NBA Offseason Grades: Heat, Mavericks, Bulls, Kings, Hawks

Another day, another set of offseason grades. This time, we’re taking a look at the Miami Heat, Dallas Mavericks, Chicago Bulls, Sacramento Kings and Atlanta Hawks.

The Heat are an organization always looking to compete. The Mavs and Nico Harrison received the biggest dose of luck imaginable. The Bulls and the Kings remained doing Bulls and Kings things. The Hawks may have had the best offseason of any team in the league.

Here’s a closer look at how each of these teams fared:

Miami Heat

Notable additions: Norman Powell, Kasparas Jakucionis, Simone Fontecchio

Notable departures: Duncan Robinson, Kevin Love, Kyle Anderson

What’s next? That’s the question that still lingers for the Heat in the post-Jimmy Butler era. The acquisition of Powell signals an intention to at least remain competitive in the East. A core of Tyler Herro-Powell-Andrew Wiggins-Kel’el Ware-Bam Adebayo can do that in the weaker conference.

There would have been a preference to keep Robinson but opportunity now beckons for Haywood Highsmith and Jaime Jaquez Jr. The latter should be due for a bounce-back season following a sophomore slump.

Many were surprised to see Jakucionis drop all the way to 20th. It was a sensible decision by the Heat to not let him drop any further and he leveled out after a slow start at Summer League.

Head coach Erik Spoelstra will be thrilled to not have any distractions this season, which may be the biggest plus for the Heat.

Grade: C+

Dallas Mavericks

Notable Additions: Cooper Flagg, D’Angelo Russell

Notable Departures: Spencer Dinwiddie

What once seemed like an offseason of doom ahead was dramatically shifted at the draft lottery. Dallas emerging with the top selection and Cooper Flagg is the only thing that could have undone the damage of losing Luka Doncic and it somehow happened.

You don’t give them points for lottery luck but, at the end of the day, the Mavs drafted a potentially generational talent.

Signing Russell as a free agent provides necessary playmaking while Kyrie Irving recovers from a torn ACL. Russell will also have been informed he will occupy a reserve role once Irving is healthy, so one presumes he is ready to do that wholeheartedly as well.

The bottom line is Flagg shifts the entire perspective on the Mavs. The biggest gripe with the Doncic trade was shrinking the title contention window. Injuries to Irving and Davis then made it seem as though there may be no window at all.

The injury concerns with those two veterans will remain but now there is a very clear alternate pathway. It is indeed better to be lucky than good. Dallas’ offseason is proof of that.

Grade: B+

Chicago Bulls

Notable Additions: Noa Essengue, Isaac Okoro

Notable Departures: Lonzo Ball

It made a lot of sense for the Bulls to draft a long-term prospect in Noa Essengue. There’s no need for this franchise to make a safe pick, so credit where credit is due.

Casting away another meaningful piece in Ball to a contender without receiving draft compensation is a shocker. One would think they already learned about the perils of that mistake with Alex Caruso last offseason but apparently not.

They once seemed so enamored with Josh Giddey but are now playing hard ball in negotiating a new deal. So, do they like him or not?

Moving on from Nikola Vucevic would at least set a clearer path for this team moving forward.

Grade: D

Sacramento Kings

Notable Additions: Dennis Schroder, Nique Clifford, Maxime Raynaud, Dario Saric

Notable Departures: Jonas Valanciunas, Jake LaRavia

Hello, Bulls West. The Kings have done well drafting Clifford and Raynaud but this looks like a mess of a roster. We’ve already seen how LaVine and DeRozan on the same team plays out. Now, they’re having to share the court with another ball-dominant player in Domantas Sabonis. He’s just as much of a minus defender, too.

Malik Monk has been in trade rumors for the last little while but nothing has materialized. Schroder is their marquee free agent acquisition and should at least add some level of defensive resistance alongside Keegan Murray in the starting lineup. There’s no real opportunity for Murray to flourish with this setup, however.

It’s really too bad returning to the playoffs a few seasons ago already looks to be the high point of this decade for the franchise.

Grade: C-

Atlanta Hawks

Notable Additions: Kristaps Porzingis, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Luke Kennard, Asa Newell

Notable Departures: Clint Capela, Caris LeVert, Larry Nance Jr., Terance Mann, Georges Niang

The Hawks have done well this offseason, they really have. The Celtics were having a fire sale and Atlanta was right to take advantage with the acquisition of Porzingis. Alexander-Walker is also a big get as one of the better role players in the league.

Asa Newell is a solid draft choice and showed encouraging signs at Summer League.

Is this a team ready to contend in a weakened Eastern Conference? That becomes harder to see. Porzingis’ health is a question mark and Jalen Johnson will need to show he can make it through a full season, too. The Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks and Orlando Magic figure to be a step ahead, but home-court advantage in the first round is firmly in the picture.

That’s a notable improvement for a team eliminated in the Play-In Tournament this past season.

Grade: A-