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.

George Karl's Desire to Trade Star Center DeMarcus Cousins Part of a Growing Patern

            George Karl wants to run another superstar out of town. Karl, named head coach of the Sacramento Kings on Feb. 11, desires the team’s front office to part ways with DeMarcus Cousins via a blockbuster trade. According to a report from Yahoo Sports!/FOX Sports 1 NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, Karl is imploring the Kings brass to wash their hands of Cousins. Here’s a piece of Woj’s report:

            Karl has been recruiting Kings vice president of basketball operations Vlade Divac and multiple players on the Kings' roster to unite with him in making the case to owner Vivek Ranadive that Cousins needs to be traded, league sources said.

            Since the end of the 2014-15 season, Cousins has become aware of Karl’s campaign to move him – including teammates telling Cousins, sources said. All around the Kings and Cousins, there is a growing belief the coach-player relationship is irreparable. Trust is a constant theme with Cousins, and he’s been unable to build any with Karl, sources said.

            No one in the Sacramento organization – not coaches, nor players, nor support staff – wants to imagine the combustible scenario awaiting Karl and Cousins should the Kings try to reunite them in training camp.

            Cousins has had his share of detractors since entering the league. His defense, laziness and inability to coincide with the team's head coach have been criticized. Though Cousins is not a model player—at least in terms of his mental toughness and work ethic—the talented big man is not at fault for being unable to co-exist with Karl.

            A 24-year-old first-time All-Star in 2014-2015, Cousins emerged as arguably the NBA’s top center last year, showing signs of maturity in the process.  In fact, Divac gave the young center immense praise in March, saying Cousins is the most talented big man he has ever seen.

             "I've been in basketball a long, long time, and I have to say he's the most talented big guy I have ever seen," Divac said of Cousins, who recorded the third-most double-doubles this past season (47) despite missing 23 games due to injury/illness. "Shaq [Shaquille O’Neal] wasn't talented -- he was just strong. I was talented, but I wasn't strong."

            The burden of the failed player-coach relationship falls on Karl. The 2012-13 NBA Coach of the Year, Karl has a history of butting heads with his team’s alpha dog, so it’s no surprise he has quarrels with Cousins, who posted 24.1 points, 12.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per contest with a 25.2 player efficiency rating (PER)—the seventh-best mark in the NBA.

DeMarcus Cousins is coming off a career-year for the Kings, but head coach George Karl wants the star center out of Sacramento. (Troy Taormina/USA Today Sports)

             Karl is responsible for Ray Allen’s departure from the Milwaukee Bucks. Allen led the Bucks to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2001—losing to the Allen Iverson-led Philadelphia 76ers in seven games—but was dealt to the Seattle Supersonics at the trade deadline two seasons later.

            "It came too much to an abrupt end," Allen said of his Bucks career. "It still seemed like there was more to be done here. Ultimately, I think it was the whole George Karl relationship. We started butting heads and it ended up not working.”

            The United States men’s basketball team made the mistake of hiring Karl to be head coach of the 2002 squad. The US had an embarrassing sixth-place finish in the 2002 Olympics—the only time the US has failed to win the gold since the International Olympics Committee granted professionals the opportunity to participate in the Games in 1992.

            Naturally, Karl had a scapegoat for the team’s catastrophic performance in the 2002 Games. The victim was Paul Pierce, the Boston Celtics’ budding star who was coming off his most impressive season as a pro in which he led the league in points scored. Karl—who before the tournament began told Pierce he was the team’s best individual offensive player—called the young guard/forward a “selfish player.” He said Pierce’s defense was lacking throughout the entirety of the Games. Pierce did not take Karl’s comments lightly. Prior to a regular season contest between the Celtics and Bucks in November 2002, Pierce ripped Karl to shreds when asked what he learned from playing for Team USA.

            ''I learned not to go play USA basketball if George Karl is the coach,'' said Pierce.

            ''I don't think he's a players' coach, straight up,'' said Pierce. ''It wasn't only me, but a number of the players didn't respond to what he was saying or understand what he was trying to do. But me, I just play my part. I'm never going to question what he needs to do in practices, what he needs to do in games."

            ''We had a great coaching staff, [San Antonio's] Gregg Popovich [to name one assistant]. We had personalities on the coaching staff that you could get along with, but it was hard to read [Karl] at times, what he wanted out of certain people.''

            Need more examples of Karl butting heads with star players? Look no further than tweets from his former players, who all indirectly reference their former coach as a snake:

WHEN THE GRASS IS CUT THE SNAKES WILL SHOW.

— Carmelo Anthony (@carmeloanthony) February 25, 2011

To many snakes in the grass got to get the lawn kut!

— JR Smith (@TheRealJRSmith) October 7, 2011

When the grass is cut...

— Andre Iguodala (@andre) May 15, 2014

            If Cousins is dealt Karl will face an even longer road to rebuild the Kings, a franchise that has not made the postseason since 2006. The Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks are licking their chops at Karl’s irrationality, while Cousins has taken to Twitter to express his emotions on his coach’s trade request—using a well-placed snake emoji:

🌾🐍🌾

— DeMarcus Cousins (@boogiecousins) June 23, 2015

Kerr's Small Ball Decision Comes up Huge Thanks to Iguodala

                Needing a spark after losing consecutive NBA Finals contests, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr opted for ‘small ball.’ Kerr initially told reporters he had no plans to change the usual starting lineup of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green and Andrew Bogut.

            “I lied,” Kerr said following the Warriors’ 103-82 thumping of the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 4. “I don’t think they hand you the trophy based on morality. They give it to you if you win. Sorry about that.”

            Kerr’s deception worked to a tee. In came forward Andre Iguodala, out came Bogut for the starting five. Iguodala, who has thrived in the Finals, revved up the engine for a Warriors squad that had looked disheveled in their previous two consecutive losses. Aside from speeding up the pace of Golden State’s offense, Iguodala decelerated LeBron James’ otherworldly rhythm he had maintained for the first three games of the championship series.

            James had his worst game of the Finals, missing 15 of his 22 shots and going scoreless in the fourth quarter. He went 4-14 on possessions in which he was guarded by Iguodala. In addition to containing King James, Iguodala excelled on the offensive end, posting 22 points on 8-of-15 (4-for-9 from three-point range) shooting.

Andre Iguodala found a way to slow down LeBron James in Golden State's Game 4 blowout victory. (Bob Donnan/USA Today Sports)

            Going small was a major risk for the Warriors as they had been getting pounded on the glass by the Cavaliers’ Timofey Mozgov and Tristan Thompson all series. Kerr recognized Golden State was going to get beat on the boards regardless, so his decision to insert Iguodala was predicated on the notion that a small lineup would deliver better shots and a faster pace. Kerr’s gamble paid off. Golden State moved the ball quicker and found more open shots. The Warriors shot 46.8 percent (39-of-77, including 12-of-40 from three-point range) from the field, their highest of the season. Finally, the Warriors created penetration to the basket, and as a result, often found an open man in the corner.

            The lineup change limited Bogut to just three minutes of playing time. But it opened the door for David Lee, the former All-Star who had been riding the pine for most of the postseason. Lee, who had previously been in Kerr’s doghouse, was effective for the second straight game. He poured in nine points (3-of-7 shooting) with five rebounds and three assists in five minutes of play. Lee helped the Warriors bench outscore Cleveland’s reserves 19-7 in Game 4.

            Lee’s ability to thrive in the small ball lineup was a pleasant surprise for a Warriors’ bench that has underachieved these Finals. But Iguodala stole the show in a game Golden State needed to have facing a 2-1 deficit in the series. Iguodala handled the ball almost as much as Curry and yet committed only one turnover.

            Iguodala posted a plus-16 in the victory. James, meanwhile, managed a minus-15. Despite James’ providing three superhuman outings to open the series, his struggles with Iguodala—who saw by far his most playing time (39 minutes) of the series—are actually consistent. According to NBA.com/Stats, James has been a negative player (minus-12.7 points per 100 possessions) in the Finals with Iguodala on the court and at plus-5.4 in the limited time he has spent away from Iguodala.

            "I didn’t think Andre guarded him any differently than he did in the first three games,” Kerr said. “It’s a different game. LeBron’s shots didn’t go in. The same shots may go in next game. And you never know how it’s going to play out. But Andre, he battles him. He’s played him a lot in his career. Whatever team he’s been on, he’s been the guy who has to guard LeBron when LeBron comes to town.”

            Iguodala’s shutdown defense on James eliminated any chance of the Cavaliers taking a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. Iguodala’s play also helped Kerr win his gamble with his small lineup, and it now it appears Golden State may have found its formula to defeat Cleveland and capture the franchise’s first title since 1975. 

Andre Iguodala stole the show in Game 4, helping Golden State even the 2015 NBA Finals at two games apiece. (AP Photo)