2017 NBA Offseason Winners and Losers!

As with all sports, things are always better when there is a winner and a loser. The NBA offseason is no different. Below are just a few of the winners and losers so far in the NBA offseason.

Winner: Last Year's Free Agent Class
Loser: Teams That Signed Free Agents Not Named Kevin Durant Last Year

It's no surprise that one of the biggest things to put a damper on this year's free agency craziness was the cap moving marginally from the $94 million it moved to a year ago. Last year's salary cap rose a whopping $22 million last year. This led to teams severely overpaying for guys in last years class. Let's go over a few deals from last year:

Luol Deng - 4 Years $72 Million - $18 Mil per year
Timofey Mozgov - 4 Years $64 Million - $16 Mil per year
Bismack Biyombo - 4 Years $72 Million - $18 Mil per year

Compare those to this year:

Jeff Teague - 3 Years $57 Million - $19 Mil per year
Taj Gibson - 2 Years $28 Million - $14 Mil per year
Dewayne Dedmon - 2 Years $14 Million - $7 Mil per year

So you're saying I could have Jeff Teague, a NBA level starter and potential all-star for just $1 Mil more than I can get lowly (no disrespect to your past accomplishments but you are clearly past your prime Mr. Deng) Luol Deng? I can have a solid big man for $2 Mil less than silly Timofey Mozgov? Oh and I can get a more athletic backup center who could potentially blossom into an NBA level starter for a full $11 Mil a year less than I can get Bismack Biyombo? Yea I'll take this year's free agents over last year's horrible deals. Nobody predicted that the cap would jump so little this offseason after last year's projections had the cap figure somewhere around $109 Million, but almost all of last year's deals look horrid compared to those made this year. Teams are going to have a tough couple of years ahead for betting on a cap figure increasing tremendously that didn't seem to materialize.

Now this is not to say that every contract this year is a bargain, it just means that players are getting closer to their market rate. You don't see guys like Aron Baynes and Patty Mills getting ridiculous contracts like Mozgov and Biyombo of last year. Those deals could prove to cripple teams in the coming years. I also haven't even gotten to the fact that many of these deals have player options for the final year. Last year, nobody expected players to opt-in to deals with the cap on a meteoric rise. This year, those player options signed in 2016 are looking pretty enticing. Teams are going to have a tough time if rotation players start eating up huge chunks of the cap.

Congratulations are in order for agents of free agents last year who cashed in on an opportunity. Nice work and I'm sure Mr. Biyombo owes his agent steak dinners for life.

"Haha! Suck it!" - Bismack Biyombo

Winner: The Golden State Warriors

It's hard to believe that the Warriors could actually get any better after the year they had, losing only one playoff game en route to an NBA Championship. Somehow, they managed to do just that. Andre Iguodala, David West, and Shaun Livingston all agreed to re-sign (on Kevin Durant's dime I must say). They somehow snatched Nick Young and Omri Casspi from the rest of the league, and oh yea, they still have two of the five best players on the planet.

Also, their two biggest potential obstacles, the Cleveland Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs have done little to improve on last year's teams and in some cases may have regressed. People always say that a champion isn't crowned in July, but this might be a case where that adage needs to be slightly tweaked. I don't see a single team in the league competing with a healthy Warriors team.

Loser: Seeds 9 and 10 In The West

There will be two to three teams from the Western Conference that should be in the playoffs, but aren't come April. My guess is that the ones on the outside looking in will be some combination of the Clippers, Nuggets, Trailblazers, Jazz and Pelicans. At least two and potentially three of these teams will not be in the playoffs simply due to the fact that they play in the West. All of these teams would be playoff locks (maybe not the Pelicans due to injury) in the East, but in the bloodbath of the West they will be bumped out.

Not to fret though, at least you are still in the lottery after losing out on the playoffs. And hey, at least this way you don't have to get embarrassed by the Warriors in the first round.

Winner: Eastern Conference Fringe All-Stars
Loser: Western Conference Fringe All-Stars

Boy is this year's all-star game going to be "fun." The West will likely have VERY deserving players get snubbed due to the fact that only so many guys can be on the roster. I'll rattle off a few names that I can see as locks for all-stars in the West: Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Chris Paul, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Anthony Davis, Blake Griffin, DeMarcus Cousins, Jimmy Butler. That's already 11 guys and that's not even mentioning fringe guys like Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Paul Milsap, and Damian Lillard. Guys in the West will get snubbed, it's just a matter of who it will be.

Now let's look at the East. There are your locks for the game such as LeBron, Carmelo Anthony, Giannis Atentokounmpo, Gordon Hayward, and Kyrie Irving, but it's relatively thin after that. Someone on the fringes is going to parlay that all-star appearance into a pretty sizable contract thanks to a soft Eastern Conference. I expect the West to dominate completely in this year's game. We'll just have to wait and see how much the West wins by. You heard it here first, 22 points!

Loser: Teams Near the Luxury Tax with No Shot

Portland, Washington, Milwaukee, Los Angeles Clippers, New Orleans, Charlotte, and Detroit are all above or very near the luxury tax line. None of these teams have a realistic shot at winning a title next year, yet nearly all will be paying luxury tax money due to their salaries. This is the last place an owner wants a team and it's a little bit sad that many of these teams will have to blow it up to have a shot at competing in the future. Of these, Washington, Milwaukee, and New Orleans are the three with the most potential, but all are multiple moves away from competing with the likes of Golden State and Cleveland. The worst part is that all of these teams will likely miss out on having decent picks and will have to endure multiple years of mediocrity. These teams are in salary cap hell and there are few ways out besides blowing it up and starting anew.

Winner: The Kings...?

Yep you read that right. The Kings actually made some pretty smart moves this offseason. It started with letting Ben McLemore walk. Getting rid of that guy was enough to put the Kings in borderline winner territory, but then they follow it up by picking up three solid veterans in George Hill, Zach Randolph, and Vince Carter to mix in with their young flyers. The best part, is that these three won't be enough to move the Kings into any sort of contention in that gauntlet of a conference so they will still be able to add a quality player through the draft (assuming they keep their pick). Plus, Hill, Randolph, and Carter are all guys that competing teams may be looking for at the deadline. Can you say potential first round picks coming their way?

Overall, a solid move by the Kings organization to bring in some veterans to calm down this young team. Randolph and Carter will give some veteran grind to this team and Hill can be a great mentor for number 4 pick De'Aaron Fox. This is a team that could actually potentially maybe be fun to watch if they don't screw it up... Oh who am I kidding, they will find a way. Have fun Sac-Town!

Sacramento...? Really...?

I hope you enjoyed my take on this offseason's free agency winners and losers. For more great NBA content, please follow @brandonp to get posts directly to your feed.