The first week of NBA free agency was chaos in the best way. Giannis got traded. Jaylen Brown got traded. Ja Morant got traded. And LeBron James is still sitting out there like a final boss nobody has beaten yet. But when you look at who actually improved their roster between June 30 and now, two teams stand out above everybody else.
The Philadelphia 76ers and the San Antonio Spurs didn’t just make moves. They made the kind of moves that shift the balance of power in their conferences.
Let’s start in Philly.
The Sixers have been stuck in second-round purgatory for years. Joel Embiid is an MVP when he’s healthy, but that’s the problem. He’s never healthy when it matters most. The franchise bet everything on The Process and ended up with a lot of scar tissue and not much else. But general manager Daryl Morey went to work this offseason like he had something to prove.
First, the small stuff. Dean Wade signed for four years and $39 million. That’s a perfect fit for a team with three ball-dominant guys in Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and rookie V.J. Edgecombe. Wade is a stretch four who can stand in the corner and let the gravity do the work. Then came Anfernee Simons for just over $12 million. That might be the best value deal of the entire free agency period. Simons averaged 22.6 points a game two seasons ago. He knows how to be a sixth man now after a year in Boston. That’s a weapon off the bench.
The Sixers also added Ariel Hukporti, Caleb Love, and Rayan Rupert. Hukporti just won a title. Love gives you more scoring from the backcourt. Rupert is a legitimate point-of-attack defender on the wing. Every one of these deals looks like the Sixers got more than they paid for.
But none of that compares to the Jaylen Brown trade.
Philadelphia sent Paul George and two first-round picks to Boston for the former Finals MVP. The Celtics wanted four or five first-rounders originally. Morey talked them down to two. That’s a heist. Brown immediately becomes the best two-way wing on the roster and gives the Sixers a legitimate closer in crunch time. Now the Sixers are the favorites in the East. And they’re still one of six teams in the LeBron sweepstakes, according to league sources. If LeBron actually picks Philly, it’s over.
The Spurs fixed their one weakness and it might win them a title
San Antonio was already ahead of schedule. A team full of teenagers made the NBA Finals last season and took out the defending champion Thunder to get there. Victor Wembanyama is a alien. Dylan Harper looks like a future All-Star. Stephon Castle is a menace. But they had a problem: they got bullied in the paint in the Finals. Size killed them.
So they went and fixed it.
The first move was easy. Re-sign Harrison Barnes for veteran leadership and shooting. Barnes has been to the mountaintop before. He hit 38 percent from three last season. Keep him around the young guys. That was a no-brainer.
Then they grabbed Tobias Harris on a two-year, $30 million deal. Harris just helped the Pistons earn the one-seed in the East. People have spent years calling him overpaid, but this contract is actually fair. He gives San Antonio a real power forward who can stretch the floor and hold his own on defense. Last season the Spurs were starting Julian Champagnie, who is a shooting guard by trade, at the four. That’s not happening anymore.
And go back to the draft for a second. San Antonio used two first-round picks on big men: Jayden Quaintance and Tarris Reed Jr. Both are true post players. The Spurs saw what killed them in the Finals and decided they would not let it happen again. Now they have size. They have physicality. They have Wembanyama. They have everything.
The Spurs were already one of the most talented teams in the league. Now they have the depth and the muscle to actually finish the job. The rest of the West should be nervous.
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