NBA Free Agency: Winners and Losers of week 2

Week 2 of the Free Agency in the NBA had the lots of big names making their decision about their future with LeBron James’ first essay in Sports Illustrated to return and resign with his home state franchise of Cleveland Cavaliers being the biggest news. Within a few hours of the James’ announcement, Chris Bosh resigned to a 5 year max deal worth 118 million dollars with the Miami Heat.Carmelo Anthony and Pau Gasol followed suit with the former staying and resigning with the New York Knicks while the latter moved from the bright lights of Los Angeles to the town of the Bulls franchise-Chicago. In the days that came next the rest of dominoes fell into place as teams looked to go to their Plan B with James and Anthony not being free agents any more. For the Houston Rockets they had to go to their Plan C.The number of signings, resignings or trades that followed in the couple of days after LeBron James’ decision have never been seen before. So which teams were the Top winners and Losers of week 2. Here they are:

#5 Losers: Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets does come as a surprise in the losers list given their recent track record in off-season free agency markets. The Rockets have been the most successful team over the past couple of off-seasons acquiring James Harden in 2012 and Dwight Howard in 2013, however their most recent has been nothing but disastrous.

They made their intentions very clear of building a Big three with Anthony or Bosh alongside the current duo of Howard and Harden, but eventually the team ended with none and had to settle for Trevor Ariza. For the Rockets, their cap space was the biggest issue when it came to acquiring any of the big players.

In an attempt to make cap room, the franchise traded Jeremy Lin to the Los Angeles Lakers and Omer Asik to the New Orleans Pelicans.

Despite having the cap space the team failed to sign Anthony, but Houston failed to sit quiet and focused strongly on Plan B-signing Bosh. Within 24 hours the Rockets missed the two biggest fishes they had as their target this summer.

To make matters worse, they decided not to match the offer sheet that Chandler Parsons received from Dallas Mavericks, having already signed Ariza who plays a similar position as Parsons.

#4 Losers: Los Angeles Lakers

No surprises as far as Lakers being a Loser for the second week in a row is concerned. The decisions this summer seem like the Los Angeles Lakers are digging a hole for themselves.

The Rockets missed both their targets and so did the Lakers. Although the purple and gold franchise never stood a chance at grabbing James, General Manager Mitch Kupchak’s meeting with James’ agent certainly counts as a pitch.

After neither acquiring Anthony or James, all the team management has been doing over the last few days is to fill the roster spots. They did so by re-signing Nick Young and Jordan Hill, while acquiring Lin via a trade with the Rockets. Hill can be an effective center but still leaves the team with no legitimate shot blocker in the paint and questions can be raised about the chemistry Young might share with franchise player and future Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant.

All of these roster changes are coming at a time when the team’s Head Coach has not been decided yet.

Will the forthcoming Head Coach find himself with a roster of players that don’t fit his system or style of play, like Mike D’Antoni faced when he became coach in 2012?

With the way things are going, one thing is for sure the two years listed on Bryant’s current contract will not be spent in contending for a NBA title given the team that has been assembled around him.

#3 Winners: Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks quietly made it to the Top 3 winners of week 2 courtesy of their acquisition of Chandler Parsons late in the week. On Thursday, the Mavericks offered Parsons a three-year deal worth $45 million.

The team in Parsons had not only gained a Small Forward in place of Shawn Marion and Vince Carter, but also a player younger and more productive than either of the veterans. With Monta Ellis and Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas was never short of offense last season but struggled on the defensive end. However, with Parsons a young skilled wing defender and the other Chandler-Tyson Chandler who is a legitimate shot blocker, the team has taken some long strides towards becoming a big ticket team in the West.

Although it was just the one move, the deal to acquire Parsons was so impactful that it might just shift the tides towards Dallas and against Houston, for being the number two team in Texas after the defending champions San Antonio Spurs.

#2 Winners: Chicago Bulls

It might seem like the lone deal of acquiring Pau Gasol makes the Chicago Bulls the number 2 winner in week 2, but that is not the case. There were a couple of smaller moves that impacted the Bulls more positively than what the Mavericks benefitted from Parsons alone.

Having said that, Gasol has to be the icing on the cake for the franchise. The team now boasts of a productive and effective three big man line-up of Gasol, Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson that no other team can.

Gasol may be the player the team has been missing, especially when it comes to the offensive end of the court.

Bringing in Kirk Hinrich as the primary back-up to Derrick Rose and signing European prospect Nikola Mirotic are the two moves which helped the team strongly recover from missing out on getting Anthony.

#1 Winners: Cleveland Cavaliers

Irrespective of it’s current roster, if a team signs the best player on the planet it is indeed the top winner for the week. Since there is no doubt or debate about the fact that LeBron James is the best basketball player on the planet, it is clear that the Cleveland Cavaliers deserve the top spot for week 2.

Cleveland acquiring James changes the entire landscape of the Eastern Conference instantly pushing the Cavaliers from a non-Playoff team to a strong title contender. While the deal no doubt is the biggest since James “decision” back in the off-season of 2010, the franchise was helped on its course to becoming a contender with some smart moves.

Before signing James, the team traded Tyler Zeller and Jarrett Jack as part of a three-team agreement in order to make cap room to sign the 4 time league MVP. The team also wasted no time signing point guard Kyrie Irving to a multi-year deal on the first day of free agency ensuring that the 2014 All-Star Game MVP remains in Cleveland till 2019.

With the number one overall pick from last two years Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins also being on the roster for multiple years, the team looks to be compeititve over a long period of time. It remains to be seen whether James fulfills his ambition of bringing a championship to his home.