Lots of moves in the NBA this offseason, no doubt. Probably the most entertaining free agency period that I've witnessed in my short lifetime.
I think several teams made good moves but I'm not confident that any of the moves made will change the NBA Finals matchup in 2018--I still believe it'll be Cavs-Warriors.
In the West
The Rockets got better with the CP3 addition, but they STILL don't have enough to overcome the Warriors.
The Spurs were unable to make big splashes, but they retained some players--though they still need to cross their fingers and hope Simmons resigns for a 3yrs $30M contract. Unfortunately his market value is closer to 3yrs $40M. Long story short...the Spurs aren't ready to overtake the Warriors either.
My FAVORITE moves has been by the Timberwolves, simply because I'm super excited about the young core developing there, and I believe in Thibs system as long as he has the right players.
And also, with OKC keeping Roberson (a super elite defender) and signing George, I believe they match up the best defensively against the Warriors. Not saying they'd beat them in a best of 7, but I think they'll be surprisingly stout against them.
In the East
I'm not going to say the Celtics got WORSE, but I don't believe they got extraordinarily better with the Hayward addition. Why? Because of the saddening Avery Bradley disposal. He is an All-NBA defensive caliber player who was able to average over 19 points per game against the Cavaliers in the playoffs. Thats an incredible loss, but the Celtics were looking long term and realizing that they weren't going to be able to pay him the money he'll demand on the market following next season.
Overall, I think the season as a whole will be much more fun to watch because of the groups of star power now relocated across the league. In the end though, we'll be seeing a fourth consecutive Finals rematch in what I HOPE will be AT LEAST 6 games, but if we're lucky 7.
Thanks for sharing your post--I love talking NBA!