have been forced into a reduced role if all six had opened the season on the roster. The other was the accompanying financial issue of paying Markkanen and Jackson max deals, Kessler a hefty restricted free agent contract and George a rookie extension. The Lakers solved both of those problems for them with an outlandish trade offer of two first-round picks and two first-round swaps.<\/p>\n<p>The Jazz will have to address center down the line, but they now have the resources to do so on their terms. For now, Jusuf Nurki\u0107 and <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/3041402\/jaxson-hayes\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jaxson Hayes<\/a> will suffice. They&#8217;ll likely close games with Jackson at center anyway. Utah is about as well situated to accommodate <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2268080\/josh-okogie\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Josh Okogie<\/a>&#8216;s offensive shortcomings to maximize his defense as any team in the <a href=\"https:\/\/cbssports.com\/nba\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">NBA<\/a>. Who cares if he can&#8217;t shoot? Basically everyone else here can. Without Kessler, the Jazz probably don&#8217;t have a path to real playoff success this season, but they&#8217;ll be competitive, and they turned him into a pick surplus that will mean quite a bit for them moving forward.<\/p>\n<p>                            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/teams\/MIN\/minnesota-timberwolves\/\" aria-label=\"home team page\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"TeamLogo-image\" alt=\"team logo\" src=\"https:\/\/sports.cbsimg.net\/fly\/images\/team-logos\/348.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n                                                <\/a><\/p>\n<p>    Minnesota Timberwolves: B<\/p>\n<p>Nobody agrees on <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/3149252\/lamelo-ball\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">LaMelo Ball<\/a>, so nobody agrees on Minnesota&#8217;s offseason. Count me as an optimist. Minnesota badly needed playmaking. Ball badly needed to play with a superior on-ball scorer and within a stronger defensive infrastructure. The <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/teams\/MIN\/minnesota-timberwolves\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Timberwolves<\/a> felt they needed to reimagine their team after back-to-back postseasons ended because <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/3141406\/anthony-edwards\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Anthony Edwards<\/a> had no offensive support. It will be much harder for the <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/teams\/SA\/san-antonio-spurs\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Spurs<\/a> and Thunder to double him with Ball on the court. Having two of the most prolific pull-up 3-point shooters in basketball to stretch those elite defenses is at least a credible approach to trying to beat them.<\/p>\n<p>Power forward, for now, is wide open. They hope LeBron James is their solution. He probably won&#8217;t be. But I&#8217;m not sure they needed a long-term answer now anyway. Ball and Edwards are going into their age-25 seasons. <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/3142190\/jaden-mcdaniels\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jaden McDaniels<\/a> turns 26 in September. The bar at that position is relatively low given what they have elsewhere. If it takes a year, it takes a year. They have salaries to trade like\u00a0<a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/3148154\/josh-green\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Josh Green<\/a>\u00a0and potentially also <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2203519\/donte-divincenzo\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Donte DiVincenzo<\/a>. Perhaps Terrence Shannon can play more power forward, and McDaniels can as well in a pinch. They&#8217;re not as good as the Thunder or the Spurs. Nobody is. But they&#8217;ve raised their ceiling substantially enough to give themselves a puncher&#8217;s chance when they do eventually figure out that vacant power forward slot.<\/p>\n<p>                            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/teams\/SA\/san-antonio-spurs\/\" aria-label=\"home team page\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"TeamLogo-image\" alt=\"team logo\" src=\"https:\/\/sports.cbsimg.net\/fly\/images\/team-logos\/356.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n                                                <\/a><\/p>\n<p>    San Antonio Spurs: B<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/29556936\/jayden-quaintance\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jayden Quaintance<\/a> was the perfect draft pick for San Antonio. His injury red flags are real, but he&#8217;s a complete luxury for the Spurs. If he never fully recovers, San Antonio has a big enough draft surplus to shrug a wasted pick off. If he does, even if it&#8217;s in a low-minutes role, the Spurs have potentially the most talented defensive frontcourt in NBA history. That&#8217;s not an exaggeration. Healthy Quaintance has that much athletic upside defensively. For them, he was a low-risk, high-reward swing.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/1780830\/tobias-harris\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tobias Harris<\/a> was a completely serviceable short-term power forward addition on a short-term contract. He&#8217;ll make 3s on low-usage without messing with the defense. <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/29005036\/victor-wembanyama\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Victor Wembanyama<\/a>&#8216;s decision to forego Rose Rule max escalators may or may not wind up mattering. He would still need to play 65 games next season just to qualify for those raises anyway. But now, the Spurs don&#8217;t have to worry about that next season, and Wembanyama has potentially set a precedent of selflessness that his fellow young stars could follow. <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/3141486\/julian-champagnie\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Julian Champagnie<\/a>&#8216;s extension looks pretty favorable already. A <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2355019\/deaaron-fox\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">De&#8217;Aaron Fox<\/a> trade would have been nice, but the Spurs have time to figure that out. All in all, there&#8217;s plenty of good here and no real bad.<\/p>\n<p>                            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/teams\/MEM\/memphis-grizzlies\/\" aria-label=\"home team page\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"TeamLogo-image\" alt=\"team logo\" src=\"https:\/\/sports.cbsimg.net\/fly\/images\/team-logos\/360.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n                                                <\/a><\/p>\n<p>    Memphis Grizzlies: B-<\/p>\n<p>They traded <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2892772\/ja-morant\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ja Morant<\/a> without having to give up a draft pick or take on any contracts that lasted longer than his. That&#8217;s a big win, and should lead to some addition by subtraction. The <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/teams\/MEM\/memphis-grizzlies\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Grizzlies<\/a> get no credit for drafting <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/28906139\/cameron-boozer\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cameron Boozer<\/a>, but they do get credit for the depth and versatility they&#8217;ve put around him in the front court. Adding <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/3142103\/isaiah-stewart\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Isaiah Stewart<\/a> for a few second-round picks and <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/3148174\/quinten-post\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Quinten Post<\/a> on a deal with only one guaranteed season was nice business. Tuomas Iisalo likes to play his players in shorter bursts, so that front-court depth will be vital. That is especially true for the injury-prone <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/3178244\/zach-edey\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Zach Edey<\/a> at center. The Grizzlies don&#8217;t have to overtax Edey or Boozer now, and they&#8217;ve added enough different types of bigs to really get a feel for what works best with their core players.<\/p>\n<p>They picked up some extra second-round picks for moving back from No. 16 to No. 21, and some more draft capital on top of that for trading <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/3142224\/santi-aldama\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Santi Aldama<\/a>. They conducted their offseason business without touching their big Jaren Jackson Jr. trade exception, setting them up as a key possible trade facilitator during the season. They&#8217;re still early in their rebuild, and they still have a ways to go to trim their roster, but everything they did this offseason made sense.<\/p>\n<p>                            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/teams\/HOU\/houston-rockets\/\" aria-label=\"home team page\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"TeamLogo-image\" alt=\"team logo\" src=\"https:\/\/sports.cbsimg.net\/fly\/images\/team-logos\/342.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n                                                <\/a><\/p>\n<p>    Houston Rockets: C+<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2135563\/marcus-smart\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Marcus Smart<\/a> outplayed the two-year, $12.4 million contract Houston gave him pretty substantially last season. He&#8217;s an older injury risk, but on pure value, it&#8217;s a great contract. He&#8217;s just a bit redundant here. Did the <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/teams\/HOU\/houston-rockets\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Rockets<\/a> really need another offensively questionable defender? Will Smart&#8217;s presence just give Ime Udoka another excuse not to play <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/29231118\/reed-sheppard\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Reed Sheppard<\/a>? Only time will tell, but that&#8217;s a real concern here. Houston badly needs his offense.<\/p>\n<p>Setting themselves up to duck the luxury tax by dumping <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2248003\/dorian-finney-smith\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dorian Finney-Smith<\/a> made plenty of sense after they unnecessarily paid it last season. This team is going to be expensive for a while, so whatever steps are needed to delay the repeater tax are warranted. They have more than enough draft capital to justify spending three second-round picks to do that. In a league starving for wing defenders, they locked <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/3178111\/tari-eason\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tari Eason<\/a> up essentially for mid-level money. That&#8217;s a great contract, and another sign of how effectively the Rockets actually negotiate with their own players.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m a bit concerned with how much stock they&#8217;re putting into the returns of <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2067654\/steven-adams\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Steven Adams<\/a> and <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2252663\/fred-vanvleet\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Fred VanVleet<\/a> to solve last year&#8217;s problems. These are both injury-prone veterans in their 30s. There are still long-term questions to answer, but most of what the Rockets just did makes sense.<\/p>\n<p>                            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/teams\/GS\/golden-state-warriors\/\" aria-label=\"home team page\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"TeamLogo-image\" alt=\"team logo\" src=\"https:\/\/sports.cbsimg.net\/fly\/images\/team-logos\/341.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n                                                <\/a><\/p>\n<p>    Golden State Warriors: C+<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m going to give the <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/teams\/GS\/golden-state-warriors\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Warriors<\/a> credit for something unusual: they haven&#8217;t done anything stupid yet. They&#8217;re in the running for LeBron James, and there has been quite a bit of reporting suggesting that they&#8217;d need to add a star, potentially <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/1992786\/anthony-davis\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Anthony Davis<\/a>, to convince him to come. Think of what a disaster the <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/1755181\/paul-george\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Paul George<\/a> trade was for the Clippers. They made it because it also got them Kawhi Leonard. There was a world in which the Warriors similarly overpaid for a star just to land James, who is older and worse than Leonard was at the time. I applaud their restraint in not doing so&#8230; at least thus far.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/29231622\/yaxel-lendeborg\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Yaxel Lendeborg<\/a> thriving at Vegas Summer League was inevitable. He&#8217;s older than <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/26602407\/jonathan-kuminga\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jonathan Kuminga<\/a>. Of course he was going to be pro-ready. Nonetheless, the Warriors were justified in taking a win-now rookie, and they certainly got one. They haven&#8217;t meaningfully added to last year&#8217;s team otherwise, but Kristaps Porzi\u0146\u0123is, <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2268604\/deanthony-melton\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">De&#8217;Anthony Melton<\/a> and <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/1231877\/al-horford\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Al Horford<\/a> all signed for favorable contracts. Getting Porzi\u0146\u0123is for only a $3 million 2027-28 guarantee was a big win. They haven&#8217;t drastically changed their fortunes, but they haven&#8217;t made things worse to mount a very unlikely championship push. Discipline is a valuable front office trait. Managing the end of <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/1685204\/stephen-curry\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Stephen Curry<\/a>&#8216;s career is a unique challenge, but prioritizing the future after he&#8217;s gone, as much as it might infuriate their fans, is the responsible approach.<\/p>\n<p>                            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/teams\/DAL\/dallas-mavericks\/\" aria-label=\"home team page\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"TeamLogo-image\" alt=\"team logo\" src=\"https:\/\/sports.cbsimg.net\/fly\/images\/team-logos\/338.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n                                                <\/a><\/p>\n<p>    Dallas Mavericks: C+<\/p>\n<p>Welp, we know how Masai Ujiri likes to build his teams. In Toronto, he built a champion by grabbing every big forward he could find. His Dallas tenure has started out in much the same way. The three most notable additions here all fall into that big wing category: Morez Johnson with the No. 9 overall pick, Santi Aldama in a trade with Memphis and <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/29275376\/zaccharie-risacher\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Zaccharie Risacher<\/a> in a trade with Atlanta. Is the fit here optimal? Probably not.\u00a0<a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/29556534\/cooper-flagg\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cooper Flagg<\/a>\u00a0should probably be a long-term power forward. That&#8217;s the easiest way to surround him with shooting and maximize his defensive strengths, but on this roster, he&#8217;s probably exclusively a small forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But he&#8217;s 19. The Mavericks have time to figure out what does and doesn&#8217;t work beside him, so taking swings at forward is a reasonable starting point. The decision to keep\u00a0<a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/1779901\/kyrie-irving\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kyrie Irving<\/a>\u00a0is defensible mostly with the idea that he can rebuild his trade value on the court during the season. Eventually, he&#8217;ll need to be flipped for youth. Hopefully, that youth is in the backcourt. The\u00a0<a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/3142030\/marcus-sasser\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Marcus Sasser<\/a>\u00a0addition makes sense. He got crowded out of Detroit&#8217;s rotation, but he&#8217;s young, cheap and playable.\u00a0<a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2892001\/daniel-gafford\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Daniel Gafford<\/a>\u00a0and P.J. Washington remain trade candidates, and Dereck Lively is extension-eligible. Don&#8217;t be surprised if the\u00a0<a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/teams\/DAL\/dallas-mavericks\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mavericks<\/a>\u00a0make another notable decision or two this offseason, and if they don&#8217;t, the roster probably looks meaningfully different by the deadline.<\/p>\n<p>                            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/teams\/OKC\/oklahoma-city-thunder\/\" aria-label=\"home team page\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"TeamLogo-image\" alt=\"team logo\" src=\"https:\/\/sports.cbsimg.net\/fly\/images\/team-logos\/1628527.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n                                                <\/a><\/p>\n<p>    Oklahoma City Thunder: C<\/p>\n<p>We knew where this was going. The Thunder started the offseason around $40 million over the second apron. They were inevitably going to get under, and they did so with players who had functionally already been replaced. The <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/29233362\/jared-mccain\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jared McCain<\/a> trade rendered\u00a0<a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/3041780\/isaiah-joe\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Isaiah Joe<\/a>\u00a0obsolete.\u00a0<a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/3042491\/aaron-wiggins\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Aaron Wiggins<\/a>\u00a0was mostly out of the rotation. Lu Dort&#8217;s offense had become a problem, and while he may have been willing to go the bench (and probably will in Atlanta), he needed to be replaced in the starting lineup by <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/28953818\/cason-wallace\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cason Wallace<\/a> anyway, and trading him addresses any potential awkwardness preemptively.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/news\/lu-dort-trade-grades-thunder-mavericks-hawks-zaccharie-risacher\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><\/p>\n<p>Lu Dort trade grades: Thunder clean up their books; Mavericks take buy-low swing on former No. 1 pick<\/p>\n<p>\n                    Sam Quinn                <\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" alt=\"Lu Dort trade grades: Thunder clean up their books; Mavericks take buy-low swing on former No. 1 pick\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/dort-getty.png\" loading=\"lazy\" height=\"152\" width=\"270\"\/><\/p>\n<p>    <\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Thunder aren&#8217;t as deep as they were a year ago. That was always the plan. Cycle out role players as they get expensive, replace them with cheaper draft picks and veterans willing to sign for team-friendly terms, as\u00a0<a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2842866\/isaiah-hartenstein\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Isaiah Hartenstein<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2152923\/kenrich-williams\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kenrich Williams<\/a>\u00a0did. They still have a Victor Wembanyama problem. Maybe\u00a0<a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/29233479\/aday-mara\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Aday Mara<\/a>\u00a0solves it someday. Maybe <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/26776724\/chet-holmgren\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Chet Holmgren<\/a> is better against him next year, or maybe <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/3141818\/jalen-williams\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jalen Williams<\/a> and <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/26776721\/ajay-mitchell\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ajay Mitchell<\/a> are healthy enough for the Thunder to win anyway. There wasn&#8217;t a realistic world in which the Thunder addressed that problem externally, so cleaning up their books and hoping for internal growth is par for the course.<\/p>\n<p>                            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/teams\/DEN\/denver-nuggets\/\" aria-label=\"home team page\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"TeamLogo-image\" alt=\"team logo\" src=\"https:\/\/sports.cbsimg.net\/fly\/images\/team-logos\/339.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n                                                <\/a><\/p>\n<p>    Denver Nuggets: C-<\/p>\n<p>This grade is very much a &#8220;TBD,&#8221; because until <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/26779136\/peyton-watson\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Peyton Watson<\/a>&#8216;s situation is settled, we don&#8217;t really know what Denver&#8217;s top six will look like. For now, escaping the first wave of free agency without an offer sheet is a win. There is no longer substantial cap space on the market, so no one can make the <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/teams\/DEN\/denver-nuggets\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Nuggets<\/a> sweat with a giant offer sheet. They control the proceedings now. If they get him back without trading off a core piece to cut into their enormous impending tax bill? That&#8217;s a successful offseason. If they sign-and-trade him for poor value just to cut that tax bill, or if they trade an important player so they can keep Watson more affordably, this offseason is a negative.<\/p>\n<p>Outside of the core six, Denver has probably gotten worse. Losing <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2067672\/tim-hardaway-jr\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">TIm Hardaway Jr<\/a>. is a real blow. His bench scoring was very valuable last season. <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/3141629\/spencer-jones\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Spencer Jones<\/a> is still sitting in restricted free agency, and since he&#8217;d only be signing for an exception, someone could still try to make the Nuggets uncomfortable with an offer sheet. They already have two players on rookie minimum deals in order to save money. Not a great sign for their depth. Marvin Bagley has turned himself into a real rotation player, but he&#8217;s undersized for a 2026 center, so the non-Nikola Joki\u0107 minutes are still a question.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Speaking of which&#8230; Joki\u0107 hasn&#8217;t extended yet. Denver shouldn&#8217;t be concerned yet, especially with the Lakers spending their possible 2027 cap space, but that&#8217;s certainly an uncomfortable place to be a year away from his potential free agency. That might be why they haven&#8217;t shed any money yet. They can&#8217;t risk incurring the wrath of their franchise player.<\/p>\n<p>                            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/teams\/LAL\/los-angeles-lakers\/\" aria-label=\"home team page\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"TeamLogo-image\" alt=\"team logo\" src=\"https:\/\/sports.cbsimg.net\/fly\/images\/team-logos\/345.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n                                                <\/a><\/p>\n<p>    Los Angeles Lakers: C-<\/p>\n<p>The Lakers entered this offseason with two major team-building resources and two major needs. They had over $50 million in cap space and up to three first-round picks and three first-round swaps to trade, but they had to walk away from this summer with both a center and an entire wing rotation. They went all-out at center, landing Walker Kessler, but it cost them both a substantial chunk of their cap space and two picks and two swaps. That left them without the resources they are going to need to build a championship-level wing rotation. Right now, they simply aren&#8217;t good enough to win a title, and they have no obvious way of bridging that gap.<\/p>\n<p>Center isn&#8217;t fully secured. Kessler was about as good as they could have done at starter, but <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2152976\/kevon-looney\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kevon Looney<\/a> is no longer an acceptable playoff-level backup. <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2891991\/deandre-ayton\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Deandre Ayton<\/a> may be frustrating, but at $8 million, he&#8217;s a nice value as a backup. They had to trade him for <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/26819214\/jaden-hardy\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jaden Hardy<\/a>, who has no clear fit on this roster, just to clear the last bit of cap space they needed to sign everyone else. Is <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2893115\/sandro-mamukelashvili\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sandro Mamukelashvili<\/a> playing center? They&#8217;ll never get any stops that way. Speaking of which, between Mamukelashvili and <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2891955\/collin-sexton\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Collin Sexton<\/a>, the Lakers devoted quite a bit of money to players who don&#8217;t really defend. A questionable choice for a team with Luka Don\u010di\u0107 and <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2268681\/austin-reaves\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Austin Reaves<\/a>. If they&#8217;re going to meaningfully compete with the Thunder and Spurs, they&#8217;re going to have to build a defense almost fully on the margins. I&#8217;m not sure that&#8217;s even possible. <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/3177616\/ziaire-williams\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ziaire Williams<\/a> and <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2203545\/matisse-thybulle\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Matisse Thybulle<\/a> were nice minimum signings, but they&#8217;re fliers with real flaws, not starting-level wings. The Lakers have a lot of work to do without many tools to do it with.<\/p>\n<p>                            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/teams\/PHO\/phoenix-suns\/\" aria-label=\"home team page\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"TeamLogo-image\" alt=\"team logo\" src=\"https:\/\/sports.cbsimg.net\/fly\/images\/team-logos\/353.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n                                                <\/a><\/p>\n<p>    Phoenix Suns: C-<\/p>\n<p>The <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/teams\/PHO\/phoenix-suns\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Suns<\/a> did very well when it came to the contracts they handed out this offseason. <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2893420\/collin-gillespie\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Collin Gillespie<\/a> on a four-year, $48 million deal is one of the best values of the summer, and <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2893060\/jordan-goodwin\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jordan Goodwin<\/a>, <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2842761\/luke-kennard\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Luke Kennard<\/a> and <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/3178196\/mark-williams\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mark Williams<\/a> all signed for very fair money. They&#8217;re now around $16 million over the luxury-tax line, though, so unless they can line up a <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/26602347\/jalen-green\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jalen Green<\/a> trade during the season, they probably won&#8217;t be able to reset their repeater clock this year. That&#8217;s more of a Mat Ishbia problem than a Phoenix Suns problem, though. If he&#8217;s willing to spend the extra money, great.<\/p>\n<p>The <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2355084\/miles-bridges\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Miles Bridges<\/a> trade was unjustifiable. How they didn&#8217;t learn their lesson when they were widely mocked for giving up their 2031 first-round pick at the 2025 deadline, I will never understand. Their (unprotected!) 2033 pick was among the most valuable selections traded all summer, and they gave it up for a power forward that neither shoots nor defends at a high level. He scores a lot of points, but not especially efficiently. He doesn&#8217;t pressure the rim nearly as much as he should. He puts up big numbers but has never consistently impacted winning.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>To go yet another year into the future without controlling their own first-round pick for him when they are a Play-In Tounrament team at best with no path to anything better in the near future was the single most indefensible thing any team did this offseason, and that&#8217;s before we even factor in the hefty extension he&#8217;ll surely demand. The Suns seem set on locking themselves into expensive mediocrity.<\/p>\n<p>                            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/teams\/NO\/new-orleans-pelicans\/\" aria-label=\"home team page\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"TeamLogo-image\" alt=\"team logo\" src=\"https:\/\/sports.cbsimg.net\/fly\/images\/team-logos\/335.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n                                                <\/a><\/p>\n<p>    New Orleans Pelicans: D+<\/p>\n<p>I can agree with any of the individual decisions New Orleans made not to trade their players. They wanted a haul for Trey Murphy or Herb Jones? That&#8217;s fair. Affordable young wings are worth their weight in gold. Won&#8217;t give <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/29231829\/yves-missi\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Yves Missi<\/a> to the <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/teams\/NY\/new-york-knicks\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Knicks<\/a>? They need a young, defensive center, so it makes sense. <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/3042398\/zion-williamson\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Zion Williamson<\/a> is still here? Well&#8230; he doesn&#8217;t fit with Missi or <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/29559183\/derik-queen\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Derik Queen<\/a>, but he&#8217;s a star-level talent coming off of a very good year. Fine. In a vacuum, you can justify all of this.<\/p>\n<p>As a coherent plan? You absolutely cannot. Why on Earth are they running back a 26-win team? A fake 26-win team at that. They racked up plenty of those wins late in the season, when they were the only lottery team without a reason to tank. A coaching change simply is not enough here, especially when the coach they just hired, Jamahl Mosley, just got fired in part because of his inability to make an island of misfit offensive toys work in Orlando. That&#8217;s more or less the sort of roster he&#8217;s walking into in New Orleans: a lot of talent, weird fit, and far less defense.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/news\/most-confusing-moves-nba-offseason-gary-trent\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><\/p>\n<p>Explaining four most confusing moves of NBA offseason: Gary Trent for $64M? Two years for DeAndre Jordan?<\/p>\n<p>\n                    Sam Quinn                <\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" alt=\"Explaining four most confusing moves of NBA offseason: Gary Trent for $64M? Two years for DeAndre Jordan?\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/gary-trent-getty.png\" loading=\"lazy\" height=\"152\" width=\"270\"\/><\/p>\n<p>    <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Not that it&#8217;s all that consequential, but the two-year minimum for <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/1622506\/deandre-jordan\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">DeAndre Jordan<\/a> was an own goal cap-wise. Most minimum contracts only count for the two-year minimum against the cap. The only exceptions are multi-year minimum deals, which Jordan now is, adding an extra $1.5 million onto their books this year and next. Were they going to need that money for anything? Probably not, they never pay the tax. But it&#8217;s a bad process to keep someone who&#8217;s here to be an adult in the locker room, not a basketball player.<\/p>\n<p>                            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/teams\/SAC\/sacramento-kings\/\" aria-label=\"home team page\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"TeamLogo-image\" alt=\"team logo\" src=\"https:\/\/sports.cbsimg.net\/fly\/images\/team-logos\/355.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n                                                <\/a><\/p>\n<p>    Sacramento Kings: D+<\/p>\n<p>The <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/teams\/SAC\/sacramento-kings\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kings<\/a> are about to start a teardown, except they haven&#8217;t torn anything down yet. The only expensive veteran who&#8217;s gone is <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/1685250\/demar-derozan\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">DeMar DeRozan<\/a>, who had a partially guaranteed contract. They haven&#8217;t been able to find trade takers for <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2152455\/domantas-sabonis\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Domantas Sabonis<\/a>, <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2355022\/malik-monk\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Malik Monk<\/a> or <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2135543\/zach-lavine\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Zach LaVine<\/a>. The latter probably should be a buyout candidate. The Kings are still technically above the tax line, though using the stretch provision on DeRozan could change that. Is the idea to keep LaVine in the name of avoiding the relegation zone? He didn&#8217;t exactly help them win games a season ago. They could&#8217;ve used that extra money to seek out longer-term fits.<\/p>\n<p>The Kings just haven&#8217;t really accomplished anything this offseason. They made their draft picks, made the inevitable decision to waive DeRozan, and called it a summer from there. It&#8217;s too early to say much about their rookies other than they&#8217;re about to waste a year or two with a bunch of teammates who won&#8217;t be playing alongside them for the long haul.<\/p>\n<p>                            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/teams\/POR\/portland-trail-blazers\/\" aria-label=\"home team page\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"TeamLogo-image\" alt=\"team logo\" src=\"https:\/\/sports.cbsimg.net\/fly\/images\/team-logos\/354.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n                                                <\/a><\/p>\n<p>    Portland Trail Blazers: D<\/p>\n<p>The logic behind trading for Ja Morant was seemingly that he is a star-level talent that cost nothing to acquire but matching salary. It was, essentially, a no-risk, all-reward proposition. I simply disagree with the premise. There is a lot of risk here, even if the Blazers didn&#8217;t give anything up to get Morant. His addition, paired with <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/1992810\/damian-lillard\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Damian Lillard<\/a>&#8216;s return, threatens to derail the development of young guards <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/29005041\/scoot-henderson\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Scoot Henderson<\/a> and <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/26893318\/shaedon-sharpe\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Shaedon Sharpe<\/a> as they will now be relegated to lesser roles. For that matter, it threatens the star leap <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/3149254\/deni-avdija\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Deni Avdija<\/a> took last season. He thrived as a downhill driver and high-usage ball-handler. Morant has to have the ball in his hands to provide any value, which means Avdija has less of it, and his complete lack of 3-point shooting cramps the floor for Avdija.<\/p>\n<p>Maximizing Avdija means quite a bit next season. His contract is so cheap that he is essentially unextendable without cap space. The Blazers have a slightly harder path to space with Morant on their books in the summer of 2027 than they did with <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2135533\/jerami-grant\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jerami Grant<\/a>. If the fit doesn&#8217;t work, Avdija may be less inclined to actually re-sign. Couple all of that with Morant&#8217;s recent history of clashing with a head coach (Portland has a first-year head coach in Micah Nori with only one guaranteed year on his contract, by the way) and the remarkably poor defense the Blazers should expect to get out of their starting guards and suddenly this trade looks like a potential disaster. Picking up <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/players\/2268351\/micah-potter\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Micah Potter<\/a> off waivers was a nice find on the margins, and the partial guarantee on Robert Williams III&#8217;s new contract was essential given his injury history, but the Morant trade just has too much downside risk even without a hefty price attached for this offseason to be deemed successful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just as was the case with our Eastern Conference grades yesterday, our 2026 Western Conference offseason grades are&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":949708,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[40],"tags":[145867,12548,322884,137257,28878,8613,17378,79659,97245,7943,21595,94161,2494,3139,23229,6275,84841,173947,7200,34305,57186,3134,11431,94160,27846,20541,8608,3140,3136,12110,261972,36857,3576,23298,168069,7192,3367,18169,36691,24817,6271,27635,83097,11434,58608,64020,99555,83096,3370,281109,58567,25879,145018,11018,57189,3526,3363,3142,3141,25881,28881,138358,25873,15946,185455,3135,260575,131707,3131,1260,20198,15511,7185,382335,3137,1268,3525,50066,1721,3133,91683,9276,25927,3143,3138,28989,25871,77705,179229,156139,62,3366,8610,8607,177191,67,132,68,3132,4714,63667,161966,241570,25880,220084,42703,119666,60620],"class_list":["post-949707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-aaron-wiggins","tag-ace-bailey","tag-aday-mara","tag-ajay-mitchell","tag-al-horford","tag-anthony-edwards","tag-austin-reaves","tag-cameron-boozer","tag-cason-wallace","tag-chet-holmgren","tag-collin-gillespie","tag-collin-sexton","tag-cooper-flagg","tag-dallas-mavericks","tag-damian-lillard","tag-daniel-gafford","tag-darryn-peterson","tag-deanthony-melton","tag-deaaron-fox","tag-deandre-jordan","tag-deni-avdija","tag-denver-nuggets","tag-derik-queen","tag-domantas-sabonis","tag-donte-divincenzo","tag-dorian-finney-smith","tag-fred-vanvleet","tag-golden-state-warriors","tag-houston-rockets","tag-isaiah-hartenstein","tag-isaiah-stewart","tag-ivica-zubac","tag-ja-morant","tag-jaden-hardy","tag-jaden-mcdaniels","tag-jalen-green","tag-jalen-williams","tag-james-harden","tag-jared-mccain","tag-jaren-jackson-jr","tag-jaxson-hayes","tag-jayden-quaintance","tag-jerami-grant","tag-jonathan-kuminga","tag-jordan-goodwin","tag-josh-green","tag-josh-okogie","tag-julian-champagnie","tag-kawhi-leonard","tag-keaton-wagler","tag-kenrich-williams","tag-kevon-looney","tag-keyonte-george","tag-kyrie-irving","tag-lamelo-ball","tag-lauri-markkanen","tag-lebron-james","tag-los-angeles-clippers","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-luke-kennard","tag-malik-monk","tag-marcus-sasser","tag-marcus-smart","tag-mark-williams","tag-matisse-thybulle","tag-memphis-grizzlies","tag-micah-potter","tag-miles-bridges","tag-minnesota-timberwolves","tag-nba","tag-nba-free-agency","tag-nba-grades","tag-nba-news","tag-nba-offseason-grades","tag-new-orleans-pelicans","tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","tag-paul-george","tag-peyton-watson","tag-phoenix-suns","tag-portland-trail-blazers","tag-quinten-post","tag-reed-sheppard","tag-rui-hachimura","tag-sacramento-kings","tag-san-antonio-spurs","tag-sandro-mamukelashvili","tag-santi-aldama","tag-scoot-henderson","tag-shaedon-sharpe","tag-spencer-jones","tag-sports","tag-stephen-curry","tag-steven-adams","tag-tari-eason","tag-tobias-harris","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-utah-jazz","tag-victor-wembanyama","tag-walker-kessler","tag-yaxel-lendeborg","tag-yves-missi","tag-zaccharie-risacher","tag-zach-edey","tag-zach-lavine","tag-ziaire-williams","tag-zion-williamson"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation 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