One of the primary storylines of the 2017 NBA offseason was the continuation of the talent exodus from the Eastern Conference, as stars like Jimmy Butler and Paul George were sent to Western contenders. In a piece evaluating the offseason for Eastern teams, ESPN’s Kevin Pelton assigns grades that suggest that the conference did poorly as a whole this summer — multiple teams received an F.
Still, while one of those teams assigned a failing grade by Pelton – the Knicks – is an Atlantic club, New York’s division rivals all received praise. In Pelton’s view, the Celtics, Sixers, Raptors, and Nets each deserved a grade of B or higher for their summer moves — those clubs were four of just five Eastern teams to be marked that highly.
Taking a closer look at the roster moves by those Atlantic teams, it’s not hard to see what Pelton liked. The Celtics landed arguably the top free agent on the market – or at least the best one who had a chance to change teams – when they signed Gordon Hayward to a four-year, maximum salary deal. And while Danny Ainge couldn’t swing a deal for a player like Butler or George, he added another probable lottery pick to Boston’s stockpile when he traded down from No. 1 to No. 3 in the draft.
The Sixers were on the other end of that trade with Boston, and drafting a potential franchise player in Markelle Fultz earns them a high grade. In addition to investing in another young player with huge upside, Philadelphia also delved into the free agent market more aggressively in an effort to add veterans, and signed J.J. Redick and Amir Johnson to short, team-friendly contracts.
The Raptors entered the offseason in a difficult spot, with four key players facing free agency, and managed to bring back two of those players on shorter deals than expected, locking up Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka to three-year pacts. The club also got out from under DeMarre Carroll‘s exorbitant salary, replacing him with a cheaper and more productive swingman in C.J. Miles, and drafted a potential steal in OG Anunoby.
Meanwhile, the Nets made creative use of their cap room, taking on Carroll’s and Timofey Mozgov‘s bad contracts in order to secure draft picks and D’Angelo Russell. The club also managed to acquire a player it pursued aggressively a year ago, and got him at a reduced rate — Allen Crabbe is now a Net, and the fact that Brooklyn traded Andrew Nicholson to Portland in the deal means the net cost for Crabbe isn’t quite so high.
As for the Knicks, there’s still time for them to enter the mix for the best offseason in the Atlantic. For instance, if they were able to acquire Kyrie Irving with a Carmelo Anthony-based package in the coming weeks, the summer would look a lot different for the franchise. But that looks extremely unlikely, and so far this offseason the Knicks have made a series of questionable moves, including drafting Frank Ntilikina over Dennis Smith Jr., replacing Phil Jackson between the draft and free agency, committing more money than expected to Tim Hardaway Jr. and Ron Baker, and hanging onto Anthony.
What do you think? Which Atlantic team had the best offseason? Place your vote below and then head to the comments section to share your thoughts.
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I understand the initial love for what Boston did… but it seems like people are only looking at what they added, and not at all that they lost. They added some decent futures, but losing guys like Avery Bradley, Amir Johnson, Kelly Olynyk…
It’s a lot of roster turnover, and they added a bunch of guys with zero NBA experience. This could pay off in the long term, but I think they’ll be hard pressed to be as good as they were last year, even with Gordon Hayward.
I really like what the Nets did. They were awful, and they found a way to make some great progress and improve their roster. Sean Marks still has a lot of work to do, but he’s had an impressively good summer. In my mind, no team improved their fortunes better than the Nets.
I’m not a Brooklyn fan by any stretch – I see Toronto winning the Atlantic division handily this year – and I don’t think they’ll make the playoffs, but they’re definitely in a way better position as a franchise after this summer.
Morris and Baynes should be able to replicate or do better than the production from Johnson and Olynyk (thought Morris may not have the upside Olynyk provides with a 25 point game every once in awhile, he also doesn’t go missing scoring 25 points over 5 games at times). Baynes is going to play the same role as Johnson and do just as well. Bradley is a huge loss defensively, but Hayward is still a better player. I think they’ll do about the same but be set up better in a 7 game series. Especially if they can add someone like Tony Allen for the minimum to fill out the rotation.
Definitely agree
I agree with you in the Boston thing. They added som pieces but at the same time lost a lot so I can’t see them being any better than last year.
everyone not on the Knicks…
Being a Celtics fan, I love adding Hayward obviously. I think in order to push Cleveland a bit, this had to be done. I also love what they did with the draft choice of Tatum.
With that said, it’s hard to go against Brooklyn right now. They are going to have depth issues still, but they actually could be relevant this year in the East. I love the pickup of Russell and love the pickup of Crabbe. I’m not sure they’re a playoff team, but they may not be a bottom feeder anymore.
Trust The Process
As a Celtic fan. Im thrilled we drafted Tatum. I like his game so far and really love his attitude. Were not hanging a banner this year. But maybe 2019 or 20.
You mean 2019 AND 2020 haha
Even with the roster turnover when you have a coach like Brad Stevens it changes everything. There is a good mix of young talent with veterans. Assuming they stay healthy I think this team will go from 53 wins to somewhere between 57 to 60. Horford, Zezic with Hayward up front with Isiah and Jaylen Brown as the 2. A bench with Smart, Rozier, Larkin, Crowder, Tatum Baynes, Yaberselle, etc… pretty good team that can score, play some D, hopefully rebound and play as a team moving the basketball. If they listen to Coach Stevens the should be good with room for improvement.
I love that the Celtics got Hayward but I just can’t get my head around losing Bradley
Celts needed a scorer sooooo badly. Bradley was not that. Hayward addition was HUGE!