Recap: Free Agency Fallout (or, Unfinished Business)
2018-07-01
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…
Paul George celebrating his decision to re-sign with the Thunder with Russell Westbrook. pic.twitter.com/XxvD3Rb823
— RealGM (@RealGM) July 1, 2018
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.
The breakdown of the $160M Chris Paul contract is: $35.6M, $38.5M, $41.4M and $44.2M. Paul is now the second highest paid point guard, only behind Steph Curry at $37.5M.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) July 1, 2018
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…
With Paul George and Jerami Grant on board, Oklahoma City now has a payroll of $156M with 11 players under contract. Because of the repeater tax penalty, the Thunder currently have a tax bill of $130M. The tax bill would be the largest in NBA history.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) July 1, 2018
Ownership in Denver has stepped up to the plate with the Nikola Jokic and Will Barton contract. The Nuggets now project to have $146M in salary, $23M over the tax line. The Nuggets do have $33M in expiring contracts of Kenneth Faried, Wilson Chandler and Darrell Arthur.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) July 1, 2018
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…
🤠
— DeAndre Jordan 🐺 (@DeAndre) July 1, 2018
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…
The Ersan Ilyasova $21M contract projects to put Milwaukee at $110M in salary and would hard cap the Bucks at $129.8M. The hard cap is a result of Ilyasova signing for part of the midlevel exception that exceeds $5.3M. The Bucks still have restricted free agent Jabari Parker.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) July 1, 2018
The Spurs with Rudy Gay and now Marco Belinelli project to have $107M in committed salary. The Belinelli contract will hard cap the Spurs at $129M based on the guard using more than the $5.3M midlevel exception. https://t.co/65RVO8MEwS
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) July 1, 2018
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…
Matthew Dellavedova has committed to the Cavs on the vets MLE after a buyout from the Bucks, sources tell ESPN.
— #LetEmKnow 1-2 (15) (@Believeland1994) July 1, 2018
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…
LeBron’s agent Rich Paul expects to speak with Cavs GM Koby Altman right around now as free agency begins. They spoke yesterday when Paul informed him LeBron was declining his option
— Joe Vardon (@joevardon) July 1, 2018
Two hours later, there was this confirmation that the call indeed happened from Dave McMenamin…
Cavs general manager Koby Altman spoke to both Rich Paul and LeBron James over the phone at 12:01 a.m., sources tell ESPN.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) July 1, 2018
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…
New Orleans Pelicans All-Star free agent center DeMarcus Cousins received calls from the Pelicans and Los Angeles Lakers tonight once free agency began and is expected to have meetings scheduled with both teams soon, a source told ESPN's The Undefeated.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) July 1, 2018
In any event… things should all become clear in the next few days. Until then, it’s just unfinished business…
Stay tuned…
Before the disasterous summer of Gilbert last year, I think he was fully prepared to sign max five year. From Griffin firing onward it was one disaster after another. Stepian level incompetence.
I’ll cheer them on but it’s honestly difficult to enjoy a team owned by that arrogant trumper. I don’t blame lbj for leaving. I wouldn’t want to work for that guy either.
Maybe. He signed the 2+1, and then we got the Summer of Dan in the middle of that contract. I’m positive that summer disaster movie didn’t help anything.
He checked out after Game 1. I mean, what a dumb@$$ move to almost break your hand.
Our job is to land in the bottom 10 two years running to start a rebuild.
1) Hire Messina or Hammond.
2) Develop the youngsters: Sexton, Nance, Cedi, Zizic, Preston, Colson, Mathias, Hood, Clarkson.
3) A new owner/GM would also help.
None of those things will happen.
Agreed. But they should.
Altman gave Kyrie to the Celtics & cleared the Lakers cap space AND gave them a first round pick.
Warren Buffett once commented that you should only invest in a company that an idiot could run, because it is guarenteed that one day, an idiot will run the company..
Furthermore, in Rounders (one of my all time favorite films), i believe that the matt damon character says something to the effect that, “if you can’t spot the mark 5 minutes into the game, then you are the mark”.. koby and cavsdan were taken to the cleaners by ainge..
and finally, lest we never forget, in Magnum Force, Dirty Harry reminds us that, “a man’s got to know his limitations”.. forget that, and you easily become the roadrunner.. beep beep
i must correct you JoeyB.. bottom dwelling for 2 years should be very easy.. that will happen.. give jason his due
Weird. Seemed like the worst option for him. Good luck to him though. I firmly believe Gilbert was the driving force. One day maybe he’ll tell us. They should sell off now but they won’t.
https://twitter.com/oldseaminer/status/1013596994361810944?s=19
I think the Lakers or the Knicks were always the plan after Cleveland 2.0. I think Kyrie accelerated the plan and the Knicks are a mess.
As a guy born and bred in Akron, I wanted a ship for 30 years. Especially after 1995 and 1997 World Series. LeBron was the means, never the end goal for me.
I’m with you John B. It’s only basketball.
I can’t wait for the flood of trolling from the fake and disloyal Lakers sunshine fans. Should be entertaining.
Go Browns!
Unfortunately the three most insufferable fan bases in the NBA all win tonight… Lakers fan rejoice in getting LeBron, Boston fans happy that he didnt go to Philly and that Celtics remain favorites to win the East, and Warriors fans relieved that as of now, LeBron likely won’t be in the championship picture this year.
Unfortunately you’re so correct.
OK. See ya later bye.
LeBron is gone. Hope he is happy. Yesterdays news. He will not have the legacy of a jordan or bird here. Oh well, baker Mayfield anyone. Yes please
Do you think we can use Klove as bait to offload jr/tt/ some others and maybe get a draft pick or some young players? I mean I like Klove but what is he going to do on this team now?
Get a lot more shots?
I’d rather just tank and develop some young guys, but that is true lol.
I doubt any team would consider JR or TT. I would be looking to trade Love, KK and Hill asap.
Kevin would be a good fit for the 76ers… they still have a lot of assets and I wonder what they would give up for him.
I would root for that. I hope Love gets to go to a solid team. Dude deserves it.
I will say this, I think the move is, to a degree, political. Bron hates Trump (cammot blame him there). Gilbert backs Trump. Jeannie Buss is a Dem. One of the few amongst NBA owners. He sticks it to Gilbert this way.
Yes, he has a second home there. And perhaps his family wanted to go. But I think the Bron/Gilbert/Trump dynamic played a part.
Don’t doubt that it played a part – wonder how much the value of the Cavs franchise drops now.
Oh I’m sure the value was slashed in half instantly.
If he wants to make a political statement then it will come out. If he doesn’t publicly, then the statement doesn’t mean much.
Think it is more likely the family desire to live in glitz, glam, and sunny weather probably played more a role. That plus all of the larger media opportunities. They don’t get Kawhi they won’t challenge.
Really need to hear why LeBron would choose LA without PG. He surely ain’t winning the title there. He’s not even going to make the finals, and maybe not the Conference finals. I was okay with him leaving if it was a chance to win a title, but this doesn’t make any sense.
Guys are coming off the books next season and after. The 4 year deal says a lot.
Kawhi to the Lakers must be likely and maybe they plan to try to get Cousins? Putting a lot of faith in their health though.
Even then they’re not better than Warriors/Rockets and still would face a challenge against Thunder and Jazz. Likely would beat Blazers and Timberwolves, but those teams definitely would be tougher than the lower seeds he would face in the East.
Well hate the fact that is the Lakers. I don’t hold ill will to lbj. He got us one and we likely weren’t going to get another, but neither will LA barring injuries to Houston and GS. I just don’t care about the rest of the NBA now. Only will care about the Cavs.
Thanks for the memories LBJ.
Oh, and Magic – get ready to assume the position for Klutch clients the next three years. In fact, it has already begun. L O L.
Lebron is a blessing and a curse. Maybe Love can go back to his true position.
Nothing is given, everything is earned hahahahahahahhahahahhahahahahhahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahshh
what a f word cornball.
After we won I told myself I would root for LeBron no matter what. Now I hope I can hold myself to that (sad though). I look forward to hopefully seeing some effort during the regular season.
I told myself the same thing but I dislike the Lakers fanbase almost as much as GS’s, so nah, I’m good. I hope he and Lavar get into a few fights in the parking lot, WWE style.
That I would pay to see. I’ve always wondered a little, what if LeBron had been into the ufc instead of basketball.
Clearly family was a factor. Can’t imagine bball being the main thing in choosing LA. Wow.
Didn’t expect this. Have to assume Kawhi is about to go there too. Ingram and Kuzma maybe?
I’m bummed for St. Vs more than the Cavs.