Top 3 Offseason Moves Paying Dividends Thus Far

So who really won the offseason? We're 10 days into the new NBA season, and teams are starting to get a feel for how they made out with their offseason moves—trades and free agent signings. 

After this very small sample size, let's have a look at which teams are getting paid the biggest dividends so far on their offseason investments. 

Cleveland Cavaliers — Donovan Mitchell

In one of the blockbuster trades of the summer, the Cavaliers added a 4th star in Donovan Mitchell, and he has not disappointed. A 41-point effort in a thrilling overtime win over the Boston Celtics Friday night was just the latest prime-time showing by Spida. 

The Cavs are off to a 4-1 start, despite Darius Garland missing four of the games, and all Mitchell's done is average 31 points, 6.4 assists and 4.8 rebounds, while shooting 40.5% from long distance. 

Mitchell's addition looks like it will make Cleveland a real force in the East this year. 

New York Knicks — Jalen Brunson

The Knicks have waited for years to have a solid, winning point guard like this. Jalen Brunson has been everything they could have hoped for when they signed him to a 4-year, $104M free agent deal. 

He's added scoring, defense and leadership at both ends of the floor in helping get the Knicks off to a 3-2 start. He's averaged 20 points, 8.5 assists to only 1.5 turnovers, 4.5 rebounds, and shooting 41% from downtown.  

Dallas Mavericks — Christian Wood

Sure, the Mavs lost out on Brunson. But trading for Christian Wood has replaced Brunson's scoring and given them a devastating force off the bench. He's only playing 25 minutes per game (that should go up), while averaing 21 points, 8 rebounds and 66.7% from 3-point range—yes, you read that correctly. Wood has hit on 10 of his 15 attempts from behind the arc for 66.7%. He's also held his own defensively. 

Honorable Mention here goes to Bojan Bogdanovic, Detroit Pistons. Ok, so the Pistons are only 1-5 thus far. But don't blame it on Bojan. The veteran is averaging a team-high 23 points with a blistering 51% from 3-point range, on volume—he takes eight attempts per game, and hits on more than four of them. 

"He’s very knowledgable about the game, and he shares his knowledge,” Cade Cunningham said about Bodanovic. “He doesn’t hold it to himself. He makes sure that all of us are on the same page."

Photo: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports