With the new NBA season set to begin and all roster spots sealed, NBA analyst Keith Smith pointed out that the Philadelphia 76ers lead the NBA in new players acquired, with 8 new players signed. Following them are the Clippers, Timberwolves, Thunder, Wizards, Pelicans, and Jazz with 6 new players each.
For the 76ers, their new player acquisitions include Paul George, Guerschon Yabusele, Eric Gordon, Andre Drummond, Caleb Martin, Reggie Jackson, Jared McCain, and Adam Bona. With a new-look roster heading into the 2024-25 NBA season, the 76ers will definitely have a lot of work to do to build chemistry.
The Clippers signed Mo Bamba, Cam Christie, Kevin Porter Jr., Nicolas Batum, Derrick Jones Jr., and Kai Jones. The Timberwolves acquired Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, Joe Ingles, Rob Dillingham, Terrance Shannon Jr., and Jesse Edwards.
For the Thunder, they landed Alex Caruso, Isaiah Hartenstein, Nikola Topic, Dillon Jones, Ajay Mitchell, and Alex Ducas. The Wizards were active during the offseason, as they picked up Malcolm Brogdon, Jonas Valanciunas, Saddiq Bey, Kyshawn George, Calton Carrington, and RayJ Dennis.
In what was a strange offseason for the Pelicans, they secured some new faces in Dejounte Murray, Antonio Reeves, Yves Misi, Daniel Theis, Karlo Matkovic, and Javonte Green.
And finally, the Jazz, who look to build around Lauri Markkanen, got Isaiah Collier, Cody Williams, Drew Eubanks, Syi Mykhailiuk, Kyle Filipowski, and Patty Mills.
Some Teams Didn’t Change Their Rosters
On the other side of things, the Celtics, Cavaliers, and Rockets are the teams with the lowest roster turnover, acquiring 1 new player each. Followed by the Lakers, Grizzlies, Pacers, and Trail Blazers with 2 new players each. It’s clear these teams either didn’t want to change their roster or couldn’t make any big moves.
As far as the Celtics, go, they just added rookie Baylor Scheierman to their roster. And the same goes for the Cavaliers, who signed Tristan Thompson, and the Rockets with Reed Sheppard.
The Lakers’ new players include rookies Dalton Knecht and Bronny James. The Grizzlies added Zach Edey and Jaylen Wells. The Pacers signed James Wiseman and drafted Johnny Phurphy this year. And finally, the Trail Blazers traded for Deni Avdija and drafted Donovan Clingan.
Which of these approaches will work out better, time will only tell. One could argue that a team like the 76ers, which were so active in the market, now have a much stronger team than the previous year, and it improves their chances of competing for an NBA championship. And that would be a fair argument to make.
On the other hand, a team like the Celtics, who had most of their roster secure and tied to long-term deals, and coming off of an NBA championship win, probably felt that they didn’t need to be particularly active in the offseason, and didn’t want to tinker with what had already been a winning formula for them.
Which of these teams will thrive the most next season? Well, we don’t have to wait too long for those answers, as the new NBA season tips off this week.
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