The NBA season is nearly at its midway point and all it takes is a look at the standings to gauge the impact of some of the offseason's biggest moves. Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard have their respective teams, the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks, sitting atop the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, the James Harden trade has seen the third-place Philadelphia 76ers balance out their roster while also gaining valuable draft assets.
In the Western Conference, Harden's new team, the LA Clippers, has overcome a slow start to move into the conference's top four.
However, while those teams have benefited from their offseason moves, teams like the Phoenix Suns and Detroit Pistons have struggled with their offseason additions.
Here is a group of players, executives and teams who have made a significant impact -- some positive, some less so -- in the first 10 weeks of the season, starting with one of Holiday's new teammates in Boston.
Kristaps Porzingis
It would have been easy for Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens to rely on roster continuity entering 2023-24.
Boston had won 66% of its regular-season games over the previous two years, reached the NBA Finals in 2022 and came up a game short of returning in 2023.
The lone roster question heading into the 2023 offseason appeared to be if ownership was willing to go deep into the luxury tax to retain restricted free agent Grant Williams.
But Stevens elected to go in the opposite direction, trading former Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart to the Memphis Grizzlies as part of a three-team deal that brought Porzingis to Boston, along with a top-4 protected first-round pick from Golden State (which Boston later used to nab Holiday from Portland). Three weeks after the trade, Porzingis signed a two-year, $60 million extension.
The Celtics then traded Williams to the Dallas Mavericks for two second-round picks, a second-round swap and a $6.2 million trade exception.
Porzingis has rewarded Boston with one of the most efficient seasons of his career. He has made 53.5% of his shots from the field, including 67.4% on 2-pointers, which is a career high. Porzingis has given Boston a legitimate post-up threat and a player who can contest shots in the paint. Last season, Boston ranked 26th in post-ups per game; this year the Celtics are ninth. Porzingis is averaging 1.59 points per direct post-up, the best efficiency in the NBA among players to run at least 40 post-ups. He has held opponents to 43% shooting as the contesting defender on paint shots. That is the third-best rate allowed among players to contest 150 shots in the paint.
The turnaround in Houston
After the Rockets won 17, 20 and 22 games the previous three seasons, general manager Rafael Stone faced a critical offseason in 2023.
Stone needed to hire Houston's next coach in addition to finding a middle ground to improve the roster via free agency without sacrificing future flexibility or compromising the development of the team's young core (the Rockets finished last season with the NBA's third-youngest roster).
Step 1 was hiring former Celtics coach Ime Udoka. In Udoka's only season in Boston, the Celtics ranked third in defensive efficiency and reached the Finals for the first time since 2010.
Step 2 was identifying free agent veterans who could impact winning but also provide leadership in the locker room. The Rockets signed Fred VanVleet, Jeff Green, Jock Landale, Aaron Holiday, Boban Marjanovic and Jock Landale. Dillon Brooks was added in a sign-and-trade from Memphis.
Sources confirmed to ESPN that Houston also was set to sign Brook Lopez before he re-signed in Milwaukee. The great unknown is how that would have impacted Alperen Sengun, who is having a breakout season. The 21-year-old center has not missed a game and is averaging a career high 21.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 5.2s assists.
The Udoka hiring, along with the additions of VanVleet and Brooks, has Houston ranked fourth in defensive efficiency after ranking 29th a season ago and last in 2021-22. The Rockets are in contention for a playoff spot in the Western Conference, something that was unthinkable before the season started.
They also have the financial flexibility to once again add an impact player for a second consecutive offseason.
Tim Connelly
It was only 18 months ago that Connelly, the Minnesota Timberwolves head of basketball operations, made the blockbuster trade to acquire Rudy Gobert from the Utah Jazz, only to have the Wolves struggle to qualify for the play-in tournament and lose to the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs -- marking the 33rd time in 34 seasons that the Wolves failed to win a playoff series. The Gobert trade was widely criticized not only because the haul of draft picks Minnesota gave up (four firsts and a pick swap) but the questionable fit between Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns.
But instead of panicking and tearing down the roster or going in a different direction with coach Chris Finch, Connelly and his front office stayed patient.
They signed reserve center Naz Reid to a three-year, $42 million extension before the start of free agency and then committed $206 million to Anthony Edwards in early July. Before the regular season, Minnesota committed an additional $131 million to Jaden McDaniels.
With a top-heavy roster in salary, the emphasis turned to building the Wolves' bench. In addition to bringing back Reid, Minnesota signed Shake Milton, Troy Brown and Nickeil Alexander-Walker to two-year contracts, a shrewd move, because the Wolves project to be a taxpaying team next season, and would only have the veteran minimum exception to add players in free agency.
The future financial outlook is gloomy but that's a concern for six months from now. At the moment Minnesota is sitting atop the Western Conference standings and is likely to have home-court advantage in a playoff series for the first time since 2004 -- the only time in franchise history the Timberwolves won a playoff series. Finch is one of the favorites to win Coach of the Year and the much-maligned Gobert is a contender to win his fourth Defensive Player of the Year trophy.
Creativity in Dallas
After the Mavericks' win on Christmas Day at Phoenix, coach Jason Kidd said this about MVP candidate Luka Doncic: "As I've always said, we can't take him for granted." That line could be the symbol of the Mavericks' 2023 offseason.
Over the salary cap after a season in which Dallas failed to even reach the play-in tournament, general manager Nico Harrison was once again challenged to retool the roster around Doncic.
The roster transformation started with two separate trades the night of the draft. At the cost of shedding the $22.2 million owed to Davis Bertans, Dallas moved back from No. 10 to 12, where the Mavs selected Dereck Lively II, who has been the team's starting center and is averaging 7.6 rebounds, second among all rookies.
Re-signing Kyrie Irving at a starting salary of $37 million left Dallas with enough room under the luxury tax to sign Seth Curry, Dwight Powell, Derrick Jones Jr. and Dante Exum to a combined $13 million salary, and then acquire Grant Williams in a sign-and-trade from Boston.
Exum moved into the starting lineup on Dec. 6 and has scored double-digit points in 12 games. He is averaging career highs in points (9.3), field goal percentage (57.5%) and 3-point percentage (45.2%).
Jones has started all but one game at forward, averaging a career high 10.2 points and 34.8% shooting on 3-pointers.
The Bradley Beal trade
While it's easy to already declare some of the offseason's moves a success, any assessment of the Phoenix Suns' acquisition of Bradley Beal from the Washington Wizards is incomplete just 34 games into the season.
A roster that was assembled to compete for a championship is currently a play-in team while Beal has spent more time in street clothes than on the court. The Suns' big three of Beal, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant have played just four games together.
While the Suns won their first three games after Beal returned from a right ankle injury, there are still serious questions about the roster -- and how Phoenix can improve it long term.
The Suns have $200 million in salary committed next season ($150 million to Beal, Durant and Booker) and the new collective bargaining agreement is set to introduce harsher roster restrictions for high-spending teams starting on the first day of the offseason. Phoenix could retain pending free agent Grayson Allen but the luxury tax penalty is expected to be significant.
As a second-apron team, Phoenix will also face significant restrictions in making trades. The Suns will not be able to send cash in any trade, will not be allowed to take back more salary than it sends out, and will not be able to aggregate salaries to match money in a deal. For example, the Suns would not be able to trade Jusuf Nurkic ($18.1M) and Nassir Little ($6.76M) for a single player making $25 million.
The Suns do have a first-round pick in the 2024 draft (Washington has swap rights), but can't trade it until after the pick is made. The Suns' three trade exceptions ($6.5 million, $5 million and $1.8 million) will also expire if they are not used before the Feb. 8 trade deadline.
The under $3M club
Not every offseason transaction garnered headlines like the Porzingis trade to Boston or even how the Rockets reshaped their roster with veteran free agents.
The under $3 million club is a group of players who signed for the veteran minimum exception after the market dried up early in free agency, or took a discount to compete for a championship.
If there is a player who symbolizes the best value signing in the offseason it is the Kelly Oubre Jr.
Oubre averaged a career-high 20.2 points last season with the Charlotte Hornets, but ranked in the bottom of his position in effective field goal percentage, 2-point shooting percentage and 3-point percentage. As a result, there was a nonexistent free agent market in the first three months of the offseason. He was the last free agent to sign a guaranteed contract in the offseason, agreeing to a one-year, $2.9 million contract with Philadelphia on Sept. 26.
Playing alongside Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid, Oubre's efficiency has gone through the roof. He's averaging career highs in field goal percentage (47.6%), 3-point shooting (37.9%) and effective field goal percentage (56.2%)
The Miami Heat lost Gabe Vincent and Max Strus within the first 24 hours of free agency and had few options to bolster their depth. In addition to selecting Jaime Jaquez Jr. in the first round, Miami signed veterans Josh Richardson, Thomas Bryant, Orlando Robinson, Jamal Cain and R.J. Hampton. Cain and Hampton were signed to two-way contracts. The Heat bench ranks sixth in points scored (last season they ranked 25th) and ranks in the top 10 in minutes played. Richardson, Bryant and Robinson have started at least three games as Miami dealt with injuries to Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler, Caleb Martin and Bam Adebayo.
Because of their high payroll, the Golden State Warriors had only the veteran minimum exception available to sign free agents. They added Dario Saric to fill the void of a big who can stretch the floor. Last season Draymond Green shot 30.5% from 3 and Kevon Looney did not attempt a long-distance shot. In the first half of the season, Saric is shooting 38.6% from 3, averaging 10.2 points. He has scored double-digit points in 19 games this season, while coming off the bench for 29 of his 33 appearances.
Before injuring his left hamstring, Lonnie Walker IV was on pace to contend for Sixth Man of the Year honors. In 17 games, Walker averaged a career-high 14.6 points while shooting 48.9% from the field and 46.3% on 3-pointers. He signed a one-year, $2.3 million contract with the Brooklyn Nets and is an unrestricted free agent in the offseason.
After Lopez and Khris Middleton re-signed, Milwaukee had only the one-year, $2.7 million veterans minimum exception to sign Malik Beasley, who is shooting a career-high 48.4% from the field and 46.8% from 3. He is sixth among all players in effective field goal percentage.
More offseason transaction notes:
The Atlanta Hawks signed Dejounte Murray to a four-year, $120 million extension in July. Included in the extension is a 15% trade bonus, worth $13 million at the moment. The Hawks would be responsible for paying the bonus (spread evenly over four seasons, including 2023-24) if they traded Murray. The trade bonus can be negotiated to a lower number. Murray is trade eligible starting on Jan. 9.
The Pelicans took the unique step of declining Herbert Jones' $1.8 million team option and replacing it with a starting salary of $12 million this season. Jones would have been a restricted free agent in 2024 had New Orleans picked up the option, and the Pelicans would have had the right to match any offer sheet. Instead, by adding $10 million to Jones' salary in 2023-24, the Pelicans are projected to pay the luxury tax for the first time in franchise history. Jones has rewarded New Orleans by once again playing at an All-NBA level defensively while posting a career best 54.7% effective field goal percentage. Had New Orleans let him become a free agent, Jones might have been in line for a deal similar to the four-year, $90 million contract Dillon Brooks signed in Houston.
Despite being over the cap when free agency began, the Cleveland Cavaliers orchestrated a sign-and-trade to acquire Max Strus, signed forward Georges Niang and brought back Caris LeVert. They also signed undrafted guard Craig Porter Jr. to a two-way contract. Those four players have helped stabilize a roster that has been without Ricky Rubio and Ty Jerome for the entire season and recently lost starters Darius Garland and Evan Mobley for an extended period of time. Donovan Mitchell has also missed nine games with various ailments, including a right hamstring strain. Since Mobley and Garland have been out, Cleveland has gone 6-3, including three wins without Mitchell.
After bouncing from the Lakers to the Wizards to the Celtics, former first-round pick Moritz Wagner has found a home with the Orlando Magic. He spent his first two seasons in Orlando playing on minimum contracts, before signing a two-year, $16 million deal this offseason (the second year is a team option). Wagner is averaging a career-high 10.9 points and shooting 59.7% from the field. Per Cleaning the Glass, Wagner ranks in the 85th percentile of players at his position in points per shot attempt.
The Indiana Pacers turned the 2022 Malcolm Brogdon trade into Aaron Nesmith, a future first-round pick (from the Nuggets) and Bruce Brown Jr. -- who was signed using the cap savings created by trading Brogdon. Brown, who helped the Nuggets win the title in 2023, is averaging a career-high 11.7 points while starting all 28 games he's played for Indiana. Nesmith is averaging career highs in points (11.6), field goal percentage (52.2%) and 3-point percentage (47.5%). He signed a three-year, $33 million extension before the season.
And finally, we would be remiss to not drop a note on the offseason for the Detroit Pistons, who, at 3-30, are on pace to finish as the worst team in NBA history. The Pistons entered free agency with $30 million in cap space and elected to use it to trade for veterans Joe Harris and Monte Morris. The Harris trade brought in two second-round picks, one of which was used to acquire Morris. Harris is averaging 2.3 points, his lowest since 2015-16, when he played just five games for the Cavaliers. The career 44% 3-point shooter is shooting 29.2% from 3-point range. Morris has yet to suit up for the Pistons because of a right thigh injury. The Pistons once again project to have significant cap space available in 2024, and will need to be more productive with it.