5 Winners of 2017 NBA Offseason

                The 2017 NBA offseason has been an intriguing period, to put it lightly, after the league experienced its most lowbrow postseason in recent memory. With trades galore—some taking place before (and during) the NBA Draft and others occurring during the free agency frenzy—player movement has been abundant as the competitive landscape has again been remolded. Here’s a rundown of the five winners of the offseason.

Golden State Warriors

                The Warriors won the offseason for the second straight year. A summer removed from winning the Kevin Durant sweepstakes, the NBA champions re-signed Andre Iguodola to a three-year contract, gave two-time MVP Stephen Curry a supermax contract, retained Durant on a discount deal, kept backups Shaun Livingston and David West, brought back veteran starting center Zaza Pachulia and added guard Nick Young and forward Omri Casspi.

Shaun Livingston (left) and Andre Iguodala (right) re-signed with the NBA champion Warriors. (Russell Yip/The Chronicle)

                Curry, Durant, Iguodala, and Livingston have all proven their worth to the Warriors—so too have Pachulia and West, in limited roles, something Young and Casspi could do next season. Young shot 40.6 percent from three-point range last season and will get plenty of open looks on a loaded Golden State offensive attack. Casspi, inked to a veteran minimum contract of $2,106,470, can be slotted at both forward positions, shoots the three well and has the length to play reasonable defense. He dealt with injuries most of last year, but the season prior he registered career-high averages in points (11.8), rebounds (5.9), minutes (27.2) and 3-point percentage (40.9).

              It’s hard to imagine the Warriors not capturing a second consecutive title next season. They are far better than the second-best team in the league, the Cleveland Cavaliers, who have done nothing to close the huge talent gap between the defending champion Warriors.

Boston Celtics

                Securing the No. 1 seed in the East was a huge accomplishment for the upstart Celtics, but they were clearly overmatched in the Conference Finals by the Cavaliers. While Cleveland remains the favorite to return to the Finals, Boston could give the three-time reigning Eastern Conference champs a run for their money. The Celtics signed All-Star forward Gordon Hayward—who has "unfinished business" to accomplish with his college (Butler University) coach and current Celtics head coach Brad Stevens—in free agency and now have a second scorer to take some of the burden off electric guard Isaiah Thomas.

                Trading Avery Bradley—a free agent in 2018—was a tough, but necessary move by President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge. In shipping Bradley to the Detroit Pistons, the Celtics netted Marcus Morris, a lengthy defender who, in the past, has guarded LeBron James as well as any player possibly can.

                Though the Celtics relinquished the top pick to the Philadelphia 76ers via trade, they got their man in Duke forward Jayson Tatum with the third overall pick and collected an additional high lottery pick (the Los Angeles Lakers’ pick in 2018 if the selection falls anywhere from No. 2 through No. 5 in the Draft, and if not, the Sacramento Kings’ pick in 2019) and retained their deep cache of future draft picks.

                Jaylen Brown earned playoff minutes last season and could serve as a crucial piece to Boston’s team in 2017-18 and beyond. And if LeBron opts to bolt Cleveland in the summer of 2018, the Celtics could rule the East for the foreseeable future.

Oklahoma City Thunder

                The Thunder pulled off the shocker off the offseason by acquiring Paul George…for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis. Even if George is just a 1-year rental and leaves for Los Angeles next summer, this deal is 100 percent worth it. The Thunder scraped Oladipo’s bloated contract and picked up one of the league’s best players all in one single move.

                With George on the Thunder, NBA MVP Russell Westbrook, fresh off averaging a triple-double for the 2016-17 campaign, now has a superstar teammate again—merely a year after Durant ditched town in taking the easiest path imaginable for a title by joining the 73-win Warriors.

                Adding forward Patrick Patterson and re-upping defensive stalwart Andre Roberson to a three-year, $30 million contract was icing on the cake for Oklahoma City, which is now in the conversation with the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets for the second-best team in the West.

Paul George and Andre Roberson are now teammates in Oklahoma City. (Brian Spurlock/USA Today Sports)

Houston Rockets

                Speaking of the Rockets, the 55-win franchise acquired Chris Paul, a top-10 player in the league and now-former Los Angeles Clippers superstar point guard.

                Though it cost the Rockets NBA All-Defense First-Team member Patrick Beverly, the 2015 Sixth Man of the Year (Lou Williams) and frontcourt youngsters Sam Dekker and Montrezl Harrell, this trade is a home run for Houston, which now has a juggernaut 1-2 punch of James Harden and Paul that is every bit as talented as any duo in the league.

                The logistics of a Harden-Paul duo—two players who love to have the ball in their hands—shall be interesting. But it was clear last year that Harden deserved more help after the NBA’s assist leader looked absolutely gassed in the team’s second-round postseason defeat at the hands of the Spurs.

                The Rockets are rumored to have interest in 10-time All-Star Carmelo Anthony. This trio would be full of star power, and while Anthony really feigns holding onto the ball, the hope is he can be utilized as a power forward who is switch-impervious in the pick-and-roll with Harden and Paul.

Minnesota Timberwolves

                The Timberwolves look destined to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2004. They landed Jimmy Butler in a Draft Night trade with the rebuilding Bulls. Butler rejoins forces with Tom Thibodeau, who coached the three-time All-Star in Chicago.

Tom Thibodeau and Jimmy Butler will be reunited in Minnesota. (Tom Zanine/USA Today Sports)

                Minnesota also added Jeff Teague, a formidable point guard who is two years removed from an All-Star Game appearance, and signed veterans Taj Gibson and Jamal Crawford.

               Adding Crawford, the three-time Sixth Man of the Year nearing the end of his career, adds a needed three-point maker, but the shooting-deprived Timberwolves still need more guys to hit buckets from the outside on a consistent basis to join the likes of the elites in the West. With that said, Karl Anthony-Towns, Butler and Andrew Wiggins are a trio to be feared for years to come and gives a Minnesota franchise its first real excitement since trading away Kevin Garnett in the summer of 2007.