LeBron James once again re-claimed his spot at the summit of the NBA after winning his fourth career title last season, and a fifth could soon be on the way.
After winning the title with what many thought was a roster full of significant cracks, James is set to have perhaps the most talented supporting cast of his 18-year career.
Lakers General Manager Rob Pelinka has managed to add three-time All-Star big man Marc Gasol as the centrepiece of the team's free-agency acquisitions, while also signing Montrezl Harrell, formerly of the LA Clippers.
However, James and the Lakers are not the only teams to undergo a facelift during this year's free agency period.
Here are this year's winners and losers of the NBA free agency frenzy.
WINNERS
Los Angeles Lakers
As we mentioned before, the Lakers had significant holes last season even though they were able to come away from the bubble with a 17th NBA championship.
While they possessed arguably the most talented duo in the league in James and Anthony Davis, the star power often papered over some worrying cracks.
However, in one fell swoop, Pelinka has managed to address nearly every single concern Laker Nation would have had going into the 2020-21 season.
The first move actually came prior to the free agency period, where Pelinka was able to flip Danny Green's contract into dynamic point guard Dennis Schroder.
Schroder and reigning Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell are likely to wreak havoc off the bench together, giving the Lakers a scoring punch it lacked in the reserves last season.
Slotting into Green's starting spot will be Wesley Matthews, who shot 36 percent from long distance last year and will form a devilish defensive guard tandem with the re-signed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
That brings us to Marc Gasol. The Spaniard may now be 35 years of age, but there is no secret why he was being courted by a number of contenders, including the Mavericks and the Warriors.
Gasol will immediately be able to slot into the Lakers' starting centre position which was a revolving door of incompetence during last season, shielding Davis from having to guard monster 'fives' such as Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid.
While Gasol is no longer the same player who was named the Defensive Player of the Year in 2013, he brings with him an immense amount of basketball IQ and he remains one of the best passing big men in the NBA.
Portland Trail Blazers
The Blazers were one of the darlings of the bubble in Orlando, as they managed to grab the final playoff spot in the West on the back of a white-hot Damian Lillard.
Lillard's brilliance took Portland to the post-season, but the heavily-flawed roster whose defense was a sieve meant that they were first-round fodder.
The guard tandem of Lillard and CJ McCollum has always been able to score in bunches, and a healthy Jusuf Nurkic makes for a formidable offensive trio.
However, the Blazers struggled mightily on the wing, particularly after an injury to Rodney Hood, leaving the likes of Carmelo Anthony and Gary Trent Jr to defend LeBron James in the first round.
Portland has addressed its wing issues in a big way, trading for Robert Covington, who will start on day one and immediately guard the opposition's best players.
The Blazers have also added swingman Derrick Jones Jr, who was unable to crack the Miami Heat's rotation in the NBA Finals due to their wealth of wings.
Suddenly, Portland has Jones Jr and Covington to go along with a healthy and re-signed Hood, Trent and Anthony, a ton of wing options to throw at the league's stars.
Enes Kanter also returns to Portland after a brief stint during the 2018-19 season where he filled in admirably for Nurkic, and will provide instant offence off the bench for Terry Stotts.
Portland has rounded out its free-agency activity by signing talented youngster Harry Giles, who spent the first two seasons of his career with the Sacramento Kings.
Atlanta Hawks
Make no mistake about it, the Atlanta Hawks are gunning for a playoff spot in what is shaping up to be a much-improved Eastern Conference next season.
The Hawks were your classic cute league pass team last season, with Trae Young's flamethrower act and maiden All-Star appearance giving fans hope.
However, while they looked good, the Hawks ultimately didn't sniff a playoff spot, albeit being home to one of the NBA's most talented young cores.
Atlanta now has more than enough backup for Young, ensuring that the offence will no longer crater every time he sits, adding veteran point guard Rajon Rondo and former No.5 pick Kris Dunn.
The Hawks have also seemingly moved away from committing to John Collins long term, by adding Danilo Gallinari on a three-year, $61.5 million deal as they beat off a number of suitors for his signature.
Gallinari should conceivably start from day one, allowing Atlanta coach Lloyd Pierce to keep one of DeAndre Hunter and Cam Reddish coming off the bench.
The bench scoring is also likely to get a jolt, with the Hawks signing talented Kings guard Bogdan Bogdanovic to a lucrative four-year, $72 million offer sheet after he had initially looked like he was headed to Milwaukee.
In addition to its free agency acquisitions, the Hawks picked big man Onyeka Okongwu sixth in this year's draft, a player who has drawn apt comparisons to Heat star Bam Adebayo.
LOSERS
Detroit Pistons
When the entire NBA is scratching their heads at almost every move you're making, it is generally not a good sign.
Cap space is not always a good thing to have when you're a bad thing, and the Pistons showed why when they made a series of bizarre signings as free agency opened.
Soon after teams were allowed to sign players, the Pistons added Mason Plumlee on a three-year, $25 million deal, Jahlil Okafor on a two-year, $3.85 million deal, and Josh Jackson on a two-year deal.
Plumlee is a 30-year-old back-up centre and it is hard to see any other teams who would have bent over backwards to offer him a three-year deal.
What was more confusing than the actual signings of the three players was that it resulted in the Pistons losing their own free agent, talented young big man Christian Wood, who signed with the Houston Rockets.
If that wasn't bizarre enough, the Pistons splashed $60 million dollars at former Denver Nuggets swingman Jerami Grant, who has aspirations of a bigger role, despite never having averaged over 14 points per game in his six-year career.
The positive is that the flyer on Jackson, a former fourth overall pick, is definitely the kind of low-risk, potentially high-reward signing that a rebuilding team should take.
Detroit also managed to snare former Toronto point guard Delon Wright in a three-team trade involving Dallas and Oklahoma City.
Charlotte Hornets
Michael Jordan may well be the GOAT player, but he is far from it as an executive and he has proven it once again this summer.
The Hornets did well to pick LaMelo Ball, who many people believe will wind up being the best player in this year's draft.
However, it is the signing of a 30-year-old Gordon Hayward that has left fans extremely confused.
Hayward stunned fans when he declined a player option for the 2020-21 season with the Boston Celtics that would have netted him a whopping $34 million.
It was assumed that he would potentially re-up with the Celtics on a smaller annual number for multiple years, or seek a balloon payment type shorter deal elsewhere.
Somehow, the oft-injured forward found himself a four-year, $120 million deal from Jordan's Hornets, despite playing just 52 games last season.
Hayward is not a bad player. He will help Charlotte win games. He averaged 17.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game last season while shooting 38 percent from long distance.
However, committing money that should be reserved for top-10 calibre players on a guy who projects to be an elite role player for the remainder of his career just doesn't make sense.
Toronto Raptors
This is admittedly a bit of a harsh call because Toronto managed to re-sign its biggest free agent in Fred VanVleet.
However, the Raptors are undoubtedly going to feel the loss of both Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol next season after both departed as free-agents.
Ibaka, who will re-unite with former Raptor Kawhi Leonard at the Clippers, was one of Toronto's most consistent performers in last season's playoffs, particularly as Pascal Siakam seemingly forgot how to play basketball at times.
After coming into the league as an athletic shot-blocker and not much else, Ibaka has morphed into the ideal bench big, capable of knocking down threes consistently while providing sufficient defence on the other end. It is no secret why a number of contenders were fighting for his services.
Gasol slipped a bit last year and perhaps offering him long-term security that he might have craved was the right move, but it will hurt Toronto next season unless another one of its young players takes a leap.
The Raptors could not have afforded to lose VanVleet and his 17.6 points per game, and retaining him on a four-year, $85 million deal is a big win for Masai Ujiri.
Toronto will recoup some of what it lost in Ibaka and Gasol by its acquisition of Australian big man Aron Baynes, who signed a two-year, $14.3 million deal.
Chris Boucher, another promising Toronto youngster re-signed on a two-year, $13.5 million deal and will be expected to take on a bigger role next season, while DeAndre Bembry will further bolster an already talented wing rotation.
Toronto also remains firmly in the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes. While it may take a slight step back next season, the future remains bright in The North.
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