The NBA offseason has certainly been an exciting one so far, considering most of the top free agents have already been swooped up. We are only a week into free agency, but it’s not too early to tell which teams will come out the most successful. Here are the franchises that have made the biggest splash so far, and additionally a few who airballed their only shots.
Los Angeles Lakers – SPLASH
Not much honestly needs to be said about how the Lakers have done this offseason. They secured LeBron James for 4 years (3+1) and $154 million. Magic Johnson did a great job recruiting him, and LeBron took his commitment even further and called up Lance Stephenson to bring him to California as well. They also got Javale McGee and even more importantly, Rajon Rondo, who has a chance to start and command the floor next to The King. The Lakers lost Julius Randle and never even got a chance at Paul George, but they still won when they landed a historically great LeBron.
Golden State Warriors – SPLASH
The Warriors landed the most surprising deal of the summer, without a doubt. DeMarcus Cousins, the five-time All-Star 
who spent last year in New Orleans before tearing his achilles in January, signed a roughly $5 million dollar contract for next season. The following summer they’ll be able to give him a max deal, and just a few hours ago news broke that Golden State will pounce on Jonas Jerebko once his waiver is cleared. They re-signed Kevin Durant for the next two years (1+1) for $61.5 million, and it looks as if the Hamptons Five just turned into the league assassinators.
Oklahoma City Thunder – SPLASH
Thunder fans rejoiced when they saw Russell Westbrook celebrating on stage with Paul George and Nas. PG signed back on a four-year, $137 million dollar deal and for the first time in a while, Oklahoma City has secured their stars for the coming seasons. They landed a very underrated player in Nerlens Noel, who will help out greatly on the defensive end of the ball. The Thunder also managed to re-sign Jerami Grant for the next 3 years, who at 24 years old is still improving rapidly. Sam Presti has done a great job at improving the roster for deeper playoff runs, and after it was released that the franchise would part ways with Carmelo (which also saves $100 million in taxes), the foreseeable future is looking even more promising in Oklahoma.
Philadelphia 76ers – AIRBALL
To be quite frank, nothing good has really happened so far for Philadelphia in this free agency. They didn’t land LeBron or 
even come close to it, they lost Ersan Ilyasova to the Bucks, and the Spurs regained Marco Belinelli. Both of those pieces contributed very well last year, averaging almost 25 points per game combined. They did bring back J.J. Redick for another season, but besides that, they seem to have missed out big. If they want to repeat as 50-game winners next year, they better hope that Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons step up big.
New Orleans Pelicans – AIRBALL
The Pelicans really screwed up with their second best player, DeMarcus Cousins. The franchise neglected to recruit him back to the team, something that Anthony Davis reportedly also played a part in. They did bring in Julius Randle from the Lakers, but his value isn’t nearly as close as Cousins’. New Orleans lost Rajon Rondo, who played a big part in their playoff run last year before they got taken out by the Warriors. He will be replaced by Elfrid Payton next season, but a team this young and inexperienced might end up struggling.
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