The 2015 NBA free agency period might go down as the most bizarre signing period in league history. From the frenetic first hours of the moratorium phase to the insanity and surreality of the DeAndre Jordan saga, it was a couple weeks that won't soon be forgotten.
And while some free agents remain, they're mostly of the aged veteran, role player, deep bench player or head-case variety.
However, if we take a big-picture view of the past three weeks, not a great deal differed from a usual summer. Only one top-tier player changed teams (LaMarcus Aldridge). The rest of the elite free agents chose to stay with their current clubs and the bulk of the movement came from solid starters or important role players.
The possibility of unrestricted free agents taking one- or two-year deals and restricted free agents taking qualifying offers to set up a payday bonanza with the exploding salary cap next summer didn't pan out, with the exceptions of the aging Dwyane Wade and the cranky Rajon Rondo.
Still, enough teams changed or re-signed key players that we're able to know who came out looking the best. San Antonio is at the head of the pack here after nabbing Aldridge, signing David West for the veteran minimum, and re-signing Danny Green. The Clippers also feel like a big winner, provided that Lance Stephenson and Josh Smith have their heads on straight.
Three teams stand out as winners in the offseason, but haven't been mentioned nearly as much. Only one of these teams was in title contention a year ago and stands out as having a chance next season, yet all three were in the playoffs.
Milwaukee Bucks
The big coup for Milwaukee was grabbing Greg Monroe from Detroit, when many indications pointed to the big man going to the Knicks.
That would have been a bad fit on top of a bad basketball situation. Instead, Monroe chose to go to a promising team in Milwaukee, where he will be able to play a lot more center than he could with Andre Drummond on the same team in Detroit. He'll also be able to improve an offense that was in the bottom five in efficiency and lacked a post presence.
The Bucks' coaching staff, who helmed a massive improvement from 30th to fourth in defensive efficiency last season, figures to get Monroe to play better on that end of the floor, where he has struggled.
Milwaukee also re-signed underrated wing Khris Middleton, who made 41 percent of his threes and 49 percent of his twos a year ago. Greivis Vasquez, who should be a three-point specialist for the Bucks, was acquired in a draft-day trade.
Memphis Grizzlies
The most notable thing that the Grizzlies did this month was re-sign the best center in the league, Marc Gasol. But that was a foregone conclusion for a player so adored by the team and the city. Gasol has called no other city home during his time in the U.S., dating back to high school.
Memphis' Achilles' heel last season was its three-point shooting. In a league where nearly 27 percent of all shots last season were from behind the arc, only 18.4 percent of Memphis' field goal attempts were threes. Minnesota was the only team to shoot less. And when the Grizzlies shot them, they were one of the league's worst at draining them.
Many would have liked Memphis to have signed more shooters, but the Grizzlies did acquire Matt Barnes in the Great Luke Ridnour Merry-Go-Round of 2015.
Not only does Barnes fit with the Grizzlies' tough, anti-establishment attitude, but he shot better than 36 percent on 376 three-point attempts last year on a team that, like Memphis, has excellent players at point guard, power forward and center.
But the Grizz pulled off the heist of the summer when they signed Brandan Wright for three years and $18 million, or the full mid-level exception. If Wright had made his decision after DeAndre Jordan reneged on his commitment to the Mavericks, it's quite likely that Dallas would have thrown $10 million-plus per year at Wright to be Dallas' starting center.
Wright won't start in Memphis unless Gasol or Zach Randolph miss time, but he will provide the explosiveness and two-way ability that the likes of Kosta Koufos and Jon Leuer couldn't.
Toronto Raptors
When future generations look at last year's standings, they'll see that the Raptors nearly won 50 games. But they won't know solely from that 82-game ledger how much of a paper tiger Toronto was after the calendar turned to 2015.
On Jan. 1, the Raptors were 24-8 and atop the Eastern Conference. They played straight-up .500 ball the remainder of the season and were promptly embarrassed in a four-game sweep by Washington in the playoffs, the second straight year they lost in the first round with home-court advantage. The main culprit in the slump and playoff dispatching was awful defense.
The biggest splash General Manager Masai Ujiri made to shore up the Raptors' biggest weakness was the signing of DeMarre Carroll from Atlanta, who in the past two seasons went from a deeper-bench player to a surefire starter, defensive stopper and ultra-efficient, low-usage guy on offense. He'll have a similar role in Toronto alongside the likes of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan.
Cory Joseph is also new to Toronto and is ready for more playing time after backing up Tony Parker and Patty Mills in San Antonio. Bismack Biyombo is an offensive work-in-progress to put it as nicely as possible, but he's an extremely capable interior defender. Luis Scola is on the downside of his career, but will provide some post scoring when called upon.
The Raptors lose Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams and Amir Johnson, but their additions should make them a better all-around team, even if they probably don't have much of a prayer of being on top of the conference again come Jan. 1, 2016.
These three teams haven't grabbed the headlines in July in the way that other clubs have, but they are all teams that could be improved due to their new acquisitions for 2015-16.
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