The Boston Celtics snapped a 16-year championship drought on Monday night, defeating the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 of the NBA Finals to claim their record-setting 18th NBA title.
As a result, the 2023-24 NBA season officially is in the books. And, naturally, the 2024-25 offseason instantly got underway.
To capture a snapshot of an offseason already heading into a sprint — in a first for the league, teams could begin agreeing to new contracts and extensions with their own free agents right after the Finals ended — let's take a holistic look at where all 30 teams stand in their pursuits of a title and the biggest questions they face this summer.
To do so, we divided franchises into 10 different tiers — beginning with the true title contenders before eventually diving into the throes of rebuilding processes around the league. (Note: Teams are organized alphabetically within each tier, and projected salary cap space is via ESPN's Bobby Marks.)
Jump to a tier:
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/40398244/nba-offseason-2024-franchise-overhaul-tiers-title-contenders-full-rebuilds#one">True title contenders
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/40398244/nba-offseason-2024-franchise-overhaul-tiers-title-contenders-full-rebuilds#two">One move away
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/40398244/nba-offseason-2024-franchise-overhaul-tiers-title-contenders-full-rebuilds#three">On the fringes, with big upside
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/40398244/nba-offseason-2024-franchise-overhaul-tiers-title-contenders-full-rebuilds#four">They are who they are
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/40398244/nba-offseason-2024-franchise-overhaul-tiers-title-contenders-full-rebuilds#five">Emerging playoff threats
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/
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