Over the last 25 years, there has been a trend in the NBA that many fans have a strong distaste for while others have embraced it. This trend has completely changed the landscape of the NBA. I am speaking of course about the steady increase of NBA stars or superstars who have moved franchises and changed cities and will continue to do so in the future.
From the end of the 2017-18 season, the landscape of the NBA has drastically changed with some of the biggest names in the sport in new places, and some have changed those places more than once. Whether it be through free agency or trade, the world’s best basketball players have sought out greener pastures with numerous NBA franchises and some have found those greener pastures. Others continue to find their way into new situations more frequently.
Recently, we predicted what the NBA would look like in 2028, just five years from now. Today, we will take a look back at how much the NBA has changed in terms of star movement since the end of the 2017-18 season to this very moment as you prepare to enjoy this piece written for your enjoyment. Which players have found success? Which players are still making their way around the league? These questions and more will all be answered.
This is how much the NBA has changed over the last 5 years.
Paul George
Team In 2018: Oklahoma City Thunder
Team In 2023: Los Angeles Clippers
When looking back on 2018, Paul George had just completed his first season with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He had helped the Thunder reach the NBA playoffs with a 48-34 record alongside Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony. Unfortunately, that team would lose in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
During the 2019 season, George would be an MVP candidate with the Thunder but suffer the wrath of Damian Lillard in the playoffs that season as well. His sendoff in Oklahoma City was sealed with a dagger and a wave by Damian Lillard.
Of course, over the last three years, George has been a member of the Los Angeles Clippers. After leading the franchise to its first Conference Finals appearance ever in 2021, things have gone downhill rapidly for George and the organization. George has played 56 games or less every year he has been in a Clippers uniform. He was limited to 31 games in 2021-22 and missed 26 games in 2022-23 including the first round of the playoffs. Who would have thought that five years ago, this would be where things are now for Paul George?
Chris Paul
Team In 2018: Houston Rockets
Team In 2023: Golden State Warriors
When looking at how things were playing out just five years ago, nobody could have told me Chris Paul would be with his fourth team in five years in 2023. Paul had just finished his first season with the Houston Rockets. Helping lead them to 65 wins and a close seven-game loss to the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals, Paul would spend one more season in Houston before being traded to the Thunder.
Paul would be in Oklahoma City for one season as he returned to All-Star form and led the Thunder to the playoffs. From there, it was on to Phoenix where Paul enjoyed a solid three seasons. In 2021, he would help lead them to the NBA Finals only to fall to the Milwaukee Bucks. In 2022, he would lead the NBA in assists but fall in the NBA playoffs to the Mavericks. After another injury cut his playoff run short in 2023, Paul now finds himself on the move again.
In one of the more shocking moves so far this offseason, Chris Paul was first traded from the Suns to the Wizards in the Bradley Beal trade. Just a few days later, Paul would be on the move once again to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for Jordan Poole. With the shocking pair of Stephen Curry and Chris Paul taking the court next season, I can only imagine it will be in a sixth-man role off the bench. Whatever the case, it will be quite a shock to see him in a Warriors uniform when the season starts.
Russell Westbrook
Team in 2018: Oklahoma City Thunder
Team in 2023: Los Angeles Clippers
Russell Westbrook is one of the most explosive point guards in NBA history. Over the last five years, he has been with four different teams and could be headed for a fifth in free agency. Back in 2018, Russell Westbrook was in his second-to-last season with the Thunder while still averaging a triple-double for the entire season. He would do the same for the Thunder in 2019 as well before being dealt to the Rockets in 2019.
Westbrook would then do one-year stints with each of the Rockets and the Wizards in 2019 and 2020. It would be with the Wizards that he would break Oscar Robertson’s triple-double record and average a triple-double for the 2021 season.
In 2021, Westbrook would be traded to the Lakers to team up with Anthony Davis and LeBron James. However, the experiment would be a disaster from the start with Westbrook catching most of the blame and the Lakers missing the playoffs entirely in 2022. In 2023, Westbrook would be traded before the trade deadline to Utah where he was waived and then signed by the Clippers. After a decent playoff showing with the Clippers, there appears to be mutual interest between the two teams to bring him back, but for a certain price. Westbrook still has quality basketball left in him and I hope at least one team gives us the chance to see it a little longer on the court.
Kyrie Irving
Team In 2018: Boston Celtics
Team In 2023: Dallas Mavericks
In 2017, just before the 2017-18 season began, we saw Kyrie Irving seemingly force his way out of Cleveland and to Boston to play with the Celtics. With two All-Star seasons in Boston, Irving looked as if he had found a home forever until fans and Boston media turned on him for his injuries and curious off-court beliefs. From there, Kyrie made his way to Brooklyn where things took an odd turn down the line.
Irving arrived in Brooklyn in 2019 where he would remain for the next three and a half seasons. During this time, we watched as Kyrie was able to get his friend Kevin Durant to come to town along with convincing the Nets to build a superteam with the likes of James Harden as well. Unfortunately, things began to fall apart as injuries and limited time on the court together led to friction within the franchise.
Irving reportedly butt heads with Steve Nash and team owners over various issues. Kyrie would also find himself in hot water with management this season in 2023 after sharing the link to a movie that could be found on Amazon with anti-semitic rhetoric. Having had enough of the shenanigans, Kyrie would be dealt to the Mavericks where he finished out a 27.0 PPG season but failed to help them reach the playoffs. Now, it seems Irving will be back with Dallas on a max deal but we await his decision in free agency. As we have seen over the last five years, anything is possible when it comes to Kyrie Irving.
Kawhi Leonard
Team In 2018: San Antonio Spurs
Team in 2023: Los Angeles Clippers
The correlations between 2018 Kawhi Leonard and 2023 Kawhi Leonard are scarily similar. In 2018, we were caught in the middle of a war between the Spurs organization and Leonard after he alleged they mishandled his ankle injury. Leonard would play just nine games for the team in 2018, marking the final straw for a disgruntled relationship between the two sides that ended with a trade to Toronto.
In his first and only season with the Raptors, Kawhi would go on one of the most fascinating runs in NBA history. Being back in All-Star form, Leonard would lead the Raptors through a tough playoff gauntlet and all the way to their first NBA championship in team history. The cherry on top would be the Finals MVP award that showed the Spurs just how badly they mishandled his situation. This led to a difficult decision in free agency as Leonard left Toronto and headed south to Los Angeles and the Clippers organization.
Although the team was also able to trade for Paul George, nothing has gone right for them since 2020. Leonard has battled serious knee issues for three years now which included missing the 2021 Conference Finals, all of the 2021-22 season, and 30 games in 2022-23. Kawhi also missed the 2023 first round after tearing his meniscus again in Game 1. With knee surgery in the future for Leonard, his future as a Clipper remains unclear as does his health moving forward.
James Harden
Team In 2018: Houston Rockets
Team In 2023: Philadelphia 76ers
Who would have thought that a Houston Rockets backcourt that won 65 games would be in different places just five years later? I didn’t for one but here we are with James Harden also making this list. Back in 2018, James Harden was still leading the NBA in scoring at his offensive peak with Houston, something he would do every season from 2018 through 2020 for a total of three scoring titles.
Something began to go wrong in 2021 with the Rockets though as Harden seemed uninterested and disconnected from the rest of the team. His frustration was met with a trade to the Brooklyn Nets to team up with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. Of course, that superteam would be an absolute failure that couldn’t even get past the second round of the playoffs and Harden forced his way out once again in 2022.
This time, he would land with the Philadelphia 76ers where he would stay through the 2022-23 season. In 2022-23, Harden would lead the NBA in assists while helping teammate Joel Embiid capture the MVP award. In the NBA playoffs, the duo would meltdown in the second round, bringing into question where Harden would be as he heads into free agency. As the best player in the free agency class, Harden is drawing a ton of interest from his former team, the Rockets, who have the money to pursue multiple big names. Will he be back in Philly or will we be including him in our next article five years from now?
Jimmy Butler
Team In 2018: Minnesota Timberwolves
Team In 2023: Miami Heat
In 2018, Jimmy Butler earned his fourth career All-Star selection with the Minnesota Timberwolves after being traded over from the Chicago Bulls. Butler brought an energy to the Timberwolves that would soon be too much for either side to handle. After a spirited and heated practice that saw Butler show up his coaches, ownership, and teammates, he was promptly traded to the 76ers.
Butler would finish the 2019 season with Philadelphia but soon be traded to the Miami Heat after the Sixers decided their money would be better spent on Tobias Harris. Let’s see how that turned out.
In his first season with the Heat, Butler led the team to the NBA Finals as a part of the Bubble playoffs held in a Covid-shortened season. Butler has also led the Heat to another Eastern Conference Finals in 2022 but fell to the Celtics in seven games. In 2022-23, Butler reached into his bag of tricks again to help lead the Heat back to the NBA Finals. Once again, the Heat fell in the Finals, this time to Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. Butler has been on a mission over the last five years but we can be certain he likely remains in South Beach for the rest of his career.
Anthony Davis
Team In 2018: New Orleans Pelicans
Team In 2023: Los Angeles Lakers
Anthony Davis was already considered to be a top big man in the game in 2018 with the New Orleans Pelicans. He captured his third blocks title in 2018 and led the Pelicans to the NBA playoffs. As the 2018-19 season continued on, rumblings began to gain steam about Davis seeking out and a trade being facilitated.
In 2019, that trade would happen as Anthony Davis would be sent to the Los Angeles Lakers to team with LeBron James. In their first season together, Davis would help lead the Lakers back to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010. In the NBA Finals and the playoffs as a whole, Davis would shine and was clearly the piece that put the Lakers over the top. They would win the NBA championship in six games over the Heat with many more on their mind.
Since the NBA championship, Davis has been ridiculed and dragged through the mud for his inability to stay on the court. Davis has faced injury after injury since 2020 and the Lakers have suffered because of it. In 2022-23, as Davis stayed relatively healthy, the Lakers thrived all the way to the Western Conference Finals. Although they would be swept in those Finals, Davis finally looked like the player they had in 2020.
Kevin Durant
Team In 2018: Golden State Warriors
Team In 2023: Phoenix Suns
At the end of the 2018 season, Kevin Durant was celebrating his second NBA championship and Finals MVP in a row with the Golden State Warriors. They had just swept LeBron James and the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals and looked unbeatable as a unit. One torn Achilles and disagreement with Draymond Green later, Durant was out the door to Brooklyn following the 2018-19 season.
After missing the entire 2019-20 season with the Achille injury, Durant would have an up-and-down tenure with the Brooklyn Nets. Individually, he still struggled with injury but looked like one of the best players in the world when healthy. The only thing that prevented him from championships was the fact that he and teammates James Harden and Kyrie Irving never shared the court together. In 2022-23, Durant would be sent to the Phoenix Suns in a blockbuster deal at the trade deadline.
Durant finished out 2022-23 as the only player to ever have 55/40/90 shooting splits in a season. In the NBA playoffs, Durant struggled a bit and the Suns were eliminated in the second round. The Suns have already made one big splash by acquiring Bradley Beal to add to Durant and Devin Booker while trading Chris Paul. The only thing left to see for Durant over the next five years will be if he can capture an NBA championship again or not.
LeBron James
Team In 2018: Cleveland Cavaliers
Team In 2023: Los Angeles Lakers
The final player gracing our list is sure to be the one haters were quick to point out when they read the title. Back in 2018, LeBron James had just come off another all-time great Finals performance that resulted in a loss for his team. Heading into free agency, Lebron had a tough choice to make but knew that if he left Cleveland this time, he could feel much better about it than how he did in 2010.
He would do just that and join the Los Angeles Lakers, ready to take his career into the next chapter. His first season with the team would result in missing the playoffs after suffering a groin injury that cost him a ton of time during the second half of the season. In his second season, after acquiring Anthony Davis, James would lead the Lakers to an NBA championship, capturing his fourth Finals MVP, second to only Michael Jordan in NBA history.
Since that championship, it has been a whirlwind for LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. Various injuries and other things have caused early playoff exits as well as missed playoff seasons. In 2022-23, James would break the NBA’s all-time scoring record on the Lakers home floor against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The team would also advance to the Western Conference Finals after nobody gave them a chance following a 2-10 start to the season. I do not think James will be around in five years, well retired or owning a team somewhere. However, with the way he has already defied the laws of nature, anything is possible for LeBron James at this point.
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