Who distanced themselves from the pack and who took a step back?
The engines have finally stalled on a chaotic free agency period in the NBA. As the dust settles, some teams faired much better than others. Let's take a look.
Minnesota Timberwolves
The winner of the entire offseason, let alone free agency, has to be the Minnesota Timberwolves. They added all-star guard Jimmy Butler to their young core of Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns through a blockbuster trade on draft night.
The Timberwolves proceeded to go all out in free agency making them a possible contender in the stacked Western conference. Jeff Teague, Taj Gibson, and Jamal Crawford are all proven veterans with tons of playoff experience. These three signings will help Minnesota significantly next season.
Boston Celtics
Everyone knew Boston was going to make a splash this offseason. It just depended on who or whom they were going to bring in. Gordon Hayward was the player general manager Danny Ainge had his eyes on. Hayward signed a four-year, $128 million contract with the Celtics.
He was a highly sought after free agent and should fit nicely alongside Isaiah Thomas. Hayward is exactly the type of player Boston needed in order to compete with LeBron in the East. It still may not be enough, but Boston should be ecstatic with the move.
Golden State Warriors
The Warriors continue to make all the right moves as they look to win back-to-back championships next year. First things first, they made sure to max Stephen Curry and maintain Kevin Durant on a much cheaper contract. As for valuable veterans like Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston, Golden State locked them up as well.
Finally, the Warriors decided to add more firepower to their bench by signing Nick Young from the Lakers. He will provide instant offense off the bench when called upon. It's hard to fathom but Golden State got even better this offseason.
Indiana Pacers
Just four seasons ago, the Indiana Pacers were on the verge of breaking out. Twice, they battled LeBron's Miami teams tenaciously in the Eastern Conference Finals. Since then, Lance Stephenson and Roy Hibbert have busted and are no longer there.
David West went ring chasing in San Antonio and Golden State. George Hill was traded to the Utah Jazz last season.
Somehow, they were able to maintain Paul George through all of this, until now. The Indiana Pacers got absolutely fleeced in a deal that sent Paul George to OKC, in exchange for two subpar players in Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis. OKC should be committed with highway robbery after making a deal like this.
The Pacers just sent their rebuild efforts back another few years.
New York Knicks
This team is a train wreck from top to bottom. Thankfully, team president Phil Jackson was let go before he could dismantle the Knicks even more. His time as president was disastrous to say the least. Phil was too stubborn to conform to today's NBA and treated his players with blatant disrespect.
As for free agency, his replacement didn't do much better. Carmelo Anthony is still a Knick, which isn't good.
They recently signed Tim Hardaway Jr. to an outrageous four-year, $71 million contact. The same Tim Hardaway Jr. the Knicks traded away two years earlier for practically nothing in return. However, New York does have something to hang their hat on. They aren't the worst NBA team in the state of New York, as that goes to the lowly Brooklyn Nets.
Utah Jazz
Utah tried everything in their power to bring back Gordon Hayward and it just wasn't enough. Hayward spent his first seven seasons in Utah and was named to his first all-star game this year. It will be virtually impossible for the Jazz to replace what he brought to the team.
To make matters worse, George Hill also found a new home leaving Utah in a precarious situation. They added Ricky Rubio but had to give up a first round pick in return. The Jazz still have some talent on their roster but a loaded Western conference will make things troublesome next year.