What’s your biggest regret this offseason? The Clippers gave up on Powell and the Trail Blazers drafted Hexion high but didn’t give him a chance.

Translator's Note: This article was originally published in "Bleachers" and was written by Zach Buckley. The data in the article are as of the time of publication of the original article (November 19, local time). The opinions in the article have nothing to do with the translator and the platform.

The first month of the 2025-26 NBA season has fully revealed many true situations of each team.

This includes the things that each team regrets most during the offseason - almost every team has regrets. Although there is still time to gradually resolve some of these issues, we can't help but wonder whether the team executives responsible for this have been losing sleep at night due to repeated entanglements.

Los Angeles Clippers: Let go of Norman Powell

The Clippers have reason to explore the lineup without Powell this offseason. There have been various doubts about the sustainability of this 31-year-old wing player whose career broke out; and even if he can somehow prove that his form can be stably continued, the Los Angeles Clippers will face a difficult problem-how to make an extension decision when Powell becomes a free agent in 2026, while also taking into account the team's obvious long-term goal of clearing salary space in 2027.

Therefore, purely from the perspective of the idea of ​​"letting go of Powell", it is not the worst business decision. But the way they executed the deal turned out to be extremely poor.

Because they actually used Powell - a high-quality wing player with championship experience who was at the breakout period of his career - plus a second-round pick and some cash to only exchange for John Collins.

The Clippers clearly believe that they are simply exchanging a good role player with shortcomings for another of the same type. Although Collins does fit the description of "good but with shortcomings", Powell once again upgraded after joining the Miami Heat (averaging 25.5 points per game, shooting 47.8%, 3-point shooting, and free throw shooting 47.8%, 46.1%, and 93.2% respectively), and became a real game-changing player for the Heat.

Portland Trail Blazers: Betting heavily on Yang Hansen, but burying him in the depth of the lineup

Although the Trail Blazers revealed their desire to win immediately this offseason-such as trading for Jrue Holiday and bringing back Damian Lillard-they still adopted a long-term strategy in the draft that focuses on the future. However, they did not choose to add another lottery pick to the lineup, but instead voluntarily gave up the 11th pick (originally they could have selected two potential rookies, Cedric Coward or Derek Quinn) with this pick, and finally selected Yang Hansen with the 16th pick. This decision shocked the entire league.

This is a very interesting bet, betting on Yang Hansen's unique basketball skills given his own body size (height 2.16 meters, weight 122.5 kilograms). This choice has also made the Trail Blazers a team that has attracted much attention from fans in the summer league. However, even before he officially joins, there is a pressing question before everyone: Can he keep up with the fast-paced intensity of the NBA?

But these questions are still not close to the answer, because he is very low in the team's lineup depth rankings and has almost no chance to play. You know, just last year, the Trail Blazers selected another center Donovan Klingen with the 7th overall pick. At the same time, the team still retains two powerful insiders in Robert Williams III and Dupu Reese. That's why Yang Hansen has only played 29 more minutes in the NBA than you and me so far.

Houston Rockets: Failure to clarify Tari Eason's uncertain future

It's rather surprising - and a testament to the resilience of this Rockets roster - that their biggest regret this season is clearly not their failure to find a suitable replacement in time after Fred VanVleet suffered a torn ACL in September.

The Rockets may still start a reinforcement plan at the point guard position at some stage of the season, but the three young players Shen Jing, Amen Thompson and Shepard have all handled their sudden increase in responsibilities well and filled the vacancy left by VanVleet's absence.

Therefore, the topic naturally turned to Ethan. It is true that the Rockets actively tried to reach a contract extension agreement with Ethan during the offseason, but in the end the two parties failed to finalize the contract details. This result cast a layer of uncertainty on Ethan's current situation and future development with the team.

His performance when healthy has been outstanding - although his destructive and disruptive power on the defensive end has declined compared to previous seasons, his three-point shooting percentage has improved significantly - but now he has returned to the sidelines due to injury, this time an oblique muscle strain.

Somehow, Ethan seems to be stuck in a contradictory situation: he is a perfect fit for this Rockets team that emphasizes offensive and defensive transitions and youthful vitality; he is also the player who is most likely to be used as a trade bargaining chip if the team wants to upgrade their outside firepower in the middle of the season.

Golden State Warriors: Failure to resolve Jonathan Kuminga's dilemma

From an outside perspective, Kuminga's restricted free agent contract extension negotiations can be described as a long tug-of-war. It took a very long time for both parties to finally reach an agreement, and this contract that was finally finalized did not fundamentally solve the problem, but only postponed Kuminga's future conflicts with the team to subsequent seasons.

Even when Shams reported on this two-year contract worth $48.5 million (the second year of the contract is a team option), he specifically added "if Kuminga is traded in the upcoming season."

In other words, the future of this young player who is only 23 years old is still up in the air.. And his role on the team has sparked heated discussions among the media and fans every night. His performance at the beginning of the season was extremely strong, but then his condition declined rapidly, and soon he missed many games due to knee tendonitis. During this period, he not only lost his starting position, but also experienced a significant increase in turnovers and a significant decline in shooting percentage.

This continued inconsistency is certainly detrimental to his trade value, which is currently murky at best—especially if it is widely believed that Golden State is holding on to him temporarily just to wait until he becomes trade-eligible (he will meet league-mandated trade conditions on January 15th).

This is undoubtedly a completely unnecessary interference, and the Warriors may have hoped to completely get rid of the trouble surrounding Kuminga after the lengthy contract extension dispute this summer.

Los Angeles Lakers: Failed to find reliable three-point firepower

The Lakers' lineup should be equipped with sufficient three-point shooters. If that's the case, with the star players on the team, their offense might become truly unstoppable.

But this is not the case. In fact, despite Luka Doncic's MVP-level dominance and Austin Reeves' All-Star-level firepower, the Lakers' offensive efficiency ranks only 17th in the league, which is really unimpressive. How is this done?

Admittedly, it's easy to blame the problem on LeBron James' absence, which is certainly part of the reason, but even his return cannot fundamentally solve the Lakers' persistent problems with outside shooting.

The Lakers' overall three-point performance is extremely poor (ranking 29th in the league in three-point field goal percentage and 24th in three-point field goal percentage). Considering that if they can equip stars such as Doncic and James with suitable outside shooters to open up offensive space for them, this offensive lineup will become undefendable. This three-point performance is really unforgivable.