Heading into the NBA offseason, there's one potential franchise-killing move that every team must avoid making.
As the NBA offseason quickly approaches, teams across the league have already been prepping for the next few months of the calendar in the Association. If they're not just yet, and they're not still in the NBA Playoffs, they're already behind. Championships aren't necessarily won in the offseason, but a franchise's future can greatly improve to take a huge hit by what takes place over the course of a summer.
With the countdown officially on until the start of the offseason, there's one mindless and potentially franchise-killing move that every team should avoid this summer. We go team by team and explain each one.
Atlanta Hawks: Re-signing Clint Capela or Caris LeVert
As much uncertainty as revolves around how the Atlanta Hawks will approach the offseason, I think it's a pretty safe bet that this is not a team that is close to contending in the Eastern Conference. One of my biggest pet peeves that goes a long way in crippling NBA franchises is when they make a win-now move when it is entirely unnecessary. Heading into the offseason, I believe the Hawks re-signing Clint Capela and/or Caris LeVert would be exactly that.
If the Hawks want to continue to retool around their younger core, it would make little to no sense to keep a player like Capela or LeVert around. Sure, there are times when veterans do add value to a young team, but I don't believe the Hawks are at that point yet. I don't even know if they have a clear blueprint for the future yet. Until then, they should avoid unncessary re-signings.
Boston Celtics: Trading Jaylen Brown
Things have certainly shifted for the Boston Celtics. This was a team that, just a couple of months ago, was being discussed as a potential dynasty in the making. After losing to the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals and then losing Jayson Tatum to injury, there's a huge cloud of uncertainty revolving around this team heading into the offseason. While there has been talk about potential cost-cutting moves to help lessen the tax bill, there's one move they shouldn't go as far as to make.
And that's trading Jaylen Brown. It'd be understandable if the Celtics took a bit of a step back by trading some of their supporting cast this summer. A completely unnecessary move that the Celtics could make this offseason revolves around completely blowing up their 1-2 core of Tatum and Brown. That'd be a huge mistake for the Celtics in the long run.