NBA free agency kicked off yesterday evening, and after a quiet start, the dominoes began to fall as trades and signings began to happen across the league. Let's talk about my biggest winners and losers from this year's free agency period so far.
Winner: Houston Rockets
How can the Houston Rockets not be at the top of everyone's list as the biggest winners this offseason?
Landing Kevin Durant in a trade was the second big trade of the offseason, right after Desmond Bane got traded to Orlando the week prior. The Rockets landed KD in exchange for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the No. 10 pick in this year's draft, who turned into Duke center Khaman Maluach, and five second-round picks.
The Rockets continued to fortify their roster by re-signing guard Fred VanVleet to a two-year, $50 million contract to stay with the franchise. Houston also took care of former lottery pick Jabari Smith Jr, who received a five-year, $122 million rookie contract extension. They even re-signed depth pieces like Jeff Green, Aaron Holiday, and Jae'Sean Tate back to the roster.
And Houston didn't stop there, as they were very aggressive to begin the start of free agency. They signed forward Dorian Finney-Smith to a four-year, $53 million deal. And the cherry on top was bringing back former center Clint Capela on a three-year, $21.5 million contract.
Houston believes they have the coach in Ime Udoka and the players around Kevin Durant to compete for a title this season, and I applaud them for being willing to go all in with this roster.
Winner: Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks have competed in the Play-In tournament for four consecutive years in a row, and they've had a stellar offseason that should propel this team into a top-five seed in a weak Eastern Conference next season.
It began when Atlanta acquired center Kristaps Porziņģis from the Boston Celtics in a three-team trade. The Hawks then traded down 10 spots on NBA Draft night in a deal with the Pelicans to add what could be a highly valuable unprotected 2026 draft pick.
Atlanta then made another splash in a sign-and-trade with the Timberwolves to acquire two-way guard Nickiel Alexander-Walker. Nickiel is a high-level impact player who can help space the floor, but more importantly, be a tenacious perimeter defender to surround Trae Young with help on that side of the floor.
The Hawks now have a starting five that features Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher, Jalen Johnson, and Kristaps Porziņģis, with Alexander-Walker and Ogunkwu off the bench. They have done an incredible job of building the right pieces around Trae Young, and this looks like a scary group in a wide-open East next year.
Winner: Orlando Magic
Orlando has been one of the most improved teams this offseason, and their front office needs to be commended for the work that they've done.
The Magic made the first blockbuster deal of the offseason when they acquired guard Desmond Bane from the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, and four unprotected first-round selections.
Orlando made strides in the draft by selecting Jase Richardson with the 25th overall pick and trading up with the Boston Celtics to select French forward Noah Penda with the 32nd overall pick. The Magic made one more splash, bringing in veteran guard Tyus Jones on a one-year, $7 million deal.
Jones has been top two in the league every year since 2019 in the assist-turnover ratio. It may not be the world's biggest splash, but the additions of Bane with his three-point shooting and Tyus's ability to command an offense will do wonders for Paolo and Franz.
Winner: Denver Nuggets
After taking the eventual NBA champions in the Oklahoma City Thunder, to seven games in the Western Conference Semifinals, the Nuggets were ready to retool and make another championship push.
Denver had a stellar start to free agency by trading Michael Porter Jr and an unprotected 2032 first-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Cam Johnson. This trade allowed Denver to go under the luxury tax, and it opened up their ability to use most of their $14.1 million non-taxpayer midlevel exception.
The Nuggets made sure to bring back fan-favorite Bruce Brown on a one-year veteran's minimum deal. Brown was an integral part of the success of the 2023 Nuggets squad that won the championship, as they aim to make another run this season. Then, they dumped lightly used veteran Dario Saric on the Kings for Jonas Valanciunas, significantly strengthening their bench.
LoserLos Angeles Lakers
LeBron James, entering year 23, at age 40, is looking to make a final championship run at the tail end of his career, and doesn't have time to wait around.
After picking up his $52.6 player option this season, LeBron's agent, Rich Paul, sent a very important message regarding the Lakers' current state and LeBron's intentions going forward.
"LeBron wants to compete for a championship," Paul told ESPN. "He knows the Lakers are building for the future. He understands that, but he values a realistic chance of winning it all. We understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future."
Per ESPN's Dave McMenamin, Los Angeles "exercised discipline in its negotiations" with free agent forward Dorian Finney-Smith, who ultimately signed with the Houston Rockets, as the team looks to save cap space for 2027, when it hopes to add a max-salary free agent.
The Lakers did agree to a two-year, $12 million contract with forward Jake LaRavia. In 66 games last year, LaRavia averaged 6.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and shot a respectable 42.3 percent from distance.
The Lakers won't be big spenders this offseason, but they still have some issues to address if they want to build a championship-caliber team around LeBron next season. Los Angeles still needs to improve both their wing and frontcourt depth, despite the signing of Jake LaRavia. With some other options like Myles Turner and Jonas Valanciunas off the board, things are getting tight.
Loser: Boston Celtics
The Celtics traded away both Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis this offseason to get under the second apron, and their offseason continued to worsen after that.
Former center Luke Kornet signed a four-year, $41 million deal with the Spurs, and long-time center Al Horford is more than likely gone. That leaves the Celtics with Luka Garza as their current big man, and that's simply not going to cut it.
Although Boston won't be competing for a championship next season without Jayson Tatum, they have a ton of retooling to still do to prepare this team for his return in the 2026-27 season.