A majority of the landscape-altering transactions that were set to occur this offseason have officially taken place, and a lot has been made about the recipients of these marquee players. But what about the teams that didn't make trades that would make them better next season?
It's an ugly thing to talk about, as it is always much more enjoyable to highlight success. But alas, it has to be done. So, here are the five teams that definitely got worse this offseason (note: we aren't saying that they had bad offseasons from a process standpoint; rather, we are saying that they have put these teams in a worse position to succeed in the immediate future).
Denver Nuggets
After falling to a shorthanded Minnesota Timberwolves team in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs (despite being the team with homecourt advantage), one thing became abundantly clear: the Denver Nuggets need an influx of youth and athleticism in order to keep winning around Nikola Jokić. So, what did they do this offseason? Pretty much nothing of note other than trade away the best (and most athletic) young player on their roster (Peyton Watson) to the Cleveland Cavaliers, with their only justification being that they couldn't fathom the hefty tax bill that keeping Watson would create.
So, in an offseason where teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Houston Rockets, and Utah Jazz all got better, the Nuggets managed to get worse. Jokić is without the best player this franchise has ever rostered, and now, they are in danger of wasting the rest of his prime all because their parsimonious owner was afraid to put his money where his mouth is."
Charlotte Hornets
This is a perfect example of an offseason not necessarily being bad in terms of what it does for the team's long term outlook, but instead through the lens of what it does to them in the short term.
Regardless of what your mileage is on LaMelo Ball long-term, there is no denying that he was the best offensive player (team-high 98th percentile Offensive Estimated Plus-Minus, per Dunks & Threes) on a team that was primarily driven by their offense (fifth in offensive rating). Now, their nominal starting point guard is Coby White, who has never had to be the lead floor general on a team with true playoff aspirations. Safe to say the Charlotte Hornets will have a hard time matching the 44 wins they got last season.
Los Angeles Clippers
So long as nothing else comes from the circumvention investigation, the Los Angeles Clippers traded away Kawhi Leonard, who, is not only their best player by a pretty wide margin, but also one of the (four?) best players on the planet.
The Clippers had to make this trade. They weren't going to be able to build a true winner around Leonard at this point. However, there is no question that trading him makes them a worse team next season. Of course, Brandon Ingram will help them toggle together some regular season, but their days as a punchy playoff team are long past them.
New Orleans Pelicans
The New Orleans Pelicans traded their 2026 first round pick to the Atlanta Hawks last offseason. So, the team had all the incentive in the world to win as many games as possible in 2025-26. Despite this, and the fact that a third of the league was actively trying to lose, the Pelicans only won 26 games.
Now, the league has implemented some new rules to try and minimize tanking. That means that all 30 teams will be trying to win as much as possible. And what did the Pelicans do? Pretty much nothing other than re-sign Deandre Jordan to a curious two-year deal and take a flyer on Bennedict Mathurin. He's an interesting guard prospect but they already have Dejounte Murray, Trey Murphy III and last year's first-round pick Jeremiah Fears in the backcourt, so minutes won't be easy to come by.
Basically, the Pelicans are in worse shape because they did nothing to improve, the playing field got harder, and they were already pretty bad to begin with.
Detroit Pistons
This is a great example of me disliking a team's process and believing that they got worse this offseason. Coming into the offseason, the Detroit Pistons needed to find Cade Cunningham a true second banana, add some spacing, and maintain the defensive identity they've worked so hard to build for themselves.
To this point, there has been no marquee star acquisition. The Pistons did add some shooting in the form of Isaiah Joe, Gary Harris, Taurean Prince, and John Collins. However, it came at the cost of with the face of their formidable frontline, Isaiah Stewart (and their Swiss Army Knife forward, Tobias Harris). And they will also have to allocate some of Ron Holland and Javonte Green's minutes to some of the new toys they acquired.
The Pistons may have gotten slightly better, but that improvement is marginal, especially when you consider the hit they took on defense. Like the Cavaliers, the Pistons are pretty much the same caliber of team that they were last season, which does not portend well in an Eastern Conference that got way more formidable.
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