Five losers of the NBA offseason so far

The NBA offseason rolls on, and after a few weeks, we have a pretty good idea of who has won and who has lost so far. It's not a done deal, nor is this a declaration that these teams will be bad (or good). It's more of an acknowledgement that, on paper, these teams got worse in the offseason and not better. 

Considering most of these teams have playoff hopes, the goal wasn't to regress but to improve. Yet, every team on here either did nothing, got actively worse, or made questionable moves that puzzled everyone. 

Boston Celtics

Key Additions: F Paul George, PF/C Chris Cenac Jr. (Rd 1, Pick 27), SF Dillon Mitchell (Rd 2, Pick 40)

Key Losses: SG/SF Jaylen Brown,  C Nikola Vucevic

The Boston Celtics got objectively worse this offseason. At their peak, they had two top-15 players in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. They were able to build an elite team around them until Tatum blew out his Achilles. The Celtics weren't supposed to be good, but Brown carried them to the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. Then, for some reason, the Celtics saw Brown as the issue and tried to trade him away for Giannis Antetokounmpo. When that went down, there was no repairing the damage, and so they ended up having to trade Brown for whatever they could get. Which wasn't much. Brown was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for Paul George and a few mediocre draft picks. Making it all the worse is that no one knows if Tatum will return to his pre-injury form. If he doesn't, who's going to help carry the load? The Celtics alose loss Nikola Vucevic, who wasn't great on his own but was a fine role player on a team that didn't have a lot of flexibility. 

Cleveland Cavaliers

Key Additions: G Meleek Thomas (Rd 2, Pick 34)

Key Losses: F/C Dean Wade, G/F Keon Ellis, F/C Larry Nance Jr. 

The Cleveland Cavaliers extended Donovan Mitchell and brought back Thomas Bryant, but that's really it. These aren't moves by a team that warrants them to be "winners" of the offseason. After struggling all playoffs long, you'd think the Cavs would've had an ace up their sleeve, but so far, no major moves have been made besides the draft-day acquisition of Meleek Thomas. If, and that's a huge if, the Cavs somehow land LeBron James, and then re-sign James Harden, then maybe, just maybe, the Cavs would warrant a spot on a different list, but as of press time, the Cavs are losers this offseason. 

Miami Heat

Key Additions: PF Giannis Antetokounmpo, F/C Bobby Portis, G/F Tim Hardaway Jr. 

Key Losses: SG Tyler Herro, G Kasparas Jakučionis, F Jaime Jaquez Jr., G/F Norman Powell, C Kel'el Ware 

The move to acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo on its own is a good one, but doing so without being able to keep guys like Tyler Herro and/or Norman Powell hurts the team considerably. The Heat need guys who can space the floor, and they really don't have that much anymore after these offseason moves. Yes, you added Tim Hardaway Jr. and brought back Andrew Wiggins, but neither man can replace the production or skillset of Herro or Powell. Considering that Antetokounmpo is older, gets hurt more than you'd like, and isn't a good floor spacer on his own, you need complementary players to get the most out of him. If the Heat had been able to retain one of Herro or Powell, then this trade would look very different, but now it just looks like Antetokounmpo is on yet another team lacking the talent depth necessary to compete. 

New Orleans Pelicans

Key Additions: Jason Pierre Jr. (Rd 2, Pick 58)

Key Losses: Kevon Looney

What is going on in New Orleans? They're trying to trade Trey Murphy III, but are apparently demanding more for him than the Celtics did for Jaylen Brown. They made one real move in free agency, retaining DeAndre Jordan, and only drafted one pick, second-round guard Jaron Pierre Jr. They're not blowing up their team, nor are they actively trying to get better. It's a wild situation to look at, especially considering just how bad they were to close out the 2025-2026 season. They only won 26 games last season, and none of their key pieces are getting any younger. Zion Williamson is about to turn 27 and has never been in the playoffs, but he's now to the point where you can't really build around him anymore. Does he have any trade value left? It's hard to say, but the Pelicans would be wise to cash out on him as soon as possible. He's chronically injured, and this may have been his last best season to get value for him. 

Phoenix Suns

Key Additions: F Mile Bridges, G Luke Kennard

Key Losses: G Grayson Allen, F Royce O'Neale

Losing Grayson Allen isn't why the Suns are here. No, they're here because of who they got back in the deal, Miles Bridges. At his best, Bridges is a mediocre wing player who is fine on defense but can't really hit a three-point shot or rebound hard enough to warrant playing power forward, the position the Suns want him at. His off-the-court stuff, however, is why a lot of people are worried about having him on their team. He's already had several run-ins with the law, a huge sticking point, but not the only one, as the Suns gave up an unprotected first-round pick for him. All of which is already bad,  but they now also have to worry about his contract extension. He's already on a bad contract, and with his wild history off the court and his advancing age, you either risk signing him to a bad deal, or you let him walk and get nothing for his time with the team. This was the move the Suns made to capitalize on Devin Booker's few remaining prime years, and that should worry everyone in Phoenix.