The San Antonio Spurs, Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors will celebrate as the biggest winners from this year’s NBA free agency period and while their fan bases each have a renewed optimism that their team can be legitimate NBA title contenders next season, there is always those teams on the other side of the coin. For every team that signed a key free agent, there was at least a handful of teams that missed out in their pursuits. Here is a look at the four biggest losers from this year’s NBA free agency period.
Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers entered free agency understanding the very real possibility that they would lose DeAndre Jordan to one of the many teams that were interested in his services but that didn’t make it any easier for them when he reached a deal on a max contract with the Dallas Mavericks. A trade that landed Lance Stephenson looked like the final piece of the puzzle but that was assuming everything else would remain intact. It won’t help take away from the impact of losing a solid starting center like Jordan. While there are a number of potential free agents they could bring in to help limit the impact, it will be hard to find a big man that is better than Jordan at throwing down lobs from Chris Paul and protecting the rim. The net losses are big here.
Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers didn’t lose any of their own but the fact that they swung and missed on several big names should be a major concern for the organization moving forward. Los Angeles doesn’t have the same prestige that it once appeared to hold. They were hoping for DeMarcus Cousins, LaMarcus Aldridge, Kevin Love and Rajon Rondo, but they ended up with Roy Hibbert, Brandon Bass and Lou Williams.
With a 36-year-old Kobe Bryant locked up at big money, big term and big ego despite the very real possibility his body won’t hold up, the team is in a tough spot. The most embarrassing aspect of the Lakers free agent fodder is the fact that their method for courting players based on the glitz and glam of Hollywood was widely reported and ripped across the country. Apparently their presentation for LaMarcus Aldridge was so embarrassing and non-basketball focused that he gave the team a second chance just to save face. Beyond a couple of young potential future stars in Julius Randle and rookie second-overall pick D’Angelo Russell, this team appears a long way from being an NBA title contender.
New York Knicks
The Knicks at least managed to sign Robin Lopez, Derrick Williams and Arron Afflalo, but considering the enormous amount of cap space, big market allure and Phil Jackson running the show, they still weren’t able to land a complimentary star to play with Carmelo Anthony. New York missed out on Love, Jordan and Aldridge, among many others. Even Greg Monroe shunned them. Perhaps making matters worse is the fact that they don’t have a first-round pick for next season after trading it in the deal that landed them Andrea Bargnani. The Knicks will have the opportunity to contend for a playoff spot in a relatively mediocre Eastern Conference next season but this franchise – at least on paper – appears to be a long way away from even a deep playoff run with more question marks than answers throughout Jackson’s tenure.
Boston Celtics
The Celtics thought they had a legitimate shot to sign Kevin Love as their franchise center for years to come but he went back to Cleveland. That left Boston with a ton of cap space and not very many free agents to choose from. Jae Crowder and Amir Johnson are quality role players whose values would have been amplified if they were able to land Love. Instead, it looks like they spent a lot of money on backups who will have to start. The Celtics are still a good, young team that grew up quite bit last season but the idea was to get a star to supercharge their development. Instead, they struck out and are basically in the same spot they were last season.
