Winners and losers of the 2024 NBA offseason

The big wave of NBA free agency, as well as the NBA Draft, have come and gone. With that, we can gauge which teams and players have won the offseason thus far, and which organizations have really mailed it in. These are the winners and losers of the 2024 NBA offseason.

Winners

Philadelphia 76ers

It’s going to be very difficult to catch the Boston Celtics, but the addition of Paul George gives the team a very compelling Big 3. He’s getting older and has always had a penchant for missing games with injury, but he’s a star who will benefit greatly from being asked to do less. The role additions of Eric Gordon and Andre Drummond are also nice, and I even think Jared McCain and Adem Bona was a very nice use of draft capital.

San Antonio Spurs

This is a franchise that isn’t used to losing, and they have the single best asset in the NBA – Victor Wembanyama. Naturally, there’d be a temptation to expedite the rebuilding process, but they are being patient. Stephon Castle is a nice get at #4 – to me, his floor is the highest of anyone in the draft – and the addition of Chris Paul won’t change their record much. However, it’ll help with the culture of the franchise. And, with Popovich set to turn 76 next season, it would not surprise me if the team’s next coach is their new point guard.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Moving up to take Rob Dillingham was a fantastic move for a team that is limited by what they can do in free agency. I view the young point guard as one of the top five impact prospects in this class, and the Wolves got him as a bargain to supplement and ultimately replace Mike Conley (who has played more than 50 games only 4 times in the last 8 seasons). Terrance Shannon Jr. was also a great late first round pick who could replace the production of Kyle Anderson.

Tobias Harris

A good but not a great basketball player, Tobias Harris has averaged over 20 points per game just once in his career, and has never made an All Star team. Despite that fact, he now has eclipsed more than $300 million in earnings – the most in NBA history for a player without such an appearance. It’s a remarkable sum for a guy who is best suited to be the third or fourth best player on a good team. Now, he will be asked to be a veteran presence on an atrocious team while making more than $50 million over the next two seasons with Detroit.

LeBron James

If you are the Los Angeles Lakers, you have to feel like LeBron has underdelivered on what you hoped he’d bring. If you are LeBron James, though, you have to be thrilled that the franchise continues to give you everything you want – big money, roster decisions, coaching decisions, and drafting Bronny.

JJ Redick

The former player turned podcaster turned coach gets his start with the much-talked-about Los Angeles Lakers. It’d be a fair argument that this is a pressure-filled job for a first-time coach, but I’d argue the opposite. Expectations should be quite low for a team that finished with the West’s eighth best record, lost 4-1 in the first round (after the healthiest season for both LeBron and Anthony Davis in the purple and gold), and then proceeded to fail to recruit talent to come help make one final push for the league’s all-time scoring champion. For Redick, he landed a great gig without having to work his way up, and he should have time to learn how to be an NBA coach for a team that is absolutely irrelevant when it comes to making a championship push. 

France

A year after Wemby, France followed up with the top two picks (three in the top six). Quite an impressive showing.

Losers

Atlanta Hawks

I don’t think Risacher was the right choice at No. 1 overall, but I could be sold on him. That said, this is a franchise that made the play-in, and then was fortunate to land the No. 1 overall selection. They then make a questionable pick and follow it up with making a really poor trade getting rid of one of their best players and getting a lackluster return. A total lack of direction for this middling franchise.

Los Angeles Clippers

They gave up so much to make the dream pairing of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George a reality, and they never made a serious run. George is now gone, and they received nothing in return. Heading into next season, I’d argue that they are a play-in type team built around a 33 year-old and without a path toward relevance in the short-term. 

LeBron James

Is there a worse recruiter in sports history? LeBron James is the most recognizable active athlete on the planet, but over the course of his career, he’s proven utterly incapable of being an attraction for other talent. Early in his career, nobody significant would come join him in Cleveland. His choice to take his “talents to South Beach” was him joining Dwyane Wade’s team and responding to his pitch. Upon his return to Cleveland, the team traded for Kevin Love and already had Kyrie Irving – who eventually wanted to leave LeBron. And, since being in LA, he convinced the franchise to deal for Anthony Davis only to then struggle to convince other talent to join them. The failure to land Klay Thompson – or anyone helpful – this summer is likely to cement the end of James’ career on a losing, downward trajectory. A big part of his legacy will be that he was a great talent that nobody wanted to play with.