With the most exciting parts of the NBA off-season behind us, let's take a minute to reflect on whats happened so far. The NBA draft has come and gone and most rookies are already signed or getting their deals done now. The big name free agents have signed with their new teams, potentially changing the landscape of the NBA for years to come. And now, some of the lower tier free agents are finalizing contracts with teams looking to fill out their rosters. As with every off-season, there are moves that just make too much sense. Unfortunately, there are also a lot of moves that make you question the sanity of a player or teams front office. While it can take years to really see how good or bad each move was, it's easy to spot a bad move when it happens. Here are some of the most baffling moves of the off-season
Chris Bosh returns to Miami
Coming off a disappointing loss to the San Antonio Spurs, no one was quite sure what the Heat's Big Three had planned. For over a week nearly the entire free agent market was frozen waiting for LeBron James to make his move. When LeBron announced he would return home to Cleveland many people expected the Big Three to go their separate ways. Many reports surfaced that the Huston Rockets were prepared to offer Bosh a four year, $88 million contract. The Rockets even traded away two important role players to make the necessary cap room. Bosh had the excellent opportunity to compete immediately by joining forces with fellow superstars James Harden and Dwight Howard. He would also be raking in the dough for the next four years while playing in his home state. However, Bosh surprised everyone by accepting a max contract from the Miami Heat. The contract, a five year, $118 million deal, would make Bosh the Heat's cornerstone player for the next five years. Bosh said his reason for accepting the offer was that he had faith in the Miami front office, plus he and his wife love the city of Miami. Bosh turned down the chance to immediately compete for a bigger contract, regardless of whatever reasons he gives. While there is nothing wrong with wanting to cash in, sacrificing the opportunity to win in quite the head-scratcher.
The Entire Sacramento Kings Off-season
Going into the off-season, the Kings faced a crucial couple of months. With a talented young core of Rudy Gay, Isaiah Thomas, and DeMarcus Cousins, the Kings only needed a few pieces to turn the franchise around. Armed with the number eight pick in this years draft, plus a number of young assets, the Kings seem poised to either acquire a veteran through trade or a very talented rookie through the draft. Instead of trading the pick the Kings selected the very talented shooting guard Nik Stauskas. While Nik is a very talented player capable of stretching the floor, he plays the same position as Ben McLemore, who the Kings drafted a year before. Now whoever gets the start will be taking valuable minutes away from their significant other, hurting one of their development and creating a log jam.
After failing to make any significant moves during the draft, the Kings turned to free agency, where they signed point guard Darren Collison. While this is not a bad signing in itself(Collison is an excellent sixth man), what the Kings did next was truly bewildering. The Kings agreed to a sign and trade sending Thomas to the Suns in exchange for $7.5 million in a trade exception and Alex Oriakhi. Meanwhile, Thomas signed for only $1.5 million more a year than the Kings signed Collison for. While Collison is a talented player, he is no where near Thomas' level, who has continued to improve every season he has been in the league. If anything, these moves have caused the Kings to regress, at least on paper. While we will have to wait for the season to truly know how these moves played out, it's safe to say it's one of the most bizarre series of moves made by a front office in recent memory.
Carmelo Anthony Resigns with New York Knicks
While Carmelo wasn't the biggest name of the free agent market, he too held the league hostage as it awaited his decision. Carmelo had very attractive offers from both the Houston Rockets and Chicago Bulls. Both of these teams could offer Anthony an improved supporting cast and chance to immediately compete for a title, something Anthony has failed to do in his career. Instead, Melo resigned with the Knicks, for the one advantage they had over the Bulls and Rockets, money. Unable to leave over $30 million on the table, Melo showed his true colors by sticking with the team that could offer him the most money. Unlike Bosh signing with the Heat, the Knicks have a very bleak future and will be unable to make any major moves until next year. They also lack any young assets as they don't even have a first round pick until 2017. With the opportunity to finally have a legitimate shot at winning a ring Anthony turned it all away for the biggest paycheck possible.
Lakers Sign Carlos Boozer
The Lakers franchise is in a dark place. After the second worse season in Laker history, the Lakers needed to make use of their ample cap room and sign some big name free agents. While they certainly tried to swing for the fences, they missed out an all big name free agents. They did however; sign Boozer, who had recently been amnestied by the Bulls. Boozer is well out of his prime and provides very little defensive support. And while he can bring some scoring and rebounding to the table, he is far from the 20 and 10 player he once was. What really made this move baffling was the fact that the Lakers have a number of talented young big men needing ample minutes to develop. The first and most important of these players is the seventh overall pick Julius Randle. The talented rookie seemed to be in the ideal position of garnering starting minutes immediately. The Lakers also signed one of the most underrated players on the free agent market in Ed Davis. Davis is only 25 years old and has been very promising when given ample playing time. Rather than accept the fact that they are no where near being able to compete this year, the Lakers signed a veteran player who will hurt the development of their future and bring them no closer to competing in the near future.