Biggest losers from Day 1 of NBA free agency

Winning and losing in NBA free agency is a far cry from wins and losses in sports. There is no goal, there is no particular outcome to chase. “Winners and losers” in the offseason are like the winners and losers of life: self-defined goals, self-directed ambition, ruthlessly judged by all and sublimated into a list by yours truly. 

In free agency, I don’t think winning and losing is as simple as “who signed/acquired the most dudes,” because in that case the Los Angeles Lakers are absolutely cooking. You have to also factor in the opportunity cost: every move you make (ba-dum-da-dum-da-da-da-dum) uses limited resources and ties up future flexibility. There is risk popping out of drawers, and who won and who lost often comes down to who managed that risk most responsibly.  

With all that out of the way, here are the four biggest losers from day one of NBA free agency, in no particular order apart from dramatic effect.

Los Angeles Lakers

“Woooooooah, didn’t you hear about “the 35-minute overhaul of the Los Angeles Lakers”? They’ve rebuilt post-LeBron! They signed lots of people for lots of money! You even projected their starting five!” And yes, all those things occurred. But were any of them overwhelmingly positive things? 

The further away I get from it, the more I hate the Walker Kessler trade for the Lakers. It is an all-in move for a team that is nowhere near ready to compete to win the west. Their entire draft future for a 24-year-old shot blocker? It’s like the Mikal Bridges trade if Bridges had never had that All-NBA level season in Brooklyn. Meanwhile, they shelled out huge contracts to Sandro Mamukelashveli and Quentin Grimes, two players with some notable skills, but whose impact on winning is rather unclear. 

LeBron James, while quite old these days (idk if you heard), is still a big loss for them. He was their best on-ball creator outside of Dončić last season, as while Austin Reaves is a better scorer he doesn’t have the supercomputer basketball acumen that James has cultivated. Now, the Lakers are essentially just a carbon copy of those old Luka Mavericks teams; you know, the ones that didn’t work.

Detroit Pistons

The ‘Stons had a great season, and are looking for more offensive shot creation. That is not really going to come from John Collins, a player who, despite his longtime trade stature, is probably just worse than Tobias Harris, who they just lost to the San Antonio Spurs.

Meanwhile, Jalen Duren is having an all-time weird offseason that is one part holdout, one part trade demand, two parts “I’m being disrespected and am sick of your … ” you get it. Duren was rumored to be on the Lakers’ list, but now with the Kessler situation, this is going to get weirder before it gets normaler.

Jaylen Brown PR Department and the Boston Celtics PR Department

For a detailed accounting of the Jaylen Brown/Paul George trade, please visit anywhere on the internet (or you can just read my thoughts here). The further away I get from it, the more I understand Boston’s rationale, and while the return did not remotely match up with his reputation, the trade is also beginning to change his reputation, a nightmare PR situation for a name-brand superstar. 

Brown was clearly not regarded in league circles as a supermax player, and the Celtics receiving two first-round picks to get off the contract could ultimately be good for them. It could also be a disaster, and if the Philadelphia 76ers like … win the NBA Finals or 68 games or something stupid like that next year, Boston will be discussed in various circles as the village idiot. So that’s the risk.

One place Brown’s reputation was not tarnished was among Celtics fans, a community I am a part of, and the shockwaves this deal sent through my group chats measured a 15 on the Richter Scale. Brown, like any homegrown superstar, was probably overrated by Bostonians, but try telling that to the guys who chucked a boatload of tea into the harbor because of some taxes. The Celtics kicked some kind of hornets nest doing this, and will need to tread lightly with their fans for a while.

The Western Conference

Let’s take a peak at the stars that have changed teams thus far: Kawhi Leonard, Jaylen Brown, Giannis Antetokounmpo, LaMelo Ball. Only LaMelo is headed out west, and boy oh boy did I hate that trade for Minnesota. Everyone else is either headed to or staying in the Eastern Conference, now chock-full of teams that expect to contend this very upcoming season.

Perhaps everyone saw San Antonio and Oklahoma City and said “eh, we’re good,” or they got so mad about the New York Knicks being good again they had to fight back. Whatever the reason, the East is now stacked. The West, meanwhile, has room for improvement.

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