Last night, the clock struck midnight along the east coast and hundreds of basketball players began to look for new jobs. July 1 for the NBA means the beginning of free agency when teams and players begin meeting and agreeing on contracts, even though they cannot officially sign a new contract for another week. This free agency period began with a lot of questions, some of which have already been answered less than 12 hours after beginning. I will wait a little while until I write about my annual NBA free agent rankings, so it will be easier to compile a complete list. Some of the big free agents agreed to new contracts just hours after free agency began so I will analyze some of those and discuss the teams they signed with and what else they are looking for.
San Antonio Spurs-Even after Coach/President Gregg Popovich told everyone he was not going to be awake for the start of free agency, the Spurs have been the busiest NBA team in the last half day. They resigned Defensive Player of the Year Kawhi Leonard to a 5 year deal much to no ones surprise. They then also resigned guard Danny Green to a four year which was not expected by many. Green struggled in last year's playoffs and was expected to be finding a new team this offseason, but the Spurs like retaining most of their players and Green will be coming back next year. The Spurs have also agreed to trade center Tiago Splitter to the Atlanta Hawks, to clear up some cap space so they could try to sign another free agent such as Lamarcus Aldridge. It is also unclear whether Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili will be coming back on one year deals to finish up their careers. Last but not least, will the Spurs bring back fan favorite Matt Bonner? That is yet to be decided, but I would count on it.
Toronto Raptors-After trading for Luke Ridnour yesterday and trading away Greivis Vasquez on draft night, the Raptors made the biggest signing so far this free agency for a player from another team. They reportedly signing forward Demarre Carroll, who had a great season for the Atlanta Hawks last year, to a four year deal worth around 60 million dollars. While Carroll has proven to be a great defensive presence and a good NBA player I have a feeling they might come to regret how much they are paying him. However, teaming him up with Kyle Lowry, Demar Derozen and Jonas Valenciunas will likely make the Raptors playoff bound once again next year.
Miami Heat-While the Dwyane Wade drama continues the Heat already have come to an agreement with their own free agent Goran Dragic. Bringing Dragic back is a great sign for the Heat especially with Chris Bosh coming back healthy next season. Luol Deng picked up his option and the Heat had a good draft pick last week so with Wade and one more contributing player able to come help, the Heat should be back in the playoffs next season.
Extensions-Two players who are not free agents, Anthony Davis and Damion Lillard, have agree to long term extensions with the New Orleans Pelicans and Portland Trail Blazers respectively. Both are for massive amounts of money, including Davis' extension which would make him the highest paid player in the league a couple of years from now.
Milwaukee Bucks-They reportedly agreed to resign forward Khris Middleton who improved vastly last year and became on of their best players. With Jared Dudley opting into his contract a couple of days ago and the Bucks have a few of their other young players returning they will likely be in a similar place to where they were last year, bottom of the playoff seeding. That is if Jason Kidd continues to do a great job as coach.
Chicago Bulls- The team resigned Mike Dunleavy to a three year deal amid rumors the Cavaliers really wanted to sign him. They also reportedly offered Jimmy Butler a max deal over 5 years which led to him canceling meetings with other teams and likely means he will remain a Bull. But with the same team next year, even with a new coach, how will the Bulls get passed the Cavaliers?
Other signings-The New Orleans Pelicans also resigned Alexis Ajinca to a four year deal.
The Brooklyn Nets have reportedly agreed to new contracts with both Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young. While both are good players the Nets will not have a lot of other money to spend unless they are able to trade Joe Johnson or Deron Williams.
Al-Farouq Aminu has agreed to a four year deal with the Portland Trail Blazers. This was one of the first agreements and Aminu has a large task coming into a team which lost Aldridge to free agency and trading away Nicolas Batum.
There will be a lot more signing over the next few hours, days and week. But the free agents everyone is looking at during this week are Lebron James, Kevin Love, Deandre Jordan, Aldridge, Marc Gasol, Tyson Chandler, Monte Ellis, Paul Pierce, Wade, Draymond Green, Paul Millsap and even Triston Thompson. We will see where they all end up because their choices will likely effect all of the other free agents.
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