Few Things In Life Live Up To The Hype Like The 2019 NBA Offseason

I think it’s fair to say that basketball and NBA fans were counting down the days to this summer starting way back in October. All year we talked about how crazy it could potentially be, the hype surrounding 2019 free agency was at a LeBron/Zion in highschool level, and we were all hopeful that once the calendar turned to June that things would be crazy. Now that we’re almost half way through July, I don’t think anyone could have expected this summer to not only live up to the hype we had coming in, but to blow it out of the goddamn water.

If you’ve been following along these last few weeks you know all the moves, but when I saw that picture come across my timeline yesterday it hit me different. There’s just something about visually seeing all the change that really puts it all in perspective. We’re not even done yet either! Not with Chris Paul in OKC where you know he’s going to try and find his way to like MIA or something like that. Some of these moves were predictable, like AD going to the Lakers and Kyrie/Durant partnering up somewhere, but for the most part it’s been way better than any of us could have imagined. Think about it, two months ago we learned what the All NBA Teams looked like

First Team

Giannis, Paul George, Jokic, James Harden, Steph Curry

Second Team

Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Joel Embiid, Damian Lillard, Kyrie Irving

Third Team

Blake Griffin, LeBron James, Rudy Gobert, Russell Westbrook, Kemba Walker

Of those 15, 6 of them have changed teams. This also doesn’t even factor in AD who would make an All NBA team if he was healthy/not a dickhead. So basically nearly half of the All NBA level talent in the league switched teams this summer. I can’t remember that ever happening before where this many elite level players all found new homes. I think heading into the summer we were thinking what maybe 3 or 4 of them move? That doesn’t even include the Conley deal who isn’t an All NBA player but is still really good and he went to a team that is suddenly a legit contender on paper in a loaded West. It doesn’t include Jimmy Butler turning down 5/190 because he would rather be the man on a shitty MIA team than have real expectations in Philly. Out of nowhere D’Angelo Russell finds his way to the Warriors of all places which I am going to say a total of 0 people had heading into this offseason. Same thing with Al joining the Sixers, everywhere you looked we had moves that nobody could have predicted and that’s what has made this offseason the most drama filled summer maybe ever.

And here’s the best part, I truly do not think this is a one time thing. In the era of player empowerment we’re learning that it doesn’t matter if you have 1, 2, or 3 years left on your deal, if you’re an elite player you can very well find your way to a new team once the season ends. Guys are structuring their contracts to have early opt outs so this is going to be our lives now every year moving forward, we’re really only just getting started.

That’s why if you thought there was a ton of hype heading into last season, we have now multiplied that by 100000000 heading into the 2019-20 season. Not only is it wide open in terms of who can actually compete for a title, but with all these new looks teams and dynamic duos, every night is going to be must watch stuff. Seeing as how the summer more than lived up to the hype, barring any sort of injuries I don’t see how the regular season and then the playoffs don’t follow suit.

We wanted chaos this summer, we wanted drama, and the Basketball Gods delivered. Thank you.