The NBA free agency period began this week with a lot of excitement. Here are highlights of some of the league’s biggest plays and how they could shape the season to come.
Winners: The 76ers and Paul George
Philly is a big winner here as they added Paul George to their franchise cornerstones, Joel Embiid at center and Tyrese Maxey at guard. George, who signed a four-year, $212 million contract after opting out of a player option, he will be a valuable piece for the 76ers. He moves from the Los Angeles Clippers, where he failed to live up to the highest expectations by teaming up with Kawhi Leonard and, later, James Harden. But this wasn’t all George’s fault; he and the Clippers haven’t always been healthy, and not all star pairings have excellent chemistry or supporting casts.
The mix in Philadelphia is potent, however. George is 34 years old but remains one of the NBA’s best two-way athletes, and the Sixers hope he can be a more stable (and less ball-dominant) part of their core than Harden was during his tumultuous stop in Philadelphia, some years ago. He should at least be a veteran helper for the recently extended Maxey, the fifth-year point guard who was a revelation last season and made his first All-Star game. The 76ers will revolve around Embiid, and getting George may not be enough. But with an extra star, they should be an Eastern Conference contender.
Losers: Klay Thompson and Splash Brothers fans
Thompson is a bit of a loser here, as his legendary career with the Golden State Warriors came to the opposite of a fairytale ending. The Warriors found themselves drastically shorthanded and facing an eternity in salary cap hell, and Thompson, one of the greatest shooters of all time, searched for weeks for the most likely man out. So it ends in the Bay Area for a four-time NBA champion and five-time All-Star who teamed up with Stephen Curry to form the “Splash Brothers,” the funniest backcourt ever. To make matters worse, in Dallas, Thompson will no longer be able to go to the arena in your boat. He’ll also make about a third of the money he made with Golden State last year, though $15.9 million next season, without state income tax, is unlikely to leave Thompson in financial disarray.
For the Mavericks, Thompson is a great addition to play alongside Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving. Dallas ranked 13th in three-point shooting percentage last season and thus had to struggle to achieve the league’s ninth-best offensive efficiency (117.6 points per 100 possessions). They didn’t have the firepower to seriously take on the Boston Celtics, who had the best offense in the league, in the NBA Finals. Thompson’s deep shooting could be a critical addition.
Winner: Jayson Tatum
Tatum is experiencing one of the greatest moments in basketball history. A few weeks ago, he hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy as champion for the first time, dispelling any doubts that a team could win the entire enchilada with Tatum as the headliner. Now he has agreed to the richest contract in league history, a five-year supermax pact worth $314 million. Tatum is a winner, and the Celtics are just paying the cost of doing championship-level business.
That cost is high, though, and the Celtics’ rapidly escalating payroll is certainly one of the reasons the team’s ownership group announced this week a plan to divest itself of the franchise by 2028. The Celtics are expected to fetch a record price tag, perhaps around $7 billion, and the new controlling owners will be responsible for the large salaries owed to Tatum and running mate Jaylen Brown. The Celtics will soon be about to spend more than US$300 million per year in paying salaries and luxury taxes. But don’t cry about the Celtics inauguration. The current owners purchased the team for $360 million in 2002, an investment that will soon pay off many times over. The next player who stays with the team will inherit a gold mine, and it’s players like Tatum and Brown who secure the Celtics’ place in the NBA pecking order.
Winners: Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder’s slow rebuild finally paid off with a 57-25 record and a trip to the second round of last season’s playoffs. OKC has one of the best players in the NBA, guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and a young, talented supporting cast. SGA will be 26 next season, wunderkind center Chet Holmgren will be 22 and swingman Jalen Williams will be 23. These are exciting times for a franchise that may finally be on the right track for the first time since the days of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. . But the Thunder had an Achilles heel: rebounding. His 21% offensive rebounding rate was 27th out of 30 teams. In a six-game playoff loss to the Mavericks, Dallas dominated the rebounding margin, reducing 28% of its offensive rebounding chances to just 22% for OKC.
Enter Isaiah Hartenstein, on a three-year, $87 million contract, who will move from the New York Knicks to Oklahoma City. The 26-year-old averaged a career-high 8.3 rebounds last season, including 3.2 offensive boards – exactly twice as many offensive rebounds as anyone from Oklahoma City had. (Holmgren led the way with 1.6 per game.) The Thunder have some excellent offensive players, and the addition of Hartenstein means they will have a few more chances per game to put the ball in the hoop. For that, OKC is a big winner.
Losers: people who want to see Chris Paul win a ring
The Spurs signed the future Hall of Fame point guard to a one-year, $11 million contract. The big winner of the deal is Victor Wembanyama, who will play alongside a living legend and absorb some of CP3’s knowledge. Paul, who turns 40 in May, will earn a little more money as his career winds down, and perhaps he will absorb some of the youthful energy of Wembanyama and the still-developing Spurs. But the Spurs are not contenders yet. And so, those who expect Paul to finish his career with a ring will be banking on the idea that Paul can increase his trade stock midseason. Play well enough and he could be traded to a contender at the end of the season, giving him one last serious chance to win the Finals.
To be decided: LeBron James
James opted out of the final year of his contract with the Lakers, but that’s not as threatening to Los Angeles as it seems. The Lakers just hired their podcast partner to coach the team and spent a Second-round draft pick for LeBron’s eldest son – all to keep the King happy. No one seems to think LeBron is about to leave Southern California. Instead, he could return to the Lakers on a lower salary, your agent says, to help the franchise complete its roster. Let’s wait and see if James actually does this and if the action has the intended impact of improving the Lakers’ depth.
