Just like every free agency period before it, the 2014 NBA Free Agency will feature big winners who, in a combination of prudence and luck, have made the best deals in the offseason. It may be a single block buster free agent signing, multiple decent free agent signings, or a sign-and-trade with another team, either way the winners always get the upper hand in the end, in terms of overall impact for the amount of price.
Likewise, there are also losers in every free agency who, in a combination of bad luck and bad judgement, have made the worst deals in the offseason or failed to take advantage of a golden opportunity due to some unknown front office reasons. Here are the Biggest Winners and Losers in this summer's free agency.
Biggest Winners: Cavaliers, Mavs, Bulls
Clearly the biggest winners in this year's free agency are the Cleveland Cavaliers.
They not only got their King back but they got him for virtually nothing except the salary that he wanted. They did not do any sign-and-trade for him because he was basically an unrestricted free agent and it was his choice to come back home to Cleveland. And when you also add the fact that they have three No.1 draft picks in Kyrie Irving, Anthony Bennett, and Andrew Wiggins, who could still make a great impact to the team even if LeBron James had retired, its hard to argue that Cleveland is in the best position this offseason.
Another winner in this summer's free agency would be the Dallas Mavericks. They were able to bring back Tyson Chandler who was an integral part in their championship run in 2011 and is a perfect complement to Dirk's game. They also stole Chandler Parson's from the Rockets in a risky move that eventually paid off big time for Mark Cuban and the Mavs. And because Devin Harris agreed to sign with the veteran minimum and Nowitzki took a massive pay cut at only $8 million a year, the Mavs were able to make some solid signings this offseason bringing in veteran pieces which are essential in winning a championship in Richard Jefferson, Rashard Lewis, and possibly Mo Williams.
With the signing of Pau Gasol and getting Creighton forward Doug McDermott in a draft-day trade from Denver, the Bulls were able to address their offensive deficiencies this offseason. With his length, skill, and championship experience, Gasol is clearly an upgrade at the power forward position over Carlos Boozer, whom the Bulls waived via the NBA's one-time amnesty provision. And if you add a Healthy Derrick Rose in the mix then we may perhaps have the best team in the east this coming 2015-2016 NBA season.
Biggest Losers: Lakers, Rockets, Heat
The Heat aren't necessarily losers after they signed Luold Deng and retained Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade after what seemed like a historic collapse in the making. But Pat Riley and the Heat cannot deny that whatever tweaking and revamping they do with their team this offseason, they will never be as good as they were when LeBron James was playing for them. Plus, the Heat don't have any young assets to build on which means they would likely get stuck in the realm of "being good enough to make it the playoffs but not good enough to make it to the top" for a very long time.
The Lakers failed in their mission to acquire Carmelo Anthony or LeBron James this summer giving the impression that perhaps they are no longer the free-agent destination that they once were. And no Lakers fan would be ecstatic with their recent move to get Jerimy Lin from Houston or the re-signing of Nick Young and Jordan Hill. The Lakers don't even have a coach, though Byron Scott appears to be the front-runner. Julius Randle is the only silver lining in the Lakers offseason but aside from their intriguing draft prospect, the Lakers are basically the same mediocre team as they were last season and perhaps even more mediocre with the the loss of Gasol.
The Rockets were hoping to land a "Big Fish" this offseason to add to their duo of stars in Dwight Howard and James Harden and they took drastic measures just to get one. They made a Photoshop figure of Melo wearing a Rockets Jersey with Lin's number and displayed it on a large screen outside the Rockets arena. And as if they did not do enough emotional damage to Jeremy Lin, they shipped him out along with Omer Asik for basically nothing to clear cap space to offer Bosh a max-contract who then signed to Miami in the last minute which caused the Rockets to loose an even bigger chip in Chandler Parson when they declined to match the offer that the Mavs gave him. In the end, the Rockets were able to acquire Trevor Ariza but lost Jeremy Lin, Omer Asik, Chandler Parsons, and some future round picks because of their obsession to add another star in Houston.
So who do you think are the biggest winners and losers in this year's free agency?
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