Grading the best and worst nba teams' offseason (opinionated)

The Los Angeles Clippers were one of the top 5-6 teams in the NBA last year and were legitimate contenders for the championship with ESPN and various other sources ranking them as high as the third best team in the NBA, but they ended up getting eliminated in the first round by the Dallas Mavericks. Due to the Clippers fast exit in the postseason after such high expectations by many they were going into the offseason expected to make a major move and sign a star, as they have little to no future draft picks and there “big four” of Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, James Harden and Russell Westbrook are on the verge of retirement and regressing in skill and athleticism. Even on top of this the rest of the roster is quite old, meaning if the Clippers don’t win soon they will struggle in the future due to their lack of a young core and lack of draft capital which could be used in trades to progress the team back into title contention. With all this said, you would expect the Clippers to sign a star in free agency in order to have a just slim chance of contending this year as their future is not looking great- but instead- the front office blew the team up. Not only did they not sign a star, they let their second best player in Paul George walk and sign with the 76ers and their fourth best player in Russell Westbrook sign with the Denver Nuggets, essentially leaving no hope for the team now or in the future. The only reason why the Clippers don’t receive an F is because of their addition of Derrick Jones Jr and Kevin Porter Jr who are both great role players adding to the depth of the team. Regardless, the Clippers went from the 4th best team in the Western Conference and championship contenders to a team that is unlikely to even make the playoffs - which gives them a D-. 

The Oklahoma City Thunder were one of the most shocking teams in the NBA last season, as they were the #1 seeded team in the loaded Western Conference while being the second youngest team in the whole league. Not only is this impressive as they were only the 10th best team in the conference the season prior (2022-2023 season) this is also scary for the NBA as their point guard took a gigantic leap and was considered by many to be the the real MVP of the league, they had a top 2 rookie in the NBA, one of if not the best young cores in the NBA, one of the top defenses in the NBA- and as they are super young they are only getting better. The OKC Thunder were considered by many to have a chance at the championship last year, but they lost in the second round to the Dallas Mavericks. Overall, nobody was expecting the Thunder to have a really significant offseason because they were amazing and all of their talent will only improve due to how young they are- but quickly the Thunder’s front office shocked the world with their trades and free agency signings. Firstly, the OKC Thunder started off the offseason by making the first postseason trade of any team which involved a straight up 1 for 1 deal with the Chicago Bulls in which they traded Josh Giddey for Alex Caruso. This was considered an incredible trade as Josh Giddey was one of the weakest links on the Thunder in the playoffs and they traded him for one of the best defenders and role players in the whole NBA. After this deal, the OKC Thunder seemed like one of the most well rounded teams in the league with only one minor issue, their below-average rebounding and strength at the center position. So what did the Thunder do? They signed one of the most underrated and impactful centers in the whole NBA in Isaiah Hartenstein, who adds to their incredible defense while also bringing strength, rebounding and even playmaking. And it doesn't even end there, as the Thunder re-signed every player who was in their rotation and also made incredible draft selections in Nikola Topic and Dillon Jones. You could not ask for a better NBA offseason then what the Thunder did this year and they did all of it without giving up any assets or picks, which is why I thought that they deserved an easy A+