5 NBA Teams That Could Look Completely Different Next Season

The NBA landscape shifted several times over at the 2023 trade deadline.

Further alterations will occur this summer.

You may have heard that this free-agent market isn't exactly flush with stars or win-now big-spenders. That doesn't matter. There are enough hoopers-for-hire to satisfy the biggest buyers, while cap-crunched teams can turn toward the trade market or sign-and-trades to spawn major changes.

Who might be in line for a massive makeover? The following five teams loom as logical choices for reasons we'll deep-dive into regarding each specific situation.

If the Nets aren't married to their team name, maybe they could kick around the idea of becoming the Brooklyn Placeholders.

For all of the star power that has passed through Barclays Center in recent seasons, the latest departures of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving have left the Nets without cornerstone talents. Nic Claxton looks the part on the defensive end, Ben Simmons played it in a past life, Mikal Bridges sort of resembles it through squinted eyes, and Cam Thomas held the role for three games, but none qualifies as a franchise focal point.

Teams without a focal point typically enter basketball's race to the bottom, but tanking isn't an option in Brooklyn, since the Houston Rockets control the Nets' draft picks for the foreseeable future. Brooklyn's best bet is to wheel-and-deal its way to competitiveness.

The Nets have two 2023 first-rounders to draft or deal, and then they must make decisions on impeding free agents Cameron Johnson (restricted), Seth Curry and Yuta Watanabe. All the while, the front office should be discussing trades involving...well, just about anyone on the roster. Claxton and Bridges are probably keepers, but they'd likely be needed if the Nets sniff out a blockbuster. Discussions about how much Brooklyn would need to incentivize someone to take Simmons off its hands are worth having.

The Nets are a team in transition. It's tough to tell what the future may hold—though their recent run may have soured them on the superteam style—but it doesn't feel like a stretch to suggest that not a lot of their present players will have a part in it. They have a bunch of tradeable talents, and they should soon decide whether to consolidate it into draft capital or the type of marquee players they are suddenly without.

Kyrie Irving won't be happy to hear this, but we need to discuss Dallas' future.

The Mavericks are, in effect, test-driving with Irving, an unrestricted-free-agent-to-be as Luka Dončić's long-awaited co-star. They have a little less than five months to figure out if this partnership can work, the level of success it can realistically reach and, since Irving is involved, how long it can last before things inevitably go awry.

"I don't see any risk involved," Mavs general manager Nico Harrison said, per ESPN's Tim MacMahon. "I've known Kyrie for a long time. I know his core. I know what kind of person that he is."

Harrison also knows Irving's history, which features burnt bridges in Cleveland, Boston and Brooklyn. Irving's supreme talent is the reason clubs keep giving him a shot, but how much is that talent worth to Dallas or another suitor (say, one adorned in purple and gold, perhaps) on a new contract? Are the Mavs comfortable giving him a three- or four-year deal? If they aren't, could someone else take the plunge?

Beyond the Irving debate, Dallas has to decide how (or if) to proceed with third-leading scorer Christian Wood, a polarizing player in his own right. He puts up efficient scoring numbers with ease but has never shown a particular fondness for defending or distributing.

Depending on how things go with Irving and Wood, the Mavs could have a mountain of cap space to throw around. They also have to handle Dwight Powell's free agency, see if anyone wants to take Tim Hardaway Jr., Dāvis Bertāns or JaVale McGee off their hands (good luck) and determine if anyone is worth acquiring at the expense of a draft pick or two, assuming their top-10-protected pick gets sent to the New York Knicks and gives the Mavs more flexibility to make a move.

LeBron James' tenure with the Lakers is becoming defined by roster turnover.

Last season, 25 different players suited up for this squad. Only four still reside in Hollywood: James, Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves and Wenyen Gabriel.

Clearly, this front office isn't afraid of making major changes, and more could go down this summer. James, Davis and rookie Max Christie are the only Lakers with fully guaranteed salaries for next season. Malik Beasley has a team option, Jarred Vanderbilt has a partial guarantee and Mo Bamba's $10.3 million salary is non-guaranteed.

L.A. reshaped much of its supporting cast at the deadline, landing a handful of players who could stick with the franchise long-term but didn't come with significant (or, in some cases, any) financial commitments to them.

"I think a deep dive into this, you can almost look at it as 'pre-agency,'" Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said, per ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "We very intentionally planned these moves to provide optionality in July."

The upcoming stretch run may dictate the direction of this franchise.

If the Lakers not only secure a playoff ticket but make some noise in the postseason, maybe that convinces the front office to cover the free-agency costs of D'Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura (restricted). If they are competitive but lack star power, maybe that's the motivation for another run at Kyrie Irving. If nothing goes according to plan and they flat-line over the coming months, perhaps they could poke around for a more reliable LeBron sidekick than Davis has been.

Toronto had an opportunity to pull the plug at the trade deadline and didn't.

That settles nothing for this franchise's future.

Fred VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr. are likely months away from free agency. (Both hold player options they should be able to beat on the open market.) Deadline acquisition Jakob Poeltl is definitely headed there. O.G. Anunoby can get there next summer—and might seek out somewhere he can have a bigger offensive role. And if the Raptors want to reset around reigning Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes, they could ask for a fortune in a Pascal Siakam swap.

In other words, the tear-down many wondered whether we'd see at the deadline could certainly surface this summer.

"The way I look at the deadline [is] it's really not a great place to make long-term decisions," Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri said, per The Athletic's Eric Koreen. "That's one of the ways we looked at it in terms of some of the things we were getting. Everything we could have done today, maybe we could do in the summer."

The Raptors have talent—at least, more talent than their 28-31 record would suggest. But they've had that talent all season and still find themselves fighting for a play-in tournament invite.

Maybe they have a stretch run for the ages that convinces the front office to fully commit to this core, but if they tread water as they have for most of this season, this summer feels like the right time to shake things up and start anew.

Ahead of the trade deadline, the Jazz identified just three keepers on their roster: Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kessler and Ochai Agbaji, per Marc Stein.

Nothing that happened before, at or after the deadline changed that.

Utah smartly didn't let its surprising success this season deviate from the organization's long-term aim. The Jazz traded four players—including starting point guard Mike Conley and sharpshooter Malik Beasley—for a package built around a lightly protected future first-round pick and Russell Westbrook's expiring salary.

All eyes are on the future, as they should be. Utah has had a few nice finds (Markkanen and Kessler chief among them), but this roster needs a major talent upgrade after moving on from Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell last summer. This starting lineup needs a point guard and another forward. The franchise needs an elite player to carry this roster and bump Markkanen down to a better-fitting co-star role.

The Jazz don't necessarily need to scratch those itches this summer, though they can certainly look around. They have a wealth of draft picks to throw around and gobs of cap space to either spend or absorb someone else's unwanted salaries for additional draft considerations. If opportunity knocks this offseason, they could answer it.

There is no reason to rush things, though. Markkanen is 25 years old; Kessler and Agbaji are rookies. Practicing patience while they develop makes sense. It also offers the added benefits of watching certain contenders age their way out of the elite ranks before this franchise makes its all-in push.

In the meantime, the Jazz should continue listening to offers for everyone but the untouchables and proceed with caution for their veteran free agents like Jordan Clarkson (player option) and Kelly Olynyk (partial guarantee). A few pieces of this rebuilding project have fallen into place, but with so much more to sort out, the Jazz should be open to most avenues of adding to or subtracting from this core.

Statistics courtesy of Basketball Reference and NBA.com and accurate through Monday. Salary information via Spotrac.

Zach Buckley covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @ZachBuckleyNBA.