Best and worst moves of the 2024 NBA offseason: Pacific Division

The Pacific Division is quite possibly the most talented division in the NBA from top-to-bottom. Though none of them are regarded as top-tier title contenders, all five teams finished in the top ten in the Western Conference last season and it is home to arguably the five most effective players from the US Men's National Team in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers have made headlines for all the wrong reasons this offseason, having either done little to change their fortunes or outright losing All-Star-level players.

The Phoenix Suns had a disappointing end to their season after coming in with high expectations and brought in a new coach and starting point guard to remedy their weaknesses.

The Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings, after being eliminated before getting out of the Play-In Tournament, made big changes that will result in interesting cases of new faces in new places.

After a flurry of activity, we're going to outline the offseason moves for each that warrant the most cheers and most questions.

Golden State Warriors

After a tumultuous season in which franchise legends Klay Thompson and Draymond Green were the sources of a large amount of the headaches, the Warriors are heading into 2024-25 with a new look. Thompson has moved on to Dallas and Chris Paul was waived, providing Golden State new flexibility to add multiple role players to the roster, giving the coaching staff more lineup combinations to work with. Gone are Thompson, Paul, and Dario Saric from the rotation, while incoming are De'Anthony Melton, Buddy Hield, and Kyle Anderson. With the new tools available to them and as long as they can keep Green and Steph Curry on the floor, the team will be in contention for a playoff spot and a tough opponent on a nightly basis.

Best Move: Sign De'Anthony Melton for 1 year, $12.8 million

De'Anthony Melton had quite a rough season last year due to a significant back injury that caused him to miss over half the season. It is this context that most likely led to him having to settle for a one-year contract at the mid-level exception since his physical health coming into the season is a real question mark.

Prior to his injury, Melton was part of a Sixers starting unit that was tearing up the league to the tune of a ridiculous plus-33.3 differential last year. Melton provides exceptional defense both and off the ball and has turned himself into a respectable 3-point shooter, being up to 37 percent for his career. Defense is the side of the ball where the Warriors struggled most last season, particularly in forcing turnovers. Melton has been in the 93rd percentile or better in steal rate for his entire career and has historically contributed to elevated opponent turnover rates when he is on the court.

There are obviously questions about his health, but these questions led to inking him to a bargain deal for the season, allowing him to prove he can still contribute and leverage that into a bigger payday next summer. If he can show he is physically recovered, he will provide budget-friendly as a versatile defender and capable shooter to play alongside the gravity of Curry, making this a low-risk, high-reward gamble.

Worst Move: Kyle Anderson trade

The nature of "worst" being a relative term is an important element of this pick. Kyle Anderson is one of the most versatile defenders and intelligent passers in the league. Additionally, the three-year, $27 million contract he signed is great value in a vacuum if he maintains his level of play. Anderson's issue has always been his offensive fit on the floor.

Largely due to the high volume of mid-range attempts in their shot diet, the Warriors finished 29th in the league in location-effective field goal percentage last season, per Cleaning the Glass. With their elite 3-point shooting ability, they were able to compensate reasonably well for this, finishing 12th in actual effective field goal percentage, but you'd still like to have a better shot profile. Paul and Thompson are gone, which removes a lot of the mid-range shots, but Thompson in particular, also takes away a lot of those 3-point attempts.

Anderson is a player who lives almost exclusively inside the arc, where mid-range shots are his bread and butter. Granted, he makes them at a reasonable clip and he can be additive to your offense with the right players around him, but finding that combination has historically proven difficult.

Anderson sharing the frontcourt with Green, Jonathan Kuminga, Trayce Jackson-Davis, and Andrew Wiggins means that spacing by this group is going to be hard to come by. If there's anyone who can compensate for the lack of shooting around him, it is history's greatest shooter, Stephen Curry, but there's a chance it turns out to be too much to overcome, even for him.

Los Angeles Clippers

LA’s “other" team is moving into the new state-of-the-art Intuit Dome arena for the upcoming season and will have a new look for fans. In a highly publicized free agency saga, nine-time All-Star Paul George has left for Philadelphia, leaving Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, and some new role players to welcome the league to their new home. It seems they got the payroll breathing room they were looking for after George’s departure, so it will be exciting to see if this new flexibility yields a beneficial new approach. While the lower-level additions will provide useful depth, this offseason has been shaped by the moves around the big-minute cogs in the rotation.

Best Move: Extend Ivica Zubac for 3 years, $58 million

Ivica Zubac continues to fly under the radar as one of the steadiest, most effective centers in the NBA. The Clippers were able to ink him to an extension that takes him to age 30 and keeps him around 11 to 12 percent of the cap over that span, making it a hell of a deal for a starting center.

At 7-foot-1, Zubac takes up a large amount of space in the middle and uses it to his advantage. Per Cleaning the Glass data, he ranked 73rd percentile in block percentage, 88th percentile in offensive rebound percentage, and 87th percentile in defensive rebound percentage last season, showing he makes things happen down low. He’s not the most dynamic offensive weapon but was also 86th percentile in effective field goal percentage at 65.2 percent.

Besides the counting stats, Synergy also tracked him at 74th percentile in points per shot defending at the rim, 79th percentile in points per possession defending post-ups last season, and No. 1 in the league in opponent field goal percentage at the rim.

He’s not going to win any popularity contests, but the Clippers played at a plus-5.4 differential with him on the court last season and he figures to continue to be a defensive stalwart. This new contract makes the team payroll much easier to navigate in the future as well.

Worst Move: Paul George Contract negotiations

Normally, a player leaving in unrestricted free agency would not be included in a list like this, since it is not a case where a team consciously drafted a prospect, hired a coach, signed a player, or traded one. But with the information that has been publicly available around the lead-up to this departure, it seems the Clippers bungled this so badly that it has to be included here.

Between the flimsy statements made about salary flexibility by the Clippers in the wake of his departure and the frustrating sequence of events laid out by George himself, this is a big blow for the Clippers. They have Kawhi Leonard under contract for the fourth year they were allegedly unwilling to give to George and signed Harden to an unnecessarily bloated contract in free agency as well, making the hard stances taken on George quite puzzling.

Although it was always going to be a shot in the dark on whether this team would be healthy enough at playoff time to prove they can get over the hump, George moving on likely means we won’t get any more chances to find out. The Clippers were left with some spending flexibility and brought in Derrick Jones Jr., Nicolas Batum, and Kris Dunn, all of whom figure to provide solid play. But in a brutally deep Western Conference, losing one of the best players in the league doesn’t bode well for being in contention.

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers were all over the news in June after hiring first-time head coach JJ Redick to lead the team from the bench and using the No. 55 pick in the NBA Draft to put together the league’s first-ever father-son duo. Since then, well … they’re the Lakers so even no news is still news for the league’s most popular team. The team has been remarkably quiet, having added exactly two new faces with guaranteed contracts in rookies Bronny James and Dalton Knecht. Redick, along with his superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis gearing up after an Olympic gold medal run, will have their work cut out for them to keep this team relevant in a deep Western Conference.

Best Move: Sign LeBron James for 2 years, $101 million

There isn’t a lot of “credit” to give to the Lakers for signing James here, since he’s pretty much the one running the show, but there aren’t a lot of exciting deals to choose from. There was some promising discourse at the beginning of free agency, though, with him reportedly opening the door for a discount to help fill out the roster.

Alas, the team could not find a free agent or trade acquisition that would fit the bill, so they re-upped with LeBron on a two-year deal. This is still LeBron James, who increases the notoriety and value of his team as much as any athlete in American history, and who also still happens to be one of the best players in the world. When you ink up The King, you’ve made the right move.

James also took the slightest of haircuts on his salary to ensure the team remains under the second apron of the salary cap, maintaining some important flexibility in roster-building, in case the right deal comes along. At the end of the day, the Lakers played at a plus-4.6 differential (76th percentile) with James and Davis on the court last year per Cleaning the Glass, making his retention critical. With some fresh perspective from a new coaching staff, the Lakers will still be a team you have to take seriously on a night-to-night basis.

Worst Move: Sign Max Christie for 4 years, $32 million

This deal came out of nowhere early on in free agency and still looks funky months later. $32 million in guaranteed money, with a player option to boot, for a player who has barely cracked 1200 minutes in his career, looks like quite the reach at the moment. Beyond that, he was a restricted free agent, suppressing his market even further on top of his unproven track record.

Christie is only 21 years old, so he has a long runway ahead of him to turn into a high-impact player. He also scored 1.308 points per possession (94th percentile) on spot-ups per Synergy Sports last season, which is an encouraging sign. If there’s one thing you need to be able to do playing with LeBron James, it’s knock down shots when you’re open.

It’s not crazy to think that this deal could turn out to be a value signing. If Christie develops into a trustworthy rotation player on both ends of the court, then $8 million per year is actually a good number. On the other hand, this could end up being another case of the Lakers getting high on their own supply with their young players a la Talen-Horton Tucker.

Phoenix Suns

The Phoenix Suns came into the 2024 offseason with one of the league’s highest payrolls, numerous roster-building limitations due to being over the second apron of the salary cap, no control over their next six seasons’ draft picks, and the sour taste of an unceremonious exit from the playoffs. This is a tough position to operate from, no matter how many teams Suns Governor Mat Ishbia thinks would trade places with them. With this in mind, the team hired a new coach and was able to bring in multiple players on minimum salaries, including some much-needed point guards, doing reasonably well with what little they had to work with.

Best Move: Sign Tyus Jones for 1 year, $3 million

The Suns ranked just 25th in the league in turnover percentage last season, per Cleaning the Glass. This was the team’s most glaring weakness on the offensive end of the court. Many fans and pundits have largely attributed this to the team’s lack of a “traditional” point guard. While this is a bit overblown in certain contexts, Tyus Jones certainly fits that bill. He’s a steady, pass-first floor general with low usage, an eye for finding the open man, and an elite ability to take care of the ball. He has been in the league’s 88th percentile or higher in turnover percentage every season since the 2018-19 campaign, and last season logged a 7.35 assist-to-turnover ratio, which is the league’s highest mark in the last 45-plus years.

Being available for a minimum salary exception almost a month into free agency was an extremely fortuitous circumstance for the Suns. He’s coming off his first season as a full-time starter for the Wizards last year, where although the team was rough to watch, he had a productive season. He put up career bests in effective field goal percentage (56.9), 3-point percentage (41.4), and turnover percentage (7.2). Players coming off a season like this where they made $14 million in salary are not usually available at this price.

With his previous team giving little priority to wins moving forward and most of the league is pretty set with lead ball handlers, Tyus seems to have fallen through the cracks, as one or two surprising players tend to do each year. Considering the limited resources available to them, the Jones signing is a home run for the Suns.

With the addition of Jones, as well as Monte Morris and coach Mike Budenholzer, the Suns have much better tools to ensure they are maximizing the elite offensive talent they have on the floor and not leaving points on the board. Jones isn’t magically transforming them into title contenders, but he’ll go a long way in helping stabilize the offense.

Worst Move: Sign Mason Plumlee for 1 year, $3.3 million

Relative to the other moves made during the summer, we’re going with Plumlee as the worst of the bunch. Plumlee is another veteran who was not expected to be available for a minimum salary, so on value alone for the talent, it’s a solid move. He’ll also almost certainly be an upgrade over Drew Eubanks. The potential issues are with the fit on the roster.

Plumlee shares some similarities with Jusuf Nurkic, for whom he will be the primary backup. He has good passing vision, like Nurkic, and tends to similarly gobble up defensive rebounds. This has merit from a stylistic continuity standpoint, but there are other similarities that are not so appealing.

Plumlee and Nurkic were both among the worst bigs in the league in turnover rate (particularly in pick-and-roll and transition) last season and they have both always been prone to elevated foul rates. Additionally, both players were also among the worst bigs in the league in finishing at the rim and neither can spread the floor. The turnovers and rim finishing, in particular, were noticeable weaknesses for the Suns last season and it is worrisome that they doubled down on them at the center position.

Having acquired more traditional ball handlers, it’s possible that the extra playmaking skill at the center position will be even less additive on the floor, especially when considering the elevated risks of turning the ball over. With the playmaking value potentially being reduced, it could shine even more of a focus on the other limitations the team has at the center position: finishing, floor spacing, and defensive versatility.

Sacramento Kings

The Kings come into the year having logged a winning record in consecutive seasons for the first time in almost 20 years, winning 46 and 48 games in the last two seasons. Unfortunately, they lost a thrilling first-round series in 2022-23 and failed to advance past the Play-In Tournament last season, demonstrating both the depth of the West and their room for improvement. Now, with the additional firepower of newcomer DeMar DeRozan, they’re looking to bounce back and make some noise in the playoffs.

Best Move: Sign Malik Monk for 4 years, $78 million

Coming off his best season as a pro, Monk was headed into the summer as an unrestricted free agent, where he could have signed wherever he liked while the Kings were limited in the contract they could offer. Due to having been on his previous contract for only two years, the team could only sign him using early bird rights, which limited the offer to 4 years, $78 million. If you were paying attention, you noticed that’s exactly what he signed for to return to the Kings.

Monk has been a critical piece to the Kings offense in his time in Sacramento, especially when De’Aaron Fox is off the floor. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Kings logged 117.0 points per possession (63rd percentile) and an effective field goal percentage of 57.2 (83rd percentile) with Monk on the floor while Fox was off. Fox is the engine that makes this team go and there was little ball handling or creation ability available when Fox was not in the game, so having Monk around really helps keep their offense afloat. Monk also put up a career-high assist percentage last year, showing improvement in his ability to make plays for others. He leaves a lot to be desired on the defensive end, but then that's pretty much par for the course with this team, which has been in the bottom half of the league in defense for basically the last 20 years.

There were multiple cap space teams looming as potential threats to pry Monk away from the Kings with a big contract offer. Since he never technically made to the open market, we'll never know what was actually available to him, but the Pistons, Magic, and Spurs all had cap space with a need for shooting. After finishing in the top five in Sixth Man of the Year voting the last two seasons, inking Monk to a new deal at around 11 to 12 percent of the cap moving forward is a good piece of business.

Worst Move: DeMar DeRozan trade

The Kings, looking for additional firepower to boost their offense after having slipped last season, completed a sign-and-trade deal with the Bulls and Spurs to acquire six-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan on a three-year, $74 million contract. From the Kings perspective, they moved Harrison Barnes, Chris Duarte, two second-round picks, one first-round pick swap, and cash for DeRozan.

DeRozan is a non-traditional fit on most teams due to his dominance of the ball, lack of 3-point shooting, and mediocre defensive effectiveness. Similar to Monk, he provides a level of playmaking and shot creation that will help take pressure off De'Aaron Fox, but it will be interesting to see how these skills translate to what will presumably be a lower usage rate than he has logged in many years. If he's continuing to not space the floor and not defend at a high level while reducing his time on the ball, how can he best be used as an additive piece?

It stands to reason that the team would attempt to stagger the minutes of DeRozan and Fox, maintaining a higher level of shot creation throughout the game, while allowing each additional room on the floor to leverage their best skills. Additionally, though it's been a while, DeRozan did show an ability to score efficiently on handoff possessions in previous years, particularly in San Antonio. The Kings run this action more than any team in the league and have Domantas Sabonis as their hub, who has done a great job of freeing up players like Monk, Keegan Murray, Kevin Huerter, and Harrison Barnes for opportunities in years past.

All in all, the Kings committed a significant chunk of resources for a player who has been driving a below-average offense the last few years and is heading into his late 30s without a proven track record of providing off-ball value. The kicker here is giving up the pick swap in this transaction. The swap rights were given to the Spurs in 2031 when this team will likely look drastically different and isn't even a world-beater now. The most likely outcomes of adding DeRozan to this roster do not seem to have the upside to warrant having potentially given up their ability to add lottery-level talent in the draft in 2031 when the team could very easily be back to struggling.