This summer just keeps on getting better and better for the Los Angeles Lakers organization. In the beginning of July they obviously landed LeBron James among several other free agents, but things have continued to only get better. Management probably didn’t know what to expect from the Lakers’ squad heading into the 2018 Las Vegas Summer League as they lacked nearly their entire young core, but they didn’t disappoint.

Their main pieces were there last summer though, which resulted in a championship when they defeated the Trail Blazers by a score of 110-98. The second overall pick in the 2017 draft Lonzo Ball took home the league’s Most Valuable Player award and Kyle Kuzma was named the MVP of the Championship Game.

Tonight, the teams are once again fighting for the title. The odds are on the Lakers’ side once more, as Josh Hart was announced as MVP earlier today. He has been outstanding in the 6 games he’s played, averaging 24.2 points per game on 47% shooting as well as 5.2 rebounds. Hart also dropped a record 37 points last night in a 112-109 win over the Cavaliers last night to advance to the title game. 

MVP!!!! @joshhart Congrats G #LakeShow

— LeBron James (@KingJames) July 17, 2018

In addition to being named Most Valuable Player, he was named to the All-NBA Summer League First Team (teammate Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk was on the Second Team). The 23-year-old former Villanova guard and 2016 NCAA champion was drafted 30th overall in the 2017 NBA Draft. In his rookie year, he averaged 7.9 points and 4.2 rebounds in 63 games. This summer has been even more proof that the future is bright in Los Angeles, so bright that it will actually extend past LeBron’s stay. Hart will earn $1.6 million this upcoming season.

The NBA offseason has certainly been an exciting one so far, considering most of the top free agents have already been swooped up. We are only a week into free agency, but it’s not too early to tell which teams will come out the most successful. Here are the franchises that have made the biggest splash so far, and additionally a few who airballed their only shots.

Los Angeles Lakers – SPLASH

Not much honestly needs to be said about how the Lakers have done this offseason. They secured LeBron James for 4 years (3+1) and $154 million. Magic Johnson did a great job recruiting him, and LeBron took his commitment even further and called up Lance Stephenson to bring him to California as well. They also got Javale McGee and even more importantly, Rajon Rondo, who has a chance to start and command the floor next to The King. The Lakers lost Julius Randle and never even got a chance at Paul George, but they still won when they landed a historically great LeBron.

Golden State Warriors – SPLASH

The Warriors landed the most surprising deal of the summer, without a doubt. DeMarcus Cousins, the five-time All-Star who spent last year in New Orleans before tearing his achilles in January, signed a roughly $5 million dollar contract for next season. The following summer they’ll be able to give him a max deal, and just a few hours ago news broke that Golden State will pounce on Jonas Jerebko once his waiver is cleared. They re-signed Kevin Durant for the next two years (1+1) for $61.5 million, and it looks as if the Hamptons Five just turned into the league assassinators.

Oklahoma City Thunder – SPLASH

Thunder fans rejoiced when they saw Russell Westbrook celebrating on stage with Paul George and Nas. PG signed back on a four-year, $137 million dollar deal and for the first time in a while, Oklahoma City has secured their stars for the coming seasons. They landed a very underrated player in Nerlens Noel, who will help out greatly on the defensive end of the ball. The Thunder also managed to re-sign Jerami Grant for the next 3 years, who at 24 years old is still improving rapidly. Sam Presti has done a great job at improving the roster for deeper playoff runs, and after it was released that the franchise would part ways with Carmelo (which also saves $100 million in taxes), the foreseeable future is looking even more promising in Oklahoma.

Philadelphia 76ers – AIRBALL

To be quite frank, nothing good has really happened so far for Philadelphia in this free agency. They didn’t land LeBron or even come close to it, they lost Ersan Ilyasova to the Bucks, and the Spurs regained Marco Belinelli. Both of those pieces contributed very well last year, averaging almost 25 points per game combined. They did bring back J.J. Redick for another season, but besides that, they seem to have missed out big. If they want to repeat as 50-game winners next year, they better hope that Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons step up big.

New Orleans Pelicans – AIRBALL

The Pelicans really screwed up with their second best player, DeMarcus Cousins. The franchise neglected to recruit him back to the team, something that Anthony Davis reportedly also played a part in. They did bring in Julius Randle from the Lakers, but his value isn’t nearly as close as Cousins’. New Orleans lost Rajon Rondo, who played a big part in their playoff run last year before they got taken out by the Warriors. He will be replaced by Elfrid Payton next season, but a team this young and inexperienced might end up struggling.

The King, who recently chose to don the purple and gold next year, is now 33 years old. LeBron James has been playing in the NBA for 15 seasons, and he hasn’t slowed down one step. Over those years, he’s played 54,347 regular season and postseason minutes. The next most belong to Joe Johnson and Dirk Nowitzki, at 44,167 and 41,961 respectively. When those numbers are condensed down, LeBron’s amount is the equivalent of 3.5 more seasons than anybody else.

What’s more astonishing though, is how amazing he’s been. LeBron is coming off a career-best playoff stretch in which he hit two game-winning shots and averaged 34 points per contest. However, all good things must come to an end. For LeBron, it’s probably not within the next 3-4 years. He’s still undisputedly the greatest player in the world and arguably ever, so predicting when he comes back down to earth is next to impossible. One can assume LeBron’s retirement will come at an age that pushes 40, so treasure the gift of watching him play at this level while it lasts.

The “Chosen One”, as Sports Illustrated referred to him as way back in 2002, will reside in Los Angeles next season and embark on a new journey as a Laker. On the contrary, when he does lose the throne as the best player in the league, there are a few candidates that’ll gladly take his place.

A few names that first pop up when thinking of the NBA’s current prince include Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving, and even James Harden. Interestingly enough there is one factor that makes it impossible to write about those guys – their ages. KD will soon be 30, Kawhi just turned 27, Harden is approaching 29, and Kyrie will be 27 around the end of next season. Those players are all amazing in their respective ways; it’s just that LeBron won’t have slowed down yet at the time of their peaks. That being said, there’s one player who is already at a similar caliber yet still has the clock on his side.

His name doesn’t need to be said (in fact, most people can’t say it correctly anyway), but he’s referred to as the Greek Freak. He runs the floor for the Milwaukee Bucks, dominating it on both sides of the basketball. Now a two-time All-Star, Giannis Antetokounmpo is just 23 years old. The timing matches up perfectly with LeBron’s exit from the league, but it all comes down to how unreal Antetokounmpo is.

As a rookie in 2013-14, he averaged 6.8 points per game (although he was still good enough for the All-Rookie Second Team). This season, he dropped 26.9 on while making 52.9% of his shots. If Giannis develops a better shot from outside the arc and a more reliable jump shot (he typically gets most of his buckets at the rim), that figure can rise above 30. The Greek Freak averaged 10 rebounds and nearly 5 assists in 2017-18, with the 5th best PER (Player Efficiency Rating) in the NBA at 27.37. Next behind him on that list was Kevin Durant, at 26.05.

Two seasons ago he took home the NBA’s Most Improved Player award, and has been named to the All-NBA Second Team in both of the past two. When he’s not dunking on people, he’s swatting their shot. Antetokounmpo’s massive 8’3” wingspan has helped him in multiple ways, and he’s improving annually at legendary levels.

There’s no doubt he’s become an MVP-worthy player, and most likely he’ll take home the trophy once or twice assuming the Bucks can pull in 50+ wins in a season. With LeBron now out of the East, that should be even easier. When LeBron starts to slow down and become a “normal” All-Star, Giannis will take his place.

Remember to never rush greatness, and put it all into perspective that LeBron is a historically unmatched basketball player. Don’t be quick to find a replacement for him, but just know at the same time that there is always other talent out there, and the next best thing will probably be the 6’11” point guard from Greece.