2026 NBA Offseason Grades (Central Division)

CHICAGO BULLS: B+

You have to give it to the Bulls that, at least they're trying, and we have to presume that the additions of Powell, Claxton and Caleb Wilson will make this team better.  It's possible that they may even be entertaining, as the roster looks really fast on paper and have some good athletes.

The goal, I would presume, is to at least make the playoffs.  And even though the conference has gotten deeper, like if they can't even do that, then maybe it's time to start striving for a young A-lister to bring in.

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS: B-

More than any team this offseason, I would say the Cavs took one step forward, two steps backwards.  And somehow, saying that doesn't feel surprising.

The addition of Watson is cool, I guess, maybe.  But now, Cleveland has gone from being one of the deepest rosters to having more, perhaps even too much, talent concentrated at the top.

And the bigger concern is still compatibility.  I was saying before that these starters need a 3 like Josh Hart.  And since then, Dillon Brooks also came to mind (i.e. if he didn't chuck as much).  But Peyton Watson?  He's a shooter and a board crasher.  The more the merrier, I guess.  But the goal should have been the type of glue man who could mitigate Harden's overdribbling, and Spider being forced to the 2, even though he'd probably be better at the 1.  Oh sh*t - the word Ben Simmons almost came out my mouth.

I think the Cavs are the only team who have three long, skinny dudes starting.  I don't know if they're officially the tallest frontline.  But either way, that's a sound piece of wembyproofing.

But again, the problem is, damn.  I don't even wanna talk about Cleveland anymore.  Ultimately, someone on the bench must have an amazing season

DETROIT PISTONS: C

Taking for granted that Duren is going to stick around (at least another year), the Pistons offseason hasn't been that bad because, to reiterate, Collins isn't a slouch.

I also wish Harris had stuck around, at least for another season.  So all those years as a pariah and then finally, this postseason, you redeem yourself.  I think it would have been better if he stayed on the team where the redemption took place.

The bigger pain, though, is the departure of Isaiah Stewart, who felt a true Piston.  The braintrust did a pretty good job of keeping the core together, up until now.  Remember that just two seasons ago, they had one of the worst records - in history.  In a span of just a year, that same core was then able to earn the number one seed.  I'm not quite sure why you would want to devalue an accomplishment like that.

Also, let's be frank.  Detroit's record was a lot better last season than in 2024-25.  But in 2024-25, they were more intimidating.  And who did they most notably lose after that season?

When you talk about a secondary scorer to play alongside Cade, Malik Beasley isn't the type to come to mind.  But maybe the moral of the story is that the Pistons don't even need another A-lister.  Detroit isn't tall, but they have one of the best frontlines.  The lingering issue though is lack of intimidating wings.

Silver and co., you know what I'm saying?  Cut your boy some slack.  If he's eventually found guilty or whatever, he's going to need the dough to payoff penalties anyway.

INDIANA PACERS: D

As it currently stands, I'm angrier with this braintrust than any other.  No, they didn't gut the roster last season.  But at the same time, they should have done everything possible to keep it intact (i.e. retaining Turner and/or Mathurin).

First, they would've won more games.  And what exactly was the purpose of (intentionally) losing last season?  All you were able to get is a second rounder.  And there's no way the team would have been that bad if Myles had stayed around. Suck, maybe, but not bottom of the barrel.

If Haliburton is able to come back and reclaims his "Steph of the East" magic, okay.  If not, then yeah, you know what I mean?  Let the other dudes learn to survive without him, and no, not in that getting-run-off-the-court-every-other-night type of way.  The 2024-25 Pacers were the greatest Cinderella story of the last 20 years, despite not winning it all. So even if the star player goes down, why would the braintrust want to reaccustom them to losing?

MILWAUKEE BUCKS: D

This D feels a little low, but then again yeah, if you lose Giannis, you know?  And it ain't even about what they could've got in return.  Even if they did bring back another superstar, he wouldn't have been homegrown and someone who already led the city to a championship, nor is any player actually more dominant.  This one was going to hurt no matter what, and the Bucks were able to come out of it respectfully.

And I'm kinda excited for their future, almost to the point of maybe even watching them again, sometimes.  Herro is set to enjoy an undisputed alpha level of freedom and may be the only white American player to lead a team.  Also, we now get a chance to see if Kel'el is truly a starter.

Fun Fact: Kyle Kuzma is still on this team, lol.

Also, Myles Turner is lingering around.  Please, find a way to get dude back to Indy and fast track the rebuild.

CONCLUSION

This division is unique, in that it's supposed to have two contenders, as well as possibly a third, if Haliburton returns in form.  But it damn sure doesn't feel that way, as if the Central is truly formidable.  The Cavs aren't afraid to take big swings, but they swing so hard that they miss the ball.  The Pistons are still bickering with who is considered to be their second-best player, besides losing who was arguably their emotional leader.  And the Pacers were so bad last season that now it feels like they're re-starting from scratch.  But there's no way that all three of them can disappoint, right?

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.