Faces in new places for the 2023-24 NBA season

It took the whole damn summer, but the biggest chess piece to move this offseason was Damian Lillard, who was dealt to the Milwaukee Bucks to form the NBA's scariest new duo with the ever-attacking Giannis Antetokounmpo. Lillard, who is coming off the best statistical season of his Hall of Fame career, raises the ceiling of the Bucks, a contender that historically struggles to score in the halfcourt during the playoffs. However, the move is not without its risks — Lillard is 33 years old, has an absurdly expensive contract (he's owed over $216M over these next four seasons), and is a matador on defense. 

Lest we forget, the real prize of the NBA offseason was the Spurs No. 1-overall draft pick, Victor Wembanyama. The 7-foot-4 French big man has drawn comparisons to Rudy Gobert on defense and Kevin Durant on offense, and is the most-hyped prospect to enter the league since LeBron James. Wemby should be in the mix for Rookie of the Year and perhaps even the All-Star Game his rookie season.

Come playoff time, we may look back at the less publicized Jrue Holiday bidding war that followed the Damian Lillard sweepstakes and realize that Holiday was the bigger prize. In fact, the Bucks were likely worried about Holiday signing with a fellow Eastern Conference contender like the Celtics when they traded him as part of the Lillard package. Holiday should fit perfectly into the Marcus Smart role for Boston and could even be a noticeable upgrade on both ends of the court.

Now that they've traded their franchise player, Damian Lillard, the Blazers can move forward with their next franchise player, Scoot Henderson. Because of the haul the Blazers received for Lillard, Henderson will have the benefit of having some serious young talent around him in the form of Deandre Ayton, Shaedon Sharpe, Anfernee Simons and Robert Williams. And if Henderson is anywhere near as special as he supposed to be, this could be a very quick turnaround for Portland.

Continuing new owner Mat Ishbia's "all-in" mentality, the Suns acquired Bradley Beal earlier this summer despite already having two players with similar offensive abilities in Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. While the fit doesn't totally make sense, the Suns are betting that their great players will make the necessary sacrifices and adjustments to make it work. Beal will enter his 12th NBA season after a subpar (for him) final season in Washington in which he averaged 23.2 PPG and 5.4 APG on 50-37-84 shooting.

The Charlotte Hornets hope that Brandon Miller, the number two pick in this summer's draft, will help elevate their laughingstock of a franchise out of basement of the NBA. Miller was a superstar as a freshman for Alabama last year and seems built for the NBA with his guard skills and elite shooting to go along with his slender 6-foot-9, 201-pound build. Miller should probably start from the jump for the Hornets.

The Jrue Holiday trade may have made you forget about the original "all-in" move the Celtics made this summer, Kristaps Porzingis. Porzingis — once the original "unicorn" — enjoyed arguably the best season of his career last year for the middling Wizards, averaging 23.2 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 1.5 BPG and posting impressive shooting splits (50-39-85). How real was it? We're about to find out this season.

After a very nice seven-year run in Toronto, Fred VanVleet signed the only free-agent max contract this summer, opting to play for the rebuilding Rockets over the middling Raptors. VanVleet's journey from being an undrafted free agent to NBA champion to All-Star player is one of the NBA's ultimate success stories. If he can help turn the Rockets around during his three-year deal, it'll make an already great story even better.

The Damian Lillard trade may go down as one of the most interesting deals in NBA history. There's obviously the Lillard joining Giannis and the Bucks component, as well as the fallout of Jrue Holiday subsequently being traded to the Bucks' Eastern Conference rival, the Boston Celtics. Then we have the Blazers acquiring Deandre Ayton (plus Malcolm Brogdon and Robert Williams) in a buy-low move that could pay huge dividends if Ayton ever starts performing like he did during the Suns' run to the Finals three seasons ago. It's the type of move that could really accelerate the rebuild around Scoot Henderson.

It's probably not worth your time to watch the Wizards this season, but if you do, get ready to see a whole lot of Jordan Poole. The shoot-first, shoot-second guard out of Michigan is a certified chucker and, when he's connecting, one of the NBA's most explosive scorers, averaging over a shot every two minutes and 20.4 PPG last season. Now that he doesn't have to defer to the likes of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, we could see him shoot 20-plus times a game and score close to 30 a night. It won't lead to a ton of winning, but damnit it'll be fun.

The reigning Sixth Man of the Year figures to start the season in Portland, but there's almost no chance that he finishes it there. Why? Because the Blazers are more concerned with developing their young guards this season, and Brogdon is a perfect third guard for a contender. Look for there to be a bidding war for Brogdon around the trade deadline — if a contender is willing to give up an unprotected first-rounder for him, they'll probably get him.

If everything goes according to plan, Marcus Smart, acquired from the Celtics, will run the show for Memphis during Ja Morant's 25-game suspension. After pushing himself on the offensive end for that first quarter of the year, Smart would revert to his customary lockdown defender mode for the rest of the season. By the end of the year, you'd be hearing tons of Tony Allen comparisons, and the Grizzlies would be hitting their stride right as the playoffs begin.

Look out for this kid! The number four pick in the draft, Amen Thompson, possesses a different level of athleticism than your typical player. The explosive and rangy 6-foot-7 youngster has point guard skills and All-Defensive Team potential at the wing. He'll need to develop some semblance of a jump shot to realize his true potential, but should be an exciting prospect to watch develop these next few seasons.

In one of the more stealth moves of NBA free agency, the Indiana Pacers threw a bag at one of the key rotation players in the Denver Nuggets' championship squad, Bruce Brown. Brown is a do-it-all guard who is an excellent defender and has experience playing point guard as well as playing a pseudo-center, pick-n-roll screener — a skill set very few players in the NBA possess. He should complement Tyrese Haliburton and the rising Pacers wonderfully this season.

In one of the more interesting moves of the summer, the Warriors brought in their old nemesis, Chris Paul. Weird fit, huh? It certainly seems that way. However, lest we forget how most people expected the James Harden-CP3 fit to be awkward as well. Instead, it was dynamic enough to nearly take down the KD-era Warriors. So while I don't see how Paul fits into the Warriors' free-flowing offense, I won't be at all shocked if CP3, the Splash Bros and Draymond make it work. 

Ausar Thompson, the number five pick of the 2023 NBA Draft and twin brother of the No. 4 pick of the draft, Amen, will look to be an impact player for the Pistons this season with his elite athleticism and apparent feel for the game. At 6-foot-7 and 215 pounds, Thompson is the prototypical NBA wing build and shouldn't have much of a learning curve from a physical standpoint.

We'll see what the Blazers ultimately do with Robert Williams, who was part of the Jrue Holiday trade, but for now, Williams forms a formidable defensive frontcourt in Portland with Deandre Ayton. When he's healthy (which is not all that frequent), Williams is an absolute game-changer on defense. Just ask Celtics fans how vital he was to their run to the championship two seasons ago, when the team had an offensive rating of 148 points per 100 possessions and a defensive rating of only 102 points per 100 possessions when he was on the court.

As he displayed in the FIBA World Cup this summer, Dillon "The Villain" Brooks is capable of being a very good, very impactful two-way wing... he just needs to either be making his threes (only 32.6 percent from deep last year) or not take as many ill-advised jumpers to do so. Brooks signed a big deal with the Rockets this offseason in an attempt to change the franchise's immature culture and provide them with some playoff-level wings.

After being in approximately four thousand trade rumors for the past handful of seasons, John Collins was mercifully traded to the Jazz this offseason. After playing like an All-Star in his third season (21.6 PPG and 10.1 RPG with 40.1 percent three-point shooting), Collins has regressed in recent campaigns, culminating in an ugly 13.1 PPG and 6.5 RPG (with 29.2 percent three-point shooting). We'll see if Will Hardy can work his magic and rehabilitate the once-promising forward.

Dennis Schröder has had a nice run the past year, playing a key role in the Lakers' run to the Western Conference Finals, signing a two-year, $25M deal in the offseason, then winning the FIBA World Cup MVP after guiding Germany to its first title. He'll be the starting point guard on a frisky Raptors team that will give opponents size and speed matchup problems on a nightly basis.

In one of the final moves of the offseason, the Mavericks inked Grant Williams to a nice four-year, $53M deal. Williams is an ideal three-and-D wing to play alongside Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. He's tough-nosed defender who isn't afraid to mix it up with some of the NBA's best players. Plus, he hit three-pointers at a 39.5 percent clip last season. 

The NBA's assist-to-turnover ratio king, Tyus Jones, was sent to Washington as part of the Kristaps Porzingis-Marcus Smart deal. The Wizards don't really need a high-level backup point guard like Jones considering they'll be at the bottom of the league, so there's a very good chance Jones will be dealt to a contender at some point this season. He'd be perfect for teams like Milwaukee, Miami and the L.A. Clippers.

Donte DiVincenzo joins two of his Villanova Wildcats teammates, Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, in the Big Apple this season and is expected to be the same productive role player he's been for the entirety of his career. Every team needs guys like DiVincenzo — solid all-around guards who will score around 10 PPG, grab a handful of rebounds, dish out a couple of assists and shoot efficiently from the field.

Every offseason, there's a couple of veteran signings that make you do a double-take. This summer's was Eric Gordon signing with the Suns for $3M. Most analysts expected Gordon to be signing for at least double, if not triple or quadruple that amount considering his shooting ability and defensive versatility and strength. There's a good chance he's closing games for Phoenix this spring.

In another shrewd offseason move, the Pacers acquired the uber-athletic Obi Toppin from the Knicks for what amounted to a couple of circus peanuts. Despite showing promise in New York, Toppin had the misfortune of playing the same exact position as Julius Randle on a Tom Thibodeau-coached team. In other words, he barely saw the floor, though his per-36 numbers were pretty solid. He's a potential breakout player in Indiana with their uptempo offense, which finished fourth in pace last season.

The Cleveland Cavaliers shored up the weakest position on their roster — wing — this offseason, beginning with Max Strus, a proven, playoff-caliber three-and-D shooting guard. While he can't guard the Jayson Tatum- or Jaylen Brown-type of wings, he can handle himself on defense and space the court well enough to justify serious rotation minutes on a contender. 

In an interesting sell-low move, the Suns moved on from former No. 1 pick Deandre Ayton as part of the Damian Lillard deal, dealing him for a number of spare parts — namely, Jusuf Nurkic and Grayson Allen. The former is a solid double-double machine (13.3 PPG and 9.1 RPG career averages) who has had trouble staying on the court in recent years, playing only 153 games in the past four seasons. The Suns will need him on the court more than that as they're a very top-heavy team.

Georges Niang was the second wing signed by the Cavaliers this offseason. Niang, who also can't defend the Tatums of the NBA, provides the Cavs with interior toughness and floor spacing from deep (40.3 percent from three in his career). He'll likely serve as a backup to Evan Mobley and play 20-25 minutes a night unless Isaac Okoro really exceeds expectations this year.

Gabe Vincent is a tough-nosed point guard who can also play off-ball and has the guts to take and make big three-pointers in playoff games. In other words, he's the ideal backup point guard for a LeBron James- and Anthony Davis-led team. If you missed Vincent on the Heat during last year's playoffs, picture a younger version of Pat Beverley minus the antics.

Taurean Prince is the definition of a rotational three-and-D wing. It's about damn time the Lakers started stockpiling these types of players again after trading all of them from their 2020 championship roster. Whether Prince starts or comes off the bench, expect him to play 20-25 minutes per game and sometimes be a part of the Lakers' closing lineup.

The Christian Wood signing was a classic "rich get richer" move by the Lakers late in the summer. Do they need Christian Wood? Not really — they're at least two-deep at every position with legitimate NBA talent. Can Christian Wood help their team? Absolutely — he's talented and versatile enough to play alongside Anthony Davis, which gives the Lakers a jumbo lineup that could wreck smaller opponents on the boards, but still provide adequate spacing for LeBron James to operate. Then again, Wood seems to rub organizations, coaches and teammates the wrong way, so there's a chance this move could damage the Lakers' chemistry.

While Jusuf Nurkic has better name recognition and Nassir Little has a higher ceiling, Grayson Allen is probably the best player the Suns received in the deal for Deandre Ayton. The only issue is that Allen plays two-guard, which is the same position Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and Eric Gordon play. Thus, it's unclear whether there will be enough minutes for him to make a huge impact. 

Let's see if Miami can work their magic on Josh Richardson once again. Earlier in his career, they had him playing well enough (16.6 PPG and 4.1 APG on 41-36-86 shooting in 2018-19) to be the player that the Philadelphia 76ers took back in the Jimmy Butler sign-and-trade. Since that season, his career has stalled a bit as he's played for five teams and seen his scoring drop to 11.4 PPG and 2.5 APG. He's still only 30, so there's a chance we see another career resurgence in South Beach.

The Mavericks would love it if Seth Curry, who was a member of the Mavericks in 2019-20, could replicate his numbers from his first go-around with the team (12.4 PPG with 50-45-83 shooting splits). At 33 years old, Curry probably doesn't have the quickness to stay in front of good point guards on defense, so he'll probably be relied upon to give the Mavs 20-25 minutes most nights. 

Like his father, Kenyon Martin Jr.'s athleticism jumps off the screen. The 6-foot-6 wing will challenge any and all shot blockers at the rim and try to put them on a poster. The Clippers shrewdly acquired KMJ as part of a five-team (five!) deal this past July, which will give them some much-needed second-unit athleticism. Martin averaged 12.7 PPG and 5.5 RPG for the Rockets last season.

Like most Drew Hanlen clients, Kelly Oubre is an absolute bucket, averaging 20.3 PPG and 5.2 RPG last season for the Hornets. That said, losing tends to follow Oubre and he hasn't played for a playoff team since 2018. While I'm not predicting that the 76ers will miss the playoffs — that would require Joel Embiid to miss a significant segment of the year or get traded — but I would just caution Philly fans against falling for Oubre just yet.

Malik Beasley plays with the greenest of green lights, launching an average of 8.2 three-point attempts per game over the past three seasons. That's despite only hitting 37.3 percent of them, which is decent, but only slightly above league average. That said, when he's on, he can turn into a JR Smith-type of flamethrower — coming off screens and bombing threes as if his defender doesn't even exist. The Bucks are happy to have that type of guy on their roster, but they'll need him to be consistent as much of their guard-wing depth has been depleted in recent seasons.

Truth be told: Lonnie Walker IV probably wouldn't have even made this list if it weren't for the Lonnie Walker Game. If you don't recall, Walker played the best quarter of his life in the fourth quarter of a pivotal Game 4 against the Warriors, scoring 15 points — all of them huge shots — as part of a thrilling victory by the Lakers. Walker should have a similar spark-plug, off-the-bench role with Nets this season.

Pat Beverley is the inverse of Kelly Oubre — wherever he goes, winning follows. Despite never putting up huge numbers, and being an irritant, he is a foxhole guy and a winner. He may not start on the Sixers, but he'll probably get rotation minutes with his rugged defense. And who knows? Maybe he'll help to erode the poor culture that has plagued the Sixers' organization since the early days of The Process.

Torrey Craig is the new-age P.J. Tucker, albeit probably not as good. Think about it — they essentially started their respective NBA careers at age 27 after grinding for years to get there. They're both tough, powerful small forwards who gladly take on defensive assignments against players much bigger opponents. And they both always seem to be involved in important playoff games. The last trend won't continue if he stays in Chicago this season, but he's always a trade target around the deadline.

After playing a nice role off the bench for the NBA championship-winning Denver Nuggets, the 37-year-old Jeff Green landed himself one more healthy free-agent contract, signing a two-year, $19.2M deal with the Houston Rockets. Uncle Jeff will be a strong locker-room presence for the young Rockets and could even find himself on another contender come the trade deadline.

This signing, along with the Christian Wood and Jaxson Hayes signings, were classic low-risk, high-reward signings for the Lakers. If one of them pops, it'll be a be a success. Cam Reddish — a former lottery pick and elite high school recruit before that — has the talent to be an All Star wing, but the Lakers will happily settle for a Lonnie Walker-type of role player this season.

While he isn't as underrated and good as his brother, Jaden, Jalen McDaniels is a solid young forward with a fair amount of upside. After flashing some intriguing two-way ability in Charlotte, McDaniels was dealt to Philadelphia midseason last year, but apparently didn't earn Doc Rivers' trust and barely played in the postseason as a result. Toronto made a smart gamble on him this offseason. 

After a nice rookie campaign, Chris Duarte had a tough second season, missing about half the games with an injury and falling out of the main rotation. This offseason, the Kings acquired him for only two second-round picks. Duarte has the makeup of a three-and-D prototype, but needs to flash more of the promise he displayed in his rookie season when he averaged 13.1 PPG with 36.9 percent three-point shooting.

When the Bucks have faltered in recent seasons, it's often been because they lacked a pure point guard who could calm things down and ensure that the team's best players got the ball in advantageous positions during important stretches of games. Thus, signing a solid backup point guard was imperative this offseason. That calculus changed when the team swapped out Jrue Holiday for Damian Lillard, who is perfectly capable of getting Giannis the ball in good spots. Therefore, signing a backup point guard with more of a "gunner" mentality like Cam Payne was justifiable once the Lillard acquisition went down. 

Like the Lakers' Cam Reddish signing, the attention this signing will likely receive outsized attention compared to the actual production. Bol Bol will always be an intriguing player to watch due to his rare combination of size and skill, but the jury is out on whether he'll ever be a productive rotation player for a playoff team. Don't get me wrong, this was a great home run swing of a signing for the Suns — learning from KD is the best thing for Bol's career — but I'm still skeptical he'll have any impact for Phoenix.

Once the deadliest three-point shooter in the game, Joe Harris has fallen off in recent years. That said, he could be an important player for Detroit's young backcourt, Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey, as he can still provide excellent spacing on offense (42.6 percent three-point shooting for his career). Harris was acquired in a cash dump and second-round swap between the Nets and Pistons this offseason.

Cedi Osman's solid, six-year run with Cleveland came to a close this summer with the 28-year-old small forward signing with the Spurs. Osman gives you rotation-caliber wing play off the bench, battling on defense and knocking down the occasional three-pointer on offense. He'll provide some stability off the bench for San Antonio this season. 

Though he didn't get much run during the playoffs, Troy Brown Jr. was a solid rotation player for the Lakers for most of last season, providing decent defense and the occasional three-pointer from the small forward position. The Wolves and Lakes essentially swapped Taurean Prince for Troy Brown Jr. this offseason (advantage: Lakers). 

At 36 years old, and more than two seasons and an ACL injury away from being a productive player, even Joe Ingles was probably taken aback by the $11M deal the Magic gave him this offseason. While he shouldn't be relied upon to be a steady rotation player for Orlando this season, his three-point shooting (40.8 percent for his career), overall feistiness that once made him a good wing defender and veteran presence in the locker room still make him an important player for the Magic this coming season.