2026 NBA Offseason Grades: Northwest Division

DENVER NUGGETS: B

The Nuggets have acquired the services of DeMar DeRozan, which is a quality pickup.  I would even argue that he's an upgrade over Watson, even though they're different types of players.  DeMar is more resilient and proven.

But it looks like, based on preliminary suggestions, that they may actually bench him on behalf of Christian Braun.  If that's true, that means both Westbrook and DeRozan, i.e. one lock and one probable future HoFer, would have been benched in favor of Braun.  Please, someone make sense of that to me.

I think Lonnie Walker IV was also a solid acquisition.  But unless you're a fan of nostalgia, I really don't see any need to get excited about Denver from the jump though, with DeMar, it is possible they'll overachieve.

The bench, regardless if he or Christian leads the second unit, is nothing to write home about.  But I guess, all things considered, the braintrust did the best they could.  Losing Watson kinda sucks, but not really, after it was revealed, reading in between the lines, that he wasn't overly committed to the organization.

MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES: A

It remains to be seen if the Wolves have gotten better.  Kuminga for Reid and Ball for Conley + Randle are like equal tradeoffs on paper.  But I agree with other pundits that it was better for Minny to do something (drastic) rather than standing pat.  Looking at the signs last postseason, you don't want to risk a situation where Edwards may decide to force his way out.  And things have definitely improved in that, besides Philly (and San Antonion, I guess), so long as they're healthy, the T-Wolves are the only other team that's must-watch, win or lose.  Building that kind of roster, without Lebron or Wemby, is something to be applauded.

OKC THUNDER: A-

The NBA is more injury prone than ever, and likewise having insurance (i.e. a deep roster) is also more ideal than ever.  But I like the fact that the Thunder have trimmed down, because even though all those moving pieces were intimidating, they weren't as good as a lot of people thought.

That championship they won, it's arguable they wouldn't have (despite homecourt advantage) if Haliburton didn't get hurt.  And last season, deep roster and all, they lost in the WCF anyway.  Yes, I know Williams was hurt (and they rushed him back) and one of those redundant yet effective wing dudes was also injured.  But not being able to survive a couple of injuries defeats the purpose of being that deep to begin with.  And also, as fans, we could use more Alex Caruso and Jared McCain.

But I guess the one downside is people now believing that Holmgren is overrated, yet OKC failed to acquire any additional, notable bigs to back him up.  I don't necessarily feel that way.  I believe Chet is so tall that Wemby is the first time he ever faced anyone whose actually taller.  He lost his biggest advantage, so it's a learning curve.  Dude may have that Ryan Reynolds' head, but he's still a child.

PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS: A-

I like the fact that Portland acquired Morant and also that they've retained the services of Scoot, for what it's worth.  This is a deep and formidable, albeit undersized, G core, especially if Lillard returns anywhere near his previous, perennial-allstar form.  It's also balanced, like you have two elders and then two younger bucks.  They could be a surprise team.  But at the same time, it doesn't necessarily appear as if they're vying for a championship.  Or let's say that, if they are expecting to win it all, then the onus has once again been placed on Damian, despite his age and injury history.

UTAH JAZZ: C

Last season, the Jazz were being advertised as a team who, despite sucking since the departure of Spider + Gobert, would finally have their shit together this coming season, or in the very least a frontline to look forward to in Markannen + Jackson Jr. + Kessler, buttressed by a young, promising G core.  And just like that, with the departure of Walker, the vision has evaporated.

Meanwhile, I'm looking at the roster like okay, a lot of these younger dudes I don't really know.  But it's like, who cares?  Has progress been achieved, as envisioned in February?  I'm surprised a braintrust led by Danny Ainge is mired in mediocrity like this.  Maybe he shoulda stayed in Boston.

CONCLUSION

A couple of teams in this division, i.e. Minnesota and Portland, have made powermoves as compared to last season's rosters.  And since the conference has gotten weaker in general, a sleeper or two will inevitably emerge out West.  But none in this division have clearly upgraded besides, fingers crossed, the Blazers.  And the only indisputable contender, as it currently stands, is of course OKC.

2026 NBA Offseason Grade: Atlantic Division

Finally, I can get around to writing these 'offseason grades' posts.  All of the major dominoes have apparently fallen, except for maybe Kawhi, who can't seem to stop tripping over his own shadow type shit.

BOSTON CELTICS: C-

I know that Boston has the tendency to overachieve, and they have some solid players, but honestly, I'm not expecting much out of this roster.  First of all, it's mostly reliant on Jayson Tatum who, for all we know, may never be able to play over long stretches again.

More notably, let's not forget that the Celtics more than willingly gave up their best player, making them arguably the dumbest braintrust of the offseason.  So the only reason they didn't get a flat F is because they were able to acquire Mitchell Robinson, i.e. the most-consequential 2026 free agent within the context of the Wemby era (tho of course he's no replacement for Jaylen Brown).  Also, even though Paul George gets dissed a lot these days, dude can still score.  So it's not like the last couple of months have been all bad.

But that said, what's really making the Celtics look ass backwards is the fact that a few of their main (conference) competitors have gotten noticeably better, while they have rather downgraded, so to speak.  Even a C-, all things considered, may be generous.  They must really, really, really be looking forward to Payton Pritchard taking a major step forward this coming season.

BROOKLYN NETS: C-

I'm looking forward to Porter Jr. + Randle being one of the better F combinations next season.  But damn, the rest of the roster has virtually zero name recognition.  This has to be, like by far, the least-popular team in the league, which is pretty amazing when you consider all of the hype surrounding Brooklyn a few years back.  Where's Jigga when you need him?

One of the biggest problems with the Nets, not even looking back at the past, is that they've come to rely too heavily on young, unproven players.  But at the same time, the braintrust like sucks when it comes to drafting.  So speaking of non-stars needing to take a major step forward next season, man.  Porter + Randle may be formidable, but if other guys don't overachieve, forget about it.

If anything, I guess we can say that Brooklyn needs to solidly lock that pair down, so at least they have a set foundation to build on.  If they do trade Porter Jr. like really, who are they going to get return to stand at the center of a young rebuild?

NEW YORK KNICKS: C+

Giving NYK a C may be generous because, in reality, they downgraded this offseason.  In terms of all-around talent, they still have the best starting five in the league.  But honestly, if not for their bench overachieving, it's unlikely they would have won that championship.

Meanwhile, the Knicks have lost their most-notable bench player (to a direct competitor), that being Mitchell Robinson.  Andre Drummond, despite being relatively slow and kinda one-dimensional, isn't a slouch.  He's also a better rebounder than Robinson.  But it's like, yeah.  When Wemby comes to town, there's going to be a problem.

But at least the Knicks were able to keep all of the rest of their dudes, and at least the team hasn't gotten smaller while the rest of league is sizing up.  But as it currently stands, given that latter fact, i.e. competitors getting bigger or deeper, I'm not overly confident they will repeat.  Also, it does look like the powers-that-be assisted them in winning, and there's no guarantee they'll get that favor again.

PHILADELPHIA 76ERS: A

I can't give the Sixers an A+ because despite having the most-newsworthy offseason of 2026, they failed to address their biggest issue - the inconsistency of Embiid's health.  They went out and got Brown plus Lebron "Donatello" James, the latter of whom, now willing to be paid like a NBA layman, ended up being the most-heavily recruited free agent.  But there are a number of elephants in the room.

First of all, to reiterate, we can't rely on Joel being consistently available.  Second, every other viable contender is bigger, i.e. taller, than Philly.  And third, oh shit, they don't even have a backup center.

Meanwhile, the idea of Lebron playing smallball 5 is no longer valid because again, competitors are now too big besides LBJ, at his current age, sucking on defense.  But since they are going to be forced to play smallball nonetheless, I have floated the idea of Ben Simmons, who can also play the 5, perhaps coming back.

That said, with or without Embiid, the Sixers should dominate other smaller teams.  Also, we have to take into consideration that besides having a boatload of talent, these guys probably want to win more than anyone else.  The energy is super exciting, to the point that losing is not an option..

TORONTO RAPTORS: F

The Raptors get an F for now for a couple of solid reasons.  They tried to trade one of their star players, only for the transaction to be voided or whatever.  That isn't ideal, because you have to presume that Ingram, despite always being in trade talks, feels at least a tad bit disgruntled.  You try to trade someone, renege and then expect him to report to the organization and give his very best, even though his (multi-million dollar) salary has already been set.  Okay.

But even more alarming is that, outside of that one failed and overall questionable move, dudes have made zero attempts to upgrade.  Granted, Kawhi is definitely worth the wait or whatever.  But if the trade ultimately doesn't go through, Toronto just completely wasted an offseason while, once again, the Eastern Conference at large has gotten better.  And it's not like the Raptors are contenders already.  That isn't admirable braintrusting.

CONCLUSION

The Atlantic should be one of the most interesting divisions next season, even if a couple of teams may be overrated.  They have the reigning champions, as well Lebron and, even though he's switched teams, Jaylen has stuck around also.  But there is balance in that the Nets, i.e. the least-interesting team in the NBA, is also present.  And as for the Raptors, they may continue to be respectable even without Kawhi.  But if he doesn't come to town, no one outside of Canada will really care to follow them.

Loyalty vs. Progress (The Denver Nuggets' Story)

According to Google, the Denver Nuggets are the only team currently set to enter next season within the 'dreaded second apron'.  But if you look at their roster, it's like oh sh*t, what are they spending that money on?

Under conventional logic, being the most-expensive team would mean the roster is replete with superstars or at least has a big three.  That's not the case with Denver.  Or let's say they may have been big, back when these contracts were signed.

NIKOLA JOKIC

I'm not about to engage in any Jokic bashing.  But let me say that just like virtually everyone else, you have to put him in the right kind of environment to succeed.

And that's one funny thing about the Nuggets' braintrust, even though they're relatively good.  It seems that it never dawned on them to actually build a team around Nikola.

That's the ultimate honor in a way, having a braintrust construct a roster around your skillset.  But now that I think about it, the two most blaring examples of that phenomenon which comes to mind - the Iverson Sixers and the Nash Suns, neither resulted in a championship.

AARON GORDON

Aaron Gordon is the perfect type of frontcourt running mate for Jokic, which may sound like a contradictory statement based on what I just said.  Don't forget that he was, at one time, an alpha.  And you have to give it up to Aaron for being able to go from a number one option to a role player.

Gordon's ability to play like a traditional big while at the same time not clogging the lane fits Nikola well.  But the problem is, oh sh*t, he's noticeably past his prime - in a league that, despite outlawing straight from high school, feels like it's getting younger.

Meanwhile, Jokic never had an intimidating athletic build to begin with.  And both, as partners within the current "parity" system, are being paid like kings.

MICHAEL PORTER JR.

Letting Michael Porter Jr. go, all things considered, may be the biggest mistake Denver made in relation to their current situation.  He was supposed to be the future of the team so to speak, not Christian Braun or Peyton Watson.

Back in his Nuggets' days, I criticized dude a lot for being too passive.  Now, what I'm starting to believe is that he was relegated to that disposition due to the structure of the roster (i.e. lacking seniority) and also health-related issues.

Porter Jr., at 6'10", is what we would conventionally define as a big, even if he plays like a wing.  He went from being a third or fourth option in Denver to averaging 24pts and 7assists in Brooklyn.  If the pitiful Nets had won a respectable amount of games, he would have likely been an allstar.

I predicted his potential way back in the day, which is one of the reasons I was pissed he wasn't trying harder.  But I mean, the Nuggets knew what time it was also.  Remember how highly regarded he was, despite being a 14th pick.

CHRISTIAN BRAUN

Christian Braun is now the scapegoat, which is kinda poetic, considering how Denver rationalized clearly prioritizing him over Westbrook.

I'm not a Braun basher and can somehow see why the Nuggets believed in him, to the tune of about $25mil/season(!).  They thought he had more potential than has thus far been displayed, which may be true if he didn't get injured (though I kinda doubt it).

Also, he's entertaining to watch.  That's true for all white players who are respectable wings, maybe just because they look different.  But also, in the case of Christian, he can like dunk and shit.

Let's not forget that he was also, even as a rookie, a notable part of that Nuggets' rotation who won a championship.  And that brings me to the heart of this post.  I do believe Denver may be one of those franchises that really values loyalty or continuity, to the tune of overpaying dudes they're committed to.  And I mean, you can appreciate why a braintrust would feel that way after winning a championship and especially with a roster consisting largely of homegrown talent.

JAMAL MURRAY

For example, let's not forget that Murray has been running with Jokic since day one.  If Jamal was in the East, he'd probably be a perennial allstar.  He's like a poor man's Steph, so to speak.

But I mean, so what?  It ain't exactly like dudes are Steph + Draymond, you know, having won four championships and shit.  I appreciate that even winning one is hard enough.  But it shouldn't be that the nostalgia persists into perpetuity.

THE DUBS' MODEL

We see this same type of loyalty, arguably, with the Warriors.  Yes, they let Klay walk in a less-than-ideal fashion.  But \they also behave questionably when it comes to appreciating youth.

When it comes to NBA executives, a lot of times we see younger, attractive dudes front and center.  But I do believe many of these organizations are run by old dawgs.  And the point being made is that, changing one's way of thinking isn't easy.  Some decisionmakers may still be stuck on the 20th century model.

And it's all good.  Again, winning a championship is a rarity.  So the next best option is to at least keep yourself in the game.  You know, like the 1990s' Jazz.  Malone + Stockton never won a championship, and so what?  At least you can't look back and say the team wasn't garbage.  The most you can ask for really is a fighting chance.

CONCLUSION

All of that is a euphemistic way of saying that unless the Nuggets do land DeRozan or possibly Kuminga, it's really hard to get excited about their upcoming season. And the moral of the story is that you shouldn't pay top dollar for a roster that was a contender three years ago.  But maybe the braintrust didn't foresee the powers-that-be's decision to raise taxes or probably didn't even care.  So all things considered, I mean yeah, they remain the most expensive roster despite losing a coveted player, one that fit well into their rigidly-set system.  Ultimately, you can't knock an organization for showing love to some of its most storied employees.