The 2015 summer period is all but in the books and while the focus is set to shift to the regular season, now is the perfect time to break down the NBA offseason awards. Here is a look at the five teams that took home our most notable NBA offseason awards.
Offseason Championship Award Winner: San Antonio Spurs
It wasn’t just that they signed LaMarcus Aldridge and David West, but the way that Tim Duncan took a discount to get Aldridge to San Antonio with West also taking less money for the chance to win a championship that separated the Spurs as the offseason winners. San Antonio also brought back Danny Green at a reasonable price even as crazy sums of money were being handed out all over the place.
And while teams like the Sacramento Kings (Marco Belinelli), Toronto Raptors (Cory Joseph) and Detroit Pistons (Aron Baynes) paid head-scratching sums to Spurs backups, San Antonio made shrewd pickups like Jimmer Fredette and Reggie Williams.
In the process, they reloaded for another NBA title run while also securing the team’s future status as a contender. Duncan, Aldridge, West, Green, Kawhi Leonard, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Patty Mills represent a championship core and it shouldn’t be a surprise the Spurs are the preseason NBA title favorites.
Locked & Reloaded Award Winner: Cleveland Cavaliers
The Golden State Warriors brought back Draymond Green but the Cavaliers managed to sign Kevin Love and all indications are that Tristan Thompson will be back in the fold as well. Factor in the addition of Mo Williams and Cleveland has clearly reloaded around LeBron James in order to make another run at an NBA championship. The Cavaliers are clearly the deepest team in the Eastern Conference and while the Western Conference giants will be left to duke it out, the Cavs should have no problem getting back to the NBA Finals as long as they can stay healthy.
Air Ball Award Winner: Dallas Mavericks
Mark Cuban and Chandler Parsons went all out in order to convince DeAndre Jordan to join the Mavericks and while it’s hard to blame them, there is no doubt Dallas had the biggest air ball of the summer. Jordan waited until the very last minute before going back on his verbal commitment to the Mavericks and re-signing with the Clippers. By that time, it was far too late to bring back Tyson Chandler, who joined the Phoenix Suns. Dallas lost Chandler and Monta Ellis from last year’s roster without finding a suitable replacement for either player. They were hoping to upgrade from Chandler to Jordan at the center position but instead will end up with Zaza Pachulia and Sam Dalembertas their starter. That hurts.
Middle Of The Pack Award Winner: Boston Celtics
The Charlotte Hornets nearly stole this award from the Celtics but in the end, it went to Boston after they settled for bringing in David Lee and Amir Johnson after missing out on a couple of big-name free agents including Love. General Manager Danny Ainge has done everything he can to upgrade the roster and he certainly has the cap space to plug holes, but after missing out on key free agents, the Celtics look like a team that can be good but not great in the mediocre Eastern Conference this season.
[related_post_one]
Waiting For Next Year Award Winner: Washington Wizards
The Wizards swept the Toronto Raptors in the opening round of last year’s playoffs and seemed prime to take another step forward this season but they lost Paul Pierce and didn’t do much to upgrade with the additions of Gary Neal, Jared Dudley and Alan Anderson. Washington didn’t make a run at any big-name free agents and we have to believe that had a lot to do with the long-term plan to try to land hometown product Kevin Durant when he becomes a free agent in the summer of 2016.
