Post NBA free-agency power rankings

The Charlotte Hornets saw their top two leading scorers, Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb, happily depart for what they determined to be greener pastures, and adding Terry Rozier doesn't account for those losses. Things are so bleak that the Hornets trading Marvin Williams is about the only thing Charlotte fans have to look forward to between now and next offseason. This legitimately could be the worst team in franchise history. 

Clearly Zach Kram of The Ringer doesn't view Collin Sexton as part of the solution for fixing the Cleveland Cavaliers. Even if Kram is incorrect, the Cavs trading Kevin Love feels inevitable regardless of what anybody associated with the franchise says about the topic this summer. Cleveland basketball fans can't view the light at the end of the tunnel quite yet. They are in for another cold and dark winter.

The "Grit and Grind" Memphis Grizzlies are now relegated to only memories, and rookie Ja Morant is the new face of the franchise. Memphis' rebuild has only begun. In an ideal scenario, neither Andre Iguodala nor Jae Crowder would be on the roster when the Grizzlies open the campaign. 

With John Wall "probably" out for the entire season as he rehabs his Achilles injury, per Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington , and Bradley Beal a better asset as a trade piece than a starter, the Washington Wizards sit in an awkward position in that the club hasn't yet fully hit the figurative reset button. That the Wizards are banking on Isaiah Thomas  having a comeback season says all you need to know about the state of the organization in August 2019.

One can close his or her eyes and envision Phoenix Suns fans asking those running the team "why are you the way that you are?" Trading TJ Warren after he finds a three-point shot. Reaching for Cameron Johnson in the draft. Devin Booker isn't going anywhere, but he's got to be feeling some regret about that contract he signed in 2018. Maybe Phoenix can flirt with winning 30 games this coming season. 

For those keeping score at home, the New York Knicks traded unicorn and potential superstar Kristaps Porzingis only to then completely strike out and watch as free agents Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant signed with the Brooklyn Nets. Any alleged allure of playing home games at Madison Square Garden faded long before the franchise's summer plans sunk into the Hudson. Rookie RJ Barrett will hopefully make the Knicks watchable during another year of the current rebuild. 

Give the Chicago Bulls some credit for working with what's available. Neither Tomas Satoransky nor Coby White makes the Bulls a playoff team overnight, but both are solid additions, and Chicago calling time on the Kris Dunn experiment will benefit the team in future offseasons. The likes of Lauri Markkanen, Zach Lavine and Wendell Carter Jr. must further develop for the Bulls to escape what must feel like NBA purgatory. 

Unlike some of the other teams spotlighted here, the Atlanta Hawks appear to be in the middle of executing a plan toward becoming competitive, perhaps as soon as the 2020-21 season. Trae Young deserved to win Rookie of the Year honors in the eyes of many. As Chase Irle of Sports Talk ATL wrote, John Collins is one of the Association's best-kept secrets. Atlanta also loaded up on expiring contracts that will offer the franchise flexibility next summer. The Hawks aren't where they want to be, but they're closer than some realize. 

Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti may have actually improved the team after trading Russell Westbrook and Paul George — no, seriously. Adding Danilo Gallinari and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander helped keep the Thunder relevant as long as the club holds onto Chris Paul for at least a few months, and acquiring what could amount to 15 first-round picks over the next seven drafts, as Rodger Sherman of The Ringer wrote, makes one think OKC trading for the team's next MVP isn't far off. 

Even if Karl-Anthony Towns makes additional positive strides, the Minnesota Timberwolves totaling their 36 wins from last season could be an ask in a conference that improved much more than Minnesota. We may never know how close the Timberwolves actually were to getting D'Angelo Russell, but failing to close that deal just reminds everybody about the anchor that is the dreadful Andrew Wiggins contract. According to Keith Smith of RealGM, at least one exec doesn't view Wiggins as "untradeable." Make that transaction if possible, Minnesota. You won't regret it. 

A franchise can never possess too much talent, which is why the Orlando Magic re-signing Nikola Vucevic following his career season despite having Mo Bamba on the bench and needing more playing time made sense. Orlando is a playoff team today, meaning the club can wait and listen to any and all offers for Bamba. The Magic should sell high while hoping Markelle Fultz fixes his broken shot.  

Signing Boban Marjanovic and Seth Curry were underrated moves, but the 2019-20 Dallas Mavericks will be about how the partnership between Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis develops. Dallas fans should be excited about the duo but realize Porzingis hasn't played in a regular-season game since February 2018. The first half of the campaign will serve as an elongated preseason for a Dallas team that shouldn't be crushed by media members or fans if it doesn't qualify for the playoffs.

All things being equal, the Detroit Pistons may exist in the NBA's worst possible state. Detroit is a postseason side but also a one-and-done playoff team that can neither tank nor lure LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving or other elite talents to town. Andre Drummond holds a player option for the 2020-21 season. The Pistons should trade him before he activates it. 

New Orleans Pelicans executive vice president David Griffin knew Anthony Davis was headed out west, and the executive produced a masterclass set of transactions to put the Pelicans in a position to chase a playoff berth and also obtain future assets to potentially become the conference's best team over the next several years. Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, JJ Redick and Derrick Favors make for a grade-A offseason haul, and Zion Williamson is somewhere between NBA-ready and a phenomenon who will easily win Rookie of the Year out of the gates.

If the Sacramento Kings were in the Eastern Conference, they'd be a sure playoff team. Adding 3-and-D forward Trevor Ariza to a unit that includes De'Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, Marvin Bagley III and Harrison Barnes only helps what was one of the league's most exciting and fun sides from a season ago. And letting Willie Cauley-Stein attempt to get paid as a member of the Golden State Warriors could be addition by subtraction. The Kings won't hang with the Lakers, Clippers or Warriors in 2019, but Sacramento's ceiling can't be ignored. 

Jimmy Butler is an upgrade over what Dwyane Wade was his last season in the league, but what comes next will determine where the Miami Heat finish in the standings. Russell Westbrook is no longer an option. Chris Paul and, dare we suggest, Carmelo Anthony would be consolation prizes. Kevin Love could be had at the right price. At least Miami doesn't have to worry about Hassan Whiteside any longer.

The Toronto Raptors don't have to become a one-championship wonder just because Kawhi Leonard relocated out west, but returning to the mountaintop will involve jettisoning Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka and Kyle Lowry to buyers in January and/or February. Toronto cannot afford to be sentimental in surrounding Pascal Siakam, the league's Most Improved Player, and   Fred VanVleet with title-caliber players. We could see the Raptors back in the conference finals as soon as 2021. 

Remember when Kyrie Irving was dedicated to remaining with the Boston Celtics and possibly convincing other stars to join him in Beantown? Al Horford and Marcus Morris followed Irving out the door, and Kemba Walker is not, on his own, a replacement for the guard who made one of the most clutch three-pointers in NBA Finals history. Watching Enes Kanter attempt to play anything resembling defense may give Boston fans headaches. Flipping Gordon Hayward for a proven commodity (*cough* Kevin Love *cough*) could be Boston's biggest win of the season if the club loses its fear of such a trade.

The San Antonio Spurs weren't in a place to match moves made by the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers, but they still have Gregg Popovich leading the charge so they'll probably make the playoffs. Watching Marcus Morris spurn them in favor of the New York Knicks made this a losing offseason for the Spurs regardless of how Dejounte Murray performs coming off the torn ACL he suffered last October. If San Antonio is on the outside looking in at the playoff picture following the holiday season, trading DeMar DeRozan and prepping for the 2021 free agency class is probably the smartest course of action. 

The Brooklyn Nets have three distinct goals before the start of the 2020-21 season: prevent Kyrie Irving meltdowns; build team chemistry; and be sure Kevin Durant's Achilles is 100 percent before he plays a second of meaningful basketball. Those assuming Caris LeVert is guaranteed to be part of the team's future beyond this fall should pump the brakes. It'd hardly be an earth-shattering occurrence if Irving and Durant decided they wanted the Nets to pursue a different option at LeVert's position after a few months. 

In a video-game simulation, the Indiana Pacers are primed to complete a deep postseason run, but some serious questions hover over the real-life team that stole Malcolm Brogdon from the Milwaukee Bucks and also acquired Jeremy Lamb and TJ Warren. Will Victor Oladipo be the same force returning from the quad injury that ended his season last January? What if the duo of Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis flounders in the starting lineup? Who would have to go? 

The dynasty is over, but don't count the Golden State Warriors out. D'Angelo Russell will want to show his 2018-19 campaign was no fluke and that the Warriors didn't just get him to eventually trade him . Willie Cauley-Stein is out to prove the Sacramento Kings wrong. Stephen Curry and Draymond Green may welcome fellow three-time champion Klay Thompson back just in time for the playoffs, depending on how he recovers from his torn ACL. That's an intimidating squad for a seven-game series. 

The Portland Trail Blazers will end their offseason exactly how they began it: with a roster that doesn't match the best of the West. Granted, Hassan Whiteside may remain content and thrive away from the Miami Heat and under the mentorship of Damian Lillard and Pau Gasol as Jusuf Nurkic recovers from the gruesome leg injury he suffered in March, but one wonders if Portland hasn't yet made its biggest splash. If I'm running the Trail Blazers, I'm making weekly calls to Cleveland about Kevin Love. 

Fans of the Houston Rockets should hope James Harden and Russell Westbrook are using jokes about their inability to share the rock as motivation to silence doubters. Houston keeping Eric Gordon and Clint Capela is massive, but the reality is Russ needs to understand and appreciate his role in his new offense for this risk-worth-taking to work. In short, the MVP's shot isn't getting any purer at this point of his career. Admitting it's regressed will go a long way in the 30-year-old helping the Rockets get to where they want to be next spring.

The Philadelphia 76ers executing a sign-and-trade that sent four-time All-Star Jimmy Butler to the Miami Heat could be a plus considering his track record . Besides, the re-signed Tobias Harris proved in the first half of the 2018-19 campaign that he can lead a playoff team in scoring, Ben Simmons is, for all his flaws, an All-Star, and Joel Embiid could win MVP and Defensive Player of the Year as soon as next season. Signing Al Horford makes Philly's defense downright terrifying, particularly when he and Embiid share playing time late in contests. 

Once signing Jamal Murray to a deserved contract extension was done and dusted, the Denver Nuggets were able to sit back, relax and enjoy the NBA chaos impacting other organizations. Nikola Jokic, the league's best passing big man, is only 24 years old, and he, Murray and a healthy Gary Harris should only continue to develop together. There's also 21-year-old Michael Porter Jr., the forward drafted 14th overall in 2018 who sat the entire campaign because of well-noted back issues. Taking a flier on Bol Bol could be a wise investment in the future. 

The next time we celebrate Christmas in July, we may be remembering the Utah Jazz as the big winners of the current NBA offseason. Utah needed to upgrade its shooting, which the team did by adding veteran Mike Conley, who's healthy and buried over 36 percent of his beyond-the-arc attempts in 2018-19, and Bojan Bogdanovic, who shot a career-best 42.5 percent from distance in 81 appearances last season and who has, in the past, proved he can contribute on defense in playoff games. Future All-Star Donovan Mitchell no longer has to carry Utah's offensive burdens, and two-time reigning Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert still hasn't reached his ceiling. Don't forget, the Jazz can and likely will add depth in the winter. 

Instead of gushing over LeBron James the Los Angeles Lakers finally acquiring Anthony Davis or about Davis and DeMarcus Cousins teaming up once again, or discussing how the Lakers failed in their pursuits of Kawhi Leonard, we instead ask the following: Was the groin injury that cost King James 18 games last season and, as Erik García Gundersen of USA Today wrote, affected the three-time champion from December through March a sign that age is catching up to the all-time great who turns 35 before New Year's Day? Father Time is undefeated, after all. 

The Milwaukee Bucks chose to extend Khris Middleton and plan for working with Giannis Antetokounmpo down the road rather than overpay Malcolm Brogdon this summer. Brogdon is a loss, no doubt, but the remainder of Milwaukee's core is strong, and keeping George Hill along with adding Robin Lopez, Brook's brother, shouldn't be undersold. Milwaukee can and likely will bolster its roster before next year's trade deadline ahead of what could become a championship run. 

Unless you've slept on the NBA offseason while enjoying summer vacations, you're probably aware the Los Angeles Clippers landed two-time MVP Kawhi Leonard and 2018-19 Defensive Player of the Year candidate and regular-season MVP candidate Paul George this offseason. That, enough, could propel the Clippers to the top of power rankings, but Los Angeles accomplished this feat while keeping Patrick Beverley, Montrezl Harrell, and Lou Williams. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Danilo Gallinari serving as collateral damage of the team's improvement isn't ideal, but that's the price the Clippers paid to build the league's best perimeter defense and arguably the Association's deepest roster.