The NBA offseason moves quickly. Sometimes it’s very fast. It also happens to coincide with the summer months, when many families take advantage of some well-earned vacations and head off to exotic places like Tuscany, Bali, or Branson, Missouri. Spending all those hours in transit without access to proper WiFi or 5G can result in a lack of NBA gossip (which, as science has proven, can make you an absolute nightmare to deal with).
Fortunately, here at CBS Sports we have the treatment. Here’s ICYMI’s version of all the important NBA offseason events, assuming the bulk of the main move is finally over.
With only two weeks left until the start of 2022-23 training camps, scroll through all the deals, signings, trash talk and Instagram thirst traps from this eventful NBA season. Now you can at least waste time working instead of spending your entire vacation updating your Twitter feed…
Best KD fake pump so far
The biggest news of the summer was that Brooklyn Nets superstar and prolific interviewer Kevin Durant had placed a commercial order, and the arms race was underway to see which team could get the best offer. Turns out the franchises weren’t quite ready to meet the Nets’ odd demand for 10 All-Stars, 43 unprotected first-round picks, 22 pick swaps, and lifetime supplies of Buffalo Wild Wings.
Unable to find a deal that would please them, the Nets met again with KD and both parties decided that all this commercial nonsense was nothing more than a reckless whim – BOOM, Trade order canceled.
Just another example of how you can do it, being an amazing person average age A hypothetical young mind: expectation is Sometimes more exciting than reality in the NBA.
Of course, this meant that all of Kyrie Irving’s business talks fizzled out as well, and for now, it looks like all is well in Brooklyn. We still don’t know if Ben Simmons will ever play basketball again, but hey, one hitch at a time.
Cavs Pounce on Mitchell from the Knicks
In a summer full of speculation and moving parts, there was one hypothetical certainty: The New York Knicks were going to end up with Donovan Mitchell. After trading Rudy Gobert, the secret was that the Utah Jazz was primed to rebuild, and the Knicks had all the assets needed (young players and lots of fun draft picks) to get a three-time All-Star guard — not to mention Mitchell’s ties to the Tri-States and his connection to the CAA The agency where Knicks president Leon Rose worked for many years.
After months of negotiations, Utah and New York are finally deadlocked (Maybe about the Knicks including *cough* Quentin Grimes *cough*) which led to the Knicks signing with RJ Barrett for an extension, which complicated any potential deal.
Enter the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were like, “yo Jazz, u up?”
Within two days, Mitchell was on his way to Cleveland against Colin Sexton, Laurie Markkanen, rookie Ochai Agbaji, three unprotected picks in the first round and two swaps. The Knicks were reportedly not given a chance to match the deal, which must have come as a huge shock after they were considered leaders at the club throughout the entire holiday period.
With a young core of Mitchell, Darius Garland, Garrett Allen and Evan Mobley, the Cavs look like a team to be reckoned with in the Eastern Conference for the next decade. Meanwhile, the Knicks have a very good consolation prize in Jalen Bronson, who signed early in the season and will help bridge the gap until the next disgruntled superstar is available – which the Knicks probably won’t get either.
Joubert or go home
Speaking of shocks, the Minnesota Timberwolves (who already have an All-NBA center in Karl-Anthony Towns) gave up a slew of players and four massive first-round picks for three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert in his first big move in the Everything has to go!” Sell jazz fire. Having two foot sevens on the field seems odd in an NBA scene where 6 foot 6 players play center, but Joubert’s defense combined with Cat’s offensive should yield some positive results for the team that stormed the post-season scene in last spring.
For Minnesota, it seems, big is the new small.
Getty Images
Is the 30-year-old Joubert in the end worth the massive sum the wolves had to succumb to? Can. But the addition definitely makes Minnesota better in the short term, and it will be an interesting science experiment to watch this season.
LeBron wants his family to rule the NBA
Everyone knows that LeBron James has wanted to play with his son, Bronny, at some point (he said it about a billion times), but the James clan doesn’t stop with the eldest son. LeBron also hinted at his interest in playing in the NBA with his youngest son, Bryce, who is just a sophomore in high school.
Yes, this is official. LeBron wants the NBA to consist entirely of Jameses.
Except for a “one and do” rule change, Bryce will be eligible for the NBA draft in 2026, which means LeBron will turn 43 during the junior season. Who’s willing to see old man LeBron wearing shorts and goggles for office while his sons spot and cut the basket? Yes please.
The crazy thing is that this wouldn’t make LeBron the oldest player in NBA history. Want to know who this is? The answer is in the story (and you thought clickbait was a thing of the past…)
Yes, Ross is still a Laker
In the hearts and minds of Laker fans around the world, Russell Westbrook has been traded with every team in the NBA. In fact, he’s still in Los Angeles, and it looks like he’ll most likely be staying there for the start of the season. Westbrook suffered a horrific first campaign with LeBron James and the Lakers, and the writing seemed to be on the wall when Los Angeles replaced Patrick Beverly — who had been LeBron James’ sworn enemy for years (not really, But… kind of).
Not exactly something you would do to a star player if you plan to keep it.
There are a couple of fake trade packages that make sense (Indiana Pacers for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield or Utah for a mix of Mike Conley, Bojan Bogdanovic and Jordan Clarkson), but they’ll almost certainly require the Lakers to surrender at least one of their coveted future draft picks.
So far, the Lakers and new coach Darvin Hamm seem to be keeping their assets and trying to get them to work with Ross, but it’s hard to imagine Westbrook feeling wanted in his hometown of Los Angeles right now.
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Hawks flying under the radar?
Is it just me or is no one talking about the hawks picking up Dejounte Murray? It happened early in the season, I know, but this move could have major ripple effects across the NBA. On paper, Murray is exactly what Atlanta needed: an elite defender who could also facilitate attacking during historically arid periods with Trae Young on the bench.
|
2021-22 |
117.2 |
107.2 |
10.0 |
|
2020-21 |
118.2 |
104.4 |
13.8 |
|
2019-20 |
111.2 |
95.7 |
15.5 |
Let’s not forget, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, that the Falcons have just over a year left of an unexpected run to the Eastern Conference Finals. Sure, the conference is gritty at the top with the likes of the Celtics, Bucks, Heat, 76ers and (maybe?) Nets, but it would be wrong to count the Hawks, who seem to have sealed two of their biggest slots with all-star talent this summer.
Drama Pro-Am
Summer is the time for the Drew League to shine, but it’s not the only Pro-Am game in town. NBA players are popping up all over the country doing semi-competitive work that allows them to showcase their skills and have a little fun in the process. But things seemed to get a bit more serious when Dejounte Murray went to first overall and his Seattle teammate Paolo Banchero for reasons that remain unclear.
Murray made a mixed-style And-1 on the Banchero, juggling it and then throwing it out of the glass to himself for a dunk. Applause, oh, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
It was all so weird and of course, like every real runner, kidding Quickly go to Twitter – At that time, I, like most people, completely lost interest.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t all fun, gaming and performance meat on the Pro-Am circuit. after, after Demonstrate a bewildering skill set During the summer league, Chet Holmgren picked second place in the Oklahoma City Thunder He suffered a foot injury at the end of the season While guarding LeBron James in “The Crawsover” by Jamal Crawford in Seattle (what’s the topic of Seattle this summer?).
Adding to the drama is the fact that the match was called off due to unsafe condensation on the field shortly after the injury. Holmgren’s injury doesn’t appear to be the result of circumstances, but it still isn’t great.
Pro-Ams are part of every NBA offseason and the stars won’t stop participating, but it’s a real problem when a potential client’s career is delayed by something that happened in an exhibition game.
Superstars have super sized bank accounts
More than any other sport, it pays to be a star in the NBA. Within hours of the official start of the 2022 free agency, NBA teams had already committed a total of more than $1 billion to five players. yes, five Players:
Shortly thereafter, New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson agreed to a five-year extension that could amount to $231 million with incentives. Reminder: He’s played 85 games (including no playoff appearances) in three seasons. All-star guard Darius Garland, who has yet to reach a plateau of 70 games in a single season, has agreed to an almost identical deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
And to think, in just a couple of years when the National Basketball Association negotiates a new deal for TV and live broadcast rights, those salaries could be even higher.
Summer Fashion Show Workout!
No conclusion of NBA summer activities would be complete without an appeal from the practice champions on Instagram and Twitter. We’re about to start training camps, when teams and “anonymous sources” talk about how so and so put on 15 pounds of lean muscle or how his face is in the best shape of his life. Here’s a quick sampling of some guys who aren’t afraid to show off their major gains, but it doesn’t take much research to find exposed chest muscles and bulging biceps on the gram.
Meanwhile, here’s how the Player of the Tournament spent twice in his season…
The regular season can’t really start soon enough.