November 29, 2019; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka watches practice at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Is there anything more exciting in sports than NBA free agency that doesn't involve an actual game?
When things opened up last year, there was an early, star-studded flurry of action. Things were different this year. That was partly due to the quality of players available, but also due to the timing. The first few hours of free agency were slow, with a few agreements dropping down from the sky in the form of Woj bombs or tweets from Shams. Then, around 10 p.m. ET Friday, the flurry began and things got crazy and the news kept rolling all the way through Sunday.
We've already graded out most of the individual free agent moves, with some getting better marks than others, but now it's time to look at things on the whole and hand out winners and losers for the first few days of NBA free agency. Now we all get to sit back and see what moves work and what don't this upcoming season.
It’s not often that the team that wins the Finals goes out and gets better in free agency, but that’s exactly what the Lakers have done. The addition of Montrezl Harrell is huge. Adding a guy that won Sixth Man of the Year to their bench is going to make them much tougher to beat in the minutes that LeBron James isn’t out there on the floor. The Lakers landing Harrell not only makes them better, but it also takes away a huge piece from the rival Clippers. Defensively Harrell isn’t very good, but when he spends time sharing the floor with James and Anthony Davis, it’s going to be difficult to imagine anyone stopping those guys on the offensive end.
In addition to Harrell, the Lakers also agreed to terms with Wes Matthews Jr. right as the free agency period opened up on Friday. He’ll be able to give them another 3-and-D option on the wing that can replace Danny Green. We also have to mention the trade from earlier in the week that netted Dennis Schroder from Oklahoma City in exchange for Green and the No. 28 pick in the draft. These moves give the Lakers two of the five best players in the world and the top two finishers for the Sixth Man of the Year on the same team. Then, on Sunday night, the Lakers were able to add Marc Gasol to the mix on a two-year deal to shore up the frontcourt even more. Make no mistake about it, the Lakers are the team to beat.
What exactly are the Pistons doing? Remember last year when we all made jokes about the Knicks signing every single free agent power forward on the planet? Well, we’re back this year to make the same joke. On Friday, the Pistons agreed to contracts with Jahlil Okafor, Josh Jackson, and Mason Plumlee. None of those guys really move the needle in any sort of positive way. And that’s before we mention that they let one of the best free agents this offseason—Christian Wood—walk to Houston. To make things even worse, the Pistons are reportedly using the waive-and-stretch provision on Dewayne Dedmon, meaning they’re going to have a cap hit of $2.7 million over the next five years for his contract. Gambling on Jerami Grant with a three-year, $60 million deal was the best move of the night, but can he handle an increased offensive role in Detroit? That deal will be heavily scrutinized.
Winner: Portland Trail Blazers
The Blazers have been quietly having a great offseason so far. On draft night they traded with Houston for Robert Covington to help bolster the weakest part of the roster—wing defenders. On Friday night, the Blazers went further along to add to that area with the addition of Derrick Jones Jr. Portland also came to an agreement with Rodney Hood on a two-year deal to bring the swingman back after a torn Achilles prematurely ended last season for him. Health is going to be key for the Blazers, but with Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, and two really good wing defenders in place now, we could see an even better version of the team that was in the Western Conference Finals just a season ago. Keeping Carmelo Anthony in the fold for a second season gives them more depth, as does the trade with Boston for Enes Kanter in his return to Portland. Harry Giles is a sneaky good pick up, too. The Blazers may have had the best start to the offseason of anyone other than the Lakers.
Loser: Dwight Howard
Early Friday, it seemed as if Howard was going to be headed back to the Lakers on a one-year deal. He even tweeted about how happy he was to be returning. Then, all of a sudden, he wasn’t. Howard ended up agreeing to a one-year deal with Philadelphia thanks to a reported miscommunication with the Lakers’ front office. Sure, Howard is jumping from a team that just won the title to one that has hopes of winning one, but his public mistake has to be at least a little embarrassing.
There’s no question that the premium skill in the NBA these days is the ability to shoot from outside, and the guys that can do that at a high level certainly will have heftier bank accounts this offseason. Washington came to terms with Davis Bertans on a five-year deal worth $80 million, and shortly after that, Brooklyn and sharpshooter Joe Harris agreed to a four-year, $75 million contract. Bogdan Bogdanovic was rumored to be heading to Milwaukee as part of a sign-and-trade, but eventually agreed to a four-year offer sheet with the Hawks worth $72 million. While Danilo Gallinari isn’t quite thought of in that realm of shooter and is better overall than both those guys, he also cashed out with Atlanta with a three-year deal worth $61.5 million. Keep shooting those jumpers kids, it just one day might make you rich.
Loser: Charlotte Hornets
Is there a more head-scratching move that happened this weekend than the Hornets opting to use $30 million worth of cap space in each of the next three seasons to have Gordon Hayward on the roster? Paying the oft-injured Hayward a four-year, $120 million contract is certainly a risk that the Hornets are taking, but using the waive and stretch provision on the final year of Nic Batum’s contract that’s going to cost Charlotte $9 million against the cap for each of the next three years? That’s a move that the Hornets are almost assuredly going to regret. Some questionable moves by Michael Jordan and the Hornest front office.
Winner: Miami Heat
The Heat look like its going to be running it back with a team that just went to the NBA Finals. Sure, they lost Derrick Jones Jr. to Portland as we mentioned, but they did come to terms with Goran Dragic and Myers Leonard on two-year deals, that include team options for the second year. The Dragic move is a big one to bring back a guy that potentially could have sought out more money elsewhere, if not for Jimmy Butler’s half-joking threat that he needed to return. The Heat also added a couple of guys that should be able to make them More importantly, the Heat maintained financial flexibility for next summer, which has been their plan for some time.
After choking away a 3-1 lead to the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference semifinals, it was pretty clear that the Clippers had work to do if they want to dethrone the Lakers. It’s going to be awfully hard to do that when the third-best player from last year’s team—Montrezl Harrell—decided to walk down the hallway and suit up in purple and gold. Signing Serge Ibaka was the best move that the Clippers made, and it certainly should help them in the playoffs. But he won’t make up for the scoring punch Harrell brought. After that, LA decided to dish out $64 million over four years to Marcus Morris in what is certainly a leading contender for the “what were they thinking?!” contract in a few years. After giving up a first-round pick for Morris at the trade deadline last year, this was a move that had to be made, but when Morris is 34 years old and making upwards of $16 million per year, it might get rough. The Clippers were always going to go as far as Kawhi Leonard and Paul George took them, but LA needed to upgrade the point guard position somehow this offseason, and it hasn’t been able to do that yet.
The Hawks are going for it. They’re doing the best job they can to surround Trae Young with a team talented enough to make the playoffs. Last season, they were a trendy preseason pick to make a run at one of the final playoff spots in the East. Obviously, that didn’t work out. This year, it should be viewed as a failure if the Hawks don’t get into the playoffs. A team with guys like Young, John Collins, Clint Capela, Danilo Gallinari, Rajon Rondo, and Bogdan Bogdanovic (if the Kings don’t match his offer sheet) should see the postseason. And that’s especially true if the draft pick of Onyeka Okongwu last week turns out to be a good one. The future looks pretty bright in Atlanta.
The Nuggets losing Jerami Grant to the Pistons hurts, especially when it was reported that he was offered the same contract to stick around in Denver. He was a big piece of the team that just went to the Western Conference Finals, and the Nuggets are going to have to hope that Michael Porter Jr. is ready for a bigger role. But after losing out on a potential Jrue Holiday trade and Grant heading east, it’s been a tough start to the offseason for the Nuggets.
Winner: Fred VanVleet
VanVleet made history when he agreed to a four-year, $85 million contract with the Raptors this past weekend. VanVleet’s contract will be the largest ever signed by a player that went undrafted. He’s become the poster boy for the player development system that Toronto has put together. VanVleet’s mantra has always been to bet on himself. Now, he’s an NBA champion and got the bag he absolutely deserved.
The Jrue Holiday trade from earlier this week remains a reason to be optimistic if you’re a Bucks fan, even if it appears to be an overpay. But finding out that the sign-and-trade for Bogdan Bogdanovic fell through and Giannis Antetokounmpo still hasn't signed a supermax extension can’t be a great feeling. The Bucks did a decent job of filling out the rest of their roster with the likes of Bobby Portis Jr., Bryn Forbes, and DJ Augustin, but it’s hard to view them as winners. With all that said, if Antetokounmpo ends up signing the extension to stay in Milwaukee for the long haul, the Bucks jump up right to the very top of the winners column.
Loser: Washington Wizards
The Wizards may have overpaid a little bit for Davis Bertans, but that’s really nothing to gripe about. The issue with Washington’s start to free agency was that John Wall now wants out. In the brief time between the Bertans agreement and the Wall trade request becoming public, there was reason to be excited about what the Wizards could look like this year, at least on the offensive end. Now, if the Wizards choose to oblige with Wall’s trade request, they’re going to be tasked with finding a trade partner for a player that’s due $131.5 million over the next three years and hasn’t played in an NBA game since the end of 2018. Good luck with that one.