Biggest Winners and Losers of 2023 NBA Free Agency
After over three months of NBA free agency, we have seen some big signings and transactions. With that being said, there have been two groups: The winners and, of course, the losers. Let’s recap who have been the biggest winners and losers in this year’s NBA free agency.
Winner: Los Angeles Lakers
Heading into free agency, the Los Angeles Lakers had several things that needed to get done. One of those was signing a wing shooter, and that’s exactly what they did. The Lakers went out and signed a former top 10 pick in Cam Reddish. Reddish adds much-needed wing shooting for the Lakers heading into next season. The other need for LA was guard and center depth.
Anthony Davis has had injury concerns in the past, so Los Angeles went out and signed Jaxson Hayes and Christian Wood while retaining Rui Hachimura. The most important piece of the Lakers offseason is re-signing Austin Reaves. Reaves became a standout guard for the Lakers last season, boosting them off the bench with 13.0 points per game in the regular season and 16.9 in the playoffs.
Winner: Phoenix Suns
Cap space who? The Phoenix Suns seemed to be banished to cap space hell after the team traded for Bradley Beal. But Phoenix proved all of us wrong in this free agency, possibly having the best free agency out of anyone in the league. Trading away the likes of Deandre Ayton for Jusuf Nurkic, Nassir Little, Grayson Allen and Keon Johnson, the Suns got a steal in the Damian Lillard trade.
Phoenix also acquired 7-foot-2 demigod Bol Bol. If he can stay healthy and get an increase in playing time, the Suns can be even more deadly. Other signings include Yuta Watanabe, Eric Gordon and Keita Bates-Diop while bringing back Damion Lee and Josh Okogie. Phoenix has it all, but at the end of the day, they only have one basketball to go around.
Winner: Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics had a crazy free agency this year. Brad Stevens, whether you like him or hate him, he has gone all in on this Celtics roster. The Celtics added veteran forward Kristaps Porzingis in a blockbuster trade that was magical. Although they lost Marcus Smart, the team moved on for the better.
Most recently, they added Jrue Holiday in a blockbuster trade after Holiday was traded from the Milwaukee Bucks in the Lillard trade. Boston made several other moves this offseason that weren’t as glamorous, including re-signing guard Payton Pritchard and signing forward Oshae Brissett. The Celtics hit this free agency out of the park. Let’s see if they can prove it on the court.
Winner: Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks had one of the most quiet but great free agencies/offseason this year. Atlanta tends to not surprise a lot of people at the start of the season, but this year they will. The Hawks made plenty of underlying moves, including acquiring big man Bruno Fernando and Patty Mills. Not a bad free agency for the Hawks. They filled the pieces they needed, helped their spacing and gave themselves more depth. Props to the Hawks this offseason.
Loser: Chicago Bulls
This offseason was a complete disaster for the Windy City. Almost no movement at all on the market for the Chicago Bulls while the Eastern Conference gets tremendously stronger. Re-signing Coby White was their biggest move of the offseason, and if that doesn’t sum up Bulls basketball for the past five years, I don’t know what does. Chicago needed to make a move desperately or blow the entire thing up. They did neither. Chicago Bulls, you’re the biggest loser.
Biggest Loser: Miami Heat
This offseason was jam-packed with action, to say the least. Much of this came from the fingertips of Pat Riley and Co. Riley fooled the entire NBA into thinking they would acquire Damian Lillard from the Portland Trail Blazers. Well, everyone bought into the hype and the hype sold once again. Lillard ended up on the Bucks, crushing the hopes and dreams of all the Heat fans out there.
Not only did the Heat lose out on Lillard, they lost a lot of their role players–something that motored them to the NBA finals once again. Frankly, the Heat didn’t do anything outside of rumors. Re-signing Kevin Love became their biggest move this offseason. The Heat were ignited with rumors and quickly extinguished when they fell short once again.
Who are your biggest winners and losers of NBA free agency? Let us know in the comments below.
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