Colonels

Cleveland Cavaliers president Koby Altman is typically one of the NBA's busiest executives when the trade deadline comes around. In fact, since taking over for David Griffin as the Cavs' general manager in July 2017, there hadn&rsquo;t been a single deadline where he stood pat.
On Thursday, that changed, as the Cavaliers decided not to make a trade.
&ldquo;My guys over there, they said, 'Koby I'm proud of you,' for not [making a move],&rdquo; Altman said with a grin at Cleveland Clinic Courts in his first media appearance this season. &ldquo;Because you could make deals. You can. There's things you can land the plane on. Don't just do something to do something. Let's be very, very intentional with what we're doing. It's different when you're in asset collection mode. It's different when you're trying to accumulate picks. That becomes a different motivation. I think where we are now is being very, very intentional [with] how you're going to help this young core grow and set them up for success. And if the move wasn't there to do it, don't do it. I guess we sat this one out.
&ldquo;I think there's value in continuity. I think there's value in giving this group a runway. And sometimes as a GM, you just say to yourself, 'Don't mess this up.' And I think that was a big key for us this deadline. [That's] not easy for me; you guys know I'm volume-heavy. But to take a step back and realize the growth we've seen already, mixed with the results... I didn't see anything that was appreciably gonna make us better and put us over the top. And so, I'm really happy with where we are and where we're going.&rdquo;
We all know the NBA community abides by a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately code, but remember Donovan Mitchell? The 26-year-old first-time All-Star starter who&rsquo;s already stamped his name in the Cavs history books and helped lead Cleveland to a torrid start? One of the best shooting guards in the league who&rsquo;s already won two Player of the Week awards and has brought 39 games worth of playoff experience with him to the team? The dude who <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-breaking-news-donovan-mitchell-scores-nbaseasonhigh-cavs-franchisebest-71-in-win" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dropped 71 freaking points in one night</a>?
Lest we forget that Altman already launched his full-court heave on the first day of September, prior to the frenzy that was this past week.
&ldquo;I'm really glad we did what we did in the summer, to bring in a Donovan Mitchell, because it's so competitive &mdash; hyper-competitive in the trade market, hyper-competitive in the standings. And so, that was our big move to really lift our ceiling,&rdquo; Altman said. &ldquo;I knew that we weren't going to top that move come trade deadline (laughs). I think it's been a seamless fit. I think it's been some really exciting basketball... I think we had a great future without Donovan, and I can't imagine not having him right now.
&ldquo;We don't need to take swings. We don't need to take these &lsquo;find this incredible talent that you have to build around&rsquo; (approaches). I think we've found that, which is the hardest part. And now, does it work within the group and does it make the team better?&rdquo;
Altman&rsquo;s reasoning behind this approach is logical in short-term and long-term lenses. First and foremost, he brought up the delicate nature of a rare, connected locker room. That&rsquo;s why, though he&rsquo;ll leave open the idea of scouring the buyout market with an open roster spot available, everything will be about fit and skill set when it comes to any addition.
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The Cavs are in a position that they haven&rsquo;t been in during his tenure. They boast the fifth-best record in the NBA while employing the second-youngest starting five (average age of 23.2 years old) in the league, and a majority of that core still has yet to experience postseason basketball.
&ldquo;There's no trade I could've accomplished that was going to account for Darius Garland playing in his first playoff series, Evan Mobley playing in his first playoff series, Isaac Okoro playing in his first playoff series. We have to go through that as a team,&rdquo; Altman said. &ldquo;We're gonna have to go down the stretch here and battle for our position. We're gonna have to go in, hopefully, knock on wood, to a playoff series and see what that feels like, and I'm excited about that.&nbsp;
&ldquo;And that's the growth, that's the maturation that I wanna see from this group down the stretch, and really take a step back and let them experience this kinda basketball that's very, very new for us, and give them the runway to achieve, have setbacks and grow from those experiences. But it's a really, really exciting place to be... Give this group what they deserve [with] what they've already accomplished.&rdquo;
Given his expiring contract situation, there were a lot of questions surrounding Caris LeVert, a hot name on the trade front. Multiple teams inquired about his status with the Cavs and what it&rsquo;d take for the franchise to part ways with him. Altman instead revealed that &ldquo;there&rsquo;s a lot of interest to keep him here,&rdquo; and explained his rationale behind sticking with LeVert.
&ldquo;We acquired Caris last year in vastly different circumstances. If you remember, we had Darius Garland and no other ball-handlers; Ricky [Rubio] was out for the year, we had lost Collin [Sexton] for the year. And so, we brought Caris in under vastly different pretenses. I think what he's done this year is try to adapt his game to two ball-dominant, all-world guards," Altman said. "He's gotten better at his spot-up shooting; he's at a career-high this year at 37% in terms of shooting, and that's not even his real piece. He's just a really good basketball player, and I think he's embraced the challenge of being a defensive stopper.
&ldquo;The thing that really speaks to me too is, and I'm a softy for this, but guys that really want to be here. Guys that show up every day to work, that have a great attitude, that whatever their role is &mdash; and he had to take a substantial step back, be a sixth-man type when he could be starting in the NBA on a lot of different teams &mdash; and being like, 'I want to make this work. I want to be here.' That's meaningful to me, that's meaningful to this organization and it's a big reason why he's here. The other thing too is, let's be honest, we're not playing guys 82 games a year anymore. And to be able to spot start Caris at times is an absolute luxury. We learned that last year we can't have enough ball-handlers. We'll see in the playoffs. I know it's been a few years now, [but] to break your man off the dribble when everything else breaks down and your set play is not working, you're gonna need guys to go get some stuff for you and manufacture some runs. He remains a very important part of what we're doing. He's just a really good basketball player. I know he's thrilled to still be here, and we're happy that he's here as well.&rdquo;
As per usual, Kevin Love&rsquo;s name surfaced in rumblings for another year. This time around, it made sense because he&rsquo;s recorded five straight DNP-CDs and missed action in the three previous games due to a bothersome thumb injury. Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff stated Wednesday night that the veteran big man is healthy and available, but wants to see what this new, healthy iteration of the team can do.&nbsp;
Asked about Love, Altman responded by saying that he&rsquo;s never had conversations with him or his representation about a buyout and doesn&rsquo;t anticipate it happening. He did however share that he and the 35-year-old have talked about making a sacrifice and staying ready when his chance to play comes again. Altman feels he&rsquo;ll have that opportunity at some point this season.
After striking a rhythm over the last week, Altman is pleased with what he&rsquo;s seen from this current Cavs rotation that&rsquo;s added some bodies off the injured list. Ricky Rubio &mdash; whom he considers midseason acquisition-like &mdash; came back in the fold less than a month ago and is rounding into form with the bench bunch, and Dean Wade has been getting his legs back under him since returning on Jan. 21, providing meaningful spacing and defensive chops.
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Are the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cavs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cavs</a> finding stability? J.B. Bickerstaff, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen and Dean Wade weigh in (with hand signals and all 🎢). <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@basketbllnews</a> <a href="https://t.co/oTD1TBWkyl">pic.twitter.com/oTD1TBWkyl</a>
&mdash; Spencer Davies (@SpinDavies) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpinDavies/status/1623719182910070786?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 9, 2023</a></blockquote>

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When the franchise pulled the trigger on the Mitchell blockbuster, it created a significant void left by now-Utah-Jazz-All-Star forward Lauri Markkanen. For much of the season, the wing has been anything but consistent and a point of contention around town. A whopping 18 different starting lineups is an obvious indication of that, which has included starts at small forward from LeVert, Okoro, Wade and Lamar Stevens. (That&rsquo;s due to injury and mixing and matching.)
However, to Altman&rsquo;s point of internal additions, Cleveland has seen a fresh version of Okoro emerge since the turn of the new year. From Jan. 4 and on &mdash; when &ldquo;Ice&rdquo; reentered the starting five &mdash; the burly third-year swingman over 19 games has averaged 9.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals per contest on 58.5% from the field, including a scorching 49.0% clip beyond the arc.&nbsp;
Coupling his already-stout defense with the threat of knocking down triples in the corner &mdash; and playmaking for teammates off the catch when closed out on &mdash; has helped Okoro earn the Cavs&rsquo; trust.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m so happy for Isaac, who puts the most work in that now he deserves that sorta 3-and-D position that we drafted him as, that can guard 1-through-4, that really puts pressure on the defense,&rdquo; Altman said. &ldquo;I think what you're seeing from us and from Isaac specifically is a dude that, right away, you feel that defense as soon as you get across half-court, or you want to take a shooter out and he's making you catch 40 feet out. That sets the tone for your defense, and he does that remarkably well. And now, he's hitting the three-ball and giving space to our guards, which we really need.&rdquo;
It also played a factor in Altman avoiding a potential disruption in Okoro&rsquo;s rhythm.
&ldquo;Obviously, everybody wants more shooting. It's something I looked at. But I also know... where are those minutes gonna go to?&rdquo; Altman argued. &ldquo;And that starting five, which has been really good with Isaac Okoro, who are you taking off the floor there when that group as a starting five is a plus-7.3 net rating with a substantial size now? Who are you taking off the floor there, right?
&ldquo;Between him, Dean, Cedi [Osman], we always wanted to hopefully have that be internal and not use more assets to go outside and hope it works. That's the other part too is, at the deadline, you're making these deals and hoping that it fits. You're ingratiating a new person into this system, everybody has to adapt around this person, you have to change the way you play a little bit to accentuate their positives. Keeping the continuity and letting the internal growth happen, I think, was a big part of (standing pat). And seeing those signs certainly gave us pause to... Isaac's only 22 years old, and he's getting better every single day. Let's let that play out.&rdquo;
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Flexibility is still present in Cleveland&rsquo;s books despite being over the salary cap. Altman noted how Mobley still being on his rookie-scale deal will allow the Cavs to re-sign LeVert and Love and use their mid-level exception if they choose. There are also second-round picks at their disposal, and if Thursday taught us anything, it&rsquo;s that they can be quite valuable.
Mitchell and Garland are meshing well with one another as the games pass, Mobley and Jarrett Allen have not shown signs of slowing down and Okoro is coming into his own. Rubio, LeVert, Wade and Osman have had their moments individually and are looking to put it all together to bolster the bench production. As long as the team can stay away from the injury bug, with a softer schedule in the second half of the season, there&rsquo;s no reason to expect any kind of decline. &nbsp; The overlying theme of the Cavs' strategy at this point? If it ain&rsquo;t broke, don&rsquo;t fix it.

Spencer Davies summarizes Cavaliers president Koby Altman's first press conference of the season after a quiet trade deadline.

Koby Altman counting on Cavaliers' continuity, growth from within

With the new-look Brooklyn Nets set to come to town for a pair of games, Cleveland Cavaliers rookie forward Isaac Okoro was asked on Tuesday what he was most excited about entering the matchups.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just looking forward to playing defense and trying to come out with a win,&rdquo; Okoro said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;re here for, that&rsquo;s what our whole team&rsquo;s here for, is to come out with a win. Defend those guys as good as we can and just come out with a win.&rdquo;
Missions accomplished.&nbsp;
The Cavaliers took down Brooklyn&rsquo;s Big Three in double overtime, 147-135, with fast-and-furious action at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Wednesday night.&nbsp;
It was an affair jam-packed with storylines: the debut of the Nets&rsquo; star-studded trio of Kyrie Irving, James Harden and Kevin Durant, a revenge game for Jarrett Allen and Taurean Prince, the return of Cavs star Collin Sexton after missing five games with an ankle injury and so on. Sexton&rsquo;s 42-point scoring outburst stole the show, as he took over the game at the end of overtime and double overtime, pouring in Cleveland's last 20 points to send his squad to victory.&nbsp;
While his backcourt partner (rightfully) got the shine, Okoro also stood out by holding up his end of the bargain on the defensive end. The 19-year-old forward was tasked with guarding Harden, who in his first two games with Brooklyn scored or assisted on 129 of the team&rsquo;s points.&nbsp;
Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff had a spirited talk with Okoro one day beforehand to get the rookie as ready as possible before Wednesday&rsquo;s matchup.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s always funny because it&rsquo;s one thing when you tell a guy something versus when they actually get the opportunity to feel it and see it for themselves,&rdquo; Bickerstaff said on Tuesday. &ldquo;So we were laughing about how many guys before didn&rsquo;t believe some of the things -- like when James Harden puts the ball in your face, you actually think you&rsquo;re gonna take it, but he ends up getting fouled and going to the free-throw line. Guys don&rsquo;t believe it until they see it.&rdquo;
In Wednesday morning&rsquo;s shootaround, those conversations continued. Sexton even told the media he had a laugh because the coaching staff was simulating Harden&rsquo;s playstyle of drawing contact to show Okoro what he could be dealing with that night.
Well, that preparation certainly paid off. Harden did not have the same type of success in his third contest with the Nets, and it was in part due to the standout efforts of Okoro.
In the first half of the game, Harden attempted just two shots and registered two total points, both off free throws. While it&rsquo;s understandable given Irving&rsquo;s return to the team and the meshing of new pieces, the All-Star couldn&rsquo;t dupe Okoro with his usual habits. The rookie stayed in front of Harden, keeping him from getting too close to the basket and finding his spots, and forcing him to give up the ball quite a bit.&nbsp;
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Okoro held Harden to 0-for-2 from the field with two points in the first half. The All-Star guard was on the floor for 19 minutes and turned it over three times. <a href="https://t.co/hxAuookr7t">https://t.co/hxAuookr7t</a>
&mdash; Spencer Davies (@SpinDavies) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpinDavies/status/1352060104397488134?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2021</a></blockquote>

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&ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s who Isaac is,&rdquo; Bickerstaff said after Wednesday&rsquo;s win. &ldquo;I think Isaac is a really good positional defender. He makes you work for it. Obviously, James is one of the best offensive players in our league; he will have his nights, we&rsquo;ve all seen that clearly.&nbsp;
&ldquo;But Isaac makes you beat him. He doesn&rsquo;t give you angles, he doesn&rsquo;t go for steals and get out of position. He makes you have to score over the top of him, and I thought he did a great job of that in the first half for sure.&rdquo;
Harden&rsquo;s attempts to get past or around the stout Okoro were to no avail, so much that he didn&rsquo;t even take a shot until a minute and 25 seconds into the second quarter.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It was impressive from the young fella,&rdquo; said Taurean Prince, who scored a season-high 17 points in his Cavs debut. &ldquo;Usually you see guys kinda get happy feet guarding those caliber of players, but he was staying solid and sticking to his principles. Definitely stuck to the game plan. He definitely looked well-prepared and focused out there, and that&rsquo;s truly all you can ask (for) out of the young guy.&rdquo;
Of course, Harden is not going to be held down for very long. He found some success in the second-half and overtime periods, and ended up dropping 21 points (along with recording his third consecutive triple-double for the Nets). With that said, when you look at the shots he made, he didn't actually score on Okoro until the 3:28 mark in the fourth quarter.
According to NBA.com&rsquo;s matchup data, Okoro defended Harden for 5 minutes and 7 seconds. In that time, the Beard managed just four points and drew just one shooting foul against the upstart first-year swingman. Don&rsquo;t believe that? Check the <a href="https://go.nba.com/t6y9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video evidence</a>.
"I feel like I did pretty well," Okoro said Friday morning at shootaround. "I feel like I made a couple mistakes with the fouls."
Okoro also picked up Kevin Durant for 3:55 -- the former MVP didn&rsquo;t attempt one shot in that span -- and Kyrie Irving for nearly three minutes, including a key stop in overtime when the Nets were up five. The Cavs capitalized on the other end and swung the momentum back in their favor.
&ldquo;He was everywhere,&rdquo; said Jarrett Allen, who posted a 12-point, 11-rebound, 4-block double-double in his Cleveland debut. &ldquo;None of us are perfect out there, but he didn&rsquo;t make a lot of mistakes. He played well. He knew Harden&rsquo;s tendencies; he didn&rsquo;t let him get to the free-throw line too much. He was just out there playing hard. That&rsquo;s my first time really seeing him play against another team, and he really impressed me.&rdquo;
Cedi Osman referred to Okoro&rsquo;s defensive efforts as &ldquo;amazing.&rdquo;
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s that guy that&rsquo;s gonna bring us a lot of energy and great defense every night," Osman added. "He did knock some corner shots (down) tonight too. He had a great game.&rdquo;
The plus-minus and the net ratings weren&rsquo;t aesthetically pleasing, nor were Okoro&rsquo;s challenges to the Brooklyn bigs in the paint and the fact that he fouled out. But Bickerstaff and the Cavs trusted the young man to study up and slow down the best offensive players in this league.
&ldquo;He took the challenge,&rdquo; Sexton said. &ldquo;He played hard and really well. That&rsquo;s a tough-nosed guy. He&rsquo;s from Atlanta, so.&rdquo;
Okoro delivered on Wednesday. Ahead of Friday night's game, the rookie feels watching film and seeing what he did wrong will help him improve in the Brooklyn rematch. He also feels like Harden is going to come out more aggressive and in attack mode, but he'll be ready for it.
"Staying on your feet, always being in a defensive stance," Okoro said of what he learned. "Those are great players right there. They can score at all three levels. They always tricks up their sleeves, so just being ready for those tricks.
"I feel like they got the ball in the middle a lot. Durant got a lot of shots in the middle, Kyrie (as well). We were unfortunate that they missed some of them, but knowing that they're great players, those are gonna be the shots that they're gonna be able to make, so we'll have to keep the ball out of the middle."
Growing up, Okoro admired all three of those amazing talents and watched them on TV.
But when he took the floor at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse against them, it was all business to come out on top with his team.
"It wasn't me thinking I'm star-struck or anything like that," Okoro said. "I'm just here to play basketball and win the game."

Spencer Davies dives into Isaac Okoro's stout defensive night against the Brooklyn Nets' Big Three.

Isaac Okoro swarms James Harden, Nets in impressive defensive night

With the season set to start in less than a month, the NBA fan community was treated to an accelerated offseason. The NBA Draft was on Wednesday, and free agency kicked off two days later. We got a whirlwind of signings and trades -- boy, were there trades -- on the opening night, and that activity extended throughout the weekend.&nbsp;
Rosters are still being filled, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean we can&rsquo;t evaluate early winners and losers. If we can do it <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-draft-2020-winners-losers-philadelphia-76ers-new-york-knicks-pelicans-new-orleans-lonzo-ball-obi-toppin-patrick-williams-chicago-bulls-tyrese-haliburton-sacramento-kings" target="_blank" rel="noopener">for the draft</a> and none of those guys have played yet, surely we can do so for more proven commodities.&nbsp;
Let&rsquo;s hand out some awards and slander, shall we?
Winner: Centers
If we learned anything from the bubble, particularly from the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets, it&rsquo;s that size still matters in this league. The Lakers bludgeoned teams with their size all season long, led by the ultimate unicorn in Anthony Davis. With the NBA being a copycat league, there seemed to be a real emphasis on teams adding big men early on in the free agency process.
I mean sure, the Pistons tried to sign literally all of them -- I&rsquo;m still shaking my head at the Mason Plumlee 3-year, $25 million deal -- but other bigs saw a heightened market. Derrick Favors (3/$30M) went back to his stomping grounds in Utah after looking half-dead athletically in the bubble. Meyers Leonard saw a massive drop in playing time in the bubble and playoffs, and he still was able to return to Miami for nearly $10 million. Robin Lopez shockingly opted out of a $5 million player option with the Bucks, and even more shockingly got a raise from the Washington Wizards.&nbsp;
You can&rsquo;t build the boat out of centers like you could in yesteryear, but it appears that teams have swung back the other way on their utility in general. Skilled size is king, but size in general still matters quite a bit.
Winner: Los Angeles Lakers
Whew, buddy, have the rich gotten richer.
After trading Danny Green to the Oklahoma City Thunder as part of a package for Dennis Schroder, the Lakers were able to find his replacement by adding Wes Matthews with their bi-annual exception. They then were able to add last year&rsquo;s Sixth Man of the Year, Montrezl Harrell, for the non-taxpayer mid-level exception. Harrell has his flaws defensively, but there may not be a better big in the league than Davis to cover for those warts.
Speaking of bigs, the Lakers were also able to pry Marc Gasol away from the Toronto Raptors. Gasol has slipped quite a bit in terms of mobility, but still possesses the shooting, passing and defensive aptitude to juice the Lakers&rsquo; frontcourt. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope also returns on a reasonable deal (3/$40M) after the cap space market mostly dried up on him.
The Lakers&rsquo; potential playoff rotation now consists of LeBron James, Caldwell-Pope, Matthews, Davis, Gasol, Schroder, Harrell and Alex Caruso. I think it&rsquo;s safe to say, barring injury, that they are the clear favorites to win the title this year.&nbsp;
Winner: Trae Young
Have you ever played NBA 2K&rsquo;s MyCareer mode on Hall-of-Fame difficulty? It can be a frustrating experience. It&rsquo;s less about your individual skill level. if you&rsquo;re good, you should still be able to bake CPUs; if you&rsquo;re not that good, but you&rsquo;re smart, there are some pretty simple exploits (slip those PnRs!) that can get you easy buckets. It&rsquo;s more about what the talent around you does. They just perform in a way that makes you shake your head. At a certain point, you have to assume virtually all creation responsibility if you want to score enough against the CPU to win games, assuming you don&rsquo;t stash your player on the Lakers or something. The stats you put up and the skill/badge points you earn alleviate some of the frustration, but it&rsquo;s still a pain to deal with.
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This is what I imagine Trae Young felt like last year.
His skill level is obviously high; he&rsquo;s one of the NBA&rsquo;s best passers and is a pull-up threat the second he crosses half-court. But between not having an NBA-caliber backup point guard until the Jeff Teague addition, injury woes from second-in-command Kevin Huerter and John Collins (more on him later) getting himself suspended for 25 games, it felt like Young was the only player on the Hawks that could generate offense for himself or others.
Within that lens, this offseason has been huge for him. Signing Danilo Gallinari gives the Hawks (and Young) a bonafide three-level scorer that can hold his own weight. The merits of Rajon Rondo&rsquo;s (regular season) value can be debated, but he is a high IQ guy and a tremendous passer that can create for others in the half-court. There may be more reinforcements on the way, with Kings restricted free agent and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-trade-grade-milwaukee-bucks-jrue-holiday-bogdan-bogdanovic-giannis-antetokounmpo-nekias-deal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">honorary Bucks legend</a> Bogdan Bogdanovic signing a hefty offer sheet (4/$72M) over the weekend. If the Kings don&rsquo;t match, Bogdanovic will give the Hawks another shot creator that also offers some passing chops in pick-and-roll.
The Hawks still have some, uh, roster balancing to do, but they&rsquo;ve undoubtedly taken some of the burden off of Young&rsquo;s plate. That feels like a win for the young lad.&nbsp;
Winner: Portland Trail Blazers
I&rsquo;m not sure if &ldquo;quietly&rdquo; is the right way to describe it, but the Blazers have had themselves one heck of an offseason. It started with their pre-draft trade for Robert Covington, a ridiculous help defender that should allow the Blazers to ramp up their defensive aggression if they so choose. Of course, that doesn&rsquo;t count as a free-agency move, but the Blazers have plenty of ammo in that department as well.
Bringing back Rodney Hood was a smart move. Hood was in the midst of his most efficient season by far (with a career-high 62.5% True Shooting percentage) before injuries derailed his campaign. His off-the-bounce shooting is a wonderful counterpunch to teams that overreact to the Damian Lillard/CJ McCollum backcourt and scramble after getting the ball out of their hands.&nbsp;
The Blazers also added Derrick Jones Jr. on a sorta-rich-but-mostly-fine 1+1 deal at the mid-level. He gives Portland a level of athleticism that they haven&rsquo;t had since, well... when have they had a guy who can jump like he can? Jones is a versatile defender in terms of his individual skill set, but also brings with him a diversity of scheme deployment after playing just about any defense you can think of under Erik Spoelstra in Miami last year.
Circling back to the &ldquo;Centers Matter!&rdquo; point, the Blazers also made sure to bolster their frontcourt. Enes Kanter is back to provide interior scoring and rebounding against specific matchups. Harry Giles is a mystery box; a tremendous passer with plus-athleticism that also has no idea what he&rsquo;s doing on defense. Carmelo Anthony isn&rsquo;t a center, but does provide some semblance of frontcourt depth as a spacer and occasional end-of-shot-clock option.
Health is the big caveat for the Blazers (when hasn&rsquo;t it been?), but they&rsquo;re set up to push for a top-four seed this season.
Loser: Denver Nuggets
I have two issues with the Nuggets&rsquo; opening weekend -- enough that I&rsquo;d consider them a loser versus a team I&rsquo;m just concerned with.
First, losing Jerami Grant hurts, even if that was mostly out of their control. Grant reportedly chose a larger role in Detroit over sticking with the Nuggets, despite a willingness from Denver&rsquo;s side to offer a similar deal. It&rsquo;s hard to blame a young dude for wanting to expand his game. And as we know in today&rsquo;s NBA, good, young-ish players on bad NBA teams can always be flipped to good teams for draft compensation. I&rsquo;d be surprised if Grant finishes his deal as a member of the Pistons.
Regardless, the athleticism, shooting, cutting and defensive versatility that Grant brings will be missed in Denver. Bringing back Paul Millsap and signing JaMychal Green are solid counters, but they didn't replace Grant&rsquo;s skillset (or youth).&nbsp;
Second, even if they were able to retain Grant, the Nuggets would still be in need of an actual-factual wing defender. They&rsquo;ve done absolutely nothing to fill that void. The closest version of that player on the roster was Torrey Craig and they pulled his qualifying offer, leading to Craig signing with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Craig is a flawed player, particularly offensively. This isn&rsquo;t a &ldquo;wow, the Nuggets really dropped the ball&rdquo; type of complaint, but he was at least a facsimile of what they needed. Who is the guy on the roster that can match up -- forget defend, just match up -- with the LeBrons, Kawhis and Paul Georges of the conference? That is a lot of pressure on Will Barton or Gary Harris or PJ Dozier -- and all of those guys are undersized against 3s or 3/4 hybrids.
Loser: Charlotte Hornets
Four years, $120 million for Gordon Hayward. Even with the theoretical small-market/bad-team tax that has to be paid to land second-tier free agents, that is a steep price for a guy who:
1) Hasn&rsquo;t made an All-Star team in three seasons.
2) Has played in 125 games over the past three seasons due to lower-body injuries.
3) May still be dealing with a <a href="https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2020/07/gordon-hayards-takeover-ability-foot-pain-and-absence-3-big-questions-as-the-boston-celtics-restart-their-season.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nerve issue in his foot</a> from his catastrophic injury in 2017.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/usatsi_9765789-1_lg.jpg" alt="" width="860" height="AUTO" />
On top of that, the Hornets elected to waive-and-stretch Nicolas Batum -- their last big-money-gone-bad-due-to-injury wing signing -- to free up the money to bring in Hayward. Let&rsquo;s say Hayward is reasonably healthy (60 of 72 games?) and slaps up, like, 19-5-5 on solid efficiency. Is that enough to get these Hornets into the play-in tournament? Maybe?&nbsp;
I don&rsquo;t love it. I can also quibble about the Bismack Biyombo signing because there were (and are) better center options on the market, but there is familiarity there and he&rsquo;s a genuine locker-room presence.&nbsp;
Loser: John Collins
As mentioned earlier, the signing of Gallinari takes quite a bit of pressure off of Young in terms of shot creation. Gallinari is also pretty firmly a 4, which happens to be the same position that Collins plays.&nbsp;
You may say, &ldquo;Just slide Collins over to the 5!&rdquo; and sure. But the Hawks traded for Clint Capela to operate as a rim runner and rim protector. They also just drafted Onyeka Okongwu at No. 6 overall. He may be mobile enough to survive at the 4, but he does not have the shooting or ball skills (yet) to play it offensively. He should also get burn at the 5.&nbsp;
If the Hawks are serious about making the playoffs (which they seem to be based on the money they&rsquo;ve shelled out so far), then improving the defense should be priority number one. Capela, Okongwu and the recently-signed Kris Dunn all fit that billing. Capela and Okongwu are better options at holding down the fort defensively than Collins is.
These moves conveniently come during an offseason in which Collins is extension-eligible and fresh off a season where Collins missed 25 games due to stupi-, er, suspension.
I&rsquo;m not the best at math, but 2 + 2 has always come out to 4 in my experience. It&rsquo;s starting to feel like Collins is going to end up being the odd man out.&nbsp;
Collins is very talented, a legit stretch option at this point while also being a violent rim-runner and offensive rebounder; but the lack of positional versatility due to his &ldquo;meh&rdquo; length and defensive aptitude cap his ceiling in terms of playoff value. And it&rsquo;s hard to argue giving max money to a guy like that, especially when your franchise player is one of the worst defenders in the sport. If building around Young is the priority, you&rsquo;re going to need a team full of wing defenders and interior stoppers. Collins, as good as he is, doesn&rsquo;t qualify as either.
Loser: JaVale McGee
Opting into your contract, only to be shipped to Cleveland to make room for your replacement has to sting. Assuming he stays, he&rsquo;s also not any closer to consistent playing time. And even if he does carve out a 14-16-minute role as the back-up 5, he&rsquo;ll be going from LeBron to&hellip; Collin Sexton and Darius Garland as pick-and-roll passers?&nbsp;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/usatsi_13781902-1_lg.jpg" alt="" width="860" height="AUTO" />
Quite a drop, I&rsquo;d say.
Stray Thoughts
- Maybe not a loser, but the Brooklyn Nets are loser-adjacent right now. Bringing back Joe Harris is smart, even if that price (4/$75M) seems a smidge steep for my liking. But they&rsquo;re still a couple of perimeter defenders short, and they need a 4. Badly. Go flip some stuff for Aaron Gordon, please.
- Very nerdy thing, but I love the DeAndre&rsquo; Bembry signing for Toronto. He can&rsquo;t shoot, which stinks, but he can defend multiple positions, plays at 150 MPH all the time and can make some funky passes from time-to-time. He&rsquo;s going to be fun (and sometimes infuriating) for their bench unit.
- The Bogdanovic flop was funny to watch for non-Bucks fans, but I think the consensus around the Bucks&rsquo; offseason has become overly negative because of it. They still improved their team, highlighted by the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-trade-grade-milwaukee-bucks-jrue-holiday-bogdan-bogdanovic-giannis-antetokounmpo-nekias-deal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jrue Holiday trade</a>. They&rsquo;ve also made some solid bargain signings. Bryn Forbes can shoot, as can D.J. Augustin. Bobby Portis can score, though that&rsquo;s probably all he can do. None of those guys are plus-defenders, but if you&rsquo;re of the belief that they&rsquo;ll be flanked by at least one of Giannis Antetokounmpo or Brook Lopez at all times, you have the interior infrastructure in place to protect them from being abused. Of course, none of this matters if head coach Mike Budenholzer doesn't evolve a bit. Which, well, I guess we&rsquo;ll see.
- Seriously, is there a single Knicks player on the roster that isn&rsquo;t repped by CAA? Somebody has to intervene, right? Right? Bueller?&nbsp;
- Shout-out to the Suns for drafting Jalen Smith at 10, then proceeding to sign or bring back three frontcourt players in less than a week. Bringing him along slowly isn&rsquo;t a bad idea, but it does make the pick look more questionable in the short-term.
- It&rsquo;s at least a little odd we&rsquo;ve heard next to nothing on the extension talks of Giannis Antetokounmpo (and by proxy, Bam Adebayo) or Brandon Ingram. I would expect the Ingram shoe to drop first, but the silence on the other end is... odd, to say the least. Teams like the Heat, Raptors and Mavericks might smell blood in the water.
- Honestly would&rsquo;ve liked to see the Hawks take the $12-or-so-million per year they spent on the Rondo/Dunn combo and use it for a De&rsquo;Anthony Melton offer sheet, but good on the Grizzlies for locking him up for cheap. That deal is going to age well, methinks.

Nekias Duncan breaks down the teams and players that were affected the most after the first three days of NBA free agency.

Mekhi