11 NBA Takes: The Most Fascinating Moves in the West
NBA Substack writers on what's piqued their curiosity
We asked 11 leading NBA voices on Substack:
Which Western Conference team or player made the most fascinating moves?
Check out their answers and subscribe!
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Maybe it's because I will have a front-row seat for it because of where I live, but Klay Thompson choosing Dallas fascinates me endlessly. The signs of Klay's discontent with how the last season-plus of his Warriors tenure played out are certainly evident now — with hindsight. I guess the basketball romantic inside me just didn't want to believe that he ever would want to play elsewhere.
Years and years of covering the Mavericks' whiffs in free agency only add to the shock of it all. Thompson clearly wants to show people that he can still be a key cog on a title team. There will be no shortage of skepticism that both he and the Mavericks can stay at that level.
I've had the privilege of covering more than a few chapters in Klay's career … but I never, ever expected his one. Fascinating with a capital F.
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My pick is the Warriors turning Klay Thompson's departure into a six-team multiple-sign-and-trade to acquire Kyle Anderson and Buddy Hield, and then bringing in De'Anthony Melton on a one-year deal that might actually allow them to keep him if he plays well enough to get a Non-Bird contract next summer.
Anderson is a perfect fit for their offensive style, and a versatile defender. Hield is not Klay, but he can do a decent impersonation on some nights. And Melton gives them a dimension they didn't really have (because Gary Payton II can't shoot). They're not going to be an elite team, but they did a strong job recovering from losing a franchise legend and might be better than they were last year.
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I like DeMar DeRozan to the Kings. He's going to add such a sense of floor security, not to mention toughness, to that team. It's not a big swing, but the fit is smart, and DeRozan next to Keegan Murray I like for the play as much as the mentorship of it.
DeRozan, if you watch him around games — before, after — is gravitational, guys love to drift to him and be around him. There's been a headiness, or substance, missing from the Kings since their sweetheart run and DeRozan delivers that.
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What can anyone make of the New Orleans Pelicans after their trade for Dejounte Murray, especially considering Brandon Ingram remains waving in the wind?
The Pels didn't have the best moves in the West — OKC takes the cake, and Dallas is on the list — but I'm really interested to see how this goes, especially in combination with letting Jonas Valančiūnas walk.
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The most fascinating Western Conference team is OKC. Had the Thunder stood pat, just the idea of another summer of growth for this young group would be intriguing enough, but the additions of Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein, not to mention retaining Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe, position the Thunder to be as deep and complete a roster as the league has to offer.
Caruso’s perimeter defense is a case of the rich getting richer, but Hartenstein’s physicality and gritty rebounding is exactly what was needed for a Thunder group whose lack of size was exposed by Dallas.
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The Thunder. The Alex Caruso for Josh Giddey swap was addition both classic and by subtraction. The move to get Hartenstein is fascinating because it completely distorts how they operated last year. I love the optionality, though, because worst case? They still roll out their core group, give or take a Caruso. Best case? They’re nearly matchup-proof. And they still have so many picks!
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While going with OKC or Dallas would likely be the "correct" answer here, I'm going to look to a less free-agency-inclined team: the Minnesota Timberwolves.
I still can't get over the sheer gall to trade for Kentucky guard Rob Dillingham on draft night. While it isn't uncharacteristic for a contending team to trade away picks (in this case, a 2031 first and a 2030 swap), it is very uncharacteristic to do so to grab a non-generational rookie.
Minnesota believes in Dillingham, so much to make him the — dare I say, to make the not-quite-right comparison — Kyrie-type piece to Anthony Edwards' LeBron.
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I must give love to my hometown Blazers here. Trading for Deni Avdija – a player who I didn’t realize was available – might be the sneaky best acquisition of the summer.
In his first few seasons, Avdija proved to be an NBA-caliber offensive role player with the facilities to become a high-level defender — but perhaps not much else. In Avdija’s fourth season, though, he played more like the big, playmaking, 3-point shooting wing that teams fawn over. His ceiling is still a mystery, but Avdija doesn’t need to get that much better for this trade to be a huge win for Portland (and he might get a lot better).
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If we talk about very good players who raise the floor for their teams, but maybe limit their ceiling too, we might find two players in the list that will share the court next season in Sacramento: DeMar DeRozan and Domantas Sabonis.
I don’t think we can say that the Kings are a very dangerous team in this Western Conference. I consider them a third-tier team (1: Contenders; 2: Very Good Team; 3: Good Team), but they surely will be very hard to beat. They already were last season until the Malik Monk injury.
And what if their weird DeRozan-Sabonis style works out?
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As the best team in the West to shake up its core, the Pelicans made their big move to get Dejounte Murray before other moves that can/will make this feel a lot better. Murray's fit with Zion, TM3, Herb, and Hawkins feels natural and logical.
His fit with McCollum and Ingram … not so much. If the Pelicans can find a high-quality starting center (likely not Missi or Theis, this season), and find new arrangements for CJ and Ingram, then I can see the vision. But, all we can do is wait to see.
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My pick for the most fascinating move in the West is Chris Paul to the Spurs.
No, the Spurs won't make the playoffs. The roster is still too young, and Paul too old. But the team's offense should look many times more organized compared to last year — something a lot of NBA fans, hungry for Victor Wembanyama highlights, will appreciate.
From a big-picture standpoint: If Wembanyama wasn't already scary enough, then being under the tutelage of one of the smartest players of all time will likely have a positive influence on Wemby's career for many years to come.