NBA FREE-AGENCY LOSERS
Mavericks
1 DeAndre Jordan’s runaway-bride act wrecked Dallas’ plans. The Mavericks let Tyson Chandler go, made moves based on having committed their cap space to Jordan, and brought in Wesley Matthews as he comes back from a ruptured Achilles.
Lakers
2 They tried the usual appeal of Hollywood and business opportunities in Los Angeles and went nowhere with LaMarcus Aldridge, who wanted to talk about basketball. He gave the Lakers a mulligan, but they seemed tone-deaf in a third consecutive summer of missing on their primary targets.
Phil Jackson
3 After the owner of 11 rings presided over the worst season in Knicks history, he said he’d give himself an A for clearing out big contracts. He was expected to do more with that room than add a few solid pieces that could help a good team but cannot turn a bad team to good.
Trail Blazers
4 With the loss of LaMarcus Aldridge the biggest blow, the exodus included four of five starters. There are some good young pieces joining Damian Lillard, but a slide in the stacked West is certain.
Kings
5 Vlade Divac regrouped well enough, taking a one-year chance on Rajon Rondo and picking up solid center Kosta Koufas. But Sacramento was fleeced by the 76ers to get cap room and did relatively little with it and did nothing to solve the rift between coach George Karl and star DeMarcus Cousins.
Conventional wisdom
6 The argument used to be made that the way to rebuild is either through free agency or bottoming out and collecting players taken early in the draft. The struggles of the Knicks and Lakers showed that teams can do well in free agency only by first getting better on the court.
Moratorium
7 The NBA allows teams and players to negotiate and reach verbal agreements while league accountants determine the next salary cap. The Clippers’ successful effort to woo back DeAndre Jordan makes a case to start the recruiting process when players can actually sign contracts.