NBA Free Agency Winners and Losers

Although a few tertiary deals remain to be made – including yet another will they or won’t they chapter in the ongoing Knicks/Carmelo Anthony saga– the NBA’s annual free agency whirlwind seems to be slowing down and it’s time to start making assessments. Here are the winners and losers from the 2017 NBA Sweepstakes. Just remember one huge caveat about all of this– it’s likely a contest for 3rd place until LeBron James retires and/or the Warriors release Kevin Durant for inexplicable reasons. That being said, here goes.

The Winners

Although not all their loot came from free agency per se, the clear winners from the 2017 cattle call extravaganza were the Boston Celtics and the Houston Rockets, with honorable mention going to, oddly enough, The Detroit Pistons.

The Celtics lost Avery Bradley, a tough defender, a good scorer, and an incredible teammate. That’s a big loss, sure, but it’s more than accounted for by Boston’s acquisition of versatile superstar-in-waiting Gordon Hayward.

Former Utah players (and current fans) can talk all the smack they want, but it doesn’t change the fact that Hayward is a great, great player. With his ability to run the floor, score from anywhere, and be eminently coachable by once and future guru Brad Stevens, Hayward gives the Celtics an outside chance of dethroning the Cavs BEFORE Lebron bolts somehow. Obtained from the Pistons in the trade for Avery Bradley, Marcus Morris doesn’t hurt either.

The Houston Rockets extracted Chris Paul from his untenable situation in Los Angeles. They also resigned perennial MVP candidate James Harden for 8 gazillion dollars through the 2075 season. Either one of these things makes the Rockets a free agency winner, but getting both of these guys under contract and committed is a coup. If they end up getting Carmelo Anthony somehow, we might be talking a 6 game loss to Warriors instead of a sweep.

With the addition of staunch defender and great PER guy Avery Bradley, the Pistons doubled their statistical chance to make the playoffs next year. A first round demolition would look like the start of a dynasty to Pistons’ fans, so we have to call this a win.

The Losers

Again, while some of these losses weren’t products of the Free Agent Bonanza exactly, none of them would have occurred without its reality looming in the background. In no particular order, the biggest losers of the 2017 Free Agency period were the Pacers, the Jazz, and the Clippers. Oh, and the Knicks are going to be just terrible, but details aren’t really required to explain that.

The Pacers lost two-way great Paul George. They got Victor Oladipo and some huge, bruising East European guy in return, but yeah, they still lost Paul George. And although you have to give Kevin Pritchard some props for being unwilling to tank a couple of seasons, their acquisitions Oldadipo, Sabonis (that’s his name), and Darren Collison pretty much ensure that the Pacers stay in the purgatorial middle of the pack for the rest of eternity.

DeAndre Jordan is a nice player, maybe a borderline great one. Doc Rivers is a great on the floor coach and motivator. But any long-term plan that hinges on the constant availability and dominance of oft-injured (and other stuff) Blake Griffin is unlikely to turn out well. As ugly as things got with him and the whole nepotism situation with Austin Rivers etc, the loss of Chris Paul is devastating.

Lastly, the Utah Jazz lost Hayward and got nothing in return except for a lot of complaining and finger pointing. That can’t be good. Jerry Sloan phone home?