You know what they say about hindsight: It's great for determining which teams should want a mulligan on the 2023 NBA trade deadline.

Regret is a powerful emotion, and assigning it to basketball organizations is certainly going to rub certain fanbases the wrong way. But this exercise isn't meant to mock or mudsling.

Sure, in some instances, it seems like franchises messed up—big time. Mostly, though, this is a look at which teams should have strived to do more and aimed higher during the Association's transaction tumult.

To that end, these selections weren't taken lightly or chosen haphazardly. Every team is at the behest of the trade market and its available assets. There needed to be a clear path to better alternatives or an obvious mishandling of situations for each squad to appear here.

And finally, this list isn't meant to represent how every team feels. They will all maintain that they're comfortable with their direction or that everything at the trade deadline went exactly according to plan.

These regrets are instead presented from an outsider's perspective. We should have all expected more or better from these teams—because they needed it.

Potential Regrets

Chicago Bulls

The Regret: Doing absolutely, positively nothing at the deadline.

This should theoretically be a "Why didn't the Bulls blow it up?!" diatribe. And, well, it's a little of that. But Chicago has been on a tear since the All-Star break, going 8-4 with a top-eight offense and top-two defense.

DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine are playing surface-of-the-sun basketball. The Patrick Williams and Coby White bandwagons are visibly more crowded. Patrick Beverley is the best buyout pickup to date.

So, like, maybe the Bulls should have been more aggressive in seeking upgrades? Except, well, they're still 10th in the East. So maybe they should have blown it up after all? Or perhaps just chilling was perfectly fine? (*shrugs*)

New Orleans Pelicans

The Regret: Failing to meaningfully upgrade their three-point shooting, rim pressure or frontline rotation.

ESPN's Zach Lowe noted on a recent episode of The Lowe Post podcast that New Orleans came close to completing a deal with Utah for Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt before the Los Angeles Lakers swooped in. That would have been perfect.

Nabbing Josh Richardson and getting off Devonte' Graham without forking over a first-rounder was fine. But the Pelicans needed more offensive juice. They are 24th in points scored per possession since Zion Williamson went down, with a shot profile disastrously light on rim attempts and three-point volume.

New Orleans now seems destined to finish outside play-in territory after flirting with top-of-the-West status heading into the New Year. That's…problematic. But should the Pelicans have been aggressive at all when Zion has no timeline return? I'm honestly not sure.

Sacramento Kings

The Regret: Failing to upgrade the perimeter defense beyond the acquisition of Kessler Edwards.

This "regret" is actually a compliment. The Kings are so good and fun that it would have been nice to see them angle for more than a Kessler Edwards acquisition—someone who can soak up even more minutes on bigger wings while decreasing their dependence on Davion Mitchell. Jacking up their big-man minutes behind Domantas Sabonis would have been neat-o, too.

Declaring full-on regret is a little too nitpicky in the end. The Kings are contending for a top-two seed in the West, and despite their defensive shortcomings, they do a good job crashing the glass, limiting their fouls and forcing rival offenses to work deep into the shot clock. Both Trey Lyles and Chimezie Metu are also helping the non-Sabonis minutes evade complete crap-fests.

Messing with the vibes in Sacramento would have been risky, and the team's first-round obligation to Atlanta in 2024 (lottery protected) complicated bigger-time aspirations. The Kings are probably better off gauging where they stand in the playoffs and tinkering over the offseason. This doesn't mean I'll stop wishing they joined the pursuit for Jarred Vanderbilt, Saddiq Bey, Josh Richardson, Jae Crowder or another wing from Brooklyn.

Memphis Grizzlies

The Regret: Playing it safe again despite contending for a top-two Western Conference record.

The Memphis Grizzlies have long flown in rarefied air. They are a title contender, or something extremely close to it, with the assets necessary to make a gigantic splash while holding onto their three best players (Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., Desmond Bane).

Refusing to act on this comfy position is one thing if you're a finished, near-infallible product. The Grizzlies are anything but. They have distinct flaws—entrenched weaknesses on offense that are glaring enough to derail their championship hopes.

Yes, Memphis ranks 10th in points scored per possession. And sure, the progression of JJJ and another mega leap from Bane is nothing at which to sneeze. But the collective attack continues to subsist on transition opportunities and second-chance buckets while lacking functional shooting and from-scratch creators.

The Grizzlies are 19th in three-point-attempt rate, 22nd in long-range accuracy, 25th in catch-and-shoot effective field-goal percentage and 22nd in overall half-court efficiency. This is not an offensive makeup that screams, "playoff-ready!"

Landing Luke Kennard ironed out some of the wrinkles but not all of them. And the offensive oomph he provides is not without trade-offs. Kennard is drilling 48.6 percent of his three-pointers in Memphis. The Grizzlies are also surrendering 117.6 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor (26th percentile).

Caveats abound. Many of Kennard's stints come without one or both of Jackson and Dillon Brooks, and that's on top of Steven Adams' absence. Memphis is winning the minutes Kennard plays, and in a somewhat stunning twist, it ranks 10th in half-court offense since the trade deadline despite not having Morant for nine consecutive games (and counting).

Still, hellacious defense and all, the Grizzlies are not a contender who profiles as a prohibitive favorite. Their offense remains vulnerable, and without Adams or Brandon Clarke, their playoff rotation stretches maaaybe six trustworthy players deep.

Changing things up requires a market conducive to doing so. This year's deadline wasn't awash with opportunities. Plenty of teams were pearl-clutching, and just like 28 other squads, Memphis never had a realistic chance to enter the Kevin Durant business. It did, however, have the assets to aim bigger than Kennard and turn said pearl-clutchers into open-minded negotiators. (Kyle Kuzma? Bojan Bogdanovic? Jerami Grant?)

Sentiment will shift if the Grizzlies make a run to the Western Conference Finals. It shouldn't. The point here isn't to infer that they suck. They don't. They're awesome. But they have the goodies to be so much better. And yet, dating back to the offseason, they continue to function like a team on a more gradual timeline.