By admin 
With a couple of the biggest shoes left to drop—specifically, a trade for Portland superstar Damian Lillard and, perhaps, one for future Hall of Famer James Harden—we’re still waiting to see how the NBA landscape changes and shakes out this offseason.
Still, it’s not too early to look at a few of the league’s most undervalued pickups up to this time. We’ll start with East transactions today before looking at some of the better under-the-radar West additions later in the week .Whereas the Pistons could want to slow things down to improve their ball handling, the Pacers have only increased their emphasis on playing faster. Indiana finished tied for third in the league in transition efficiency (118 points per 100 possessions) and second in transition frequency, with such plays accounting for a whopping 20.2% of the Pacers’ offense, led by first-time All-Star Tyrese Haliburton, one of the NBA’s most impressive young point guards.
Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, James Wiseman, Jalen Duren, and Isaiah Stewart are just a few of Detroit’s unmistakable young players. Unsurprisingly, the Pistons had a high turnover rate this season their way to a league-low 17 victories.
Though given the team’s youth, internal development should be on the way, it was important to bring in someone from outside to help stabilize the club’s turnover-prone attack. Morris, for whom the Pistons gave up two second-round picks, is an ideal fit for that role, having been one of the league’s top assist-to-turnover floor generals since being chosen by the Nuggets in 2017.Whereas the Pistons could want to slow things down to improve their ball handling, the Pacers have only increased their emphasis on playing faster. Indiana finished tied for third in the league in transition efficiency (118 points per 100 possessions) and second in transition frequency, with such plays accounting for a whopping 20.2% of the Pacers’ offense, led by first-time All-Star Tyrese Haliburton, one of the NBA’s most impressive young point guards .Given those circumstances, it will be fascinating to watch not only the addition of wing extraordinaire Bruce Brown, who is getting a huge payday from Indiana after making a huge contribution to the NBA champion Nuggets, but also the high-flying Toppin, who never got a full chance to spread his wings in three seasons as a backup to All-NBA forward Julius Randle with New York. According to Synergy Sports, Toppin, who was acquired for a pair of second-round picks, has the greatest effective field goal rate among players with 150 transition possessions over the last two seasons. Not by chance, Haliburton and Brown are ranked second and third on the same list. Of course, Indiana’s defense needs to improve as well (it ranked seventh in efficiency last season), but the attack will look like According to Synergy Sports, Toppin, who was acquired for a pair of second-round picks, has the greatest effective field goal rate among players with 150 transition possessions over the last two seasons. Not by chance, Haliburton and Brown are ranked second and third on the same list. Of course, Indiana’s defense needs to improve as well—it was seventh in efficiency last season—but the offense will seem like the Indy 500 if opponents fail to get back defensively.
Chicago hasn’t done anything flashy this offseason, either, after keeping basically the same roster last offseason and then holding pat at the trade deadline despite being in play-in range all season. Some supporters were dissatisfied that the team signed Nikola Vucevic to a three-year contract when there hasn’t been much evidence recently that he, Zach LaVine, or DeMar DeRozan are an on-court fit.
Still, you can’t fault the Bulls for bringing in Carter and Craig, a good combination of ex-teammates who made it to the NBA Finals together in Phoenix in ’21. Carter’s regular presence on both ends is intended to at least somewhat compensate for the absence of Lonzo Ball, who will miss another complete season due to concerns with his left knee, which has now had three operations. Craig, on the other hand, provides Chicago with a large body on the wing capable of competing with bigger ballhandlers like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, and Luka Doncic—bigger than the likes of slender, though talented forward Derrick Jones Jr., who is expected to leave the team. He also hit over 40% from deep for the Suns previous season.