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Somehow, after the first day of free agency, the big story isn’t free agency at all.
Kevin Durant made sure of that when he requested a trade from Brooklyn just hours before free agency theoretically begins at 6pm ET on Thursday. (Actually, free agency started a few weeks ago, but we shouldn’t say that part out loud).
As a result, and the shockwaves that radiated outward — reimagined Kyrie Irving-Lakers scenarios, complicated Deandre Ayton signings and trades, and teams from Boston to Miami to Memphis Golden State imagining how they could make a superstar deal, who will remain under contract for the entire Olympics – the first day of free agency understandably went down a bit.
Which is fair to a point. With the destinations of the big names already known (although we enjoyed Jalen Brunson’s “decision day” performance art as the Knicks belatedly swim against the tide of a tampering charge), there wouldn’t be a single free agent move that would knock our socks off. Everything going on with Durant is an order of magnitude bigger than anything else that happened on June 30th.
However, a few moves caught my eye on day one, both for better and for worse. Let’s go through some of the biggest ones:
Thumbs up: Kyle Anderson to Timberwolves (two years, $18 million)
Hats off to Minnesota for the best opening day deal. Anderson’s BORD$ value is more than double the annual value of this contract, and for good reason. While not much of a shooter, “Slo-Mo” is a plus in almost every other category and especially as a defender.
That’s the side of evaluation, but fit is an even bigger win. Anderson can clog up the offense when paired with other non-shooters, but playing next to the best shooting center in the league and three guards who can let him rip from deep, he should be a big plus with his angled shots to the cup. Anderson is also a big improvement for a team that struggled defensively last season and lacked quality at both forward positions.
Meanwhile, it was a tough day for Memphis at the power forward spot. The Grizzlies had incredible news when they announced right before they knew Jayron Jackson Jr. needed surgery for a stress fracture and would be out for a few months, and then Slo-Mo — who had such a capable replacement for Jackson during his relatively frequent absences due to injury – hours later he flew to Minnesota.
Oddly, the Grizzlies will have 16 players under contract after signing rookies Jake LaRavia, David Roddy and Kennedy Chandler after also agreeing to re-sign Tyus Jones. After likely giving up the injured Danny Green, they’ll be about $5 million under the cap, despite having a full roster and a likely contender in the West. One possible use of that money: Renegotiating and extending Dylan Brooks’ expiring $11.4 million deal.
Thumbs down: Marvin Bagley at Pistons (three years, $37 million)
It’s oddly disappointing to see the Pistons mostly get the big things right while still stepping on various rakes along the way. Their strange obsession with Bagley is a perfect example.
Detroit traded two second-round picks only to acquire his restricted free agent rights at the 2022 trade deadline, though his team at the time clearly had no intention of keeping him. They then doubled down once free agency began, engaging in a bidding war against the Steam as soon as the opening bell rang. The few cap teams didn’t seem to need or want Bagley, but the Pistons paid him anyway. The Pistons don’t really need Bagley either, considering they already have three centers who are better (Jaylen Duren, Issa Stewart and Kelly Olynyk), and he’s never shown the skill level necessary to play the 4.
Overall, the glass is 4 percent full, Bagley is young and can score, so maybe he adds enough empty calories to make this contract look kind of terrible. Either way, the Pistons’ cap situation is so clean going forward that the contract is unlikely to hurt them. He could even inadvertently help their long-term outlook if he plays like he did in Sacramento and keeps them in prime position to tank. But there were better uses of two seconds and better money bets over MLE than this one.
Thumbs up: Philly gets the pack back together (PJ Tucker, three years, $33 million; Danuel House, two years, $8 million)
You could argue that there’s a bit of Buddy Ryan syndrome at play here, with Sixers general manager Daryl Morey replicating his greatest hits from the Houston days by bringing back Tucker and House to join James Harden and his one-time pick from the De’Anthony Melton Project. However, it could be argued more strongly that the Sixers finally have some wings that match their Harden-Embiid-Harris-Maxey core with the additions of Tucker, House and the previously acquired Melton.
The Sixers needed James Harden to give up his $47 million for the season to make it happen (as our Shams Charania reported he would) and will be hard-pressed for the rest of the season, but they can bring Harden back with a three-year deal for roughly $110 million and last at least relatively comfortably through the season. Philly probably still has some issues reaching the levels of the Bucks, Celtics and Heat in the East, but between these additions and one or two subtractions (including a name below), this is a much more consistent roster than the year before.
Thumbs down: DeAndre Jordan in Denver (one year, minimum)
what are we doing here jordan was terrible last year, will be 34 on opening day and can’t jump anymore. Why the rush to sign him on the first day of free agency?
Unfortunately, I think I know why: Because the Nuggets will only sign minimum contracts so they can avoid the luxury tax, which would also explain why they gave up a future first-round pick to land JaMychal Green, and followed it up with another money-saving move in the Monte Morris and Will Barton deal for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith.
Denver also signed Davon Reed to a minimum contract (yeah?), even though he was actually a utility player last season. Unless we see evidence to the contrary, we can assume they are almost done. (The Nuggets have one open roster spot, which will be filled by restricted free agent Vlatko Cancar or another minimum contract player). That would leave the Nuggets over the tax line, still, but they could get away with trading Smith later in the season. They’ll avoid the tax, but even more than that, they’ll also avoid maximizing the best years of the best player in franchise history.
Thumbs up: Quick Job in Milwaukee (Joe Ingles, Bobby Portis, Jevon Carter and Wes Matthews)
Ingles is working his way back from a torn ACL, but the Bucks don’t need him to rack up wins in the regular season. The idea is to have a threatening shooter who can help them in the playoffs, and getting him for a year at an average level on the taxpayer is good value if he has something in the tank after the surgery. Adding Matthews and Carter on near-minimum deals (Matthews for one year, Carter for two) locks up solid defensemen to pad the back end of the rotation at the only price the Bucks can pay because it’s in the tax bracket.
Milwaukee also kept Portis on a four-year, $49 million deal — the most they could pay him — and got a windfall when Pat Connaughton picked up his $5.7 million deal this year. The latter likely came with strings attached in the form of an extension that will kick in a year from now, but in the short term it keeps what could have been a staggering luxury tax bill down to something quasi-sensible. The Bucks will write in $26 million in tax for the year, resulting in a $65 million check for the league — heady stuff for a small market. We’ll see if they make it or give up money during the season (George Hill or Grayson Allen, maybe), but the 2021 champs are in a good position to regain their footing.
Thumbs down: Lu Dort extension (five years, $87 million)
It was a pretty extravagant extension, considering they didn’t even have to do one: Oklahoma City could have simply let Dort play out this year on his $1.9 million contract and then either re-signed him in free agency, or, more likely, extend it for four years, starting at $12.95 million per.
Dort has improved as a shooter, but the idea of him as a high-level 3-D guy is still a long way off. We haven’t seen the Thunder play a real, meaningful game in a few years, but he’s still a player opponents will dare to shoot from the perimeter and don’t fear as a finisher or creator. He’s a brick wall in isolation defense, but his impact stats suggest he could be overrated on that side as well.
Contrast that, if you will, with a similar deal Houston signed for a relatively similar (albeit slightly older) player, Jae’Sean Tate. Like Dort, the team declined his team option for the minimum to push him to a longer deal, but it’s only a quarter of the amount: $22 million over three years.
Oklahoma City may have max or near-max cap room next summer regardless of Dort’s contract, but it feels like they’ve gone over the top here by a few million per season. I had a BORD$ value for Dort at $7.2M – right around what Tate got, but only half of what the Thunder paid Dort.
(James Harden and PJ Tucker Photo: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports)
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