The bulk of NBA offseason coverage involves real-time reactions to the changes to the basketball world.
It’s only through the benefit of hindsight, though, that we learn exactly how these moves worked. Or maybe didn’t.
So, now that we’ve seen an entire season play out, it’s a good time to look back at last summer’s most notable transactions (external additions only) and provide them with an updated letter-grade assessment.
After paying a fortune for Kevin Durant at the 2023 deadline only to fail to lift their second-round ceiling, the Suns effectively exhausted their remaining assets to bring Bradley Beal to the desert and theoretically complete basketball’s next Big Three.
The cost was significant—Chris Paul, four future first-round swaps and six second-round picks—though some could have argued it was reasonable for a three-time All-Star.
That’s a factual description of Beal, though he was last an All-Star in 2021 and hadn’t booked a trip prior to that since 2019. His numbers had been coming down before the deal, while his absences were piling up and his salary was skyrocketing. He also inexplicably held what was the league’s only no-trade clause, an embodiment of the leverage he once held over the Washington Wizards.
The risk was enormous, but the Suns swore it was the rest of the league that was really in trouble. Turns out, the problems were (predictably) on Phoenix’s side.
Beal struggled staying healthy, the stars did little to elevate the others and the clearance-priced supporting cast struggled to provide adequate depth. The supposedly superpowered offense was merely decent (10th in efficiency), and the stars’ shared minutes were really good but not great (plus-6.6 net rating, would’ve ranked third).
Phoenix didn’t hit the 50-win mark in the regular season or the one-win mark in the playoffs. Coach Frank Vogel was sent packing, trade winds swirled around Durant, and Beal would be caught in the same speculation if not for that absurd no-trade clause that Phoenix somehow let him retain.
The Suns are over the second apron, meaning there are almost zero avenues toward any kind of external improvement beyond breaking apart the stars, which their decision-makers say isn’t happening.
Beal was a curious choice for this club from the start. Beyond the complications of his contract and injury worries, his game made for an awkward on-paper fit with Durant and Booker, all of whom do their best work on offense (often with the ball in their hands).
The Suns would never admit this publicly, but give them a chance to reverse the Beal trade, and they’d take it in an instant.
Grade: D+
The Boston Celtics didn’t shy away from risk-taking last summer. Never was that more evident than during their involvement in a three-team, pre-draft trade that sent out franchise mainstay Marcus Smart (more on him later), Danilo Gallinari, Mike Muscala and a second-round pick and brought in Kristaps Porziņģis, a first-round pick and a future first.
Hoops historians will, of course, wonder how the Shamrocks were allowed to commit legalized larceny. Between the massive impact Porziņģis made on arrival and the struggles of Smart to find his footing during his first season outside of Boston, folks will never believe the Celtics walked away from this deal with a pair of first-round picks, too.
Those picks were needed, of course, to account for Porziņģis’ uncertain future (he picked up a player option to make the trade possible) and detailed injury history. And, it’s worth noting that the injury concerns were warranted, as the 7’3″ big man failed to crack the 60-game mark for the sixth time in the last seven seasons.
Still, this is a trade that Boston would make 11 times out of 10 if given the opportunity. And, yes, that is the case even with the big fella facing a lengthy recovery following surgery on his “rare” leg injury.
The Celtics viewed him as their potential missing piece, and that’s exactly how he looked whenever he suited up. He expanded the offensive menu with his deep shooting range and ability to punish smaller defenders on switches. As a long and active paint protector, he made this defense even harder to handle.
In the playoffs, they fared 4.3 points better per 100 possessions with him than without him.
He was a legitimate difference-maker, and Boston was incentivized to take him on. Throw in the fact that he immediately contributed to a championship run, and it’s hard to find many faults with this move.
Grade: A-
For years, the Grizzlies had built and cultivated an asset collection that was strong enough to splurge on an impact player as soon as this roster was ready to contend.
Memphis finally made that aggressive move last offseason, sacrificing Tyus Jones and two first-round picks (later spent on Marcus Sasser and Bub Carrington) to land Marcus Smart.
Considering the Grizzlies’ greatest need for years had been a lanky, two-way wing, it seemed strange from the start to splurge on Smart, a 6’3″ combo guard who struggles to convert perimeter shots at a league-average rate.
If everything broke just right, though, Smart could have helped the Grizzlies survive Ja Morant’s 25-game suspension, withstand the subtraction of wing stopper Dillon Brooks and check some boxes for secondary playmaking, postseason experience and defensive versatility.
Exactly none of that came to fruition.
Injuries, which have quietly played a fairly significant role in Smart’s career, limited him to just 20 appearances, and even the games he played were choppy as heck. His assists were down (4.3) and his turnovers were up at a career-worst level (3.1). He had a bad shooting season even by his standards (31.3 three-point percentage, his worst since 2017-18). The Grizzlies lost 13 of the 20 games he played.
The 30-year-old has time to bounce back, of course, but it wouldn’t be shocking if last season marked the start of his decline. And even if it didn’t, he still looks like an awkward fit alongside Ja Morant, since neither possesses great size or reliable outside shots.
Grade: C-
It was a little over a year ago that Victor Wembanyama arrived as basketball’s next big thing. Literally. His dimensions sounded impossible (7’4″ with an 8’0″ wingspan). His skills and agility felt unfair for someone his size.
This wasn’t merely the NBA’s next unicorn. This was its first alien.
It was a forgone conclusion he’d land with whichever team struck it rich at the 2023 draft lottery, and the San Antonio Spurs were the fortunate franchise. Expectations were fully amped for his first go-round in the Alamo City, but no one knew for sure how the French phenom would fare.
Turns out, all the hype was warranted.
His first NBA season, which he spent alongside a—let’s be as polite as possible here—less-than-stellar supporting cast, felt like the first chapter of basketball’s final evolution. His stat line of 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 3.6 blocks had only been previously produced by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Even that didn’t fully capture Wembanyama’s dominance, as his early production was held back by some curious lineup decisions (Jeremy Sochan running point, Zach Collins clogging the middle).
The hype train should have been more than Wembanyama could handle, if only because the expectations seemed impossible to reach. Then again, extraterrestrials have their own definition of what’s possible, so maybe it shouldn’t have been surprising to see him live up to the buzz and then some.
Grade: A+
The Milwaukee Bucks followed their 2021 title win with a second-round exit and then a first-round flop. That was all the front office needed to see to think major changes were needed.
And since their late-game execution had a tendency to get clunky, they went out and added one of the Association’s elite closers in Damian Lillard.
The move made sense on paper, so much so that this late September splash was followed by an October extension agreement with Giannis Antetokounmpo. If this trade helped convince the franchise face to extend his tenure, that’s a big deal—even if the price was high (Jrue Holiday, Grayson Allen, an unprotected future first and two unprotected future first-round pick swaps).
Lillard’s first go-round in Milwaukee was rough, though. His production lagged in both quantity and quality, and he was open about some difficulty with the relocation. His chemistry with Antetokounmpo never fully clicked, though it couldn’t have helped having to navigate around a midseason coaching change or Khris Middleton’s ongoing availability issues.
The Bucks’ fate didn’t change with this blockbuster. Their playoff trip was extinguished in the first round, although they had some built-in excuses since Antetokounmpo missed its entirety with a calf strain and Lillard sat out Games 4 and 5 with Achilles soreness.
The problem is excuses don’t matter much in Milwaukee. Not when this aging and expensive roster is running out of time to contend.
The Bucks aren’t out of opportunities. Maybe having a full offseason and training camp with Lillard and Antetokounmpo together (plus Doc Rivers already in place) could make a big difference. Then again, maybe it won’t be enough to chase down the Boston Celtics while simultaneously fending off the Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks.
You’d like more certainty than the first year of the Lillard-Antetokounmpo partnership provided, though.
Grade: C+
Opportunity knocked twice for the Celtics last offseason.
A few months after the Porziņģis-Smart swap, Boston bullied its way to the front of the line in the Jrue Holiday sweepstakes and plucked him from the Portland Trail Blazers for Malcolm Brogdon, Robert Williams III and two first-round picks (one collected in the Porziņģis trade).
That price isn’t nothing, but the prize of this trade easily towers over it.
Holiday’s presence was hugely helpful in virtually all facets. His defense was among the Association’s very best; he earned All-Defensive second-team honors and took sixth in the Defensive Player of the Year voting. His offensive volume predictably decreased, but his efficiency climbed in his more compact role. He splashed a career-high 42.9 percent of his perimeter shots and nearly tripled his 1.8 turnovers with 4.8 assists.
“His impact [was] felt right away,” Al Horford told The Ringer’s Mirin Fader. “He was doing a lot of things that are not going to come on the stats sheet, that are good for the team: making an extra pass when an extra pass needs to be made or covering for us on the defensive end, which he does constantly. … At the end of the day, we won, and that’s all he cares about.”
The Celtics won a record-setting 18th NBA championship, and they’re poised to potentially add to that count. They’ve extended all the key members of this core, including Holiday, who signed a four-year, $135 million pact in April.
Boston might be great for a while, and adding a puzzle-solver like Holiday is a quietly critical reason why.
Grade: A-
