Recap: Free Agency Fallout (or, Unfinished Business)

Recap: Free Agency Fallout (or, Unfinished Business)

2018-07-01 Off By EvilGenius

The theme of the NBA’s annual mad free agent dash this year was equal parts fast… and, “hey, not so fast.” News unsurprisingly started to leak out as much as an hour leading up to midnight… however, surprisingly (well, at least to Brian Windhorst and the folks on ESPN’s The Jump) the first big domino of the night not only decided to stay where he was, but did so with a lengthy commitment.

Anyone who still thought Paul George was leaving Oklahoma City for the bright lights of Los Angeles, should have been quickly dissuaded from that notion by the size of the party being thrown at Russell Westbrook’s crib. Shortly after midnight, PG13 made the rumors official… but, it was the number of years he re-signed for that stood out. Four years (the fourth being a player option) for a maximum $137M from the Thunder, who took a gamble that they could entice George to stick around.

As the man himself wrote on his Instagram post… Unfinished business…

Word was that George didn’t even set a meeting with the Lakers, as he was convinced early on to finish what he started last year in OKC… how refreshing.

Speaking of unfinished business, the next big name to drop was Chris Paul, who agreed to a four year, $160M deal to run it back with James Harden and the Houston Rockets. It was one year less than CP3 had been rumored to have sought with the previous ownership regime, yet it was still a max deal that makes him the second highest paid point guard in the league.

Granted, the Rockets really didn’t have much choice but to bring back the guy that helped them get within shouting distance of The Finals… although $44M for a guy at age 38 who has been historically injury prone might be a really tough pill to swallow…

Kevin Durant also wasted no time agreeing to take another small haircut on a 1+1 $65M deal with the Warriors. Though odds are that he’ll opt out of the second year to take full advantage of a five year max deal next summer. In taking less, he not only preserved his flexibility, but also created a potential mid-level salary slot for Golden State to sign another vet contributor. The rich get richer…

The Denver Nuggets weren’t joking around about keeping their young core together at all costs… and they committed more than $200M in salaries shortly after midnight. Nikola Jokic agreed to a five year, $148M maximum deal… and Will Barton got locked into a four year, $54M deal. Like the Thunder (who also retained Jerami Grant to a three year, $27M deal), the Nuggets look to be capped out… although they do still have a few moveable contracts…

Other guys staying put in the early going included:

  • Rudy Gay with the Spurs: 1 year/$10M
  • Joe Harris with the Nets: 2 years/$16M
  • Aaron Baynes with the Celtics: 2 years/$11M
  • Gerald Green with the Rockets: 1 year/$2.4M
  • and, yes… even Derrick Rose with the Timberwolves: 1 year/$2.1M

The biggest name to switch teams once the clock struck 12, was a dude who had infamously already been through this scenario once before. Yes, Mark Cuban finally got his DJ (DeAndre Jordan)… and just two summers after the big man was kidnapped by then Clipper teammates CP3 and Blake Griffin. Jordan and the Mavericks agreed to a one year, $24.1M deal… then DJ hilariously Tweeted his own callback emoji…

The two veteran shooters the Philadelphia 76ers picked up for their playoff run last year each bolted for their respective past glory… with Irsan Illyasova returning to the Milwaukee Bucks on a three year, $21M deal, and Marco Belinelli returning to the San Antonio Spurs on a two year, $12M deal. Both deals create some interesting salary cap implications for these teams however…

Meanwhile, a few other opportunistic free agents who apparently read the tea leaves about the shortage of available money this summer, jumped at quick paydays…

  • Trevor Ariza, fresh off of his 0-12 display in his last game, gambled on a one year/$15M scratch off deal with the Suns
  • Doug McDermott went all Dougie McDuckets, scoring a three year/$22M deal from the Pacers
  • Ed Davis rebounded with a one year/$4.4M deal with the Nets
  • Omri Casspi got freed for a one year deal with the Grizzlies
  • Nik Stauskas sauced a one year deal with the Blazers
  • and, Mareesse Speights was reportedly nearing a “lucrative deal” with the Guangzhou Long-Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association

This next thing was fake news of the worst kind… which I am glad Nate was not awake to be tormented by…

This could potentially still happen… but, best not to get anyone’s hopes up…

Speaking of the Cavs… and unfinished business… all was eerily quiet in the King’s court. There was nary a rumor for most of the night about any moves the team was making, or whether or not there had been any sort of communication between Koby Altman and LeBron or his camp.

First, there was this from Joe Vardon…

Two hours later, there was this confirmation that the call indeed happened from Dave McMenamin…

Yet, even though there have been reports and indications that LeBron has no plans to drag his decision out this time around, it will still likely be early next week before he divulges his plan of action. Will he continue in Cleveland and get back to unfinished business… or, will he opt for the new frontier of Los Angeles (or another less likely location)?

Regardless of where he chooses, one thing is for sure… it won’t be alongside Paul George. It also doesn’t seem like it will be alongside Kawhi Leonard in the immediate future (at least if the Spurs have their way)…

https://twitter.com/hmfaigen/status/1013280244210397184

Who knows… maybe Los Angeles itself is enough of a draw for LeBron and his family. Or, maybe all it will take is a few months of Boogie once his achilles heals…

In any event… things should all become clear in the next few days. Until then, it’s just unfinished business…

Stay tuned…

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