The Southwest Division of the NBA is a story of have's and have-nots. On one hand, you have three legitimate hopefuls for a deep playoff run, possibly to the Finals if all goes right for any one of them (seriously, the battle for Texas is going to be a movie). And on the other hand, you have the New Orleans Pelicans and their Santa-like belief in Zion Williamson's availability.
Memphis is weirdly in the middle — don't think about it too much.
Regardless, this caste-based meritocracy didn't prevent any team in the Southwest from vying for supremacy in the offseason. These are the most underrated moves pulled by each of its teams.
Dallas Mavericks: Curbing Kyrie's ego
Dallas has been in headlines for all of 2025 for both good and bad reasons. But there is one bit of shrewd GM-ing that Nico Harrison's front office can actually take credit for.
Kyrie Irving's 3-year extension sounds bigger than it is given his age, but for a player who hasn't fallen off much at all when healthy, this contract term isn't that long. And more importantly, this extension means that Harrison & Co. somehow managed to get Kyrie to turn down his much more expensive player option.
So, not only did they manage to spare money to sign D'Angelo Russell as a reliable veteran backup in Kyrie's absence, but they also managed to diminish Kyrie Irving as a flight risk. Not a small task in itself at all.
Houston Rockets: Adding to its core without going bankrupt
Seriously, I really can't pick one move beyond the KD one that I don't love.
Not only did they strictly upgrade from Jalen Green to Kevin ****ing Durant (at the cost of Dillon Brooks, but who cares?), but the Rockets also ensured the services of Steven Adams, Jabari Smith, Jr., and Fred VanVleet on multi-year extensions.
But wait, there's more! They also brought back Clint Capela as a result of the KD trade, and replaced Brooks' services with Dorian Finney-Smith.
To summarize, Houston not only kept their core intact, but also meaningfully added to it, creating arguably the deepest roster in the NBA. The underrated part: they did all this and barely crossed the luxury tax threshold.
Memphis Grizzlies: Replacing Desmond Bane
I don't think that we're really making a big enough deal about how crazy the Desmond Bane trade was. Four picks and a pick swap would turn heads everywhere, but for Desmond Bane? I understand that he's a borderline All-Star, but still.
And yet, it gets even better for the Grizzlies. Because we all forgot that they did a great job of replacing him. The deal didn't just bring Kentavious Caldwell-Pope back to Memphis, but they doubled down and added Ty Jerome to the roster as well, who was having a career year before he got the yips against the playoffs.
Will they miss Bane's services? Sure. But the Grizzlies have a solid core as it is, and Bane's absence feels pretty light when the other side of the scale consists of five picks and two mid-to-high level starters on any other team.
New Orleans Pelicans: Drafting Jeremiah Fears
The Pelicans made headlines for their idiocy on draft night, but we can at least say that Jeremiah Fears wasn't a part of that.
For most teams, Fears represents a bit of a project, one that can easily tank his own career if the wrong team relies on his raw skill set overmuch.
Luckily, New Orleans won't have to rely on Fears for a little while: Between Dejounte Murray and the newly acquired Jordan Poole, the Pelicans should be able to let Fears work on his game in the background and in short spurts over the next season.
Trading for Derik Queen seems like a bad panic insurance move for if/when Zion Williamson leaves the team. But Jeremiah Fears seems to be in the right situation for him to be the future of the Pelicans.
San Antonio Spurs: Bringing back De'Aaron Fox
Fox's massive extension was the biggest Spurs headline of the off-season, unless you count Wemby's unique training method.
Or that they didn't trade nor overthink the number two pick of the 2025 Draft, taking Dylan Harper out of Rutgers.
If you're counting, that makes three candidates for a starting point guard, including reigning rookie of the year Stephon Castle.
But if you think about it a little bit, the Spurs get to have their cake and eat it too with Fox's deal. They likely weren't going to bring him back for anything less, and trading for what amounts to a half-season rental is just bad business.
Wemby's rapid ascendance into All-NBA territory demands an element of win-now to the Spurs' moves. But there is no way of knowing whether Castle or Harper are Finals run-worthy sidekicks right now, ROY or no. But De'Aaron Fox's extension buys them time to develop both while also buying a viable sidekick to Wemby for the next three years.