{"id":23171,"date":"2019-07-03T12:27:36","date_gmt":"2019-07-03T16:27:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonnba.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=23171"},"modified":"2019-07-18T17:16:58","modified_gmt":"2019-07-18T21:16:58","slug":"three-nba-teams-with-a-quietly-great-offseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2019\/07\/03\/three-nba-teams-with-a-quietly-great-offseason\/","title":{"rendered":"Three NBA Teams With a Quietly Great Offseason"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the NBA, teams can get better via the draft, free agency, or trade. A few NBA teams got significantly better through all three phases of the offseason. While these moves aren&#8217;t the ones that will be talked about the most, they made each team get better.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Three NBA Teams That Had a Great Offseason<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3><strong>1. Indiana Pacers<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lwosonnba.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/nba-teams\/indiana-pacers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Indiana Pacers<\/a> made several key moves this offseason that have made them a threat to be a top-four seed in the East next year. They traded for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/warretj01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>T.J. Warren<\/strong><\/a> who was second on the <a href=\"https:\/\/lwosonnba.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/nba-teams\/phoenix-suns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Phoenix Suns<\/a> in scoring last year, averaging 18 points per game on 48 percent shooting from the field. With <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bogdabo02.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bojan Bogdanovic<\/a><\/strong> going to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lwosonnba.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/nba-teams\/utah-jazz\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Utah Jazz<\/a>, Warren is a fine replacement as a starting forward. They also added <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/brogdma01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Malcolm Brogdon<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lambje01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jeremy Lamb<\/a><\/strong> in free agency. Brogdon is coming off a career year for points (15.6 points per game) and also managed to notch 50\/40\/90 shooting splits, a feat all shooters covet. Both he and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/o\/oladivi01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Victor Oladipo<\/a><\/strong> could potentially be the best defensive backcourt in the league next season. Lamb also averaged a career-high 15 points per game for the <a href=\"https:\/\/lwosonnba.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/nba-teams\/charlotte-hornets\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Charlotte Hornets<\/a> last season, which was second-best on the team behind <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/walkeke02.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kemba Walker<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>2. Utah Jazz<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>One team that has been on the cusp of greatness is the Utah Jazz with their young dynamic duo of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mitchdo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Donovan Mitchell<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/goberru01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rudy Gobert<\/a><\/strong>. The only issue was the lack of offensive support around these two. With the moves the Jazz made this offseason, they can potentially make some noise next season. They traded for <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/conlemi01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mike Conley<\/a><\/strong>, a 20 point scorer who is a big upgrade over the departed <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/rubiori01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ricky Rubio<\/a><\/strong>. Defenses will now have to draw some of their attention off of Mitchell which should improve his efficiency. Another great addition was the signing of Bojan Bogdanovic, who had career highs last season in points (18), field goal percentage (49.7 percent), and three-point percentage (42.5 percent). His presence on the wing should be another great addition to compliment<strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/i\/inglejo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joe Ingles<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>3. New Orleans Pelicans<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lwosonnba.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/nba-teams\/new-orleans-pelicans\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New Orleans Pelicans<\/a> are a team that has put together one of the best offseasons so far. After losing franchise cornerstone <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/davisan02.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anthony Davis<\/a><\/strong> to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lwosonnba.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/nba-teams\/los-angeles-lakers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Los Angeles Lakers<\/a>, the Pelicans quickly replaced him with <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/willizi01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zion Williamson<\/a><\/strong>. They also added <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/balllo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lonzo Ball<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/i\/ingrabr01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brandon Ingram<\/a><\/strong>, and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hartjo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Josh Hart<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0via the Davis trade. In free agency, they added <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/redicjj01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">J.J. Redick<\/a><\/strong>, one of the best three-point shooting guards in the league. Redick should be a great addition off the bench and he can help mentor the Pelicans younger players. Another great addition was trading for <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/f\/favorde01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Derrick Favors<\/a><\/strong> from the\u00a0 Jazz. He is an efficient big man (12 points, 7.5 rebounds) that can be a bridge to eighth overall pick <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hayesja02.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jaxson Hayes<\/a><\/strong>. This team has made tremendous strides since David Griffin <a href=\"https:\/\/bleacherreport.com\/articles\/2831049-report-david-griffin-finalizing-contract-as-pelicans-pres-of-basketball-ops\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">took over<\/a> as President of Basketball Operations.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo<br \/>\n<a id=\"gnRUz4L-SU5HDhXZIIxcMg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1081212612\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'gnRUz4L-SU5HDhXZIIxcMg',sig:'DJrdUWzVmNbpwCHT-3woMmjG8fWnJV3dZiyUyVeVAFw=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1081212612',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the NBA, teams can get better via the draft, free agency, or trade. A few NBA teams got significantly better through all three phases of the offseason. While these moves aren&#8217;t the ones that will be talked about the most, they made each team get better. Three NBA Teams That Had a Great Offseason [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3058,"featured_media":23817,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,11,33,24],"tags":[1682,1970,49,220,144],"class_list":["post-23171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-pacers","category-pelicans","category-jazz","tag-2019-nba-draft","tag-2019-nba-free-agency","tag-indiana-pacers","tag-new-orleans-pelicans","tag-utah-jazz"],"modified_by":"Chase Gage","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3058"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23171\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}