By Anton Miller

The free agency sweepstakes isn’t completely over quite yet, but it’s pretty clear how some of the league’s most active teams have done so far.

Winners:

Philadelphia 76ers: The Sixers are the biggest winners of this offseason, re-signing Andre Iguodala to a market value contract, and getting the biggest coup of the year by stealing Elton Brand. Brand fills a huge low post scoring weakness, and his defense and rebounding will make life easier for everyone else. He makes the Sixers a likely successor to the Boston Celtics Eastern conference crown, whenever injury or age cuts down the Big Three. The Sixers also filled a major need by grabbing Kareem Rush (three-point shooting was a major weakness for them last year), and got more guard depth in Royal Ivey.

Golden State Warriors: Yes, the Warriors lost their best player in Baron Davis, but Davis’ play slowed considerably down the stretch of last year. Also, at 29, don’t expect him to give the Clippers more than 2 great years. Signing young studs Andris Biedrins and Monta Ellis was the priority, and they were retained long-term at a solid price. To replace Baron’s scoring, Corey Maggette was signed at an expensive rate, but the Warriors needed to make a splash to replaced Baron. They also pried Ronny Turiaf away from the luxury-taxed Los Angeles Lakers and he should fill a need on the bench. The trade for Marcus Williams was a low cost gamble and losing Matt Barnes and Michael Pietrus should free up time for promising rookie Anthony Randolph.

Cleveland Cavaliers: The Cavs pulled off a deal that is sure to please Lebron as he competes in the Olympics. They dealt away Joe Smith and Damon Jones in a three-team deal that netted them Mo Williams. Williams averaged 17 points and 6 assists last year, and is the best point guard the Cavs have had for awhile. He immediately takes some of the scoring load from Lebron and can pass well enough. Jones did not contribute anything to the team except a constantly running mouth, and while Smith was a solid role player, he is not a huge impact player. The Cavs also retained their dead-eye shooter, Daniel Gibson, at a reasonable rate.

Losers:

Washington Wizards: This might be a surprising pick to some, but the Wizards are treading water at best with their offseason. They gave the injury-prone Gilbert Arenas a 6 year 111-million dollar deal, and re-upped Antawn Jamison as well. Their cap space is tied up for the foreseeable future for a core that has not taken them anywhere. They should have gone another direction in free agency and shake up a team that will be a perennial playoff team, but not a championship threat.

Atlanta Hawks: The Hawks entered this offseason on a high note. They had taken the Champions of the NBA to 7 games in the playoff, and they had a great group of young players. However, the Hawks management (as is their custom) bungled the offseason. They messed around in the negotiations with Josh Smith, angering him and provoking him to sign an offer sheet with the Memphis Grizzlies. The Hawks easily matched of course, but are now faced with a potential chemistry killer situation. In addition, Smith was reported to be at odds with Coach Mike Woodson. The brass in Atlanta also butchered the negotiations with sixth man Josh Childress. Childress was one of the better six men in the league, and at a young age was only going to get better. Childress left for Europe and the Hawks signing of Maurice Evans, Randolph Morris and Flip Murray will not exactly set the world on fire.

The results may be a little premature, with the regular season still two months away. However, for the Atlanta Hawks, it’s pretty safe to call them offseason losers, as they’re the first team to lose a quality player and get nothing in return.