ESPN just surveyed 15 scouts, executives and coaches from around the NBA in a variety of topics regarding the offseason and the upcoming 2023-24 campaign.
Among the topics the group was polled on was which team had the best offseason in terms of personnel moves.
Buy Lakers TicketsThe San Antonio Spurs came in first with four votes, presumably because of the simple fact they had the good fortune to take Victor Wembanyama No. 1 in June’s draft. Wembanyama, the 7-foot-4 French phenom, is thought to have MVP-level potential, and while 10 of the 15 voters said he would play at an All-Star level in five years, many of them felt he would be in contention for the league MVP just a few years later.
The Boston Celtics were second in this category at three votes, and the Los Angeles Lakers were tied with the Golden State Warriors and Milwaukee Bucks at two votes. The Lakers didn’t do a ton in terms of adding players, but they did add some contributors such as Taurean Prince, Gabe Vincent and Christian Wood.
The bulk of what they did this summer was retain virtually all of their key free agents. In particular, they kept Austin Reaves, their hottest commodity on the market, on a four-year, $56 million deal. One scout felt that deal alone meant the Lakers had a good summer (h/t Lakers Daily).
Via ESPN:
“Reaves on that contract alone is a good offseason,” a West scout said of the Lakers’ summer. “[Gabe] Vincent is a solid player … but when you get a guy that good on that contract, that’s huge.”
There were rumors that a team such as the Spurs would make Reaves a big offer and drive up the price for the Lakers to keep him. But that never happened, and they were able to keep Reaves, who was a restricted free agent, on a reasonable contract.
A number of people, including their head coach Darvin Ham, feel Reaves can become an All-Star in the near future. If he does, his new contract could end up being a bargain for them by its second or third year.
