If recent history is any guide, what follows will be revised in short order. NBA teams have grown increasingly comfortable taking their offseason business deep into the summer, making blockbuster trades in August ( Kyrie Irving to the Boston Celtics in 2017) and September ( Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks ) a normalized part of the offseason. This summer, with all due respect to the Brandon Ingrams, Zach LaVines and Kyle Kuzmas of the Association, there isn’t a first-tier superstar who looks certain to be moved elsewhere before the start of next season.
Advertisement Lauri Markkanen could have been the biggest trade piece this offseason, but he and the Jazz agreed on a contract extension on Aug. 7 , one day after he was eligible to sign it. Why one day? That date was significant because he wouldn’t be eligible to be traded at all next season; the 2024-25 trade deadline is Feb.
6, 2025, and players who sign new contracts are ineligible to be traded for at least six months after they sign their new deals. GO DEEPER Lauri Markkanen's extension is an example of perseverance and opportunity So we plow forward with the annual rankings of each team’s offseason. This is, most assuredly, not scientific.
It’s an opinion, based in fact, to be sure. But also based on history, intuition and educated guesses. The rankings are based on one question: How much better is a team going into next season than it was at the end of last season? And that means assessing how much a team .
