Ranking the Biggest Moves of the 2019 NBA Offseason

The NBA has just had one of its craziest, if not the craziest, offseasons ever as several blockbuster signings and trades radically changed the landscape of the league.  As a result, there’s a prevailing sense of parity in the NBA for the first time in years; there are now a handful of teams that have a realistic shot at winning the title next season.

I don’t think anything close to mindblowing will still happen in the remainder of the offseason.  So, I would now like to rank here the biggest offseason moves that happened, arranged from what I think is the least likely of yielding a championship to the most likely…

New York Knicks Sign Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving Julius Randle, Taj Gibson, Bobby Portis, Wayne Ellington, Elfrid Payton, Reggie Bullock, and Marcus Morris

WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...

(takes deep breath)

...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

I’m sorry.  I just couldn’t help taking a jab at how badly run the Knicks are.  Now, onto the real thing…

Boston Celtics Sign Kemba Walker

Meh.  The Celtics should have instead handed the keys of the team to Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

Houston Rockets Trade for Russell Westbrook

It was apparent that, right after the Rockets were kicked out of the 2019 playoffs by the Warriors sans Kevin Durant, it was over between James Harden and Chris Paul.  Unfortunately for the Rockets, Chris Paul’s terrible contract made him nigh impossible to trade.  However, Rockets GM Daryl Morey actually managed to pull it off… by trading it for another bad contract.

Bringing Russell Westbrook in to team up with James Harden is laughable, but on the other hand, the Rockets never really had a choice.  Nevertheless, I’m genuinely excited to see these two stat-chasing ball-hogs sharing the court next season.  Who knows, maybe this actually works, and Morey comes out smelling like a rose.  Or it ends up being the dumpster fire I’m expecting.  Either way, it’s going to be entertaining.

Utah Jazz Trade for Mike Conley

This is no superstar move, but it honestly turned the Jazz into a legit blackhorse title contender.  Conley has always been an underrated point guard, and provided that he has not lost a lot of step from age yet, there’s the promising possibility that he becomes the catalyst for Donovan Mitchell’s superstar breakthrough.  Add two-time DPOY Rudy Gobert to the mix, and the Jazz is a team to watch out for next season.

Philadelphia 76ers Sign Al Horford

Joel Embiid at center, Horford at power forward, and Tobias Harris (whom they resigned) at small forward – this frontcourt has the advantage of size, but it’s just too big and slow in the modern NBA.  Horford is at his best at center (even though he prefers to be a power forward), while Harris is better fitted at power forward.  Unless either Horford or Harris comes off the bench (which is unlikely; neither one would probably be willing), this doesn’t make any whole sense to me… yet.

Brooklyn Nets Sign Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving

During the months leading toward the offseason, the buzz was all about superstars Durant and Irving going to the Knicks and making the team relevant again.  But the Knicks being the Knicks, they of course screwed up (LOOOOOOOOOOOL).  The Nets swept in out of nowhere, and thus, became the New York City-based team that ended up with Durant and Irving (and ex-Knick DeAndre Jordan to boot).  With almost every piece of their last season’s playoff roster still around, the addition of these two superstars certainly made the Nets contenders in the next few seasons (but probably not next season, as KD recuperates from his Achilles’ injury). 

This move is obviously great for the Nets.  But I’m somewhat baffled why Durant and Irving decided to team up.  Didn’t Durant leave OKC in the first place because he was unhappy playing with a ball-dominant guard like Westbrook?  But now he’s teaming up with another ball-dominant guard in Kyrie.  And didn’t Kyrie request to be traded from the Cavs because he disliked playing second fiddle to an all-time great player like LeBron James and wanted to be “The Man” of his own team?  But now he’s once again jumping into the role of second fiddle to another all-time great in Durant.  Baffling, isn’t it? 

Golden State Warriors Sign D’Angelo Russell

Not wanting to lose Kevin Durant for nothing to the Nets, the Warriors front office orchestrated a sign-and-trade for the Nets’ own All-Star free agent D’Angelo Russell.  Now, D-Lo fitting in with the Warriors’ system is an unknown.  But it’s an intriguing unknown.

With Klay Thompson out for most of next season due to the ACL injury he suffered in the Finals, D-Lo has to serve as an “interim Splash Brother” for Stephen Curry.  I’m honestly excited to see how that turns out.

With KD gone, the Dubs are no longer invincible.  But the core of the team that pulled off a 73-9 record a few seasons back is essentially intact (sans Andre Iguodala, whom they unfortunately had to trade away to make cap room for the D-Lo signing).  And if coach Steve Kerr makes something revolutionary out of a Steph-Klay-D-Lo combo (which I have a gut feeling he will), then the Golden State Warriors are going to be as dangerous and thrilling as ever.

LA Lakers Trade for Anthony Davis

I used to dream about Luke Walton coaching a Laker team of Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, Julius Randle, Josh Hart, Ivica Zubac, Jordan Clarkson, and Larry Nance, Jr. into a championship.  Now, with the exception of Kuz, all of those guys are gone – the last of them serving as the assets for that inevitable Anthony Davis trade.

Other than AD, the Lakers also acquired free agents Danny Green, Avery Bradley, Quinn Cook, Jared Dudley, and DeMarcus Cousins, while re-signing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (ugh), Rajon Rondo, JaVale McGee, and Alex Caruso of last season’s problematic roster.  As a Laker fan for most of my life, I haven’t seen a better Lakers roster in years.  If everything clicks – especially if Cousins comes back to form, Kuzma breaks through, and LeBron James consistently controls the pace to allow the Lakers dominate with their size advantage – this is a title-contending team that can overcome/be stirred by the usual LeBron-generated drama that will surely happen down the line.  Nevertheless, I’m not really that excited.  Things have not been going well for the Lakers for some time now, and I will only allow myself to celebrate once the winning actually happens before my eyes.

LA Clippers Trade for Paul George, Sign Kawhi Leonard

The Clippers were one of best stories in the NBA last season.  Despite having no true star player, they qualified for the playoffs in the highly competitive Western Conference and served as arguably the toughest opponents that the Warriors faced on their way to their fifth straight conference title.

Almost all of the members of that tenacious Clippers squad are still around for the next season, and they will serve as a very solid supporting cast for their recently acquired superstars: reigning Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and regular-season MVP runner-up Paul George – who are set to go down as the greatest duo of two-way players since Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. Thus, on paper, the Clippers are easily the title favorites.

The Clippers’ perimeter defense alone is going to be glorious!  Good luck to opposing teams trying to score over Kawhi, PG, and Patrick Beverley.  And, of course, with Kawhi and PG at the helm, plus timely boosts from the bench coming out of three-time Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams and Sixth Man of the Year runner-up Montrezl Harrell, the Clippers will also have an easy time looking for multiple ways to score during the span of a basketball game.

Several teams may have improved this offseason, but the Clippers are the team to beat.  Clearly, they’re going to be a nightmare for the rest of the league.