Off-Season Grades - Omega Conference

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Off-Season Grades
I wanted to give a grade for each team’s offseason. Note, this grade will be not for the ranking of the team overall, nor about their talent level, but about how well they executed their offseason compared to what the expectations are. For example, a non title contender that lost some win-now talent, but acquired some draft capital might have a better grade than a much better team that regressed a bit.

See the Alpha Conference grades here.

Hardaway Division:
Toronto Raptors
The Raptors didn’t make any big splashes, no trades, and they lost about 40% of their minutes from last season’s roster. That said, they won the ring last year and probably felt they didn’t need to add much to their two young purple studs to be in the conversation this year. They certainly aren’t being pushed heavily by anyone else in their division and can probably coast (barring injury) to another division title. That said, losing Young, Little, and Grinder will hurt come playoff time. If this were a power ranking, the grade would be different, but I have to think this is a mildly disappointing off-season for the reigning champs.
Key Additions: Stephen Keitt (UFA), Dennis Smith Jr. (UFA)
Key Departures: Trae Young (UFA – Signed w/ NO), Nassir Little (UFA – signed with LAC, since released), Brian Grinder (UFA – Signed w/ CLE)
Final Grade: C

Dallas Mavericks
The Mavs made the Conference Finals last year. They beat really good teams to get there, but they were handily beaten by the eventual champion Raptors. You’d expect them to be looking for moves to get to the next level, and they have the young talent to do it. Maybe pairing a guy like Fredericks with salary in a guy like Thompson for an upgrade, or something like that. But instead they basically traded out role players. To give you an idea of their level of involvement, the blocks of 3 teams that don’t exist anymore have been bumped more recently than the Mavs.
Key Additions: Kevin Gray (UFA), Henry Garman (UFA)
Key Departures:Terry Perez (UFA – Signed with NYK), Clemente Torres (UFA – Signed with CLE)
Final Grade: D

Minnesota Timberwolves
Is this even the same team? I gotta say, I just love what the Timberwolves did this offseason. After a solid 52-win season, they got demolished in the playoffs by a flat-out better Clippers team, and decided to blow it up. You can argue with the strategy overall, but if they were going to sell their win-now talent, they just did such an excellent job. They finished last season with 3 players under 25. Now they have 7, and 4 of those have blue potential. I’m not necessarily in love with any of the players they got back, but collectively you can’t argue with the return. It gives them the flexibility to see who works out and/or package and trade them when they’re ready to compete. Luka is no doubt a stud, but they got some good value.
Key Additions: OG Annouby (Doncic Trade with Nets), Simon Phoenix (Doncic Trade with Nets), Harvey Daniels (Doncic Trade with Nets), Peter Harker (Ja trade with Bucks), Zylan Cheatham (Ja trade with Bucks), Odell Rasperry (UFA)
Key Departures: Luka Doncic (traded to BKN), Ja Morant (traded to MIL), Fredric Hughes (RFA – signed with MIA), Aubrey Bynum (UFA – Signed with ATL), Patrick Edmunds (UFA – Signed with CHI), Dennis Smith Jr. (UFA – Signed with TOR)
Final Grade: A

New Orleans Pelicans
The Pelicans turned over all but 3 players from their roster, but do they really look THAT different from last year’s 32-50 squad talent-wise? Last season, they had 2 above-average offensive guys, same this year. They went from a sea of greens with a blue, to a sea of greens with 3 blues. So I guess they slightly improved, but I don’t know what this team is, or is trying to be. I like the Brooks trade in a vacuum, but what are they going to do with this very good player except lose a few less games? This was a team that either needed to get a lot younger, or a lot better, and I don’t think they did either, but they did give up their pick this year AND in two years which absolutely kills their flexibility as well as their ability to have trade assets to BUY with.
Key Additions: Colby Lopez, Carlton Gamble, Phil Brooks
Key Departures:Randy Abney, Romeo Langford, Tyler Ulis, Michael Hunt, Leroy Haugh, Richard Foreman, Henry Garman, Rocco Farmer,
Final Grade: D

Detroit Pistons
Wombat’s Pistons are a far cry from the AD-led juggernaut of the past 15 seasons, but they’re certainly on a trajectory. This is a team that knows what they are (bad), and are doing what bad teams should do (acquiring draft picks and young assets). The only thing else I’d like to see is Cobb (maybe) and Shaffer (definitely) on the block for some additional assets to add to the stable as Shaffer certainly won’t be good by the time the rest of this team is.
Key Additions: Dennis Wolfgang (4 pick in draft), John Carter (11 pick in draft), Joseph Baker (26 pick in draft)
Key Departures: No one major
Final Grade: B-

Miami Heat
The Heat were bad last year. They were going to be bad this year, and for a few seasons, probably. They should be doing things like the Pistons are (acquiring young talent and draft capital), and while I like Hughes RFA signing (a young good PF with the potential to be kept for a future build, or flipped next year for a nice package), they committed the cardinal sin of SLOE: If you’re not good, don’t trade your picks. Now, usually this rule is meant to apply to future picks, because a team doesn’t realize it can hit the lotto. But in this case, the Heat traded the CURRENT #2 pick in the draft to acquire two guys with 2 years less of team control and are demonstrably worse. The only reason that trade should have gotten made is if the Heat GM has a crystal ball and KNOWS that none of those players that could get picked are going to come close to their potential after TC. Barring that, this is a mistake this GM will regret. Because of Hughes, they get a small bump in rating to save them from a dreaded F, but it was close.
Key Additions: Miguel Thomas (Trade with 76ers), Fredric Hughes (RFA), Ronald Jackson (UFA), Felix Ireland (Trade with 76ers)
Key Departures: World B. Free (UFA - NO) THE 2nd PICK IN THE GD DRAFT
Final Grade: D

Kemp Division:
Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder went 68-14 last season, were befallen by injuries, and brought back essentially the same team. Unlike the Raptors who got a C-, this team didn’t send away any of its minutes, so I think they merit a slightly better grade. The mystery is fun here, can they be the team that won roughly 200 games in a row in the middle of last season, or will the Pete broken leg and Jackson TC death cost them that edge? It’s one of those questions that’s hard to answer in the offseason, so it makes sense to wait-and-see, and then trade off your talent to try and rebuild/reset if it’s not clicking after a few sims. They didn’t do a lot, but I don’t think they had to.
Key Additions: J.R. Johnson (UFA)
Key Departures: Ronald Small (UFA), Pete Maravich’s Purp, Josh Jackson’s purp
Final Grade: C+

Los Angeles Clippers
Last year, the Clippers went 59-23 and lost in 7 games to the eventual champs in the second round. I thought going into the playoffs they had a real shot at winning, and their performance in the playoffs paid off that faith, and if I were them I would have ran it back, but they had a cap problem. They had to pay Sabo and Lopez to add to an already expensive roster. This year’s roster is even more over the cap, but they’ve addressed their long-term cap issue by swapping Colby Lopez’s long deal for two expiring (Abney & Haugh) contracts and two Pelicans picks for the trouble. Here’s the thing. They’re running back a team with pretty much just as much talent, and they absolutely fleeced the Pelicans to help address their long-term outlook. That’s an excellent off-season. They have one shot this year for a ring, and then they probably need to ditch some pieces, because pretty much no one has any cap space to help them with that this year. Go big or go home.
Key Additions: Randy Abney (Trade w/ Pels), Leroy Haugh (Trade w/ Pels), ’34 and ’36 Pels 1st Rounders
Key Departures: Colby Lopez (Trade w/ Pels), Hans Gillum (UFA), Wilbur Clark (UFA)
Final Grade: A

Houston Rockets
If there’s a team that continually proves that we don’t actually understand this game and that colors don’t really matter that much, it’s the Houston Rockets. 78’s brand of GMing is not understood by me, but if it ain’t broke…While they’ve never won a title, they just make the playoffs every year and that’s amazing. This context makes evaluating their offseason really difficult. They lost hill, but signed a quartet of big men to exceedingly reasonable contracts, and then won the TC crown for the nth year in a row. They didn’t make any big splashes, and I don’t think this year’s version of the rockets is THAT much different or better than last, but if 78’s goal is making the playoffs every year, who knows maybe he makes it. I have no idea how to grade this, so I’ll give it a C+
Key Additions: Dragan Bender (UFA), Eldridge Candelaria (UFA), Michael Essex (UFA), Modestine Degrimonpon (UFA), Tommie Keener (UFA)
Key Departures: Alton Hill (UFA), James Christner (UFA)
Final Grade: C+

Chicago Bulls
The Bulls traded up to the #1 pick in the draft, and all it cost them was Deuce Fortre, who was probably overpaid and a borderline fake blue. That’s a savvy move (and capitalizing on Gary the wildcard) to grab Feliciano. He pairs so well as a front-court addition to their backcourt youth build. They got back Edmunds at a totally reasonable salary number, and they have all their own picks. They are under the cap, have enough talent to challenge for a low playoff seed, are rebuilding, and have pieces that would be valuable on the trade market if they want to sell OR buy in the event they start strong. The Bulls are in a really good spot, and even though Silky died a bit in TC, I still really like what they did this offseason. It wasn’t quite revolutionary, but a continuation of the plan.
Key Additions: Alton Hill (UFA, Cristiano Feliciano (#1 pick), Long Anderson (UFA), Elisha Davis (UFA), Patrick Edmunds (UFA), Nicholas Horsley (UFA)
Key Departures: Adrian Rodriguez (UFA), Duece Fortre (trade), Michael Williams (trade), Charlie Porter (UFA), Victor Eldred (UFA), Frank Jackson (UFA), Tommie Keener (UFA)
Final Grade: A-

Skipping the Trailblazers as they were stewarded and would have to be graded on an odd scale.

Phoenix Suns
The Suns made a big splash in the middle of last season to acquire De’Aaron Fox without sacrificing that much of their talented young core. The downside to that, is the rest of that core just got paid in RFA and can’t move for a year, which is okay by their owner apparently. Given their RFAs, I think bring them each back at the money they got was prudent. But they’re still stuck in an in-between land where their kids aren’t quite there yet, but they’re expensive and Fox is great, but expiring. In the vacuum of this offseason, I think they did a fine job. The real grade will come next offseason when they figure out how to make this group of pieces into a contender.
Key Additions: None
Key Departures:Cheick Diallo (UFA)
Final Grade: B

Utah Jazz
Basketball is a 5-man game. More than just about any other team sport, stars matter in basketball and an individual has significant influence on overall team performance. Given that, I believe it’s almost always a mistake to trade the #1 pick. Only 7 times in real-life NBA history has it happened, and ironically, actually most of those trade ended up working out for the team trading away #1. In SLOE, though, the variability isn’t quite what it is in real life as we have things like TC insurance. The Jazz were bad last year, and when the one big thing they did this year was trade down, they have to land a poor grade. I’ll give them some props for adding a bit of talent in the front-court to pair with their pair of back-court studs that should be ready to contribute. But they’re $52m over the salary cap, and I don’t think they’re close to a title contender as-constructed.
Key Additions: Deuce Fortre (trade), Brooks Jackson (#3 pick), Michael Hunt (UFA), Thomas Edison
Key Departures: #1 Pick (trade), Mike Piazza (UFA)
Final Grade: D+

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