Evaluating NBA offseason business for each team is typically boiled down to a binary proposition. Is Team X better or worse? That's all many care about. And that's fair!

But offseason work is more complicated than that.

Every squad has at least one decision, development or move worth celebrating. They also have at least one decision, development or move that constitutes a loss.

When we say "every squad," we mean every squad. Exceptions do not exist.

No team has turned in a perfect offseason entirely free from regret or letdown, no matter how minor. Whether it's losing a key player or personnel member, failing to win part of a negotiation or something else, each team has something that's at least less than ideal on which we can harp.

And harp we will. But we've also got 30 bottles of champagne that cost less than milk on ice and ready to uncork.

Because we'll be celebrating each team's most important victory, too.

Atlanta Hawks

Biggest Win: Landing the No. 1 pick

Winning the draft lottery is a HugeFreakingDeal for a franchise that doesn't control its next three first-rounders. Whether you think the Atlanta Hawks made the most of that pick is debatable.

Zaccharie Risacher seems more plug-and-play than conventional star prospect. But 1) we can't know for sure until he plays the games, and 2) that's not the end of the world. Risacher's hustle in transition and half-court floor navigation will translate, and his value skyrockets should he consistently bang in triples, even if only from the corners.

Also, even with De'Andre Hunter and Dyson Daniels in the fold, Risacher is likely Atlanta's best shot at having someone next season who qualifies as a two-way wing.

Biggest Loss: Dejounte Murray

Trading Murray stings on three fronts.

It is first and foremost an admittance that the Hawks never should have acquired him. After that, Atlanta must grapple with having accepted a largely future-focused return despite not really controlling its own future. (See: Draft obligations to San Antonio.)

And finally, regardless of how you feel about his fit or the return on his departure, the Hawks are now tasked with replacing 22.5 points, 6.4 assists and 7.1 three-point attempts per game.

Boston Celtics

Biggest Win: Derrick White extension

Offering White a four-year, $118 million extension is never something the Boston Celtics needed to think about. Second-apron realities and all, you lock him down for that price tag and figure out the rest later.

Another team could have given him four years and close to $200 million next summer. Even at a time when organizations are skewing spendthrifty on non-stars, a then-31-year-old White likely winds up with that kind of market. Getting him on this deal is a massive W for the Celtics.

Biggest Loss: Charles Lee leaving for Charlotte

Lee has now been the lead assistant on two championship teams and is renowned around the league for his ability to develop and relate to players. Losing him to Charlotte may not be something that shows up in the box score, and his departure was clearly beyond Boston's control. That doesn't make it any less notable.

Feel free to plop Kristaps Porziņģis missing the start of next year into this spot after he underwent surgery to repair a torn retinaculum and dislocated posterior tibialis tendon in his left leg. But he suffered the injury last season, and his absence is presumably temporary.

Brooklyn Nets

Biggest Win: Regaining control of their next two first-round picks

Resetting the deck is a lot more palatable for the Brooklyn Nets after reacquiring control of their 2025 and 2026 first-rounders. They are now free to tank their hearts out.

Granted, there are no guarantees this two-year window culminates in a blindingly bright future. But Brooklyn had no clear path out of the sub-middle as previously constructed.

And while some like to boil designed demolitions down to targeting one or two specific players in the draft, the Nets' deconstruction is more about ensuring they get at least two tries to nail a top-five selection.

Biggest Loss: Mikal Bridges

Would the Nets rather have Bridges or four unprotected first-rounders and one unprotected swap from New York and a loosely protected first from Milwaukee?

Relative to Brooklyn's situation, this isn't even a question.

But, like, we have to pick something. And look, for as much as Nets fans may think Bridges had his eye on the Villanova Knicks since arriving in Brooklyn, he still represented the closest thing to a cornerstone this franchise employed. That honor is now bestowed upon Cam Thomas or Nic Claxton.

Charlotte Hornets

Biggest Win: Continued franchise reset

Things are changing for the Charlotte Hornets. It was clear at the trade deadline, and it's even clearer now under lead basketball executive Jeff Peterson.

Quibble over selecting Tidjane Salaun at No. 6 if you must. There are fair critiques and appealing alternatives. But the investment in a long-term project is further evidence this organization isn't looking to cut corners.

Revamping the medical staff is an even better indicator of priorities. It keeps in theme with this new governorship spending money the previous regime never did. (The Hornets pledged full funding for a new practice facility this past February.) Charles Lee was also among the most sought-after coaching candidates on the market—and he chose this team.

Much still needs to be done in Charlotte. But for the first time in a long time—maybe ever—we have reason to believe in its direction.

Biggest Loss: Giving up assets for Josh Green

Please take solace in this selection, Hornets fans. It speaks to how well Charlotte has navigated the offseason.

Still, forking over Philadelphia's 2025 second-rounder and cash for someone not on a net-positive contract (three years, $41 million) is a little bizarre. Green is an NBA player, but he's not a lockdown defender and is more comfortable working on-ball than off.

Given Dallas' own order of operations this summer, it feels like Charlotte had the leverage to get something back as part of that six-team trade.

Chicago Bulls

Biggest Win: Not doubling down on sub-mediocrity

Chin up, Chicago Bulls fans! Your franchise would not have traded away Alex Caruso and facilitated DeMar DeRozan's exit if they were irretrievably hot for 10th place finishes.

Should you be happy with the return(s)? Or content to know Zach LaVine and Nikola Vučević remain on the roster? Or thrilled that Patrick Williams has a player option at the end of his five-year deal when names like Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton and Tyrese Maxey do not? Or trust that this organization will actually commit to something more than perennially pedestrian pedigree?

Not at all. But this pivot, baffling and indistinct as it is, counts as progress.

Biggest Loss: Big-picture asset management

Spare me any optimistic projections for Josh Giddey. He's 21. He can pass. I get it. He's also about to see his salary soar in 2025-26 and incredibly flawed.

Failing to net even one first-rounder while giving up Caruso, especially from the draft-pick-drunk Oklahoma City, is a special kind of inane.

Ending up with zero firsts when moving on from both DeRozan and Caruso? While also not even positioning yourself to land the best asset in the DeRozan sign-and-trade (2031 first-round swap from Sacramento)?

Now that's generational incompetence.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Biggest Win: Donovan Mitchell extension

Signing Mitchell to a three-year, $150.3 million extension doesn't just lock down the Cleveland Cavaliers' best player through 2026-27 (player option in 2027-28). It paved the way for near-unprecedented continuity at the top of their roster.

Following extensions for Evan Mobley (five years, $224.2 million) and Jarrett Allen (three years, $90.7 million), Cleveland's Core Four are all under team control for the next three years. Whether it's lengthening the window to win or simply to figure things out, this type of long-term stability is difficult to finagle.

Biggest Loss: The Isaac Okoro stand-off

Maybe waiting out Okoro's restricted free agency will pay off for the Cavs. Even if he ends up signing his qualifying offer, it's not the end of the world. He's not floating around the open market for this long by accident. Questions persist about his viability in a playoff offense.

With that said, you never want a rotation player coming off his rookie scale getting the chance to explore unrestricted free agency in one year's time.

And more than that, no matter how this ends, it'll invariably be worth asking whether Cleveland was better off seeing the Okoro situation through or using most, if not all, of its non-taxpayer mid-level exception on an external swing.

Dallas Mavericks

Biggest Win: Tim Hardaway Jr. trade

Jettisoning THJ set up a huge chunk of the Dallas Mavericks' offseason. It gave them the flexibility to access the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, the majority of which they used on Naji Marshall. It also netted them Quentin Grimes, who despite coming off a down year, spent his first two seasons capably guarding at the point of attack and knocking down threes.

Wiping Hardaway's money from the ledger also helped make it possible to land Klay Thompson. You can't acquire players via sign-and-trade if you're above the first apron, and it's much easier to math out Thompson's arrival without having THJ on the books or needing to use him as matching salary.

Biggest Loss: Derrick Jones Jr.

Though Grimes and Marshall can replace a lot of what Jones brought the Mavs on defense, neither has his athleticism or positional malleability.

Marshall comes closest to the latter. He can guard some smalls, but quicker assignments will give him trouble. DJJ's physical tools scaled to most perimeter situations, and though Dallas' defense is set up to be fine, his absence will be worth tracking out of the gate.

Denver Nuggets

Biggest Win: Bringing in Dario Šarić

Adding Šarić to the backup-big mix makes a world of sense for the Denver Nuggets. He spares Aaron Gordon from too much regular-season, full-on center duty and can be used as a very light Nikola Jokic facsimile on offense, if not strictly as a more dynamic 5 who doesn't shrink the floor.

Spending the mini mid-level on him feels a bit rich. Was anybody else offering that? Did they need to include the player option? Before you say this doesn't matter, Denver surrendered three seconds to get off Reggie Jackson after he picked up his player option off a mini-MLE agreement.

This is nevertheless a good basketball move, especially after DaRon Holmes II suffered a torn right Achilles.

Biggest Loss: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

There is no way to spin KCP's exit as anything more than a big-time loss. And it could have been avoided.

Keep the second-apron caveats to yourself. The Nuggets need to make use of that "flexibility" beyond paying Šarić to justify that stance.

Letting KCP walk does open up minutes for players more important to the longer timeline. But that's a bizarre defense for a title contender built around 30-year-old Nikola Jokic.

Denver could have kept KCP and continued expanding roles for Christian Braun, Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther. If the organization views those agendas as mutually exclusive, it says more about the synergy between the front office and head coach Michael Malone than anything else.

Detroit Pistons

Biggest Win: Simone Fontecchio's contract

Viewing the Detroit Pistons' offseason in its totality doesn't inspire too many warm and fuzzies. But they assembled a good amount of floor-spacing around Cade Cunningham.

Two of their new additions are caps-lock STEALS. Malik Beasley at $6 million is a bargain. Getting Simone Fontecchio's combination of spacing, movement and subtly solid defense for two years and $16 million, on the other hand, is highway robbery.

[In my best Mat Ishbia voice] At least 15 other teams should feel bad about themselves for letting an impact player like Fontecchio remain in Detroit for so little guaranteed money.

Biggest Loss: Tim Hardaway Jr. trade

Including the Monty Williams firing with a half-decade left on his contract is fair game. Really, though, it would have been a bigger loss to push forward with a coach you don't trust just because he's owed money.

The Tobias Harris deal is also worth discussing. Two years and $52 million is a lot for a non-star whose last team's fan base couldn't wait to bid farewell. But the Pistons aren't good. They have to overpay to differentiate themselves in pushes for quality talent. Whatever you think of Harris, he is still that. Plus, his contract is so short it's not worth obsessing over.

Sending out Quentin Grimes when you're doing Dallas a favor is tougher to reconcile. This felt like a weird to bad move at the time. It looks even worse after Charlotte got more to take on Reggie Jackson, who's earning roughly one-third of what THJ takes home.

Golden State Warriors

Biggest Win: De'Anthony Melton signing

If Melton's back is all good, the Golden State Warriors landed someone who guards above his weight, with fringe All-Defense effectiveness, and is content playing away from the ball and knocking down threes.

Cap dorks (guilty) will wonder if the Dubs should have tried tacking on another year. But the single-season term is actually a stroke of brilliance. It keeps Golden State flexible if it prefers to move on, but the salary is high enough ($12.8 million) that the 120 percent raise it can offer next summer using non-Bird rights is more than enough.

Biggest Loss: Klay Thompson

Logistically speaking, the Warriors are probably better off without Thompson. Buddy Hield came cheaper, and he doesn't have the history with the organization that likely prevented Klay from ever accepting a more marginalized role.

Emotionally speaking, this is a cultural gut punch. It's going to be weird for Warriors (and general NBA fans) to see Thompson in different threads. The partnership between himself, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green was special—rare in its longevity and accolades (four titles).

This is clearly the best basketball decision for all parties. That doesn't make it suck any less. You can go with Golden State missing out on Paul George (or Lauri Markkanen) if you prefer roads not traveled. I'm choosing to indulge my inner romantic.

Houston Rockets

Biggest Win: Drafting Reed Sheppard

In a draft that lacked consensus, the Houston Rockets' selection of Sheppard at No. 3 was universally assumed and, rightfully, revered.

The 20-year-old rookie has the goods to level up this team's offense from the jump. His shooting scales to off-ball usage, and he's a whiz at getting to his mid-range shots when initiating the action.

Frankly, if the Rockets weren't teeming with other mouths to feed and bodies to play, Sheppard should be a heavy favorite to win Rookie of the Year.

Biggest Loss: Those Brooklyn Nets Picks

Turning the next two Nets picks (2025 swap, 2026 outright) into distant first-rounders and swaps is a calculated gamble by Houston—one that's easy to get behind.

Shorting Phoenix's future, specifically, may be a stroke of genius when factoring in Kevin Durant's age and the team's inevitably untenable payroll. And Brooklyn's next two first-rounders wouldn't look so juicy if the Nets themselves didn't own them. Reacquiring them set the stage for the Mikal Bridges trade and gave them a license to tank.

Yet, Brooklyn wasn't shaping up to be a powerhouse before the fact. They could have been bottom-four bad without making a blockbuster swing.

There is also a universe in which they make the Bridges trade anyway, because New York offered so much. And if the plan for Houston is to move those selections, imminently intriguing firsts are more valuable to front offices without total job security than later ones.

The Rockets get the benefit of the doubt. They have a clear plan in place and a ton of tantalizing assets. This "loss" is more like food for thought.

Indiana Pacers

Biggest Win: Andrew Nembhard extension

Locking down Nembhard on a three-year, $58.7 million extension is a home run by the Pacers. They could have gone out another season, but this annual value is large enough off which to extend him, and having him under organizational control through 2027-28 for never more than 11.8 percent of the salary cap is beyond team-friendly.

If Nembhard's defense holds serve and he continues to progress as an offensive creator, this deal will look a lot like the one he's finishing up in 2024-25: a friggin' steal.

Biggest Loss: Obi Toppin negotiations

Keeping Toppin is perfectly reasonable. It complicates the developmental plan for Jarace Walker, last year's No. 8 pick, but Obi largely delivered in Indiana as a floor-spacer and -runner.

I would still like to know who was giving him a four-year, $60 million deal as a restricted free agent. We tend to overthink the ease with which teams can squeeze their own players, but you'll be hard-pressed to convince me there was a market above the non-taxpayer mid-level for him.

And hell, even if there was, it's worth wondering whether the Pacers would have been better off using their actual MLE on Naji Marshall or Simone Fontecchio or someone else.

Los Angeles Clippers

Biggest Win: Derrick Jones Jr.

Grabbing Derrick Jones Jr. on a three-year, $30 million deal should do wonders for the Los Angeles Clippers this side of Paul George's departure.

A lack of athleticism has plagued this team for too long. At 27, Jones continues to bring it (and a good amount of rim pressure) in spades. His plasticity on the defensive end, meanwhile, will help soften George's exit and, perhaps more importantly, lighten the load placed upon Kawhi Leonard.

If Jones is also able to replicate the modest success he had on catch-and-shoot threes last year—34.8 percent in the regular season; 37.1 percent in the playoffs—the Clippers will have bagged a two-way impact player for a cut rate.

Biggest Loss: Paul George

All these weeks later, the decision to let George leave for Philadelphia still makes zero sense. The Clippers' explanation has done little, if anything, to clarify their logic.

Citing the collective bargaining agreement as a driving force when we know they offered him a three-year deal that would have kept them in second-apron territory is beyond strange. From a 10,000-foot view, it seems like the Clippers took issue with including a fourth season. That is also weird.

Contracts without no-trade clauses aren't permanent. The Clippers should know this better than anyone. Just ask Blake Griffin. Re-signing George on a four-year deal and figuring out the math of it all later was the more sensible way to go.

Los Angeles Lakers

Biggest Win: LeBron James' pay cut

If you're dead certain JJ Redick is going to be a terrific head coach, then by all means, picking him is the play. While I'm optimistic based on the tenets to which he seemingly subscribes, I personally want to see how he fares once the season begins.

That leaves LeBron's $1.3 million pay cut in 2024-25 as pretty much the only option. (Apologies to Dalton Knecht and his family.)

This concession continues to be trolled by the masses. It comes across as a negligible amount. But LeBron didn't have to take less. And doing so yanked the Los Angeles Lakers beneath the second apron, allowing them to aggregate salaries (but not take back more money than they send out) in prospective trades.

Could general manager Rob Pelinka simply aggregate salaries and ensure his team finishes beneath the second apron as part of any potential deal without LeBron taking a financial haircut? Absolutely. But this route is no doubt simpler, paints a peachy portrait of synergy between superstar and team, and it puts a little bit more pressure on the Lakers to actually do something.

Biggest Loss: Standing pat

Speaking of doing something, the Lakers have done virtually nothing.

That is, um, a choice.

Los Angeles' financial situation is sticky after D'Angelo Russell exercised a player option it clearly wasn't banking on him picking up. But its salary-cap position is far from untenable.

And while we can't know for sure what opportunities the Lakers passed on or continue to wait out, the optics of doing so little to improve a non-contender as LeBron enters his age-40 season and signs for less than max money aren't great, Rob.

Memphis Grizzlies

Biggest Win: The Ja Morant and Zach Edey bromance

Taking Edey at No. 9 isn't enough of a sure thing to be declared a victory on its own. But Ja Morant seemed happy about in the moment:

Morant and Edey are also already getting in on-court reps together:

If a budding bromance between the face of a potential contender and a possibly key contributor/gigantic human isn't a feel-good W, what is?

Biggest Loss: Needing to use Dallas' 2030 second-rounder to get off Ziaire Williams

Williams has not shown nearly enough for us to take issue with the Memphis Grizzlies salary-dumping him. (*Proceeds to delete takes from two years ago hyping up Williams to no end.*) Moving on from him is fine.

Coughing up a somewhat-intriguing second-rounder to offload a No. 10 pick just to give you enough wiggle room under the tax to re-sign Luke Kennard at a slightly cheaper rate ($11 million) than his declined team option ($14 million)? Well, uh, that's anticlimactic and uninspiring at best.

At worst, it brings into question whether the Grizzlies will be prepared to bankroll what could be a menacing Western Conference core as it continues to get more expensive.

Miami Heat

Biggest Win: Bam Adebayo Extension

Long-term certainty is not a luxury enjoyed by the Miami Heat. They barely have a concrete outlook in the moment; never mind years from now.

Adebayo's three-year, $165.3 million extension changes some of that. Miami's bridge to the future is under team control for at least the next four seasons with a player option ahead of his age-31 campaign in 2028-29.

This end result isn't perfect. Player options for stars in their prime aren't team-friendly, and the Heat will have a tough call to make given Adebayo's age at the back end of his next contract. Would they have been better off waiting until the 2025 offseason and getting this deal to go out another year?

We're splitting hairs. Jimmy Butler is entering his age-35 campaign and can hit free agency in 2025 (player option). Securing Bam for the long term is an absolute W.

Biggest Loss: Caleb Martin

The Heat reportedly were prepared to guarantee Martin more money over five years than he received from Philadelphia if he picked up his 2024-25 player option. He decided to explore the open market...and got somewhat burned.

That doesn't let Miami off the hook. It still had the ability to pay Martin but got caught up in 2024-25 second-apron concerns. Hence why they wanted to extend him off the player option. (The Heat are currently inside $2 million of that second apron.)

Martin is not irreplaceable. Miami has Haywood Highsmith (on a cheapo deal) and Jaime Jaquez Jr. to replace him by mini committee. But the Heat are getting increasingly light on lineup flexibility and offensive dynamism. Losing someone like Martin, who ranked fifth last year in total minutes played despite missing 18 games, definitely isn't ideal.

Milwaukee Bucks

Biggest Win: Gary Trent Jr. signing for the minimum

Since the 2020-21 season, GTJ is downing over 38 percent of his triples on more than seven attempts per game while posting a steal rate north of two. Only two other players are hitting these benchmarks over the same span: Lonzo Ball, who has appeared in just 90 games amid knee issues, and Paul George.

Can GTJ gamble too much on defense? Is it a stretch to toss him on truer wings? Does he suffer from tunnel vision on drives? Yes, yes and yes. Whatever. Nobody's perfect. Especially at the minimum. The Bucks are getting, in no uncertain terms, bonkers value here.

Biggest Loss: Malik Beasley

This is far from gut-grinding as far as losses go. Milwaukee couldn't keep Beasley without his accepting another (big) pay cut, and Trent replaces nearly everything he does on offense while providing more (anarchic, sometimes damaging) disruption on defense.

It's still seldom good to lose someone who just torched twine on 41.3 percent of his almost seven three-point attempts per game—even if A.J. Green looks like he's ready for a bigger role.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Biggest Win: Continuity

Various individual moves can go here. But the overarching theme of the Timberwolves' offseason speaks more volumes.

Where plenty of other contenders treated the second apron like the Bogeyman, Minnesota doubled and even tripled down.

Keeping the band together wasn't a given, not even after a Western Conference Finals appearance. Costs could have been cut in the face of a nine-figure tax bill—and an ongoing battle over who will have controlling interest in the franchise moving forward. Somebody from the top six in the rotation could have been traded as a result. Team president Tim Connelly could have left.

Nothing changed. Not only that, but the Wolves made good signings on the margins (Joe Ingles) and mortgaged more of its future for a big bet on the immediate and long-term outlook of Rob Dillingham. The latter move is a risk, but even if you don't love it, we should all appreciate the willingness to add rather than detract from the present.

Biggest Loss: Control over their 2030 (swap) and 2031 drafts

Just so we're clear: This is not akin to saying the Wolves shouldn't have made the Dillingham trade. He is, at his core, pretty much everything they need on offense.

That doesn't make it any less of a gamble. With the exception of Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels, Minnesota's core will have aged out of its heyday by the time its draft obligations convey to San Antonio.

Other assets will open up over time. But the Wolves will be strapped overall as Edwards enters the heart of his prime. The risk might be worth it. Time and the development of Dillingham will tell.

In the meantime, though, they've exchanged what little maneuverability they had for a not-so-insignificant dash of uncertainty.

New Orleans Pelicans

Biggest Win: Dejounte Murray trade

Turning two mid-end-at-best first-rounders, Dyson Daniels and Larry Nance Jr. into Murray is excellent business by the New Orleans Pelicans. The fit isn't perfect, but he sufficiently inoculates the offense against injuries to Zion Williamson and a potential Brandon Ingram divorce.

Murray will also be more of a needle-mover in New Orleans than Atlanta. He has improved his outside shooting enough to orbit Zion-led actions, and his passing is good enough to play more of a traditional two-man game with Williamson if head coach Willie Green is so inclined. The value of his defense also goes through the roof in a rotation with Herb Jones, Trey Murphy, Jose Alvarado, Ingram, and, heck, last year's version of Zion.

Then, of course, we have the contract. Murray is about to start a four-year, $114.2 million deal that tops out at roughly 17.3 percent of the salary cap in any given season. This is a flexibility-and-sustainability boon for a Pelicans franchise grappling with upcoming paydays that has (so far) shown no inclination to pay the tax.

Biggest Loss: Center rotation

Failing to clarify Ingram's future with an extension or trade could go here. But the Pelicans still have him in the roster, and if his value on the open market remains lackluster, it reinforces the leverage they have in contract negotiations.

New Orleans' center rotation is more disconcerting. It's not that they moved on from Nance and Jonas Valančiūnas, per se. It's that they did so without having a more bankable course mapped out. A center carousel of Daniel Theis, Yves Missi, Karlo Matković and, I guess, Zion-at-the-5 arrangements is shaky stuff.

Perhaps it all works out. The Pelicans are that talented and deep on the perimeter. And at 32, Theis isn't exactly a fossil. This is nevertheless not ideal when evaluating New Orleans against what should be lofty playoff aspirations.

New York Knicks

Biggest Win: Jalen Brunson extension

Go ahead and pencil in the Mikal Bridges trade if that's your prerogative. But giving up five first-rounders and a swap isn't necessarily a win so much as the inflated cost of acquiring someone you deem talented enough to be your finishing piece.

The Brunson extension is more meaningful because it'll keep the New York Knicks leaner as their core gets more expensive. He signed a four-year, $156.5 million deal one summer before becoming eligible to land a five-season, $269.1 million contract New York absolutely would have given him. That is absurd.

Framing this as a three-year discount ahead of a 2028-29 player option doesn't change anything. Brunson is effectively saving the Knicks one Donte DiVincenzo salary per year during this span—additional wiggle room that should allow New York to duck the second apron in each of the next two seasons without having to break up part of its core.

Biggest Loss: Isaiah Hartenstein

New York could not have matched the three-year, $87 million deal (2026-27 team option) Hartenstein received from Oklahoma City without chiseling out the requisite cap space. That doesn't much soften the blow.

Bridges' arrival might. Ditto for lineups featuring OG Anunoby and Julius Randle on the frontline. But center is now, by far, the Knicks' thinnest position without Hartenstein.

Unlike Mitchell Robinson or Randle, head coach Tom Thibodeau could slot Hartenstein in the middle without having to worry about him limiting the team's dynamism at either end of the floor. That two-way impact will be missed.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Biggest Win: Trading for Alex Caruso

Anyone who prefers the Isaiah Hartenstein signing to the Caruso deal needs to factor in the context. The Oklahoma City Thunder paid handsomely to reel in Hartenstein. Three years and $87 million (team option for 2026-27) is above market and likely amounts to paying a premium for the shorter term as well as a more complementary role.

On the latter point: Hartenstein can play with Chet Holmgren. That doesn't mean he always will. Oklahoma City clearly views Holmgren as a center.

Caruso is more likely to be a mainstay in Thunder's core lineups. And, uh, that bends the brain. Oklahoma City is replacing the Josh Giddey minutes with a perennial All-Defense candidate who makes life easier on Lu Dort and Jalen Williams and who just canned almost 41 percent of his treys last season on a career-high 5.9 attempts per 36 minutes.

And because the Thunder have virtually no draft assets*, fate smiled down on them and allowed them to get here without giving up a single first-round pick.

Biggest Loss: Lindy Waters III / Paul George to Philadelphia

Cheers to all of us who will miss insisting that Waters deserves rotation minutes without pointing to whose playing time Oklahoma City should trim to carve them out.

Alternatively, the 2025 Philadelphia 76ers first-rounder that the Thunder own (top-six protection) would have mutated into a sneaky-sexy asset had the former struck out with cap space. They didn't. Here's hoping the asset-strapped Oklahoma City* can somehow, someway, against all odds, overcome this existential exenteration.

(*Sarcasm font)

Orlando Magic

Biggest Win: Signing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

Best of luck to anyone attempting to score on a backcourt headlined by Caldwell-Pope and Jalen Suggs. The Orlando Magic really took the league's second-best defense and made it more terrifying. That's diabolical.

Orlando's floor balance gets much better with the addition of KCP, too. His efficiency waned during the 2024 postseason (32.7 percent), and he could stand to get up more looks in general. But the Magic offense will gladly take—and seriously needs—someone downing 40.6 percent of his treys over the past four years on 4.5 attempts per game.

Oh, Orlando likewise gets a double thumbs-up for poaching a key rotation player from a Denver team whose first-round pick it controls in 2025 (top-five protection).

Biggest Loss: Franz Wagner extension negotiations

Extending Wagner out of the gate for five years and $224.2 million (with the potential for it reach $269.1 million if he makes All-NBA) is a somewhat odd decision. Though his restricted-free-agent-hold wouldn't have been small, it was slated to be over $15 million less than what he's now on the books for in 2025-26 ($38.7 million). Even with Jalen Suggs' own cap hold in play ($27.6 million), the Magic could have enjoyed some level of optionality after giving out their usual peppering of one-plus-ones with team options.

It also remains to be seen whether Wagner should be treated as a max player. His inside-the-arc package is diverse, and he doesn't receive enough credit for his positional defense. But his three-point efficiency has declined year-over-year, and the jumper in general isn't what'd you call money.

Paying him is fine. If you were going to extend him rather than wait until RFA (where you'd have match rights), though, you'd ideally get something as part of the deal. With the exception of avoiding a player option in Year 5, Wagner conceded nothing, making this a half-curious call from Orlando's side of the table.

Philadelphia 76ers

Biggest Win: Landing Paul George

Prioritizing cap space amid the James Harden saga and eventual trade was not without risk. Star free agents usually don't leave teams outright anymore, and blockbuster-trade markets aren't guaranteed to materialize.

The Philadelphia 76ers' gambit paid off in the best way possible anyway.

George was the most talented available free agent and forms a Big Three with Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid that may provide the best mix of skills relative to any other of the league's top trios. His age (34) leaves open the possibility this isn't an entirely blissful four-year marriage, but the Sixers' were already on the most urgent timeline possible given Embiid's checkered health bill.

Let's quickly pour one out for the Sixers' overall cap management, too. They are the rare team that entered the summer with cap space and exited it inside the tax—a nod to the real, actual depth they've assembled around their star tripling.

Biggest Loss: Nicolas Batum

George, Caleb Martin and, potentially, Guerschon Yabusele will soak up the lion's share of Philly's reps at the 4. That's good enough, even if you'd prefer both George and Martin to guard down rather than up.

Batum's connective passing and smarter-with-age defense would have served this version of the Sixers extremely well. Losing him sucks, but it's made easier knowing they couldn't have kept him. His Bird rights needed to be renounced to facilitate the cap-space play, and he returned to the Los Angeles Clippers on an average annual salary that surpassed the room exception Philly gave Kelly Oubre Jr. as well as the money it offered Martin.

Phoenix Suns

Biggest Win: Tyus Jones at the minimum

Everyone and their third cousin's dentist's next door neighbor's kindergarten sweetheart wanted the Phoenix Suns to add an offensive organizer. For a while, their answer was Monté Morris—a rock-solid get relative to the team's (nonexistent) resources.

And then they signed Tyus Jones.

Michael Jordan is currently the only other player on record with as many seasons averaging an assist rate north of 25 with a turnover percentage below nine. For good measure, Jones also banged in 42.2 percent of his standstill triples last year.

There is no overstating the value Phoenix is getting here.

Biggest Loss: Eric Gordon

Nobody's going to shed a tear over 35-year-old Eric Gordon leaving for Philadelphia. The Suns have too many non-wings as it stands.

They also have too many guys who don't shoot enough threes. Gordon was never one of them. He finished fourth on the team in total attempts—he ranked third in triples launched per game—while knocking them down at a 37.8 percent clip.

Grayson Allen being Grayson Allen will offset part of the volume concerns. Except he was already doing that.

Some combination of Jones, Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant and maaaybe Devin Booker must also commit to getting off more treys to not just make up the difference but correct one of last year's functional glitches.

Portland Trail Blazers

Biggest Win: Laying the groundwork for a frisky defense

Don't sleep on the Portland Trail Blazers fielding a peskier defense than implied by their long-term leanings and place inside the Western Conference.

I'm hesitant to say anything too inflammatory about their ceiling, since they're a prime candidate to unmake themselves before the trade deadline. But the sheer number of solid defenders they've amassed is low-key nasty.

Deni Avdija and Donovan Clingan joining a group that already included Jerami Grant, Toumani Camara, Matisse Thybulle and Dalano Banton is sort of wild. Just think of what's possible if Robert Williams III is healthy. Or if Deandre Ayton busts out the mobile-stopping power more often. Or if Shaedon Sharpe and/or Scoot Henderson make a jump on the less glamorous end.

Biggest Loss: 2029 first-round pick (second most favorable from Boston, Milwaukee and Portland's own)

Public service announcement: This is not a takedown of the Avdija trade. He doesn't turn 24 until January and is about to begin a four-year, $55 million contract that will continue aging into one of the league's best bargains. If he can juice up his three-point volume and/or maintain his attack mode for extended stretches (a la the latter half of last season), he's going to make a short- and long-term difference.

Shipping out a distant first-rounder is still risky business. Portland has protected itself against disaster with "second most favorable" language. But Milwaukee's future, along with its own, isn't surefire enough to declare this an afterthought asset.

Sacramento Kings

Biggest Win: The Offense is So Back

As I wrote previously, the Sacramento Kings needed an offensive boost heading into next season:

"Sacramento's offense last year was not the thermonuclear-AF machine it formulated in the lab during the 2022-23 campaign, when it ranked first in points scored per possession. Last season's Kings dropped to 14th in overall offensive efficiency and 15th when operating in the half-court (down from second)...De'Aaron Fox was the only rotation staple last season to score more than half his buckets unassisted. None of Sacramento's perimeter players, meanwhile, posted a noticeably above free-throw-attempt rate."

Getting DeMar DeRozan addresses all of these concerns. Spacing within certain lineups could get wonky, but that's where retaining Malik Monk is another victory. A healthier Kevin Huerter is also a prime bounce-back-year candidate.

Biggest Loss: Devin Carter

Even with the emergence of Keon Ellis and the improvement of Fox and Keegan Murray, the Kings could use another higher-impact defender to complement primary lineups or shape the identity of secondary combinations. Carter looms as an intriguing fit.

At 6'3", he has the bandwidth to guard up and espouses the same intensity with which Charlotte Hornets play-by-play announcer Eric Collins uses to call every single play of every single game. On the heels of an offensive leap during his final year at Providence, which included dropping in 37.7 percent of his threes on real volume, Carter entered the draft drawing comparisons to Derrick White.

Whether he plays this season is no longer a question of experience and divergent agendas. The Kings announced in July that he underwent left shoulder surgery, and that they'd provided further updates in six months. This puts him out of sight and mind until early 2025—at minimum. And if he's going to need a midseason ramp-up, it's tough to imagine him being a factor this year.

San Antonio Spurs

Biggest Victory: Adding Chris Paul

Get ready to feast your eyes on lineup data we cannot, will not and should not stop citing.

A 22-win San Antonio Spurs team outscored opponents by 5.2 points per 100 possessions, with an almost-average offense, when Victor Wembanyama shared the floor with Tre Jones. Signing CP3 now gives this squad capable point guard play for 40-plus minutes, if not a full 48 minutes, of every game.

Biggest Loss: Not pushing the 'add shooters' button hard enough

My first instinct is to go with Dominick Barlow (now in Atlanta). But since I'm pretty sure that level of geekery would get me fired, here we are!

Paul and Harrison Barnes will help the floor-spacing. As of now, though, the Spurs still only have one player on the roster who put up at least five three-point attempts per game last season and drilled them at a league-average-or-better clip: Devin Vassell.

Looping in Wembanyama here is half-fair. He swished 38.7 percent of his pull-up treys on real volume once San Antonio began using him as the primary big. But his efficiency on catch-and-shoot triples during this span remained dicey (sub-31 percent).

Counting on improvement from Wemby or Keldon Johnson, specifically, is A-OK. And the Spurs do have a handful of guys who can stretch the floor on low and modest volume. But they had the resources to aim higher. And if they plan to lean substantially on Jones, Stephon Castle and Jeremy Sochan, it would have behooved them to consider making a run at any of the higher-volume snipers on the market.

Toronto Raptors

Biggest Win: No player option on the Scottie Barnes extension

Player options don't seem like standard fare for rookie extensions or deals in restricted free agency (unless, for some reason, you're Patrick Williams). It's nonetheless huge to have your tent-pole star under team control for the next six seasons.

At the bare minimum, the Toronto Raptors have safeguarded themselves against directional rigidity. This extra security affords them the ability to experiment and pivot multiple times—not so much a luxury as a necessity for a franchise caught somewhere between a rebuild and win-nowish mode.

Biggest Loss: Gary Trent Jr.

It sounds like the Raptors made Trent a fair offer (around $15 million per year, according to TSN's Josh Lewenberg), but that he misread the market so badly it positioned him to sign in Milwaukee for the minimum. This gives Toronto ample cover in the "What if?" sectors of the internet.

Valid excuses don't help your floor-spacing, though. And right now, the Raptors have two to three players who are guaranteed to register as above-average shooters in both volume and efficiency: Gradey Dick, Immanuel Quickley and Kelly Olynyk.

To what extent we ding Toronto for this chain of events is debatable. At the very least, it feels like the front office should have gotten a better read on Trent's future or acted on its uncertainty prior to the deadline.

Utah Jazz

Biggest Win: Renegotiating and extending Lauri Markkanen

Whatever you think of the money, extending and renegotiating Markkanen's deal affords the Utah Jazz plenty of latitude.

Also: The money is far from egregious. Markkanen earns 30 percent of the salary cap next season, and that share will decline year-over-year.

Footing this bill for an All-Star who will wrap up his age-31 campaign by the end of it is totally fine.

Better still, the Jazz now don't have to worry about complicating his future in the context of their rebuild. If they want to accelerate their timeline with a big swing on the trade market, they know he'll be around. And if they want to follow a more gradual course, they don't have to worry about disenchanting him with too many Lauri-plus-kids arrangements not built to win.

Biggest Loss: Kris Dunn

If you find yourself questioning whether Utah is committed to being bad enough, look no further than it signing and trading Dunn for what amounts to a 2030 second-round pick swap.

No, the Jazz never projected to be good at the defensive end. But Dunn's ball pressure, wizardry in the passing lanes and bandwidth for guarding, let's say, 3.5 positions will be missed. Immensely.

Nobody else on the roster fills this role. Taylor Hendricks has shown he can effectively defend down, but he probably shouldn't be tussling with the Shai Gilgeous-Alexanders and Anthony Edwardses of the world on a regular basis. (I'm open to being wrong here).

Cody Williams has the size and lateral coordination to get there one day. Is that day next season? As a rookie? Who still needs to get stronger? Debatable.

Washington Wizards

Biggest Win: Emphasizing the long game

To be completely honest, I've gone back and forth on whether I think the Washington Wizards should have done the Deni Avdija trade. Even if we assume this was the peak of his value, I may prefer him to what they received in return.

And yet, the underlying message within that deal is more important than the return itself: Washington is serious about this rebuild.

You don't accept a 2029 first-rounder as a form of primary compensation if you're going to fast-track (read: short circuit) this reset. Getting Bub Carrington and the ability to reroute Malcolm Brogdon helps satisfy instant gratification, but if the Wizards really do use the former to spearhead the offense, they're embracing an experiment that'll take time. And the willingness to take your time in this situation is a big deal.

Biggest Loss: Tyus Jones

None of us need to pretend that Washington lost a core piece in Jones. His timeline doesn't align with its own, and he's not impactful enough to alter your entire course.

This is more about suboptimal asset management.

The Wizards had to know he was a flight risk—that there was a chance he'd leave for a better team even if it meant accepting less. Could they have guessed that "better team" would be the Phoenix Suns, and that "accepting less" translated to a minimum contract? Probably not.

But his departure didn't come out of nowhere. Washington would have been better off flipping him for whatever—even if only second-rounders—at the trade deadline.

Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.

Unless otherwise cited, stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference, Stathead or Cleaning the Glass. Salary information via Spotrac. Draft-pick obligations via RealGM.