Free agency is as good as over. Lauri Markkanen is still on the open market (oh my god what a big name who won't be going after him), which is just about the extent of actual decent free agents still left. There's been rumors about him going to Dallas or Charlotte, but all we know so far is it's probably not going to be Chicago. So I've decided to write about how I think some teams did.

Winners

Chicago Bulls

In: Lonzo Ball (4/85), Alex Caruso (4/37), DeMar DeRozan (3/85), Tony Bradley (2/3.8)

Out: Thaddeus Young, Al Farouq-Aminu, Tomas Satoransky, Garrett Temple, Daniel Theis

Still On Market: Lauri Markkanen, Denzel Valentine

Going into free agency, the Bulls were in an awful position. Having just traded Wendell Carter Jr, the 8th pick (Franz Wagner), and a 2023 1st just to not even make the play-in, the Bulls were in trouble to being mediocre, then losing Zach Lavine, then being bad, then losing a really good pick. Good news for them, they seemed to hit it out of the park this year. Acquiring Lonzo Ball was a great idea. Ball will not take shots away from Lavine, he's a very good passer, and can hit the 3 pretty well. Coby White is definitely not able to start and even being the backup point guard could be troubling for him since he really is more of a combo guard. Caruso was another solid pickup for less than $10 million a year. His solid 3-point shooting and defense make it easy for him to be able to play alongside Lavine also and be an impactful player off the bench. DeMar is the only signing that could really be questionable since he's getting up there in age, can't shoot, and paying nearly $30 million a year could be an overpay. He'll also be taking a decent amount of shots, around 15 a game. DeMar has definitely become a very good passer, averaging 6.9 per game last year, passing to the likes of Jakob Poeltl and Drew Eubanks (Giannis Assassin) down low. Tony Bradley for around $2 million a year is also pretty good. He showed last year that he has become a capable backup center, and for that contract to replace Felicio, the Bulls definitely upgraded. Losing Thad Young won't be a huge loss, but it'll definitely be felt. We'll have to see what will happen with Lauri Markkanen; he was not very good last year (poor mans Kristaps when Kristaps has already become a poor mans Kristaps), but he doesn't really have many other choices than to possibly come back on the qualifying offer. Even if they don't actually perform too well, the Bulls should still be a fun watch.

Los Angeles Lakers

In: Russel Westbrook (trade), Talen Horton-Tucker (3/32), Kendrick Nunn (2/10), Carmelo Anthony (1/2.6), Trevor Ariza (1/2.6), Wayne Ellington (1/2.6), Dwight Howard (1/2.6), Kent Bazemore (1/2.4), Malik Monk (1/1.8)

Out: Andre Drummond, Alex Caruso, Markieff Morris, Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrel, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

Still On Market: Dennis Schroder, Wes Matthews, Jared Dudley

Just like the Bulls, the Lakers were not in a good position. They had supposedly just upgraded a roster that just won a championship, then finished 7th in the west and were bounced by the Suns in the first round in 5 games. After trading for Westbrook, the Lakers only had LeBron, Westbrook, Anthony Davis, and Marc Gasol totaling $123,446,041 of the $112.414 million salary cap. 4 total players and already more than $10 million over the cap. Then came the minimum contracts to chase a ring with LeMickey and ADisney in Los Angeles. Melo decided to finally team up with LeBron after being drafted 2 picks after LeBron 18 years ago. Dwight decided to go back to a team that dropped him last minute for Montrezl Harrel and the Lakers were also able to land solid veterans in Ariza, Ellington, and Kent Bazemore. The most surprising minimum addition was Malik Monk, who at 23 years old, is a whole 9 years younger than the average team age. Monk had a disappointing tenure in Charlotte compared to what he should have been coming out of Kentucky, but he improved in 3-point shooting from 28.4% to 40.1%, which is what he is there to do. I feel like this upcoming season will all rest on Westbrook. It's not like they gave up true difference makers in Kuzma, Montrezl, or KCP, but can Westbrook play to what the team needs? Will he unleash his inner WestBRICK or is he going to look for the best shots for him and his team in order to finally win his first ring? Something interesting to look forward to. Schroder ain't coming back. I'll talk about that dummy later on.

Miami Heat

In: Kyle Lowry (3/90), Duncan Robinson (5/90), PJ Tucker (2/15), Markieff Morris (1/2.6), Dewayne Dedmon (1/2.4), Victor Oladipo (1/min???)

Out: Kendrick Nunn, Trevor Ariza, Nemanja Bjelica, Goran Dragic, Precious Achiuwa, Andre Iguodala

Still On Market: Udonis Haslem

After revealing themselves to be bubble frauds, the Heat seemed to have gotten better this offseason, at least for this upcoming season. Sure Lowry, Duncan Robinson, PJ Tucker, and Oladipo are probably still good enough, the question for them really is for the future. Is Lowry still going to be good enough for his $30 million at the age of 38? Will he be worth it this year? Is Duncan Robinson overpaid just to shoot 3's? Is PJ Tucker still able to hold up on defense at this age after a championship run? Will Oladipo come back from his injury? My thoughts are that Lowry, Duncan Robinson, and PJ Tucker can still be good enough this year to help the team, but I'm not sure about Oladipo. The main problem will be how this affects them after this upcoming season. They could be fighting for a top 3/4 seed, or they could be on the outside looking in again. I don't really see an in-between.

Brooklyn Nets

In: Patty Mills (2/12), Bruce Brown (1/4.7), James Johnson (1/2.6), Blake Griffin (1/2.6), Jevon Carter (trade)

Out: Landry Shamet, Spencer Dinwiddie, Jeff Green

Still On Market: Tyler Johnson, Reggie Perry

You can look at this and think they didn't have a great offseason so far, but they already have Kyrie, KD, and James Harden; they barely needed to do anything to have a good offseason. Getting a solid backup point guard in Patty Mills is a great move to help the bench. After being forced to play Chris Chiozza and Mike James, Patty Mills is a vast improvement and should make a decent impact for the team. Losing Shamet and Dinwiddie could hurt, but not having Dinwiddie for the most of the season and Shamet being streaky won't kill them too much. Jeff Green could be a big hit. The Nets were forced to play him at the center because they really didn't have many other options, and now he's gone. Blake will probably play the center when he really shouldn't. DeAndre Jordan is the definition of washed and Nicolas Claxton may still not be ready, although he is the next closest thing to a competent center the Nets have. Bringing in James Johnson as an enforcer and Jevon Carter as a perimeter defender could also help what the Nets needed. The Nets should definitely still be at least a top 2 seed.

Andre Drummond

He has a job when he has no right to have one.

Losers

New Orleans Pelicans

In: Devonte Graham (4/47), Garrett Temple (3/???), Jonas Valancuinas (trade), Willy Hernangomez (3/???)

Out: Lonzo Ball, Steven Adams, Eric Bledsoe, James Johnson

Still On Market: Josh Hart

The Pelicans seem like they just want to make the worst decisions possible. They secured the number 1 pick in the 2019 draft, took the obvious pick in Zion Williamson, and put the worst team possible around him. No spacing and not a lot of passing, except Lonzo Ball. And guess what happened with him? They replaced him with Devonte Graham, who has shooting splits of 37.7/37.5/84.2, terrible from the field, average from 3, and a pretty good free throw shooter. Graham is a capable passer, but I don't know why they would take him over Lonzo. Sure Lonzo is making almost double, but he is exactly what you would want to put next to Zion. Getting rid of Steven Adams and Eric Bledsoe is ok and adding Valancuinas is a step in the right direction: he can at least shoot, although not too often. That's just about the extent of what the Pelicans did this offseason, but they basically need a complete overhaul to tailor to Zion's strengths if they want to do anything. They're going to have to bank on their young players like Kira Lewis Jr., Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Jaxson Hayes.

Portland Trail Blazers

In: Norman Powell (5/90), Cody Zeller (1/2.4), Tony Snell (1/2.4), Ben McLemore (1/2.4)

Out: Carmelo Anthony, Enes Kanter, Zach Collins

Still On Market: Harry Giles, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson

Blazers are exactly like the Pelicans: they need to build around their star, but year after year they decide not to. After another disappointing playoffs being bounced in the 1st round, Dame told the front office that he wanted a better team around him, with them basically responding with "eh". Keeping Norman Powell was an obvious decision after trading away promising young player Gary Trent Jr. to acquire him, but getting Cody Zeller, Tony Snell, and Ben McLemore was probably not what Dame had in mind. Sure they are decent role players, but the Trail Blazers need A LOT more than that. Losing Melo could be hard and take away a lot of bench scoring, but Kanter and Collins really didn't mean much. Giles might get a minimum somewhere, maybe even returning to Portland, but RHJ could go nowhere until sometime during the season. The Blazers needed to make big moves, and the thing that had the biggest impact was they hired a possible rapist in Chauncey Billups as their head coach (still don't understand why something from 1997 that was settled in 2000 was brought up in 2021).

Dennis Schroder and Victor Oladipo

Both Schroder and Oladipo decided to go to the Nerlens Noel School of Stupidity, with Schroder turning down a 4/$84 million contract from the Lakers and Oladipo turning down 2/$45.2 million contract from the Rockets (which was the max they could offer him). Schroder decided to stink up the place while Oladipo got injured yet again. Schroder has yet to be signed and Oladipo came back for the minimum. They both decided to bank on getting bigger contracts during the offseason, and both failed during the actual season, leading to them tanking their value. They both have the tools to be very good players who could be worth decent sized contracts, they just have things holding them back: Schroder being stubborn not wanting to be a backup anymore and Oladipo being injury prone. Schroder may have the same role as Noel while Oladipo could be like DeMarcus Cousins (who also turned down a 2/$40 million contract from the Pelicans after he tore his achilles.

Leaning One Way Or Another

New York Knicks (Good)

In: Evan Fournier (4/78), Derrick Rose (3/43), Nerlens Noel (3/32), Alec Burks (3/30), Taj Gibson (1/2.6), Kemba Walker (1/8)

Out: Reggie Bullock

Still On Market: Elfrid Payton, Frank Ntlikina

The Knicks were also in a weird position, but not a particularly bad one. After a very good season for them, they fizzled out in the playoffs losing in the 1st round. A decent amount of their role players were up for free agency, so what were they going to do? Well, they re-signed them, which isn't a bad decision; they took the run it back option. The only problem is that they are now going to have less money to spend later and put it all in during a bad free agent class, plus would the same team play differently in the playoffs the next year? After starting Elfrid Payton, a supposed basketball player, at point guard, the Knicks wanted to upgrade and brought in Kemba Walker. While Kemba is still a really solid player, he definitely took a step back with the Celtics and has never played all too well in the playoffs. While re-signing was the correct option, the Knicks could possibly still be in trouble because of it, which is the main reason I didn't want to put them directly as winners.

Utah Jazz (Good)

In: Mike Conley (3/72.5), Rudy Gay (2/12.1), Hassan Whiteside (1/2.4)

Out: Georges Niang

Still On Market: Ersan Ilyasova

The Utah Jazz did what they were supposed to in re-signing Mike Conley, the made a seemingly good signing in Rudy Gay, then for some reason signed Hassan Whiteside??? Conley made his first All-Star appearance in his 14th season (I personally think he only made it because the Jazz were the 1st seed and best record in the NBA), so it was a pretty easy decision to bring him back. Rudy Gay is still a good role player, and for around $6 mill a year, it's not like it can backfire too bad. If it comes to it, he can be used as a matching salary. Whiteside is a huge head scratcher. Not only can Udoka Azubuike most likely be a serviceable big off the bench who can improve with playing time, but Whiteside is ass now. He's pretty similar to Drummond, who I will touch on later. The Jazz were never really going to be considered winners, but it is still a solid free agency for them.

Atlanta Hawks (Good)

In: Lou Williams (1/5), John Collins (5/125), Gorgui Dieng (1/4), Solomon Hill (1/2.4)

Out: Tony Snell, Nathan Knight

Still On Market: N/A

Same as the Jazz; they brought back who they needed. John Collins, even though I hate him and believe he is a huge pussy, is a good player, especially for around $25 million a year. Lou Will, after giving me PTSD Game 5 when he torched Shake Milton, will hopefully be good for them again. Solomon Hill eh who really cares. Gorgui Dieng also another solid pickup. With Okongwu most likely out until January with a torn right labrum, adding a stretch big will help free up the paint and add even more shooting. Losing Tony Snell probably won't be anything that bad, especially because he didn't play too much, but I believe I've heard before that he's a good guy to have around in the locker room. The Hawks did what they were expected to do, so they had a good free agency, but they aren't "winners". Just solid.

Dallas Mavericks (Bad)

In: Moses Brown (trade), Reggie Bullock (3/30.5), Sterling Brown (2/6.2), Boban Marjanovic (1/min???), Tim Hardaway Jr. (4/74)

Out: Josh Richardson

Still On Market: JJ Redick,, Nicolo Melli

Although acquiring a center in Moses Brown for Josh Richardson and re-signing Tim Hardaway Jr. were great moves, the Mavs just needed to do so much, that doing only a couple things was not going to be successful. Still having Porzingis on that squad is going to ruin Luka's years on a small contract when they have cap room to improve, especially if he continues to play like he has for the Mavericks. Reggie Bullock is a good add, contributing 3-point shooting and a veteran presence. For $10 million a year for 3 years, it may be too much for too long, but we shall see. With Rick Carlisle being replaced by Jason Kidd, they will most likely also have problems with their coaching. Hopefully Sterling Brown won't be racially profiled by the police again, but it is Texas so I'm not betting any money on that. The Mavericks may have made some good moves, they just needed to do so much to fix the roster that anything short of blowing it up is not enough.

Philadelphia 76ers (Bad)

In: Furkan Korkmaz (3/15), Georges Niang (2/6.7), Andre Drummond (1/2.4), Danny Green (2/20), Rayjon Tucker (2-Way)

Out: Dwight Howard, George Hill

Still On Market: Mike Scott

After losing Dwight Howard and deciding to sign Drummond, I originally put the Sixers in the losers category, and I didn't think twice about it. But getting Furkan for $5 million a year for 3 years at the age of 24 after having a good past two seasons, signing Georges Niang for 2 years on around $3 millionish a year, and re-signing Danny Green for $10 million a year with a non-guaranteed 2nd year in case he isn't great and they can use his contract in a trade, the Drummond signing didn't seem as bad. Losing George Hill was actually a positive after his awful season with us, but I wish we could have gotten something in return for him. Seeing Dwight go was very sad for me, but it won't be a total difference maker. Sure he had a lot of Dwight Blunder Moments™, but he was so fun to watch, a fun guy, and a great locker room presence. I will 100% miss him. This could turn into a solid free agency, but that all depends on Drummond, so basically that's impossible. If he truly accepts his role as backup, doesn't play hero ball, and wants to play winning basketball, then he could be an upgrade over Dwight. I just highly doubt that will happen, so I'm currently sticking with this being a bad offseason, but the signings outside of Drummond were pretty good and made me happy.

Breaking Down The NBA 2021 Free Agency/Offseason So Far