The impact of the biggest moves of the off-season is already being seen in the NBA season. Chris Paul re-signed with the Phoenix Suns after a run to the NBA Finals. The Miami Heat have the best point differential in the Eastern Conference so far, thanks to the trade of Kyle Lowry from Toronto to Miami.
There have been more than 300 transactions this summer, including 35 trades, and while they dominated the headlines in the early days of August, there have been other moves that are paying dividends.
The group of executives and players that have made the biggest impacts early in the season are in the nation's capital, where the Washington Wizards have stood out among the season's biggest surprises.
You should know about five sophomores.
Tommy Sheppard is from Washington Wizards.
It would have been easy for Sheppard to run it back after Washington's late-season run to get into the play-in. He had a different plan.
He said that the way that he felt that we needed to get better probably wasn't coming from within. We were going to have to add more players and different expectations. Those are difficult decisions.
The biggest decision Sheppard made was dealing Russell Westbrook, who helped power Washington's playoff push by averaging 23.6 points, 13.6 rebound and 13.9 assists over the final 20 games of the season.
Friday, Nov. 19
Lakers at Celtics.
The Mavericks are at the Suns.
On Wednesday, Nov. 24.
Nets at Celtics.
The 76ers are at the Warriors.
All times Eastern.
The Wizards got three starters in Spencer Dinwiddie, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Kyle Kuzma, a Sixth Man of the Year candidate in Montrezl Harrell, along with backup point guard Aaron Holiday, as part of the trade.
The goal of the trade was to help balance the roster, provide more depth and allow for the development of young players.
"I think we were able to add depth at every position, add some veterans that have been around the league, a couple people with championship rings," Sheppard said before the start of training camp. Adding depth to our roster gives us a lot more optionality.
In the win over the Hawks, Bradley Beal shot 11-for-26 from the field. The trio combined for 67 points and 29 rebound. That type of win can't happen if he's still on the roster.
Washington has a more complete product on the court than it did a year ago, and controllable contracts that can help improve the team in both the short and long term.
Jeff Van Gundy said that Tommy Sheppard and the Wizards should be applauded. You need to enjoy being good. Good is hard.
Arturas Karnisovas is a player for the Chicago Bulls.
The head of basketball operations in Chicago made it known after the season that change was coming.
"We won't settle for anything less than excellence here," Karnisovas said. Despite trading multiple first-round picks for All-Star Nikola Vucevic, Mediocrity failed to even make the play-in round.
The Bulls have used up to $30 million in cap space to try and get a better deal for All-StarZach LaVine.
Karnisovas used complicated sign-and-trade deals to remake the roster, which is still under investigation by the league. He sent Tomas Satoransky and Garrett Temple to New Orleans. If Ball had signed an offer sheet with Chicago, the Pelicans would not match it.
In a move that was highly criticized at the time, the Bulls added DeMar DeRozan by sending Thaddeus Young, Al-Farouq Aminu and three draft picks to San Antonio.
As part of a three-team trade, the Bulls restocked their draft assets and strengthened their bench by sending restricted free agent Lauri Markkanen to Cleveland.
If the Bulls had just gone for it, they wouldn't have been able to sign Alex Caruso and former second-round pick Marko Simonovic because they wouldn't have had the full midlevel exception.
The Bulls are off to their best start since the Rose-led team won the NBA Championship in 2012 thanks to a roster overhaul that has only LaVine and Coby White remaining.
The Bulls are in the lead of the Eastern Conference and are not mediocre.
Ricky Rubio is from Cleveland.
Play.
Ricky Rubio went 8-for-9 on his 3-pointers, as the Cavs defeated the Knicks.
The night of the draft, there were two major transactions. The pick of Evan Mobley was obvious.
The second was the trade to acquire point guard Ricky Rubio from Minnesota for Taurean Prince and a future second-round pick, ending the revolving door of backup point guards and providing Cleveland with an insurance policy in the event of injury to one of their starting guards.
In the game in New York, Rubio scored a career-high 37 points and had 10 assists. He leads all backup point guards in assists per game, and he leads the team in points scored, despite the fact that Ricky Rubio went 1-for-14 from the floor in the wins over Charlotte and Portland.
"That's why we fought to get him here," Bickerstaff said. We know what he can do and how good of a player he is. He's capable of what he did tonight when that starts. He put on a show. He willed us to victory.
Richaun is a player for the Kings.
Charlotte traded for Mason Plumlee on the night of the draft.
Do you want to forecast where your favorite NBA players will end up? You can create your own deals with the Trade Machine.
The trade took away a possible destination for Holmes and started a trend that saw his market shrink. He signed a four-year contract with the Kings. The maximum salary that Sacramento could offer was $10.8 million, which was 16th among starting centers.
The Kings have been getting a career-high 14.4 points and 10.6 rebound from Holmes this season, and he recently posted his first 20-point, 20-rebound game in a win against Charlotte.
"He brings energy, his communication continues to get better, and he's a good guy," Kings coachluke walow said after the game. I like our chances if you can give us a 20-20 game.
Kelly Oubre Jr. is a Charlotte Hornets player.
Play.
Kelly Oubre hammers home the transition dunk after catching the outlet pass from Miles Bridges.
The addition of Oubre will help the Hornets get there again, as they did a year ago when they added Gordon Hayward.
It was the season-ending injury to Hayward that put a spotlight on the glaring need for Charlotte to address its bench depth at the wing position. Charlotte was 25-23 at the time of the injury. They finished the season with a 9-16 record and were routed in the play-in game by the Pacers.
Charlotte was the only team left with significant cap space to spare, and Oubre was the last big-name free agent left on the board. He signed a two-year, $24 million contract, but only $5 million is guaranteed for next season.
Oubre has fit in well, embracing the role of coming off the bench or starting.
James Borrego said Oubre Jr. has been fantastic after he scored 26 points off the bench. We brought him here because of this. We believe in him. Tonight was a great example of the role he plays on this team.
Oubre Jr. has scored in double figures in 10 games and shot 39% from 3-point range, despite shooting 2-for-19 in three recent losses.
The minimum contracts for veterans.
The Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Lakers, and Golden State Warriors are all considered to be the best teams in the West, and all three teams entered the offseason with limited resources to sign players. Each team would have to identify veterans who were willing to take less money in order to win a championship.
The goals were clear in Golden State.
He said that without equivocating, we need to add some veterans in free agency. We have to. We're aware of that.
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The Warriors bench that featured Mychal Mulder, Juan Toscano-Anderson and Jordan Poole was not good in the play-in loss to Memphis.
The bench unit that ranked 16th in points per game a season ago was addressed by adding veterans like Iguodala, Porter and Bjelica.
The trio is leading the Warriors in bench points per game. Golden State's reserves are out scoring their opponents by an average of 11.3 points per game.
The Warriors' bench will get stronger when Klay Thompson and James Wiseman return and Jordan Poole moves to a sixth-man role.
The Jazz took the financial savings from the Favors trade to Oklahoma City and filled two primary needs: depth at the forward position with Rudy Gay and a backup center with Hassan Whiteside.
The Whiteside signing gives Utah the perfect fit when Rudy Gobert goes to the bench. Whiteside is playing in 13 games and has averaged 6.7 points, 7.6 rebound and 1.3 blocks per night. Whiteside has a net rating of plus-16.3 and a defensive efficiency of 98.1%.
In Los Angeles, a future Hall of Famer is making a strong case for Sixth Man of the Year.
"I think people don't understand me," Anthony said after a recent win. I think there's a misconception about me that I'm not able to adapt to situations. I'm able to adapt to any situation.
Anthony is shooting a career-high 42.9% from 3-point range and averaging 15.2 points per game in the 29 minutes he is on the court.
The extensions that didn't happen.
Play.
The referees don't blow the whistle because of the NBA's new foul rules when James Harden tries to draw contact against the Heat.
James Harden passing on a three-year, $161 million extension looks like one of the biggest financial mistakes of the off-season.
Harden, who has been a six-time first-team All-NBA selection and won the NBA's Most Valuable Player award last season, looks shell-shocked in the early going.
Harden averaged 16.3 PPG and shot below 36% from the field and from 3-point range during Brooklyn's 2-3 start. His net rating was a team-worst minus-8.4, he led the team in turnovers and attempted only three free throws per game.
Harden said he had no opportunities to play pickup this summer. Three times in one season, a Grade 2 injury, everything was rehab for three months. This is my fifth game of trying to play against someone else. I want to rush the process and be back to hooping and killing, but you have to take your time.
Harden is still averaging 20.3 points per game, which would be his lowest since his days as a reserve for the OKC, despite recently posting a season-high 39 points in a win over the Pelicans, and shooting better than 42% from 3 since that slow start.
Harden still holds leverage on the Nets when it comes to his future despite the early season struggles. The Nets gave up all of their draft assets and can't afford to lose him, especially with the uncertain future of Irving.
If you don't offer Harden a new contract in the off-season, you might as well look at trade suitors for Kevin Durant, according to one Western Conference GM.
On the other side of the spectrum is Miles Bridges, who is this year's version of Julius Randle. The Hornets forward is an early favorite for Most Improved and is a strong candidate to earn his first All-Star appearance.
Bridges is posting career highs in points, assists, and net rating. Bridges turned down a four-year, $60 million extension this winter, according to Brian Windhorst on a recent edition of the Hoop Collective. Bridges contract next season should be over 100 million dollars if he continues to play at this level.
In a 114-92 loss to the Golden State Warriors, Bridges made five 3-pointers and scored 32 points. I'm worried about winning and playing the right way. I will let my agent worry about the game.
Notable first-round picks who didn't sign an extension off their rookies-scale contracts this year:
After missing six games with a bone bruise in his knee, Deandre Ayton came back with 22 points and 10 rebound in a win against Minnesota. He is eligible for a one-year, $16.8 million qualifying offer this season, which would make him a restricted free agent. Signing the qualifying offer then becoming an unrestricted free agent a year later could be an insurance policy for Ayton if negotiations on a long-term deal with Phoenix stall. The No. 1 pick is seventh in the league in rebound (11.6) and is averaging 15.8 points despite only 11.5 field goal attempts per game.
In a win against New York, Collin Sexton tore his left knee meniscus and is out indefinitely. Despite a career low in points and 3-point percentage, Sexton had played a big role in the early success of the team.
Marvin Bagley III gained attention after the extension deadline because he was already out of the rotation before the season started. The Kings organization was blasted by agent Jeff Schwartz. The former No. 2 selection has played in only three games this season after averaging 14.7 points and 7.1 boards last season. Because he has gone from starter to not playing, he will not be able to meet the criteria of starting 41 games or playing 2000 minutes this season. His offer will drop from $14.8 to $7.3 million next year.
Chauncey Billups was made aware by Anfernee Simons how he wanted to be coached. "I told him that he can be hard on me, that's all I know," Simons said. "My dad was very strict with me, so that's the only way I can get better." The tough-love approach has been one of the bright spots of the season. He is shooting a career high 45.5% from the field and 36.9% from three, and has scored nearly double with 7.8 to 11.6 points. Billups said that he told the man to stay aggressive. He's so gifted, I just think he's so good.
