NBA offseason grades: Southwest Division

The NBA offseason is nearly done after two months, as teams wrap up their final trades and signings. It's time to assign grades to each NBA team, division-by-division, to see which teams aced the offseason and which needed some tutoring before making all their moves. Next up is the Southwest Division.

Dallas Mavericks | Grade: A-

Players in: Klay Thompson (F), Naji Marshall (F), Quentin Grimes (G), Spencer Dinwiddie (G) | Players out: Derrick Jones Jr. (F), Tim Hardaway Jr. (F), Josh Green (F)

Dallas made a surprising run to the NBA Finals last season, but didn't rest on their achievements, especially after the team shot 31.6 percent in their series loss to the Boston Celtics. The Mavs added one of the best shooters in NBA history by working a sign-and-trade for Klay Thompson that sent 23-year-old Josh Green (and his $12.6M salary) to Charlotte. The Mavericks cleared money for the move by trading Tim Hardaway Jr. and his $16.2M deal to Detroit, which cost them three second-round picks but brought in an excellent on-ball defender in 24-year-old Quentin Grimes.

They also said goodbye to three-and-D forward Derrick Jones Jr. in free agency, replacing him with Naji Marshall. Marshall is probably a step down defensively and not the world-class dunker Jones is, but he's more of a scoring threat than Jones, who was routinely ignored by the Celtics on defense during the Finals.

Finally, they brought back former Maverick Spencer Dinwiddie on a minimum deal. Dinwiddie might be overmatched as a starting point guard at age 31, but he's a quality backup with plenty of experience playing with Luka Doncic in Dallas and Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn.

Overall, Dallas improved its shooting and guard depth, ditched two unwanted salaries and did it without giving up a first-round pick. The biggest question is how much Thompson has left in the tank. His offense was still very good last season, but his defense fell off a cliff, possibly because the Warriors were still playing the 34-year-old 30 minutes per game. "Captain Klay" is in a great situation to thrive with the open looks Doncic and Irving provide, plus the expected extra rest. If it doesn't work, Dallas has given itself plenty of options.

Houston Rockets | Grade: B+

Players in: Reed Sheppard (G, No. 3 pick), A.J. Griffin (F) | Players out: Reggie Bullock (F), Boban Marjanovic (C)

The Rockets made their big free-agent moves last summer when they added Fred VanVleet, Dillon Brooks and center Jock Landale. They made another move for the future when they traded for injured center Steven Adams in February. Houston already had six former top-20 picks aged 23 or younger, with three of them being top-four picks, so it didn't have urgency to shake up the roster. Especially after the team went on an 11-game win streak in March to leap into play-in contention before ultimately falling short.

In June's draft, they added Kentucky's Reed Sheppard, whose dazzling Summer League performance made him look ready to contribute right away. Houston also took a flyer on A.J. Griffin, Jr., the No. 16 pick from the 2022 draft who turned 21 on August 25.

For a team that's loaded with young talent, some of next season is about figuring out who is going to stick on the roster long-term. Houston managed to make some high-upside additions to its young core while positioning itself to have over $30M in cap space for another shopping spree next summer.

Memphis Grizzlies | Grade: C

Players in: Zach Edey (C, No. 9 pick), Jaylen Wells (F, No. 38 pick) Cam Spencer (G, No. 53 pick) | Ziaire Williams (F), Jordan Goodwin (G)

After a disastrous season when superstar Ja Morant played just nine games thanks to suspension and injury, the Grizzlies effectively decided to run it back. They drafted a Steven Adams replacement with their unexpected lottery pick in 7-foot-4 Zach Edey, who was the National Player of the Year in his last two seasons at Purdue, then dumped former lottery pick Ziaire Williams so they could resign sharpshooting guard Luke Kennard (45 percent shooting from three-point range last season).

It's not a terrible gamble, considering that the healthy Grizzlies had the second-best record in the Western Conference in the two previous seasons. But aside from bringing back Kennard, Memphis didn't address one of its biggest weaknesses: bad outside shooting. The Grizzlies were 29th out of 30 teams in three-point percentage and overall field-goal percentage. Getting Morant back and a full season from Desmond Bane should help those numbers, but it's still a rough-shooting roster.

The Grizzlies really blew it by getting so little from their last few drafts, when they had a plethora of picks. This summer, they were hamstrung by payroll limits, so there wasn't much they could do. Still, it feels like an inactive summer for an aspiring contender. Memphis is betting big on a rookie 300-pound center. If Edey struggles, this team could be in bad shape.

New Orleans Pelicans | Grade: D+

Players in: Dejounte Murray (G), Daniel Theis (C), Javonte Green (F), Yves Missi (C, No. 21 pick), Karlo Matkovic (F/C), Antonio Reeves (G, No. 47 pick) | Players out: Jonas Valanciunas (C), Larry Nance, Jr. (F/C), Naji Marshall (F), Dyson Daniels (G/F), Cody Zeller (C)

The Pelicans had an offseason that feels incomplete. They made a big win-now trade , sending four players and two future picks for Dejounte Murray, who is coming off two up-and-down seasons with the Atlanta Hawks. New Orleans also said goodbye to the three players who played the most minutes at center last season, bringing in veteran Daniel Theis and rookie Yves Missi.

While they're reportedly unwilling to meet forward Brandon Ingram's salary demands on an extension, the Pelicans also haven't found a trade partner for the pending free agent.

It simply doesn't feel like this roster is finished, despite it nearly being September. The Pelicans are poised to pay Ingram over $36M this season, while also paying big money to defensive ace Herb Jones and preparing to give Trey Murphy III a lucrative extension.

They're seemingly committed to playing Zion Williamson big minutes at center, which would lead to a lot of scoring for both teams. New Orleans' roster is full of rangy wing players and huge question marks in the frontcourt. Perhaps the Pelicans find a trade for Ingram soon, but right now it feels like the they made a blockbuster trade and got worse in the process.

San Antonio Spurs | Grade: B

Players in: Chris Paul (G), Harrison Barnes (F), Stephon Castle (G, No. 4 pick), Malachi Flynn (G), Harrison Ingram (F, No. 48 pick) | Players out: Cedi Osman (F), Devonte' Graham (G), Dominick Barlow (F)

After Victor Wembanyama's monster debut season, where he won Rookie of the Year and finished second in the Defensive Player of the Year vote, there was a media groundswell suggesting that the Spurs need to surround their franchise player with talent to win right away.

Instead, the Spurs continued thinking long-term. Extremely long-term when it came to the No. 8 pick (Kentucky's Rob Dillingham), which they traded for a first-round pick seven years from now, and a first-round pick swap in 2030. The trade was logical, considering the team has five players on rookie deals already and could have as many as four first-rounders in the next draft, but it was the opposite of a win-now move.

What the Spurs did do was finally get Wembanyama a point guard . After months of playing power forward Jeremy Sochan out of position at the point, San Antonio signed the "Point God," Chris Paul, to a one-year deal. CP3 should be enormously helpful to the young Spurs and will get Wemby the ball in favorable positions, something that wasn't always the case last season. San Antonio brought in forward Harrison Barnes, who should also provide veteran leadership — and got them a 2031 pick swap from the Kings.

While it wasn't an exciting summer, San Antonio got a very high-upside rookie guard in UConn's Stephon Castle, and should see a big leap from last year's 22nd-ranked defense. Plus, acquiring long-term assets is exactly what an NBA team should be doing when they have a generational talent who is only 20 years old. The Spurs were wise to ignore the media pressure and stay patient.