I’m not really a Tom Petty guy, per se, but he certainly said it best: “The waiting is the hardest part.”
Not only are we fidgetingly waiting for the start of 2023-24 NBA training camps at the end of September, but we’re also waiting on unresolved situations involving two of the league’s premier stars.
Damian Lillard recently confirmed that he did, in fact, request that the Blazers trade him to the Heat, but then he pulled a Forrest Gump (80s and 90s references are on point today) and refused to give any more details.
James Harden, on the other hand, had plenty to say about his trade request — calling 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey “a liar” and saying that he’ll never play for an organization that employs him. Yeesh. All this to say, there are multiple teams (both the ones involved and the ones that could trade for them) that are difficult to judge until a resolution is found for Lillard and Harden.
With that in mind, we went through all 30 NBA teams to assess who’s in and who’s out, and then we slapped a grade on their entire offseason, including the draft, trades, free agency and contract extensions. It’s not easy to collect all that info, so a massive shout out to both NBA.com and HoopsHype, who keep meticulously detailed lists for us to mine.
Here are offseason grades for every NBA team entering the 2023-24 season.
Who’s in:
Who’s out:
Hey, the Hawks finally traded John Collins! Unfortunately for Atlanta fans, they were unable to net a significant return after years of more lucrative reported possibilities. C’est la vie. Murray’s extension is large (four years, $120 million), but well worth the investment after what he showed last season. Bufkin is an intriguing combo guard who could compete for bench minutes, and Mills is the type of vet the Hawks need to bring some stability (if they decide to keep him). Overall, nothing overwhelming for the Hawks this offseason, but they finally made a decision about Collins and locked up Murray. Solid. Grade: B
Who’s in:
Who’s out:
It’s going to be strange to see Marcus…
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