NBA Free Agency is in full swing. There are plenty of teams who have made a bunch of moves and there are teams who have not made moves, there have been head scratching moves and the moves where my first reaction is ‘WOW.’ It is always one of the most fun times of the year for an NBA fan. So let’s dive into a few teams who have made some big moves and try to dissect why those moves were made. I would also like to say that some of these negotiations take shorter than how long it takes me to decide who I should sign in NBA2K’s My League.
Let’s start with the Miami Heat. They moved quickly on Monday evening aggring to a 5-year extension with restricted free agent (RFA) Duncan Robinson worth $90 million. Then they acquired unrestricted free agent (UFA) and former Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry via sign-and-trade, agreeing to a 3 year $90 million deal with the former NBA Champion. The team reportedly had to send Goran Dragic and Precious Achiuwa to Toronto to be able to land Lowry. Finally they used their mid-level exception (MLE) to be able to pry forward P.J. Tucker away from the NBA Champion Milwaukee Bucks, to be the floor spacing 4 that Jae Crowder was in Miami’s run to the 2020 NBA Finals. The Heat reloaded after a very disappointing 2020-21 season in which they were swept out of the first round. They locked in on this roster, as they also signed All-Star wing Jimmy Butler to a max 4 year $184 million dollar contract extension that will kick in at the start of the 2022-23 season. They are locked into this team, and I am excited to see it on the floor. Lowry at times looked like he was slowing down last season but that was on a very bad Toronto Raptors team so he might not have always been going 100% last season. Robinson was a guy they needed to bring back, and Tucker should be the fifth starter, while bringing Tyler Herro off the bench. I think the Heat are the third best team in the East on paper as we currently sit, behind Brooklyn and Milwaukee. They also re-signed guard Victor Oladipo to a one-year contract.
The Chicago Bulls have been one of the most active teams, acquiring both Lonzo Ball and DeMar DeRozan through sign-and-trade, while scooping up Alex Caruso also. I love the Lonzo Ball move. Ball, who was a RFA, signed a 4 year $85 million deal to become a Bull, while Chicago sent Tomas Satoransky, Garrett Temple (also via sign and trade), and a 2nd round pick back to the Pelicans (more on them later). Ball is not a great half court point guard, he struggles to set up the offense and get something going, but in transition, Ball and Zach LaVine can be lethal, as those two guys make up one of the most, if not the most, athletic backcourts in the entire NBA. I really like Alex Caruso, he is very good, a guy who hits 3 pointers and is a good defensive player, you can never have too many 3 and D type players so he should really help them. Ok now on DeRozan, let me start by saying this, I think DeMar is still a very good player, who will help Chicago as he will be their half court point guard and the Bulls should still make the playoffs. However, why are you not only giving a 31-year-old who does not shoot 3 pointers, $28 million per year, but also giving up a first round pick to get him? DeMar has improved his playmaking and he is a very good scorer but he is not all that on defense and he simply refuses to shoot threes. You have now locked yourself on a team that at best is a second round team in the Eastern Conference and is not going to win a championship. Nikola Vucevic is still here as well, which looking back on it, was not a great move by the Bulls, and I talked about how much I liked the move at the time but they could not even get the tenth seed to qualify for the play-in. The Bulls should be much improved next season but beyond that, this is going to be a good not great team for a couple of years now that does not control their own draft picks.
The Los Angeles Lakers were making big moves. They started on draft night with the massive Russell Westbrook trade, which sent out a lot of depth in. Then they got to work in free agency, signing a bunch of old guys like Trevor Ariza, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, and they already had Marc Gasol. They also added guards that can score like Malik Monk, Wayne Ellington, Kendrick Nunn and Kent Bazemore. The team resigned Talen Horton-Tucker but they lost Alex Caruso, who was a key part of their team, as a shooter and a defender. Dwight Howard is washed, he was terrible for the 76ers in the playoffs and Marc Gasol probably cannot hold up for an entire 82 game season, so it will be important that Anthony Davis begins to play the 5 spot more often. THT will need to play in a bigger role for LA next year, I would even start him as a floor spacer, the depth on this team is made up of a bunch of minimum players so he needs to step up. Trevor Ariza does not have much left in the tank, Carmelo showed he has a little left as a bench scorer, Wayne Ellington is a knockdown shooter, Kendrick Nunn is going to be the all important backup point guard, and Malik Monk is going to play the 6th man who is a pure scorer role, like Jordan Clarkson was for the Jazz last season, and the way Jamal Crawford and Lou Williams have been for their entire careers. However, health is the x-factor for the Lakers, last season Anthony Davis and LeBron James both got injured and the Lakers never recovered, eventually being eliminated in the first round. If Davis and James cannot stay healthy the Lakers will look a lot like 2021 and not like the team in 2020 that lifted the Larry O’Brien trophy.
The Pelicans have had an interesting offseason to this point. I really liked the move to undo the 2020 offseason when they traded Eric Bledsoe, Steven Adams (also their contracts) and draft picks to Memphis for Jonas Valanciunas and worse draft picks. However, why are you trading Lonzo Ball for Tomas Satoransky, Garrett Temple, and a second round pick, only to then trade a first round pick to the Hornets for Devonte’ Graham? Devonte’ Graham is a good player but is not a $47 million player, he’s too small to defend, struggles to put the ball in the basket inside the arch, and needs to be a more efficient three point shooter. I would rather have Lonzo at $85 million than Graham at $47 million, but there could be underlying reasons, like Graham and Zion Williamson sharing an agent, for the Pelicans to go in the direction they did.
The Knicks had 2 major needs coming into the summer. First they needed a point guard and second they needed a 2 guard who could score and create his own shot. They needed guys who could put the ball in the basketball. Enter a pair of former Celtics, in the form of Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier, to fill those 2 needs. Walker is a 4 time All-Star who secured a buyout from the Thunder (after he was traded by Boston in June), and Fournier signed a 4 year $78 million deal to head down the Mass Pike and I-95 to New York. The team also retained Nerlens Noel, Derrick Rose, and Alec Burks. However, it is those 3 contracts that are iffy, I like the Burks move, he can put the ball in the hoop off of your bench. However, why are you paying Derrick Rose $43 million and Nerlens Noel $32 million? They do not make sense, a bit overpriced for my liking. Now, the Knicks can waive all 3 players after the first 2 seasons but still, do not love it. I am excited about Walker, however, as he only signed for a reported $8 million due to the buyout with Oklahoma City. Julius Randle also just signed a max $117 million dollar extension, so the Knicks are locking into this roster.
The Washington Wizards have a big season coming up, as their superstar Bradley Beal heads for free agency. After trading John Wall for Russell Westbrook in December, Washington flipped Westbrook to the Lakers for Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell, and the 22nd pick (which they traded for Isaiah Todd and Aaron Holiday). Then in free agency, Washington acquired point guard Spencer Dinwiddie via sign-and-trade from the Brooklyn Nets, signing Dinwiddie to a 3 year $62 million contract in the process. Washington understands they need to be better as one of Beal’s closest friend’s (Jayson Tatum) team, the Boston Celtics, are creating max cap space for the summer of 2022. So the Wizards are on the clock and I really like what General Manager Tommy Shepard has done. I am still high on Kuzma, I like Dinwiddie, and they still have a bunch of good young wings, like Deni Avdija and Rui Hachimura on the perimeter. I think the Wizards will be better in 2021-22, and that could keep Beal around for the long haul.
The last team I am going to talk about is the San Antonio Spurs. The rebuild has begun. San Antonio traded DeMar DeRozan to the Bulls for Thad Young, Al-Farouq Aminu, a first round pick, and 2 second round picks during this past week. I love getting a first round pick that cannot convey until at least 2025, as we do not know where the Bulls will be at that point and maybe that becomes a really good pick. They also signed Doug McDermott (3 years $42 million) and Zach Collins (3 years $22 million) to multi-year contracts. I don’t love signing Collins, he is a solid player but is always hurt. Everyone always needs shooting so McDermott could always become a valuable asset in a trade at some point so I liked that move. They acquired Chandler Hutchison from the Wizards, so that’s cool. However, the rebuild feels like it is here, with all the young talent they have added over the past years, it feels like they have a head start with the rebuild and that is always a good thing, because rebuilds are built around young talent. Having Dejounte Murray, Derrick White, Jakob Poeltl, Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, and now rookie Josh Primo, is a solid start and I expect the Spurs to continue to add good players in the draft, because they always have done that.
The first week of free agency is almost in the books. There have been teams that have pushed all of their chips into the table, there are teams that have begun to rebuild their teams, and there are the big retoolings that happen every year. Free agency is one of the most fun times of the year for an NBA fan and this year is no different, with all of the big moves done, teams will now fill out their rosters with mid level exceptions and minimum players. Up next in the NBA calendar: Summer League.
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