Sometimes, the grass is not greener on the other side. Many NBA players changed teams during the 2025 offseason, and some of them actually project to be in superior situations to the ones they left behind. At the same time, some players were traded to new spots that do not exactly suit their respective talents quite as well as their old homes.
In this space, we will identify four players who changed teams — all via trade in this case — and project to regress from their previous level of performance,
Michael Porter Jr.
Porter Jr. might be the trickiest to evaluate of the entire bunch. Part of that stems from the reality that he actually moved to a situation with the Brooklyn Nets that should allow him more exposure when it comes to touches and shot attempts. As such, Porter Jr. is probably in line to average more points per game than he did previously, which could confuse some as to why he is on this list.
However, Porter Jr. was in the perfect situation with the Denver Nuggets and, specifically, playing between Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon in the frontcourt. He was in an ideal position as a play-finisher, using his elite shooting talents to the perfect degree without the burden of shot creation. On defense, Porter Jr. also was a player the Nuggets were able to hide in a way that he won't be able to in Brooklyn. Porter Jr. is an awesome shooter, but it seems unlikely that he can match his tremendous shooting efficiency from Denver, and Brooklyn leaning on him as a primary option is bad news for his overall level.
Isaac Okoro
As he enters his sixth NBA season, Isaac Okoro should be in his prime. The 24-year-old contributed relatively well to very strong Cleveland Cavaliers teams over the past few seasons, including taking a step forward as a perimeter shooter. Still, Okoro played fewer and fewer minutes each year in Cleveland, including only 19 minutes per game a season ago. Then, he was moved straight up for Lonzo Ball and, while Okoro may be the same player (or better) that he was in Cleveland, the situation is not as friendly.
In Chicago, he joins a team that is overflowing with perimeter players who overlap with Okoro. That includes Ayo Dosunmu, Dalen Terry, Kevin Huerter, Julian Phillips, Jevon Carter and Patrick Williams, before you even consider locked-in players like Coby White and Matas Buzelis. Okoro should still play, but it's not the friendliest situation on paper.
Jusuf Nurkic
Earlier this month, Bosnia and Herzegovina coach Adis Beciragic called out Jusuf Nurkic for not being in shape ahead of EuroBasket. That was just the latest in a bunch of factors pushing against Nurkic this season. He also was part of a truly bizarre trade in which the Utah Jazz attached a pick to Collin Sexton in order to acquire Nurkic. That came after a shaky 2024-25 season, and now, Nurkic is sitting behind Walker Kessler and maybe even Kyle Filipowski on the depth chart for a team projected to win very few games. It might get ugly for Nurkic.
Norman Powell
To be fair to Norman Powell, he had an incredible 2024-25 season. Powell garnered legitimate All-Star buzz with the Clippers, averaging 21.8 points per game with 61.5 percent true shooting. He was in a perfect role for his skill set in Los Angeles and, in his age-31 season, he had his best-ever campaign.
As such, regression was probably in the offing no matter what, but now he is changing teams and joining the Miami Heat. Miami does have a pretty strong history of augmenting the talents of their wing players, but a recent hiccup with Terry Rozier in a relatively similar basketball situation could bring alarm bells. Powell should be fine, but it would be a major surprise if he replicated last season.