It’s hard to believe that the first NBA Preseason game is slated for this Saturday, September 30th. Seems like just yesterday we saw Kevin Durant torch Cleveland en route to being named Finals MVP and raise the Larry O’Brien Trophy for the first time in his career.
Before Denver and the reigning NBA Champions, Golden State, take the court to kick off the 2017 NBA Preseason, let’s go over some of the wild transactions that kept the Association so compelling over the offseason.
- (June 20) Charlotte acquires Dwight Howard from Charlotte for Plumlee & Belinelli.
- (June 22) Los Angeles Lakers acquire Brook Lopez from Brooklyn for D’Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov.
- (June 22) Minnesota acquires Jimmy Butler from Chicago for Zach LaVine & Kris Dunn.
- (June 28) Houston acquires Chris Paul from Los Angeles Clippers in mega-deal including Lou Williams, Patrick Beverly, and more.
- (June 30) Utah acquires Ricky Rubio from Minnesota.
- (July 6) San Antonio signs Rudy Gay.
- (July 6) Oklahoma City acquires Paul George from Indiana for Oladipo & Sabonis.
- (July 6) Miami signs Kelly Olynyk.
- (July 6) Clippers acquire Danilo Gallinari from Denver.
- (July 7) Golden State signs Nick Young.
- (July 7) Detroit acquires Avery Bradley from Boston for Marcus Morris.
- (July 8) Philadelphia signs J.J. Redick.
- (July 10) Sacramento signs Vince Carter & Zach Randolph.
- (July 10) Minnesota signs Jeff Teague & Taj Gibson.
- (July 13) Denver signs Paul Millsap.
- (July 14) Boston signs Gordon Hayward.
- (July 19) New Orleans signs Rajon Rondo.
- (July 19) Minnesota signs Jamal Crawford.
- (July 25) Cleveland signs Derrick Rose.
- (August 8) New York signs Michael Beasley.
- (August 22) Boston acquires Kyrie Irving from Cleveland for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and a 2018 First-Round Draft Pick.
- (September 25) Oklahoma City acquires Carmelo Anthony from New York for Enes Kanter & Doug McDermott.
- (September 26) Cleveland signs Dwyane Wade.
Between June 13th and September 30th, we didn’t watch any of the players listed above dribble a ball; yet, the NBA remained one of the most talked about leagues. Super-teams were created, friendships were destroyed, and now we get to sit back and watch.