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The NBA’s offseason has been rich with shocking acquisitions and contract signings … and LeBron James, fresh off splitting with the Los Angeles Lakers after eight years, still hasn’t decided where he’ll play his NBA-record 24th season.

But that hasn’t stopped the league from being shaken by the Boston Celtics trading Jaylen Brown to a division rival, Kawhi Leonard being traded to (and from?) the Toronto Raptors as the NBA’s LA Clippers-Aspiration investigation continues, and the Milwaukee Bucks, after trading Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat, seemingly bidding against themselves for a once-benched role player.

With so much to process (and still await) from this offseason, The Athletic asked Eric Koreen, Jason Jones and Tony Jones to share their thoughts on an interesting offseason. Let’s begin with the arguably the most shocking free-agent contract in years.

What was your first reaction to the unexpected Gary Trent Jr. deal and why?

Koreen: I was confused. Trent was so heavily criticized in the last few seasons that I started to think he was underrated. He is a 38.7 percent career 3-point shooter, and that counts for something. A lot of teams can use that on the periphery of their rotations.

But the full midlevel for an elite shooter who struggled — when he should have thrived — playing next to Giannis Antetokounmpo? Also, Milwaukee giving him four years, not even making him potential trade bait if he has a nice first half of the season, is beyond reasoning. I figured Trent could be a good value signing on the minimum or biannual exception. I am stumped.

J. Jones: This is why you verify everything on the internet. This couldn’t be real? Is this the summer of 2016? Didn’t the Bucks just acquire Tyler Herro and draft Brayden Burries? Who were the Bucks bidding against?

Trent has been a productive player in the past, but he has been on the decline the last couple of seasons. Maybe the Bucks know something that will make this make sense. Milwaukee is in a full rebuild, so committing four guaranteed years to Trent is … different.

This is the kind of decision that conspiracy theorists point to as a sign that something fishy is happening behind the scenes. Signing Giannis’ brothers to minimum deals is one thing, but this is next-level weird.

T. Jones: It feels like a favor done for an agent or an agency that the Bucks hope/expect to pay dividends around the road. If that’s the case, I get the thought process. Small-market teams have to play that game in order to get players because they generally can’t attract players in free agency. They generally must go the trade route. And with players who are the subjects of trades having more power over that than before, small markets have to play the long con, so to speak.

Still, this is egregious in the fact that everyone knows Trent is not anywhere close to $16 million-a-year player at this stage of his career and probably won’t even get the chance to prove he is such. The Bucks have Tyler Herro on the roster and just spent a lottery pick on Brayden Burries. What are they doing?

Rank the 5 strangest offseason moves so far this summer, from least strange to most strange. Other than Trent, why is your top choice the weirdest one?

Koreen: No. 5 is Boston’s end of the Jaylen Brown trade. No. 4 is the Trae Young contract. No. 3 is the combined acquisition cost and contractual cost the Los Angeles Lakers paid for Walker Kessler. No. 2 is the Phoenix Suns trading Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale for Miles Bridges. No. 1 is the Kawhi Leonard “on-hold” trade.

I’ve already had my say on why I found the Leonard trade so funny. The move now being on hold makes it the strangest quasi-transaction of the summer. The strangeness is pretty straightforward, though, so let me move on to No. 2.

Before even getting to Bridges’ off-court history, I think you can make an argument that both O’Neale and Allen are more valuable than Bridges. I wouldn’t necessarily buy the argument, but I would listen with an open mind. Regardless, Bridges is a decent starting forward, and not much more. Giving up two useful rotation players and an unprotected 2033 pick — when Devin Booker will be 36 — for Bridges, and needing to give him an extension to justify it does not make sense to me. I’m not sure what the Suns are doing.

J. Jones: No. 5 is the Suns trading for Miles Bridges. No. 4 is the Brooklyn Nets acquiring Julius Randle. No. 3 is the Portland Trail Blazers deciding to add Ja Morant to its collection of guards. No. 2 is Boston trading Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers. No. 1 is Toronto trading for Kawhi (pending an NBA investigation).

Leonard had one of the last great, dramatic free-agency decisions in 2019. He chose to leave Toronto for the LA Clippers while also leaving the Lakers on the outs.

Toronto’s willingness to give up Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick and multiple draft picks for Leonard seven years later without knowing the fallout of the Aspiration investigation is puzzling. Leonard had a good season, but he is 35, has a history of injuries and is seeking a contract extension.

The Raptors believing in Leonard while unsure of the status of the salary-cap circumvention investigation is weird.

T. Jones: No. 5 is LeBron James leaving the Lakers. No. 4 is the Minnesota Timberwolves moving off Julius Randle. No. 3 is Toronto saying yes to the Kawhi trade without the NBA finishing its business in the Aspiration investigation. No. 2 is Boston deciding so publicly to move off a person who was one of the best 10 or 15 players in the league this past season, without at the very least attempting to be a lot more stealth about it, so they can maintain the ability to draw value in a potential deal. No. 1 is Portland trading for Ja Morant.

Now, the Blazers have locked themselves into several boxes. They are committing themselves to a point guard who can’t affect a game positively without dominating the basketball. And, guess what? That takes away from Deni Avdija — who is their best player — and his ability to be a playmaker, which is his best trait. Avdija operates best as a de facto point guard, and this trade essentially takes that off the table. Damian Lillard’s return locks them into a miniature backcourt with a million guards, most of which are young and need developing. It kills Scoot Henderson’s development, just as he was FINALLY starting to develop. And, oh yes, you take Morant — despite his explosive first step declining last season. You have to hope his off-court issues are behind him, which, ironically, I think is actually the least of Portland’s worries.

Portland added more talent, sure. But is Morant good enough to offset all of the above potential issues?

What’s the oddest offseason move that not enough people are talking about?

Koreen: Let me immediately argue against my pick here: I believe zero people are talking about the Chicago Bulls paying Zach Collins $17 million over two years, and that is the correct number of people who should be discussing it. But the ability to throw him in a trade is the only reason I can think of for this extension.

To me, Collins is a minimum-level big man. If you simply have to give the money away, why do it for two years? He would surely have more trade value on an expiring deal than a two-year contract. Also, he is frequently injured. Maybe Collins is an excellent guy behind the scenes, but this seems like a bizarre own goal for a franchise that is tearing it down to the studs. This was mean. I apologize to Collins.

J. Jones: Amid all the jokes about the new-look Lakers, did we forget the team signed Collin Sexton? The Lakers did not keep Marcus Smart, Rui Hachimura or Luke Kennard — three players who helped them win a playoff series — but added Sexton when they desperately needed size and perimeter defense. If the Lakers are able to add size and defense on the wing, this move isn’t all that odd. Until then, the Lakers look like a team going all in on offense and relying on Kessler to become a Defensive Player of the Year candidate.

T. Jones: New Orleans not suiting up Jeremiah Fears or Derik Queen for summer league. You mean to tell me those two were so good last season that they couldn’t use a game or two, just for the reps? You mean to tell me the Pelicans’ 26-56 season was good enough that they couldn’t stand to see their two potential future stars with some game action? Their development means everything to how viable the future is for New Orleans. They should have been on the floor, if only for a game.

Which team’s offseason do you understand the least?

Koreen: There has got to be another move coming in Detroit, right? I sort of figured Isaiah Stewart would be out of Motown after the, err, events of last year. But he was an important role player for the Pistons, and they basically got three second-rounders for him. They allowed Tobias Harris to walk in free agency — fine — but essentially swapped John Collins in for him on a three-year, $51 million deal, although only one year is guaranteed.

Collins is a useful player, but Harris’ creation was necessary for the Pistons last year. I’ll give Detroit the benefit of the doubt regarding Jalen Duren and assume it’s using restricted free agency as leverage, but it doesn’t seem like a great situation between the team and an All-Star, no matter how many doubts you have about him.

I get the Pistons’ front office being skeptical about the team after a rough playoffs and trying to remain patient as a result. But Cade Cunningham is turning 25, is one of the 10 or so best players in the league and led Detroit to 60 wins last year. He has even less help now than he had against Orlando and Cleveland, when he was forced to do everything for the Pistons. I don’t get it.

J. Jones: I go back and forth between Detroit and Boston, but I lean more towards Boston.

Detroit hasn’t done much to improve, but I expect Duren will be back, meaning the Pistons will keep one of their young pieces. I also don’t expect Detroit to have the best record in the Eastern Conference next season.

So, let’s look at Boston. It’s not just about trading Jaylen Brown. It’s getting him out of Boston as if he was a pariah that just felt off. All of the analytics chatter led to some disrespectful discourse around Brown’s intelligence.

Boston improved a conference rival while replacing Brown with an older player at his position in Paul George.

I would love to understand why moving on from Brown was necessary. Even if Brad Stevens sat me down to explain, I’d probably still be confused.

T. Jones: I’m with Eric, here. I think Detroit, at best, took a step sideways in the East. At worst, the Pistons may have slid down a few pegs. I liked Collins for the Sixers much more than I liked him for the Pistons. The Sixers needed him to catch and shoot, finish lobs and run the floor. The Pistons swapped Collins for Harris. While Harris is deficient at a lot of things, he’s still able to effectively put the ball on the floor and be a secondary playmaker in ways Collins isn’t. It puts even more pressure on Cunningham to create off the bounce, and the Pistons needed to lessen that pressure, not double down on it.

The Duren saga is what it is. But as we saw with Jonathan Kuminga, Quentin Grimes and Kessler, restricted free agency creates a bitterness between player, agency and team that isn’t easily fixable. In the three cases I cited, those relationships were permanently severed. So, even if Duren ends up getting his money, what is that relationship going to be like going forward?

It just feels like the Pistons had a real opportunity with assets and space to improve on a team that dominated the Eastern Conference during the regular season. They will still be a really good team. But teams like the Sixers, Raptors, Atlanta Hawks and Heat certainly drew closer.

Where would you rank this offseason’s absurdity vs. recent years?

Koreen: I ranked the Brown as just the fifth-oddest move above, and I still don’t understand why the Celtics forced that trade, given the offer they accepted. So, I rank it as pretty darn absurd.

J. Jones: I need to see where LeBron lands to assess that. It’s certainly been whacky, but James could make this summer insane. It’s not 2016, but it’s been weird. Brown out of Boston was interesting. Morant to Portland and LaMelo Ball to Minnesota have made things fun. The Kawhi trade talks during an NBA investigation feels like something out of a television show. I’m just waiting for LeBron to help us wrap up the offseason news cycle.

T. Jones: It’s certainly one of the most absurd ever, and it’s been driven by the second apron. The Jaylen Brown trade happened because the Celtics didn’t want to pay max money to the NBA’s 15th-best player. Teams didn’t want to pay the 15th-best player in the league max dollars, which sapped his value. And now, Brown ends up within the Atlantic Division, with a bitter rival.

That’s almost as absurd as you’ll get.