21. CHICAGO BULLS
2015-16 RECORD: 42-40, did not make playoffs
ADDED: G Dwyane Wade (two years, $47 million); G Rajon Rondo (two years, $27.4 million); G Isaiah Canaan (two years, $2.1 million); C Robin Lopez (acquired from New York); G Jerian Grant (acquired from New York); G Spencer Dinwiddie (acquired from Detroit); G Denzel Valentine (first round, 14th pick overall); F Paul Zipser (second round, 48th pick overall)
LOST: F/C Pau Gasol (signed with San Antonio); F/C Joakim Noah (signed with New York); G Aaron Brooks (signed with Indiana); G E’Twaun Moore (signed with New Orleans); G Derrick Rose (traded to New York); G Justin holiday (traded to New York)
RETAINED: None
THE KEY MAN: F Doug McDermott. “McBuckets” was a consistent weapon off the bench for coach Fred Hoiberg last season. In his third season, McDermott should have the inside track to starting at the four. Shooting 43 percent on 3-pointers, McDermott will have to find other places and ways to score when he’s on the floor with Rondo and others who aren’t as capable behind the arc.
THE SKINNY: How does it all fit? How will two guards who don’t shoot threes all that well complement and create space for All-Star Jimmy Butler, the team’s most important player? The Bulls’ offseason moves don’t resemble team-building as much as spackling holes to keep a house from crumbling. There can’t be hopes that anyone brought in this summer other than the rookie Valentine (and maybe Grant) will be part of the team’s future. This group could come together well enough to make the playoffs, but once there, what would be possible?
22. LA CLIPPERS
2015-16 RECORD: 53-29, lost in first round
ADDED: F Marreese Speights (two years, $2.9 million); G Raymond Felton (one year, $1.5 million); F Brandon Bass (one year, $1.5 million); F/G Alan Anderson (one year, $1.3 million); F/C Brice Johnson (first round, 25th pick overall); F/C Diamond Stone (Draft rights acquired from New Orleans); G Devyn Marble (acquired from Orlando)
LOST: C Cole Aldrich (signed with Minnesota); F Jeff Green (signed with Orlando); G Pablo Prigioni (signed with Houston); G C.J. Wilcox (traded to Orlando)
RETAINED: G Jamal Crawford (three years, $42 million); G Austin Rivers (three years, $35.5 million); F Luc Mbah a Moute (two years, $4.5 million); F/G Wesley Johnson
THE KEY MAN: F Blake Griffin. Coach Doc Rivers insists there’s no chance the Clippers will trade Griffin, who could be a free agent in 2017, and whose injuries and bad judgment in punching a club employee during a fight and breaking his hand wrecked the Clips’ title hopes last year. Griffin has to be smarter going forward. L.A. needs his playmaking, scoring and rebounding available at all times.
THE SKINNY: Lather, Rinse, Repeat. L.A.’s commitment to its starting five (to be clear, that’s understandable) means there isn’t much coin left to build a bench. The Clippers could only offer short-term deals last year and it led to a bench that was horrible for long stretches, until Rivers went to a three-guard lineup, with Prigioni joining Austin Rivers and Crawford. Felton will take over for the departed Prigioni, but it’s going to be hard to ask two rookies to step in right away for Aldrich. A productive bench is crucial to keeping L.A.’s starters from logging killer minutes; that quintet is as good as any in the league. Speights played well in the free-wheeling Warriors system and he could be a big boost in L.A., too. But the Clips’ window with this core group isn’t going to be open much longer.
23. MILWAUKEE BUCKS
2015-16 RECORD: 33-49; did not make playoffs
ADDED: F Mirza Teletovic (three years, $31.5 million); G Matthew Dellavedova (sign-and-trade from Cleveland; four years, $38.4 million); F Thon Maker (first round, 10th pick overall); G Malcolm Brogdon (second round, 36th pick overall)
LOST: G Jerryd Bayless (signed with Philadelphia); G Greivis Vasquez (signed with Brooklyn)
RETAINED: F/C Miles Plumlee (four years, $50 million)
THE KEY MAN: F/G Giannis Antetokounmpo. Coach Jason Kidd gave “The Greek Freak” the ball midway through last season and said he was the point forward. The 7-footer didn’t disappoint. His offensive rating after the All-Star break, when he was given the starting point job full-time, increased from 102.8 to 105.9. The possibilities with Antetokounmpo’s length and slashing ability to find teammates startles. But the Freak has to continue to improve rapidly on 3-pointers. He went from unimaginably awful before the break behind the arc (23.9 percent) to just imaginably awful (28.6 percent).
THE SKINNY: Maker looked very comfortable playing against other NBA players in the Las Vegas Summer League. The true test will come in the fall, of course, but the Bucks have gone for length and potential defensive disruptive ability every time, and Maker has both. Teletovic was a nice, under-the-radar signing who was one of the league’s best 3-point shooters in Phoenix. He will have to replicate that in Milwaukee. Dellavedova could potentially make sense playing point guard as a spot-up shooter next to Khris Middleton and Antetokounmpo. The Bucks still have one too many big men for the rotation to make sense, and there was too much smoke around trade rumors involving Greg Monroe, a potential free agent next summer, to dismiss them.
24. OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
2015-16 RECORD: 55-27, lost Western Conference finals
ADDED: G Victor Oladipo (acquired from Orlando); F Ersan Ilyasova (acquired from Orlando); F Domantas Sabonis (Draft rights acquired from Orlando); G Alex Abrines (three years, $17.2 million)
LOST: F Kevin Durant (signed with Golden State); G Randy Foye (signed with Brooklyn); F Serge Ibaka (traded to Orlando); G Dion Waiters (signed with Miami)
RETAINED: G Anthony Morrow (guaranteed 2016-17 contract)
THE KEY MAN: G Russell Westbrook. There was much nattering on Twitter last week when Westbrook’s decision to accept OKC’s renegotiation/extension offer came to light, chopping me up for writing at the beginning of free agency that Westbrook had no interest in a renegotiation. The Thunder bit the bullet a couple of weeks later, rescinding its qualifying offer to Dion Waiters, which allowed him to become an unrestricted free agent — and meaning he wouldn’t be returning to the Thunder next season. If not for that, OKC couldn’t have cleared the $8 million that it was able to add to its offer to Westbrook. With more loot on the table, Westbrook changed his mind and accepted the three-year, $85 million offer (which has a player option for 2018-19). It’s called “changing your mind.”
THE SKINNY: There is no sugar coating the devastating loss of Durant to the franchise, and buying an extra season of Westbrook, while better, doesn’t begin to make up for that. The acquisition of Oladipo, Ilyasova and Sabonis only made sense if they were playing with Durant. Everything only made sense if Durant was there. Now, he’s not, and coach Billy Donovan will have to re-imagine what to do offensively. Surely it will involve a lot of Westbrook, with more touches for Steven Adams, but both will need multiple players on the floor with them that can knock down shots. Oladipo will have to be first among equals in that regard as he shot a career-best 35 percent on 3-pointers with the Magic last season. But even a dramatic uptick for Oladipo in that regard doesn’t change the calculus; the Thunder is no longer a title contender. When that’s all you’ve known for years, it’s hard to get used to that new reality.
25. SAN ANTONIO SPURS
2015-16 RECORD: 67-15, lost in Western Conference semifinals
ADDED: F Pau Gasol (two years, $31.6 million); C Dewayne Dedmon (two years, $5.9 million); F David Lee (two years, $1.9 million); F Davis Bertans (two years, $1.4 million); F Livio Jean-Charles (four-year rookie scale contract, $6 million); G Dejounte Murray (first round, 29th pick overall)
LOST: C Tim Duncan (retired); F Boris Diaw (traded to Utah); F David West (signed with Golden State); C Boban Marjanovic (signed with Detroit)
RETAINED: G Manu Ginobili (one year, $14 million); F Jonathan Simmons (guaranteed 2016-17 contract)
THE KEY MAN: Coach Gregg Popovich. He used to joke that when Duncan retired, he’d be right behind him out the door. The truth is Popovich has been preparing to be the Spurs’ coach without Duncan for many years. There won’t be many differences in demeanor, not with a veteran group that’s still capable of competing at the highest levels. But veteran Pop-ologists will be watching for any subtle changes.
THE SKINNY: All of the Spurs’ moves were perfectly fine. The downgrade is because of Duncan’s retirement after 19 seasons. He was the franchise’s emotional and spiritual hub, the cornerstone of what became pro sports’ model franchise. He set the tone and the standards; he was, even in his physical decline, still the person his teammates looked to in moments of trouble. You don’t replace that and you don’t overcome it quickly, though Gasol is a reasonable facsimile in temperament, and who still has some low-post game. San Antonio has a lot of new and intriguing pieces in its pipeline, including Bertans, its second-round pick in 2011 who finally came over after spending five years in Europe. Murray is an athletic marvel who will need a couple of years at Popovich U to unlock the rest of his game. Ginobili opted for one last go-round. The Spurs will be good again, and maybe I’m underestimating how good All-Stars Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge are. But it says here it’ll take a year to recover emotionally from the loss of the franchise’s touchstone.
26. WASHINGTON WIZARDS
2015-16 RECORD: 41-41, did not make playoffs
ADDED: C Ian Mahinmi (four years, $62 million); F Andrew Nicholson (four years, $26 million); C Jason Smith (three years, $15.7 million); G Tomas Satoransky (three years, $9 million); G Trey Burke (acquired from Utah); hired coach Scott Brooks
LOST: C Nene (signed with Houston); F Jared Dudley (signed with Phoenix); G Ramon Sessions (signed with Charlotte); G Garrett Temple (signed with Sacramento); G/F Alan Anderson (signed with L.A. Clippers); fired former head coach Randy Wittman
RETAINED: G Bradley Beal (five years, $127 million); G Marcus Thornton (one year, $1.3 million)
THE KEY MAN: F Kelly Oubre. The Wizards believe their second-year forward is set for a major jump up next season, whether as a challenger to incumbent three Otto Porter or getting more minutes off the bench. Washington desperately needs athletic bigs who can defend and help space the floor. Oubre occasionally flashed last season, but he didn’t earn more minutes under Wittman. Brooks is likely to give him more chances.
THE SKINNY: You can’t plan for three years to go after Durant and not even get a meeting. That’s borderline criminal, and you can’t get a high offseason grade when you aimed so high and accomplished so little. Al Horford would have been a strong Plan B, but he opted for Boston, so the Wizards scrambled to rebuild their bench, which was inconsistent and uninspired last season, instead. (Having multiple vets on one-year contracts was not a cavalier idea.) Porter is a solid starter, but of course, you expect more than “solid” from the third pick in the 2013 Draft. With John Wall coming off of offseason surgery on both knees, and with Beal’s struggles to stay healthy for a full campaign, it’s hard to see the Wizards doing much more than the .500 they posted last year.
27. TORONTO RAPTORS
2015-16 RECORD: 56-26, lost Eastern Conference finals
ADDED: F Jared Sullinger (one year, $5.6 million); F/C Jakob Poeltl (first round, ninth pick overall); F Pascal Siakam (first round, 27th pick overall)
LOST: C Bismack Biyombo (signed with Orlando); F Luis Scola (signed with Brooklyn); F Anthony Bennett (signed with Brooklyn); F James Johnson (signed with Miami)
RETAINED: G DeMar DeRozan (five years, $137.5 million)
THE KEY MAN: G Kyle Lowry. He was the catalyst for the Raptors’ renaissance last year, and will be so again. He and DeRozan’s chemistry and leadership gives the Raptors a chance every night, and at 30, with one more shot at a big deal on his racket after next year, it’s not likely you’ll see much slippage from Lowry next season.
THE SKINNY: Please do not send me mail, Toronto types, telling me I hate your franchise and hate Canada. I don’t, and I don’t. The Raptors are already a good team, as their run to the conference finals showed. Again: this list judges offseason moves, and other than taking a flier on Sullinger, the Raptors didn’t do very much, other than signing DeRozan long-term. That was big, but not enough for a team that couldn’t match the Cavs in the conference finals. And losing Biyombo, who was incredible productive against Cleveland specifically in the postseason, will hurt. It puts more heat on Jonas Valanciunas to make a difference every night. Sullinger could be a sneaky good pickup, though, if — if — he is in shape.
28. NEW ORLEANS PELICANS
2015-16 RECORD: 30-52, did not make playoffs
ADDED: F Solomon Hill (four years, $48 million); G E’Twaun Moore (four years, $34 million); F Terrence Jones (one year, $1.1 million); G Langston Galloway (two years, $10.7 million); G Buddy Hield (first round, sixth pick overall); F Cheick Diallo (Draft rights acquired from L.A. Clippers)
LOST: F Ryan Anderson (signed with Houston); G Eric Gordon (signed with Houston); F James Ennis (signed with Memphis); F Luke Babbitt (traded to Miami)
RETAINED: G Tim Frazier (two years, $4.1 million); G Alonzo Gee (one year, $1.4 million)
THE SKINNY: Hill had a very good season for the Pacers and a lot of teams were interested in him, but is he ready for a second crack as a starter after taking over for the injured Paul George in Indiana for most of the 2014-15 season? The Pelicans are betting he is. Hield will step in right away and provide All-Star Anthony Davis with some air cover and the Oklahoma rookie will be loved down in Nawlins. Not sure the Pelicans made a huge improvement to their roster, though Galloway did some good things in New York. Jones could potentially be a stretch four but that same potential was short-circuited in Houston by injuries.
29. MIAMI HEAT
2015-16 RECORD: 48-34, lost in first round
ADDED: G Dion Waiters (two years, $5.9 million); F Derrick Williams (one year, $5 million); F James Johnson (one year, $4 million); G Wayne Ellington (two years, $12.5 million); C Willie Reed (two years, $2.1 million); F Luke Babbitt (acquired from New Orleans)
LOST: G Dwyane Wade (signed with Chicago); G Joe Johnson (signed with Utah); F Luol Deng (signed with L.A. Lakers); F Amar’e Stoudemire (retired);
RETAINED: C Hassan Whiteside (four years, $98 million); G Tyler Johnson (matched Brooklyn offer sheet (four years, $50 million); F/C Udonis Haslem (one year, $4 million)
THE KEY MAN: F Chris Bosh. Unless and until the Heat gets its All-Star power forward back, everything else is window dressing. His uncertain status returning from blood clots in 2015 and an unspecified ailment this past season has put the franchise on hold. A healthy Bosh and Whiteside could hold down the fort; without him, the Heat just has too many holes, especially on offense, where Bosh’s diversified game made so many other things possible.
THE SKINNY: Pride goes beforeth the fall. If they had a do-over, Heat president Pat Riley and Wade may have been able to work something out, so that Wade would finish his career in Miami. But they don’t. There is an argument to be made that it may have been worth it in the long run to let Wade walk, leaving Miami with lots of cap space in the summer of 2017. The problem is that teams know the Heat and other teams will have cap space next year, and they’re using their own cap space this summer to take marquee names off the market like Russell Westbrook. So for now, Miami has to hope that Whiteside will be motivated rather than muted by his big payday, and that Waiters can step in and provide scoring and a little defense. The guess here is that the Heat would prefer not to have to depend on a Justise Winslow or a Josh Richardson for max minutes and shots, though Winslow is certainly capable of doing more. But losing your franchise’s iconic player is a knee buckler — to fans and to players — and it’s going to take a minute for everyone on South Beach to gather their thoughts and catch their breath.
30. BROOKLYN NETS
2015-16 RECORD: 21-61, did not make playoffs
ADDED: G Jeremy Lin (three years, $36 million); F Trevor Booker (three years, $18.3 million); F Luis Scola (one year, $5.5 million); G Greivis Vasquez (one year, $4.3 million); G Randy Foye (one year, $2.5 million); F Anthony Bennett (two years, $2.1 million); C Justin Hamilton (two years, $6 million); G Caris LeVert (Draft rights acquired from Indiana); G Isaiah Whitehead (Draft rights acquired from Utah); hired Head Coach Ken Atkinson
LOST: F Thaddeus Young (traded to Indiana); G Wayne Ellington (signed with Miami); G Jarrett Jack (signed with Atlanta); F/C Willie Reed (signed with Miami); did not retain interim head coach Tony Brown
RETAINED: None
THE KEY MAN: GM Sean Marks. He’s quickly trying to establish a player development/deep culture dive that is a trademark of all former San Antonio people, just as Mike Budenholzer did in Atlanta — which explains in part why Marks raided Atlanta for Atkinson, who was Budenholzer’s assistant for the Hawks. Like the Spurs, Marks is looking at unconventional ideas, like hiring Natalie Jay, a former judicial law clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, as the team’s capologist.
THE SKINNY: The Nets tried to hijack a couple of restricted free agents, with the expected results, as Miami matched Brooklyn’s offer sheet for guard Tyler Johnson, and Portland matched the Nets’ sheet for Allen Crabbe. So it’s back to the drawing board for Brooklyn, which can still go through center Brook Lopez for stretches. Problem is there aren’t a whole lot of backup options.
