When Dwight Howard agreed to return to the Los Angeles Lakers, it was just fitting.
It’s not fitting because Dwight fits with the Lakers’ needs. It’s fitting because it’s yet another in what’s been a longline of bizarre storylines this offseason. Seriously, it’s been one after the next.
No, it’s not bizarre only because of Dwight’s disastrous tenure with the Lakers from six years prior. It’s bizarre because a case could be made that they really didn’t need Dwight. Or another center if we’re being completely honest.
Anthony Davis may not prefer playing center, but 96 percent of his minutes last year was played at the five. Also, remember the year before when the Pelicans went on that 21-11 run following both Demarcus Cousins’ Achilles’ injury and the acquisition of Nikola Mirotic? That all came from Davis playing center full-time.
And here’s a question you’d never think anyone would ask- Is it possible Javale McGee’s not getting enough credit? Statistically speaking, the guy is coming off the best season he’s had in years, and one of the best in his entire career. He and Davis should be good enough as far as center depth goes.
The rationale behind bringing Dwight back was replacing the tragically oft-injured DeMarcus Cousins. It makes sense, but the Lakers may not have needed Cousins either.
And that’s what’s happened throughout the summer. A lot of stuff happened garnered the reaction of, “Yeah… Okay, but-”
It’s hard to decipher exactly where to begin with this bizarre offseason. The best way to start would probably be the lack of a “superteam.”
With Golden State’s death lineup dissolving and only one current superstar to support LeBron James in LA, the NBA no longer has that designated “Big 3” anymore for the first time since 2010. There are certainly some well-designed teams. Truthfully, with all that transpired this summer, the NBA has the most its parity its seen in years. With no superteams assembled, there is no villain.
In fact, we’ve seen players actively defy the construct of an elite trio. Kawhi Leonard could have gone to the Lakers and formed possibly the most talented trio to ever grace professional basketball. Instead, he went to the Clippers, a team that had more widespread talent than the Lakers do. Instead of chasing rings with LeBron, Kawhi chose to continue running his own show.
The peculiar aspect of this new development has nothing to do with Kawhi going to the Clippers. It stems from the fact that we have become so used to these star players joining forces since “The Decision” that seeing them opt not to is now an entirely new feeling. Remember how astonished we were when LeBron went to Miami to form the Heatles? That’s how it felt when Kawhi had the opportunity to do the same and did the opposite… to a certain degree. Ahem, Paul George.
Where this defiance to be on a superteam gets really weird is what happened with Jimmy Butler. Butler was recently on the most talented team he’s ever played with. In Philadelphia, he could have played a supporting role on a team that has a legitimate chance to make the NBA Finals for the next several years. As we all had speculated for months and has now been confirmed, that’s not what Butler wanted.
Jimmy wanted his own team. When you’re a multi-time All-Star, that makes sense. But of all the teams he could have chosen, Miami wasn’t exactly screaming championship with that team.
The HEAT were a team firmly stuck in no-man’s land before Butler’s arrival. Dwyane Wade may want to try a career in sales now that he’s retired, because it was awfully impressive of him to sell his good friend Jimmy on the HEAT knowing the state that they are in.
Even after adding Butler, they may be a shoo-in to make the playoffs, but they don’t measure up to the top of my conference. Outside of Jimmy Buckets, Miami’s roster – while having some nice young talent – is not all that special.
So for now, it looks like the days of the superteam are dead. In light of this, we’ve seen teams try to add their own variation of what makes a superteam. By doing so, these results have continued the theme of bizarre.
Let’s start with Houston.
Despite Daryl Morey vowing that Chris Paul was staying in Houston – in retrospect, Oklahoma City wasn’t in firesale mode at the time – he shipped CP3, plus a boatload of picks, for Russell Westbrook. A trade that everyone at the time smirked at.
Westbrook is overpaid, not the most reliable shooter, and he does not have a lot of playoff success tied to his name since Kevin Durant deserted him. Compared to Paul however, he has more years left of his prime, is a better athlete and James Harden wanted to play with him.
Paul wasn’t getting any younger, and with Golden State down for the count, the Rockets needed a boost. If they were going to be overpaying for a star point guard, it had to be for one that can stay the same for the duration of his contract. That wasn’t happening with Paul.
This would have been a bizarre trade if it was just Westbrook for Paul straight-up, but the picks added to it only puts more pressure on both Houston and Westbrook to stay a Western Conference power. Talent-wise, this makes sense. Fit-wise, it’s a little hazy. We know why Houston did this. We also know why this could backfire.
Then there’s the 76ers. Their offseason was bizarre, but not because they swapped Butler for Josh Richardson, or that they paid Tobias Harris superstar money. Their offseason continued the theme of strange because they used their available cap space to bring in Al Horford.
Horford at 33 is still a great player. This writer has gushed about him in the past because of all the skills he brings to the court. He would have been a good addition for anyone, but since he’s best used as a center at this stage in his career, his fit in Philly, or next to Embiid, is not a great one.
When teams give players max contracts, it’s usually because they want the skills that player has on their team. The Sixers signing him to that contract may not have been about helping them as much it was about hurting the Celtics. Horford established himself as an Embiid stopper last season, so by taking him away from Boston, it knocks a division rival out of contention.
This next part should make you a little suspicious. Horford’s best position is center, but he’ll be playing at power forward. Harris’ best position is power forward, but he’ll be playing at small forward. If you put those guys in their natural positions, this is a team that fits perfectly around Ben Simmons. Not so much with Joel Embiid.
There has been a lot of talk from media outlets that maybe those two aren’t the best pairing. Bringing Horford to the city of Brotherly Love could be a hint that the Sixers believe the same.
Enough about the teams that hauled in some talent albeit perhaps not the right talent. There are teams that went through pivotal changes who, on paper, would change their fortunes for better or worse.
Boston would be a team that in the wake of what it’s lost, should be worse next season. The Celtics don’t have the same level of talent with Kyrie and Horford both gone. Since they underperformed with high expectations, is it crazy to say that, in a weaker Eastern Conference, they could be much better with lower expectations?
It wouldn’t have much to do with adding Kemba Walker and Enes Kanter. We could see major improvements from Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Gordon Hayward when you take their performances last season into account. Expectations surrounding Boston are nebulous, but as a whole, they shouldn’t be completely ruled out.
A team whose expectations are a little more certain is Brooklyn. It wasn’t too long ago that if you added players as good as Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan, you were the biggest winners of the offseason. Brooklyn’s ceiling should be much higher after adding those three alone.
But are the Nets going to be much better? Kyrie turned his back on a good situation for the second time in his career. Is he going to be a good soldier with the Nets? Kevin Durant is likely not going to be playing this season. Will he be back to normal when he returns? DeAndre Jordan has looked like a shell of himself over the last two years. Is he magically going to return to form?
Even though the organization took necessary risks, Brooklyn may not be in the clear from adding those three.
It sounds weird that Boston and Brooklyn could go in completely different directions than what’s expected of them. We won’t know if the moves they made were the right moves, but even for the teams who seemingly made all the right moves, there was a hint of bizarre for their summers turned out.
The Clippers may have been the biggest winners of the offseason from what they brought in and what they kept. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George can be your two best players on a championship team. Patrick Beverley, JaMychal Green, Ivica Zubac and Mo Harkless are guys you can surround your best players on a championship team.
The only oddity is that they invested so much in what could be a two-year window. All of their picks belong to Oklahoma City from now until 2026. Even if they win the next two championships, should both Leonard and George leave, this could blow up in their face much like it did for the Nets in 2013. The Clippers made excellent moves, but they paid a hefty price even if they are the title favorites.
The Jazz did absolutely nothing wrong as far as offseason moves go. For a team that needed upgrades in the playmaking, shooting and depth department, the boys in Salt Lake made all the moves that they should have. It’s really just where their priorities were at that comes into question.
Utah may have signed Bojan Bogdanovic, who should be an excellent fit next to its top tier players, but remember that the original target was Nikola Mirotic. They were going to pay him good money, too. Everyone in the Utah area has known about the team’s long-standing interest in Niko, but paying top dollar for him following a playoff performance so bad that Milwaukee benched him before being eliminated might’ve backfired.
Utah should count its lucky stars that Mirotic opted for long-term security overseas. Sure, it worked out for the best since the team got the better player in Bogdanovic, but the team’s fascination with Nikola when Bojan was the better option is sort of a weird subplot to an otherwise excellent summer.
The next abnormality in this summer came from teams that lost their best player(s). Usually losing an All-Star caliber talent or two is the worst fate possible in the summer. The following teams proved otherwise.
New Orleans lost Anthony Davis, the most talented big in the West. They lucked out when they won the Zion Williamson sweepstakes, but in order to avoid the same mistakes they made in the Davis era, new GM David Griffin chose to both rebuild and retool.
On top of Williamson, the Pelicans brought an ocean of promising youth in Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Jaxson Hayes and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. On top of that, they brought in solid veterans who should serve as good locker room mentor in the young guys like JJ Redick and Derrick Favors.
Losing a talent as generational as Anthony Davis would usually destroy a franchise, but for the Pelicans, they couldn’t be excited to move on. Should it also be brought up that they own the Lakers’ future too?
Oklahoma City lost both Westbrook and George. With them gone, this will be the worst Thunder team in a decade. Even if it’s not a contender, this team is currently in pretty decent shape.
CP3 may be declining, but he should be a good influence for Shai-Gilgeous Alexander. Danilo Gallinari will be in a contract year, and Steven Adams is still one of the toughest bigs in the league. As far as roster changes go, it could have gotten a lot worse for OKC.
Best of all, now Sam Presti is swimming in draft picks from LA, Houston, Miami and even Denver. No matter what direction they go in, we all know Presti’s reputation with draft picks. If we see him do his magic again, it shouldn’t be long before the Thunder are back in business.
Memphis lost Mike Conley Jr. not too long after losing Marc Gasol. The Grizzlies didn’t get the same returns that New Orleans and Oklahoma City did for their stars, and yet it had one of the better offseasons that it’s had in years.
The Grizzlies now have a ton of cap flexibility, accumulated a lot of draft assets, and if their summer league championship is indicative of anything, its that this new youth movement in Grind City could have something promising on its hands.
They may have effects from the Jeff Green trade still looming over their heads, but the Grizzlies can take solace in that- though Grit-and-Grind is dead – the future is alive and well in Memphis.
In a rare change of pace, the teams who had to trade their superstars seem to have embraced the next chapter in their franchise. The journey they took to get to this point may not have been the way they would have wanted, but their prospects look a lot better than anyone could have expected.
The final stamp of this bizarro offseason is looking at the reigning NBA champions. With the Toronto Raptors, we also saw something we’ve never seen in possibly the entire history of sports. We’ve never seen a player leave a team after leading one to a championship like we just did with Kawhi Leonard.
We’ve seen LeBron leave teams after making The Finals on two separate occasions. We’ve seen Michael Jordan retire from basketball after winning the finals on two separate occasions. We knew Kawhi had interest in going back home. It just seemed preposterous that he would leave Toronto after winning it all there.
Now that he’s left, the Raptors are going to be the weakest defending champion since the 2006 Miami HEAT. Canada can’t complain because Kawhi gave it his all for the Raptors and it paid off, but we may never see something like this happen again.
The NBA has never been immune to odd storylines. In the past 10 years, we’ve had the Chris Paul vetoed-trade, the DeAndre Jordan backstabbing in Dallas and even last year, we had the Colangelo drama in Philly. We’ve never seen the level of weird dialed up as high before.
Bizarre can make for some good entertainment. What we’re going to find out this season is if these changes will fit under “good bizarre” or “bad bizarre.”