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This epic summer of free agency isn’t over just yet. Plenty more moves can still be made, but it’s safe to say that the big ones have now all happened, culminating in LeBron’s huge decision that he’s headed to the Heat to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

Yes, the Heat still have work to do in filling out their roster with the roleplayers those three need round them to win championships. That will take time. But there’s no doubting that the Miami Heat were huge winners this summer.

They’re not the only winners so far however, nor are the Cleveland Cavaliers the only losers. Here are some of my winners and losers of the free agency period so far.

WINNERS

Miami Heat

Quite simply, they won the biggest free agent sweepstakes I’ve ever known in pro sports, let alone the NBA. This could have turned out so differently for them. Wade spoke with his hometown Bulls twice before announcing he would re-sign with the Heat, the only team he’s ever played for. That was in addition to Chris Bosh announcing his intent to join him.

Even at that point, the Heat were winners. It was essential that they convinced Wade to return, but to get an All-Star big man to join him was huge. Then came some guy called LeBron. It’s a bit early to talk of a dynasty, but it certainly isn’t unlikely.

Chicago Bulls

Yes, they failed to recruit Wade. And they failed to recruit LeBron too, who in my eyes would have been a great fit alongside the talent they already have in Chicago.

Nonetheless, I still think the Bulls did well. They managed to bring in Carlos Boozer in a 6 year/m deal and Kyle Korver in a 3 year/m deal. They may not be finished there, with reports JJ Redick may also join them.

This gives them a solid team going forward. Quite simply, they missed out on the big names but still made some great moves which is good to see. Unlike the Knicks, they didn’t trade away every player and pick possible to prepare for LeBron (except Kirk Hinrich), and as a result aren’t in too much trouble.

David Lee

Swapping one losing environment for another may not seem like too much of a good thing, but Lee managed to secure a 6 year/m contract in the process. He’s good, but I don’t think he’s that good. You could perhaps argue he falls in the ‘lose’ category because there were a few better teams he could have ended up at, but that would have required the Knicks to agree to such a deal in a sign and trade. After failing in the LeBron sweepstakes, they needed to get as much back as they could for David Lee.

Joe Johnson

I don’t need to say anything else here aside from: Joe Johnson was the free agent who walked away with the most money this off-season - 4m for 6 years. Incredible.

Rudy Gay

Similarly, Rudy Gay came away with a great deal himself - m for 5 years. I can’t understand the Grizzlies’ thinking here, deciding to offer him this contract before letting the market dictate his value. Gay is good, but I highly doubt anyone would have offered him that much, and the Grizzlies could have just matched to retain him. Instead, they came straight out and offered him a huge deal, making him a huge winner.

Kevin Durant

You may have missed the news on Kevin Durant. That’s because rather than draw a lot of attention to himself and generate a lot of media fanfare like a certain someone did, he simply got to work quietly on a new extension with the Thunder - m for 5 years. Great deal for an incredible player who continues to go about his business in the right way. It’s hard not to root for this kid.

LOSERS

LeBron James

Sure, he will probably win a championship or two. In fact it’s entirely possible he becomes part of a dynasty in South Beach. However I still think he’s a loser in this. The way he went about his free agency and announcing his decision was appalling and poorly thought out. He totally betrayed his loyal Cleveland fan base, breaking their hearts live on TV in a way they didn’t deserve.

I’m not saying he should have stayed there, but there was a right way and a wrong way to make this decision. He definitely did it the wrong way. It was a horrible idea by James and his management team to push ahead with a one hour live special on ESPN entitled “The Decision”. As a result, his brand name and perhaps his legacy are tarnished. All the good he did in Cleveland is forgotten. Not only does he need to win championships in Miami, he needs to rebuild his reputation.

Amar’e Stoudemire

The deal the Suns offered him was a fair one in my eyes. So long as Amar’e played five years and enough games in the final two years of the deal (and the targets were reasonable), he’d have made only m less than the New York deal he took. m less but a chance to continue playing for a winning team which brought out the best of his talents? He should have taken it.

Instead, he took the New York money and ran, perhaps under the illusion that LeBron would follow him. Only, LeBron didn’t follow him, and now Stoudemire is the only star on a pretty awful team. Where he once had Steve Nash, he now has Raymond Felton. That pretty much sums it up for me.

New York Knicks

I think the Knicks might be the biggest losers of all so far this summer. They sacrificed two seasons by shredding salary cap, losing in the process, positioning themselves for a run at the top free agents this summer. They went after LeBron James hard. They came up empty handed. The team they are left with is awful.

Yes, Amar’e Stoudemire is a great player, one of the best power forwards in the game, but who else is there? The Knicks moved so many assets to prepare for LeBron, Wade etc that they are now left with nothing. They can still make some moves to build around Amar’e, but they have very limited options to do so.

Their sign-and-trade deal that sent David Lee to the Warriors was a terrible deal. Quite simply, they’ve replaced Lee with a better forward who will probably produce slightly better stats, while making the rest of the team worse. The losing will continue in New York.

New Jersey Nets

At one point last week, I thought the Nets suddenly had a big chance of recruiting LeBron. They were the first team to meet with LeBron, sending new owner Prokhorov and Jay-Z along to do the presentation, which was widely reported to have been a huge success in impressing LeBron.

You got the impression (or at least, I did), that they could actually pull this off. It didn’t happen though, but at least they still do have some good pieces - Devin Harris and Brook Lopez, along with newly signed Travis Outlaw. Make no mistake though, this will still be a pretty bad team unless they continue to make moves.

Cleveland Cavaliers

There should be no explanation needed here. Not only did LeBron leave, he destroyed them with his decision announcement. The entire city and region is suffering. They’re simply not going to be that good a team anymore. I don’t really know where they go from here, with new coach Byron Scott on board. It’s safe to say however, that they are no longer one of the elite teams in the NBA. Their time is over.

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