Five NBA observations following the first wave of free agency

LeBron James is a free agent, Jaylen Brown is a Sixer, Kawhi Leonard is a Raptor (again) and the Lakers just bet the farm on Walker Kessler.

The first wave of free agency didn't disappoint. Here are five observations.

1. The Sixers are suddenly loaded

Philadelphia turned a rapidly decomposing Paul George and four draft picks — none of which project to be very high in the draft — into Jaylen Brown, a 29-year-old coming off a career year (28.7 PPG, second-team All-NBA) in which he dragged a Tatum-less Boston team to 56 wins. It was a highway robbery, and the most dumbfounding trade since the Luka Doncic deal.

Brown joins a bevy of electric guards headlined by Tyrese Maxey, the league's No. 5 scorer last season, and rising sophomore VJ Edgecombe. Philly also added a flashy point guard (Labaron Philon Jr.) in the draft and a microwave scorer (Anfernee Simons) in free agency. Lurking behind it all is Joel Embiid, one of the highest-upside X-factors in NBA history. If the big fella gives Philly half a season of good health and a playoff run, this team can win the East.

The one hole? Power forward. Free-agent pickup Dean Wade is a nice piece, but he's not starting for a champion. Conveniently, there's a 6-foot-9 generational forward on the open market right now, and the Sixers are reportedly in the mix for him. More on that later.

2. The East is deep again

The defending champion Knicks return everyone except Mitchell Robinson. Philly added Brown. Miami landed Giannis Antetokounmpo. Toronto snagged Kawhi Leonard to pair with do-everything forward Scottie Barnes. Indiana gets Tyrese Haliburton back from his Achilles tear. Orlando brought in Sean Sweeney to turn around a talented, if underperforming, roster.

Outside of Boston, and maybe Detroit (depending on the Jalen Duren standoff), none of the conference's playoff teams got substantially worse. This is setting up for a season with little difference between the top seeds and the play-in teams in terms of record and talent.

3. The Lakers will rue letting Rob Pelinka run this offseason

Pelinka spent five years kicking the can down the road to save his job, somehow surviving an ownership change in the process. He wasted some of LeBron's last great seasons and, despite having LeBron, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves for two trade deadlines and one offseason, never made an aggressive move to improve the roster.

This perpetual "gap year" mentality finally came to a head this summer when Luka put his foot down and demanded the team make win-now moves. Moves were certainly made — and they reek of desperation and incompetence.

First, Pelinka effectively forced LeBron out the door. That was a tricky situation given LeBron's age, stature and contract, but it's probably not good business to let go of your second-best player.

Next, he signed Austin Reaves to a max contract. Good move — had to do it.

Then he went all in on Walker Kessler: two unprotected first-round picks (2031, 2033), two swaps (2028, 2030) and a four-year, $130 million contract with a player option. Kessler has the tools to be an elite rim-protector and pick-and-roll partner for Luka, but that's purely theoretical at this point. Put differently, Pelinka just mortgaged the Lakers' future on a 7-foot-2 center who has missed significant time with injuries and has yet to play in a playoff game.

To top it off, Pelinka handed a bunch of bench players multi-year deals and player options like Halloween candy — Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Collin Sexton and Kessler all got one. These sweeteners burned Pelinka before with underperforming players like D'Angelo Russell, Kendrick Nunn and Christian Wood, and it's unclear why he keeps handcuffing the roster with them.

In the end, the Lakers are worse than they were last season and unlikely to level up unless Kessler develops into an All-NBA center or they deal Reaves. Like LeBron before him, Luka deserved better than to have Pelinka at the reins.

4. Styles make fights again

For the first time since the early-2010s analytics boom flattened the league into a homogeneous pace-and-space, three-point-shooting blob, there's real diversity (easy Stephen A. Smith, we're not talking about the Lakers) in roster construction again.

Look at the point-guard armadas in Philly and Portland (Ja Morant, Damian Lillard, Jrue Holiday, Scoot Henderson). How many 3s will the Timberwolves' Edwards-Ball backcourt bomb per game? What about the Hawks, where basically every rotation player is a rangy wing? Conversely, look at how enormous OKC, San Antonio and Miami are going to be — Giannis and Bam Adebayo sharing a frontcourt is a 1990s fever dream. 

Boxing fans know the old truth: styles make fights. Next season's League Pass menu is going to be delicious.

5. The league still revolves around LeBron

He's 41 years old, entering Year 24, and the entire NBA is frozen waiting on his decision. There's mutual interest in a partnership with the Cavaliers, Warriors, Heat, Sixers, Timberwolves and Nuggets. He'd fit seamlessly with any of these teams and vault each one up a tier in title contention. A return to Cleveland would be a storybook ending, but I'd rather see LeBron get cutthroat and team up with Nikola Jokic in Denver or Anthony Edwards in Minnesota.

Wherever he lands in his "Final Decision," two decades in, the sun still rises and sets wherever LeBron James says it does.