The NBA’s Most Improved Teams… And The Bucks

The NBA’s Most Improved Teams… And The Bucks

Even in a down year for free agents, the NBA offseason has already lived up to the hype. With plenty of balls still up in the air, not to mention LeBron James and Giannis and Koopo still evaluating the Lakers and Bucks. We’re just getting started on what could be a wild summer in the association. For now, let’s look at a few teams who’ve already made their mark. The most improved team of the offseason has to be the Rockets. As we covered on last week’s episode, Houston addressed its biggest need, half court scoring, by landing Kevin Durant without giving up any of its best young players or assets. I’m Kevin Durant. You know who I am. Then the Rockets landed one of the free agent market’s top 3 and D players in Dorian Finny Smith. Given their already crowded front court and what Clint Capella is at this stage of his career, the Rockets probably overpaid the veteran center, but it doesn’t matter. Houston should be an elite two-way team with a ton of lineup versatility. This is absolutely a championship contender. Nipping on the Rockets heels for the title of most improved and second best in the West are the Nuggets. The 2023 champs needed to add depth and shooting, which wasn’t going to be easy given how pot committed Denver already was. Well, kudos to the Nuggets new front office because they somehow addressed those needs while adding flexibility. That was thanks to a brilliant move that saw Denver turned Michael Porter Jr. and a 2032 firstrounder into Cam Johnson. Essentially, the Nuggets turned MPJ into an equally valuable shooter and a better overall player who makes half as much money, creating the wiggle room needed to add that affforementioned depth. The Nuggets then turned little used Dario Saridge into Yonas Valenunis, who immediately becomes the best backup center Denver has employed in the Yokic era. Worst case, JV heads back to Europe and the Nuggets get access to their full mid-level exception. They also sign Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr. to minimum contracts. The Joker just dragged a depleted and much weaker Nuggets team to a game seven against the eventual champions. Now he’s got more than enough to win it all again. Out east, we’ve already touched on why giving up all those picks for Desmond Bane was a worthwhile gamble for the Magic. But don’t sleep on their acquisition of Taius Jones. Orlando needed a pure point guard behind Jaylen Suggs who can also share the back court with either Suggs or Bane. And that’s exactly what they’re getting in Jones. The veteran’s size limits him defensively, but he’s joining an elite defensive team that can use his combination of shooting and playmaking. Remember, Orlando hasn’t finished higher than 22nd in offensive efficiency since 2012 and just finished last in three-point shooting. Jones has shot 41.4% from deep in each of the last two seasons and owns a career assist to turnover ratio of 5.4 to1.
I wasn’t really familiar with your game. Another East playin team that moved closer to contention was Atlanta. The Hawks have quietly been building a better defensive infrastructure around Trey Young for a while, but they’ve really impressed me so far this summer. First, the Hawks capitalized on New Orleans reckless obsession with Derrick Queen, acquiring an unprotected 2026 firstrounder from either the Pelicans or Bucks, which could be a top tier pick in a loaded draft class. Then the Hawks got to work on their current roster, replacing Capella and other bit pieces with two-way guard Nquille Alexander Walker, sharpshooter Luke Canard, and Chris Porzingis, who was an excellent boow candidate. The Hawks managed to pull off the tough task of simultaneously improving in the short and long term. Finally, the Bucks are what we’ll call our what the team of the offseason. It’s possible that landing Miles Turner goes down as the latest example of GM John Horse pulling a rabbit out of his hat to secure a Giannis and Tennet Koopo commitment when it looked like Milwaukee was out of bullets. It’s also quite possible this stunning sequence of moves blows up in their faces. To make room for Turner’s new contract, the Bucks had to wave and stretch Damen Lily, meaning an already capstrapped and asset starved team will be burning $22.5 million of cap space per year for the next 5 years on a player they no longer employ. So, acquiring Turner essentially cost $50 million per year.
This whole thing just has disaster written all over it.
If it keeps the Greek freak in Milwaukee and gives the Bucks a chance in the week east, it’s worth it. But imagine how hopeless this situation will be if Giannis still decides to bolt. Thanks for watching. If you like this video and want to see more content like this, be sure to hit that subscribe button.

Even in a down year for free agents, the NBA offseason has already lived up to the hype. With plenty of balls still up in the air – not to mention LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo reportedly still evaluating the Lakers and Bucks – we’re just getting started on what could be a wild summer in the Association.

For now, let’s look at a few teams who’ve already made their mark.

Written & Narrated by: Joseph Casciaro (@JosephCasciaro | X)
Produced & Edited by: Stephen Addante @stephenaddante | Instagram)
Thumbnail Design by: Justin Shipley (@shipleysportstudio | Instagram)

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