10 Takes: The Most Fascinating Moves in the East
NBA Substack on the big decisions we've seen this offseason
We asked 10 leading NBA voices on Substack:
Which Eastern Conference team or player made the most fascinating moves?
Check out their answers and subscribe!
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Maybe fascinating is not the most precisely applicable word, but I don't know how this conversation can begin anywhere other than Philadelphia. Daryl Morey had to convince Tyrese Maxey that waiting an entire year for his max deal would be worth it for him and the team and then proceeded to pull off the cross-country pilfering of Paul George after so much of the league believed that the only current All-Star truly available on this summer's free agent market would never swap West Coast for East Coast.
Even the Sixers' smaller moves (wresting Caleb Martin from Miami, re-signing Kelly Oubre Jr. but with Oubre agreeing to waive his One-Year Bird trade veto rights, adding Andre Drummond and Eric Gordon on bargain deals, bringing back Philly native Kyle Lowry) all had some shine.
While there is still plenty to prove on the court, starting with health and how George handles the searing Philly spotlight after it appeared that staying in Clipperland or a move to the Bay Area were his preferences, Morey executed his entire year-in-the-making plan. A front office couldn't wish for more.
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I feel like it has to be the Knicks. They finally cashed in all their trade chips, and did it not for a foundational star, but a hyper-elite role player who fits like a glove. It's a move that is so clearly targeted at giving the team the best chance possible to defeat one specific opponent (the Celtics, duh), which is the kind of thing that makes sense on the surface but also could backfire if you end up facing a different opponent.
There are so many different layers to it, from the cost to the fit to the Villanova vibes to the way it affects the futures of Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson and so much more. Whatever you think of the value, it's hard to find something any team did that was more interesting than this.
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The New York Knicks went all-in for Mikal Bridges. Bridges is a very good player, but he’s never been an All-Star and never come close to All-NBA. Yet, the Knicks valued him as such by sending off their entire draft future.
It’s hard to say it was a bad move, because Bridges is a great fit, even if the Knicks are very wing-heavy now. Will there be enough minutes? Are they too small? Will their defense go to a new level?
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As someone who has followed the Nets’ draft situation very closely over the past few years, it feels to me as though Brooklyn is playing 4D chess. After receiving a whopping five first-rounders (four + a swap) for Mikal Bridges, they turned around and made an underrated and potentially league-altering move: getting their picks back from the Rockets.
Removing the swap rights on the 2025 first rounder means a chance at the generational Cooper Flagg, while 2026 offers the ever-hyped AJ Dybantsa. Brooklyn is shaping up to be the most interesting tank job of the year, and for good reason.
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The 76ers’ offseason has been thoroughly fascinating, and I’m not even referring to the Paul George signing. That was the splashy move, of course, but every other move the Sixers made this summer is what makes this a true masterclass from GM Daryl Morey.
Bringing back Kelly Oubre Jr. and Kyle Lowry, bringing in Caleb Martin for extra wing depth and Andre Drummond to play backup center, adding the best shooter in the draft in Jared McCain, and locking up Tyrese Maxey? This is now a team with enough depth to beat Boston. Take a victory lap, Sixers front office.
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The answer, truthfully, is Paul George. But I’m assuming the 76ers will be well-covered by others, so I submit the second-most fascinating nominee: the Orlando Magic.
Signing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will help on both ends, although he’s a lower-volume 3-point shooter than people realize. Giving the max to Franz Wagner, no real strings attached, was at least mildly surprising. Adding back nearly all of their depth pieces (sorry, Markelle Fultz) at a reasonable price was a more clear-cut pleasant surprise.
Orlando is young, hungry, and in no hurry. That’s a dangerous combination.
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The youth movement in Detroit is over. Right?
The Pistons needed veterans. They went and got four of them. Yes, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Tobias Harris won’t be missed by Mavs and 76ers fans, but when you win only 14 games as a young team you need all the help you can get. They are two experienced players who can try to stabilize that team and locker room.
And if things go south again … they can also be two excellent tank commanders.
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The New York Knicks acquiring Mikal Bridges is my pick. After years of speculation around Kyrie Irving, and then Donovan Mitchell, they paid a superstar price for an elite, plug-and-play role player. The move is an audacious bet on a small, PnR-heavy former second-round pick point guard and a group of 3-and-D players that Thibs will coach into an effort machine (TBD on whether this is a bet on Randle or not).
Only time will tell if this really has championship upside.
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I’m going to zag here, as I imagine my peers are justifiably going to talk about the Sixers or Knicks.
For me, the moves the Raptors made this offseason, while wholly predictable, were still both eye-popping and disconcerting. Giving Immanuel Quickley and Scottie Barnes — who I like, but not as a first option — a combined $400 million plus reflects two things: the wild state of contracts in the league, and a poor organizational process of talent identification.
A team whose top three players project as Barnes, Quickley, and RJ Barrett does not inspire much more than an expectation of a tough run of 30-ish win seasons.
Jeremias Engelmann |
The most fascinating move in the East is Paul George to the 76ers.
Philadelphia sported a top-two net rating for a good chunk of last season before Joel Embiid started missing more games.
Now they're adding a player who appears consistently underrated — a player the impact metrics just love — in Paul George.
If Embiid can stay a little healthier this upcoming season, the 76ers might sport one of the all-time best net ratings for a 2-seed.