In the summer of 2024, we saw no major superstars change teams. And rarely does an offseason such as that have as much of an impact on the following season’s title race. Of the four teams that reached the 2025 conference finals, only the Indiana Pacers returned the same starting five from the previous season.
Months after swapping All-Stars (Julius Randle and Karl-Anthony Towns) as the headliners in a seismic six-player deal, the Minnesota Timberwolves and New York Knicks both reached the conference finals. Meanwhile, the Oklahoma City Thunder put the finishing touches on what proved to be a championship supporting cast by trading for Alex Caruso and signing Isaiah Hartenstein away from the Knicks in free agency.
Not every blockbuster deal worked. The Philadelphia 76ers looked like winners of the offseason after signing nine-time All-Star Paul George to team with Joel Embiid, only to see the pairing go bust in Year 1 because of injuries.
Let’s revisit 10 of the biggest trade and free agency moves, taking a look back at how I graded them at the time and what has changed as things have played out over the past 12 months.
Jump to a major deal:Knicks trade Randle for Towns | Bridges to New YorkThunder add Caruso, Hartenstein | Sixers add Paul GeorgeHawks trade Murray to Pels | Westbook joins NuggetsThompson to Mavericks | DeRozan sign-and-trade to KingsPortland lands Avdija | Nets reacquire draft stock
The Knicks trade Julius Randle for Karl-Anthony Towns in three-team deal
New York Knicks get:
C Karl-Anthony TownsTrade rights to James Nnaji
Minnesota Timberwolves get:
G Donte DiVincenzoF Julius RandleF Keita Baites-Diop2025 first-round pick (via Detroit, top-13 protected)
Charlotte Hornets get:
G Duane Washington Jr.F Charlie Brown Jr.F DaQuan Jeffries2025 second-round pick (via worse of Detroit and Philadelphia)2026 second-round pick (via Golden State)2031 second-round pick (via New York)$7.2 million cash
Original grades:Minnesota: B+New York: B
Regrades:Minnesota: B+New York: B+
It’s tempting to put both teams in the A range after they reached the conference finals. But more than any of these deals, this one will take years to evaluate. For now, it is a win-win move.
The Timberwolves managed to improve their perimeter depth with DiVincenzo and reset financially. They’ll pay DiVincenzo, Randle and No. 17 pick Joan Beringer a combined $47.1 million this season, less than Towns alone ($53.1 million). That difference allowed Minnesota to re-sign Naz Reid without pushing above the second apron this season.
Meanwhile, Towns filled an enormous void for the Knicks at center before shifting to power forward in the conference finals alongside a healthy Mitchell Robinson. Towns earned All-NBA third-team honors and helped the Knicks level up their offense. With New York focusing on a championship, Towns’ defensive shortcomings are an issue, but that’s a champagne problem for a franchise that hadn’t reached the conference finals in a quarter century.
Brooklyn trades Mikal Bridges to the Knicks
Brooklyn Nets get:
F Bojan Bogdanovic2025 first-round pick2027 first-round pick2029 first-round pick2031 first-round pick2028 first-round swap2025 first-round pick (via Bucks)2025 second-round pick
New York Knicks get:
F Mikal Bridges2026 second-round pick
Original grades:Brooklyn: ANew York: B
Regrades:Brooklyn: ANew York: C+
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The Nets dealt Bridges at the peak of his value, and getting five first-round picks and a swap for a player who has never been an All-Star remains an enormous win. Two of Brooklyn’s historic five first-round picks in this year’s draft (used on Nolan Traore at No. 19 and Ben Saraf at No. 26) came from this trade, with several more to come.
Bridges rallied from an early shooting slump to post an impressive 57% effective field-goal percentage, which treats 3-pointers as 1.5 field goals to reflect their added value. At the defensive end, Bridges wasn’t the difference-maker the Knicks surely hoped for, and he averaged just 15.6 points on 33% 3-point shooting during the playoffs.
On the plus side, Bridges’ modest salary ($24.9 million this season) helped facilitate the Towns trade. And if adding Bridges helped convince former Villanova teammate Jalen Brunson to sign a below-market extension last summer, this deal was worth making for New York.
Thunder add Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein
Chicago Bulls get:
G Josh Giddey
Oklahoma City Thunder get:
G Alex Caruso
Original grade for Caruso:Chicago: C-Oklahoma City: A
Regrades:Chicago: C+Oklahoma City: A
I wrote a year ago that adding Caruso made the Thunder favorites to win the West. That didn’t go far enough, as Oklahoma City won 68 games and the championship. After limiting Caruso’s minutes during the regular season, coach Mark Daigneault relied heavily on him during the playoffs. Caruso started the second half of Game 7 against the Denver Nuggets and was asked to defend three-time MVP Nikola Jokic in what became a blowout win. He also played an important role in the NBA Finals.
Given a “C” grade is generally my bar for whether a deal is worth doing, I’d now elevate the Bulls above that threshold. Although Chicago still should have acquired even more for Caruso given his importance to Oklahoma City, the Bulls are better off with Giddey — a restricted free agent this summer — going forward. Giddey improved his shooting and efficiency last season, nearly averaging a triple-double with an impressive .620 true shooting percentage after the All-Star break.
Original free agency grade for Hartenstein: A-
Regrade: A
The only concern with the Thunder signing Hartenstein was how he might fit alongside incumbent center Chet Holmgren. Injuries prevented us from seeing that duo until February, but they started together for all but the first three games of the Finals during Oklahoma City’s title run. Hartenstein was outstanding defensively, and his screening and high-post passing proved important offensively. Better yet, a team-friendly contract gives the Thunder a team option for $28.5 million in 2026-27 that gives them flexibility with handling coming max extensions for Holmgren and Jalen Williams.
Sixers sign free agent Paul George
Contract details: Four years, $212 million maximum
Original grade: ARegrade: D
Everything’s obvious after it happens, so it’s worth noting that even the LA Clippers — who successfully rebuilt a playoff-caliber roster after letting George walk for nothing — were willing to offer him three years at the max. Nobody anticipated that injuries would affect George’s value so much, so soon.
George’s 16.2 points average was his worst in a full season since his second season in 2011-12. And George’s average 3-point shooting (36%) raised questions about his ability to transition to a more complementary role on offense. After playing only 41 games in his first season with the Sixers, George will spend this summer rehabbing after undergoing knee surgery last week.
There’s still time for George to be a productive part of a competitive Philadelphia team, particularly if his accuracy from 3 bounces back after he shot 41% in 2023-24 with the Clippers. Still, given George’s age (35), it was always evident that the back half of a max contract might not be a good value. Not getting All-Star production in the first year makes it all but impossible for the 76ers to win that bet.
New Orleans Pelicans get:
G Dejounte Murray
Atlanta Hawks get:
C Larry Nance Jr.F E.J. LiddellG Dyson Daniels2025 first-round pick (via Lakers)2027 first-round pick (least favorable of Milwaukee/New Orleans)
Original grades:Atlanta: B+New Orleans: B+
Regrades:Atlanta: ANew Orleans: F
This deal already looked like a mistake for the Pelicans before Murray suffered an Achilles rupture at the end of January that should keep him off the court for at least the first couple of months of the 2025-26 season.
The biggest issue here was New Orleans selling low on Daniels, the No. 8 pick in 2022. At the time, I noted that top-10 picks traded so early in their careers have tended to disappoint because the team trading them has more info about their development. Whoops! Daniels rightfully won Most Improved Player after becoming the first player in decades to average 3.0 steals.
Given that Daniels still has a year left on his bargain rookie contract ($7.7 million this season), getting him for Murray would have been a reasonable return for Atlanta. In addition, the Hawks got this year’s No. 22 pick — used to get Kristaps Porzingis from the Boston Celtics last month — and another first-rounder in 2027 that looks more promising given Giannis Antetokounmpo’s uncertain future in Milwaukee.
Contract details: Two years, $6.8 million (player option for 2025-26)
Original grade: DRegrade: D+
On the one hand, Westbrook started 36 games and played more than 2,000 minutes in the regular season, an incredible return for a minimum contract. Westbrook was particularly good as a starter, taking advantage of his ability to get out in transition and play off Nikola Jokic’s passing to average 15.3 points, 7.0 assists and 6.1 rebounds with a strong .579 true shooting percentage.
At the same time, how much coach Michael Malone played Westbrook was reportedly one point of contention with former GM Calvin Booth before both were fired late in the season. And Westbrook struggled as the Nuggets were eliminated by his former Thunder team, shooting 8-of-34 from the field over the last four games of the series with six assists and 11 turnovers.
Ultimately, Denver would have been better off without Westbrook. Notably, there seems to be no interest in a reunion after Westbrook declined his player option for this season. He remains unsigned in free agency.
Charlotte Hornets get:
F Josh Green
Dallas Mavericks get:
G Klay Thompson (via sign-and-trade)
Golden State Warriors get:2025 second-round pick (via lesser of Philadelphia and Denver)2031 second-round pick (via Dallas)
Original grades:Charlotte: B+Dallas: B-Golden State: B
Regrades:Charlotte: BDallas: BGolden State: B
Ultimately, this deal played out as all three teams expected. Thompson started all 72 games he played for the Mavericks, who were fourth in offensive rating through Christmas Day before Luka Doncic was injured because of a calf strain. Thompson wasn’t able to scale up his offense as Dallas dealt with devastating injuries after trading Doncic, but that wasn’t a fair expectation at this stage of his career.
Green started all of his 67 games for the Hornets, albeit without making a substantial difference to the team’s record. The Warriors, meanwhile, expanded this sign-and-trade to acquire Buddy Hield and Kyle Anderson. Hield’s 33 points in Golden State’s Game 7 win over the Houston Rockets probably justified that decision on its own.
DeMar DeRozan sign-and-trade to Sacramento
Sacramento Kings get:
F DeMar DeRozan (via sign-and-trade)
San Antonio Spurs get:
F Harrison Barnes2031 first-round swap (via Sacramento)
Chicago Bulls get:
G Chris Duarte, Two second-round picks
Original grades:Chicago: CSacramento: C+San Antonio: A
Regrades:Chicago: DSacramento: C-San Antonio: A
At the time, I was optimistic that DeRozan’s reasonable contract (three years, up to $77 million with about $58 million guaranteed) might outweigh fit issues with the Kings. A year later, particularly after Sacramento swapped De’Aaron Fox for Zach LaVine, the benefit of adding the 35-year-old DeRozan no longer seems to justify the risk of swapping picks with the Spurs during Victor Wembanyama’s prime.
I gave the Bulls too much credit in the moment, given they didn’t end up with either of the two best parts of this trade: DeRozan and the pick swap. Chicago derived little value from DeRozan’s Bird rights and waived Duarte after he played only 74 minutes. Barnes started all 82 games for San Antonio as a consummate role player and has one more year left on his deal at $19 million, hardly terrible value.
Washington Wizards get:
G Malcolm Brogdon 2024No. 14 pick (Bub Carrington)2029 first-round pick (second-most favorable of Boston/Milwaukee/Portland)Two future second-round picks
Portland Trail Blazers get:
F Deni Avdija
Original grades:Portland: C+Washington: B+
Regrades:Portland: A-Washington: B-
During Avdija’s first few weeks with the Blazers, it looked as if they might have been mistaken to buy into his 2023-24 shooting improvement. Avdija was languishing below 25% from 3 and lost his starting job. But from Veterans Day on, Avdija was the team’s best player, averaging 18.4 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists on 39% 3-point shooting and 56% inside the arc.
Given Avdija’s favorable contract (descending from $14.4 million this season to $11.9 million in 2027-28), if Portland wanted to deal Avdija again, teams might offer even more first-round picks for him. The biggest issue is that Avdija’s contract is so good, it probably will take using cap space for a renegotiation in the summer of 2027 to sign him to an extension.
The Wizards probably dealt Avdija at the right time, given it might have been difficult to replicate his performance with the Blazers on a team in full rebuilding mode. The No. 14 pick, used on Carrington, might be better than contending teams could have offered in a deal.
Nets reacquire draft picks
Brooklyn Nets get:
Return of 2025 first-round swap2026 first-round pick (via Nets)
Houston Rockets get:
2025 first-round swap (via lesser of Rockets or Thunder for Suns)2027 first-round pick (via Suns)2029 first-round pick (via more favorable of Dallas and Phoenix)2029 first-round swap (via less favorable of Dallas or Phoenix)
Original grades:Brooklyn: B-Houston: A
Regrades:Brooklyn: C-Houston: A
This pick-for-pick deal is interesting to revisit in the context that perhaps the Bucks should attempt something similar if they trade Antetokounmpo. A year later, the Nets would have been better off holding onto the Phoenix picks instead.
After all, the Rockets ended up swapping from No. 27 to No. 10 in last year’s draft — not far off Brooklyn’s selection at No. 8. The Nets have one more chance at a high lottery pick next year. Houston, by contrast, still has three bites at the apple between the Suns’ unprotected 2027 pick and getting the two best picks between Dallas, Phoenix and the Rockets’ own in 2029.
Brooklyn’s deal is understandable. The Nets have control over their own picks and not those belonging to other teams. But in an era where a bad record doesn’t guarantee a top-four pick, it’s essential to maximize the number of lottery opportunities available.
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