This was forecast to be a wild NBA offseason and there were certainly some startling moves.
Free agency isn’t the main event it used to be but some seismic trades have given this offseason the jolt we’ve come to expect. Kevin Durant, Desmond Bane and Kristaps Porzingis all have new homes. Myles Turner was the prized free agent but it was still a shock to see the Milwaukee Bucks land him.
How has every NBA team fared thus far this offseason? Over the course of the week, Basketball Insiders will evaluate each team’s key moves and determine whether real progress has been made. The grades will be rolled out in order of last season’s standings, from worst to first.
So, to start us off, we’re diving into the Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards, Charlotte Hornets, New Orleans Pelicans and Brooklyn Nets.
Utah Jazz
Notable additions: Ace Bailey, Walter Clayton Jr., Kevin Love, Kyle Anderson, Jusuf Nurkic
Notable departures: John Collins, Collin Sexton, Jordan Clarkson
The Jazz appear to have hit the reset button on their rebuild. The first attempt to build a winner after trading away Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert three years ago has simply not worked out. Lauri Markkanen still lurks after the departures of Collins, Sexton and Clarkson, which makes for a bit of intrigue as to who may come knocking for him.
Drafting Bailey is a really good way to hit refresh. Utah needed to swing big with the fifth pick in the Draft and Bailey was clearly the most talented player available. He’ll have all the opportunities he desires to grow and it’ll be on the others around him to prove they can be a good fit.
Utah secured little in return for Collins and Sexton, so that puts a damper on things. It also bought out Clarkson, leaving it with no return there either. The Jazz likely held onto Collins for too long and now have a couple of veterans in Love and Anderson who may well get bought out like Clarkson.
That’s not a great series of transactions in terms of roster turnover.
Offseason Grade: C
Washington Wizards
Notable additions: Tre Johnson, Will Riley, CJ McCollum, Cam Whitmore, Malaki Branham
Notable departures: Jordan Poole, Malcolm Brogdon, Saddiq Bey
This is what an offseason of progress looks like for the Wizards. Moving Poole was necessary to open up more opportunities for younger guards, with Johnson now atop that list. The Whitmore acquisition with little surrendered in a trade is a great flier on a good player with scoring pop who just wasn’t getting chances in Houston.
McCollum and Khris Middleton already provide enough veteran leadership, so it made sense to divert Kelly Olynyk to the San Antonio Spurs for another young player they can take a look at in Branham. Buying out Marcus Smart opens opportunity, too.
An organization with plenty of strikeouts the last several years needed to show it can just get on base again and the Wizards have done that.
Offseason Grade: B
Charlotte Hornets
Notable additions: Kon Knueppel, Liam McNeeley, Collin Sexton, Sion James, Ryan Kalkbrenner
Notable departures: Mark Williams, Jusuf Nurkic, Vasilije Micic
Make way for the 2025 NBA Summer League champions. Kon Knueppel won MVP while Liam McNeeley fared quite well in Las Vegas.
Still, I’m not a huge fan of what the Hornets did with the fourth overall pick. Knueppel projects to be a solid NBA rotation player but there were some glaring needs on this roster.
Jeremiah Fears as insurance for the oft-injured LaMelo Ball may have been the smartest way to go. Ace Bailey could have offered a good pivot away from a disappointing Ball era. Considering the departures of Williams and Nurkic at center, Khaman Maluach might have made more sense, too.
You can look at Sexton as insurance for Ball, so there is sense to that move and it came at a cheap price. Is Moussa Diabate the starting center now or will Mason Plumlee assume the mantle? They drafted Kalkbrenner 34th overall last month as well.
Everything for this franchise remains in the hands of Ball and Brandon Miller, and that’s a precarious spot with their injury history.
Offseason Grade: C
New Orleans Pelicans
Notable additions: Jeremiah Fears, Derik Queen, Jordan Poole, Kevon Looney
Notable departures: CJ McCollum, Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk
This is another team with a questionable offseason. The trade to acquire Queen — which cost them the 23rd pick in 2025 and an unprotected 2026 first-round pick — could come back to haunt this franchise. Where that 2026 unprotected first ends up will determine its success. I like the Fears pick.
Fears will have the opportunity to grow behind Dejounte Murray. One does have to wonder how much Poole takes away from Fears’ development, though. Queen has a lot of offensive polish and this may be the beginning of the end for Zion Williamson in New Orleans.
Looney will provide this team with interior toughness, championship experience and a solid veteran presence.
Offseason Grade: C
Brooklyn Nets
Notable additions: Michael Porter Jr., Terance Mann, Egor Demin, Nolan Traore, Drake Powell, Ben Saraf, Danny Wolf
Notable departures: Cameron Johnson, D’Angelo Russell, Trendon Watford
The team with the most cap space ultimately came away with no one in a weak free agent class. Getting Denver’s 2032 first-rounder in the Johnson trade is decent work. There was a lot of intrigue about whether the Nets would actually use all five of their first-round picks last month and they did.
This is a rebuilding team. All five rookies should have ample opportunity to learn and develop. Porter, meanwhile, will be eager to show what he can do in a more prominent offensive role.
It’s difficult to fully understand the path forward for the Nets. There’s no clear building block on the roster. So much was predicated on making this offseason a significant one, which hasn’t materialized. They’re just stuck hoping one of their draft picks pops well beyond expectations.
Offseason Grade: C-