Getty Images/Ringer illustration Few frothy rumors. No impending superstar trades. The league's transformation into a 12-month, transaction-fueled affair hit pause in 2024. A year ago next week, a long-running NBA saga finally concluded. The Trail Blazers traded Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks, ending a monthslong process to get the franchise's scoring leader out of Portland. In return for a new partner for Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks sent the Blazers a giant package of picks and players—most notably Jrue Holiday, who immediately kick-started a bidding war of his own. Meanwhile, drama surrounding another point guard on the NBA 75th Anniversary Team continued to swirl, as James Harden waited for his ride out of Philadelphia. Lillard and Harden dominated the 2023 offseason, as only the latest examples of the NBA's transformation into a 12-month, transaction-fueled league. But this summer hasn't followed that pattern. While the Olympics provided a pleasant set of stakes and story lines midway between the Celtics' championship clincher and the upcoming start of training camp, the biggest NBA news since the U.S. won gold is a media story—Adrian Wojnarowski's retirement...