NBA: 10 biggest Free Agency losers (pre-Kevin Durant trade edition)

Portland Trail Blazers Jusuf Nurkic (Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports)
Portland Trail Blazers Jusuf Nurkic (Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports) /
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Dallas Mavericks
Dallas Mavericks Jalen Brunson (Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports) /

2. Dallas Mavericks

Losing Brunson hurts, for sure, especially if the team doesn’t seem in line to swing a Collin Sexton sign-and-trade. But the biggest blunder of the Mavericks’ offseason was wasting its precious Midlevel Exception on a fully guaranteed three-year deal to 34-year-old Javale McGee.

This makes no sense, especially following the team’s acquisition of Christian Wood. What other team was waiting to give him even two years at this price point? Many comps have already been made between this Mavericks team and the Cleveland Cavaliers core during LeBron’s first stint there. Hamstringing a contender’s ability to upgrade is tough. This leads us to…

1. Minnesota Timberwolves

Again, wow – just wow. The package this team gave up for Rudy Gobert would be jaw-dropping even if Gobert were on a team-friendly contract, not owed $170 million over the next four years. Talk about a team that should’ve heeded my advice and stayed pat or taken a step back, rather than go all-in before the time was right.

Next. NBA: Re-seeding the Western Conference after free agency. dark

Giving up a haul of picks or players might’ve been too much. Giving up both means this team will be closer to the 2022 Lakers than the 2020 Lakers for most of the next seven years.