NBA’s 6 best moves of the offseason, ranked

Is there one more big move left in the NBA offseason? A year ago, the New York Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves completed a buzzer-beater blockbuster that exchanged Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo on the eve of media day. The year before that, Damian Lillard was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in late Sept. just before teams reported to training camp. Don’t be surprised if there’s one more unexpected trade before the NBA’s summer of 2025 is over, but for the most part the only thing thing still hanging over the league is the restricted free agent freeze out.

It’s not too early to start your power rankings for the 2026 championship race. The defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder will enter the season as the title favorite again, but there’s a strong group of contenders behind them who loaded up this summer.

Factoring in both the present and the future, here are the six best moves of the NBA offseason.

6. The Clippers’ depth moves

I thought the Clippers were going to be in rough shape after they let Paul George walk for nothing in free agency. A year later, it absolutely looks like the right decision. The Clippers won 50 games and took the Nuggets to a Game 7 in the first-round this past season as they prioritized depth over an aging star, and their depth only got stronger this offseason. The Clippers added Brook Lopez, Bradley Beal, Chris Paul, and John Collins while only losing Norman Powell this summer. The core of the team remains the Kawhi Leonard, James Harden connection fortified by an elite defense helmed by big man Ivica Zubac. With depth more important than ever before these days, LA’s other team legitimately goes 10 or 11 deep with high-IQ veterans. The Clippers are the oldest team in the league, and it’s hard to count on Leonard to be available at this point in his career, but the pieces fit together well if they can somehow stay healthy and fresh for playoff time. The best part of the Clippers’ additions this summer is that they made them without clogging their salary cap sheet long-term. LA has an outside shot at the title this year, and can still easily pivot in the next few years if they can land a younger star in free agency. It’s hard to believe the Clippers are one of the smartest organizations in basketball now after decades of mismanagement, but there’s no denying they did well this summer without much margin for error.

5. The Thunder’s Chet Holmgren extension

The Thunder handed out $822 million in extensions this summer to keep their championship core in place. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren all signed massive extensions to keep them in OKC long-term, and the bad news for their rivals is the Thunder are still set up to evade the luxury tax and the ensuing aprons for a couple more years. SGA and Williams each got the best possible deals they could from the Thunder, but Holmgren gave a little up at the bargaining table, and it could pay major dividends for the team. Holmgren’s max extension is reportedly a straight 25 percent of the salary cap deal — meaning he won’t get a raise if he makes All-NBA or wins Defensive Player of the Year next season. Evan Mobley’s DPOY victory this season earned him an extra $45 million over the life of his extension, and that complicates the Cavs’ salary cap going forward. Holmgren took that possibility off the table, and it will help the Thunder make the necessary moves around the margins to keep the team rollin’ even after they eventually lose some role players to salary cap casualties. Holmgren had a tough run offensively in the playoffs, but he was looking like an All-NBA caliber big man before he fractured his pelvis in the regular season. I’m still sky-high on Holmgren as an elite rim protector who can shoot threes and finish well inside. I think he can make All-NBA this year if he stays healthy, and if it happens, his contract will be a bargain.

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4. The Rockets’ Kevin Durant trade

Kevin Durant has been many things throughout the course of his legendary NBA career, but he’s never been a bargain until now. The Houston Rockets acquired Durant for an extremely reasonable package this summer that sent Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, and the No. 10 pick to the Phoenix Suns. Durant lands on a Houston team that desperately needed more shooting and scoring punch, and it could be enough to push them into the championship contention tier. The Rockets were already the No. 2 seed in the West last season thanks mostly to an elite defense and a talented young core. Houston retained all its best young players while adding KD, and they have the depth and athleticism to keep him in a role that works for a 37-year-old. Durant still posted fantastic scoring numbers last season while also being one of Phoenix’s best defenders. Houston will let their young defensive menaces do the heavy lifting on that end with Amen Thompson and Tari Eason cause havoc, while Alperen Sengun, Fred VanVleet, and maybe Reed Sheppard help spoon-feed Durant scoring opportunities. This feels like a perfect marriage of player and team fit, and if Houston’s young core can take another step forward, the Rockets really might be the Thunder’s biggest championship challenger.

3. The Nuggets’ Cam Johnson trade

Nikola Jokic did everything for the Nuggets last season. After a heartbreaking Game 7 loss to the eventual champion Thunder in the second round of the playoffs, Denver set out to make the superstar’s life a little easier moving forward. Denver swung for the fences by trading an unprotected 2032 first-round pick and Michael Porter Jr. to the Brooklyn Nets for Cam Johnson. Like MPJ, Johnson is a tall shooter who should feast off looks created by Jokic, but his game a little more well-rounded and he doesn’t have the same chronic injury issues. The Nuggets didn’t stop there: they traded for Jonas Valanciunas to backup Jokic, they signed a knockdown shooter in Tim Hardaway Jr., and they brought back the glue guy from their 2023 championship run in Bruce Brown. The Johnson trade was the real needle-mover. He was one of the most efficient scorers in the league last year with Cam Thomas reluctantly passing him the ball. Just imagine what he could do with Jokic. Johnson hasn’t actually been that durable throughout his career, and that will have to change even with the Nuggets’ newfound depth. The ‘two timelines’ approach of former lead executive Calvin Booth is dead. Denver is all in on the present during Jokic’s prime, and they might have improved enough to get another title.

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2. The Magic’s Desmond Bane trade

The Magic felt way closer to contention than a typical .500 team last season. Orlando missed its three best players — Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, and Jalen Suggs — for large chunks of the season, and still finished No. 2 in team defensive efficiency. The issue for the Magic beyond injuries is that they had one of the worst shooting teams ever after finishing dead-last in three-point percentage. Enter Desmond Bane, a knockdown shooter who won’t sacrifice anything on defense while adding the quick-trigger floor-spacing this team desperately needed. The Magic shelled out four first-round picks for Bane, including the Suns’ juicy 2026 pick, to Memphis to complete the deal. It’s a ton to put into a package for a player who has never been an All-Star, but Bane has had All-Star caliber seasons before, and is a hand-in-glove fit for everything the Magic needed. The big question with Orlando to me is still if Banchero and Wagner can actually make each other better. The Magic have been much better with only Wagner on the floor in recent years. Will adding a knockdown shooter to the league’s worst spacing team fix that problem? It’s a worthy bet for a team with two young stars ready to level up. Orlando paid a steep price, but the Bane deal might just make them a contender in a down year for the East.

1. The Hawks’ draft trade back with Pelicans

The Hawks pulled off an impossible trick this summer: they made themselves a fringe Eastern Conference contender while also picking up one of the most valuable assets in the league that has the possibility to return a future superstar. Atlanta’s offseason haul includes Kristaps Porzingis, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Luke Kennard, three players who can perfectly complement the Hawks’ star duo of Jalen Johnson and Trae Young if everything (read: health) goes right. At the same time, the Hawks also landed the New Orleans Pelicans’ unprotected 2026 first-round pick in an absolutely loaded draft just for trading down 10 spots in 2025. The Pelicans recklessly risked their future to land Derik Queen, and Atlanta was happy to complete the deal and still add a talented player in Asa Newell later in the order. The Pelicans are very likely to be among the worst teams in the West this season, and that could mean a blue-chip prospect for Atlanta with some lottery luck. I’ve been covering the NBA draft for more than a decade here, and I’ve never seen a better ‘big three’ than 2026’s with Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer, and AJ Dybantsa leading the way. This Hawks team already feels good enough to win a playoff series or maybe even two in a best case scenario. If the Pelicans’ pick comes in top-3, Atlanta will really be cooking. When Joe Dumars and Troy Weaver call, you better answer. The Hawks’ heist has the potential to be something we’re talking about for years to come.