A hot summer in the NBA, characterized by telenovelas by Lillard and Harden – who continue to hold the court – and by numerous signatures that have revived freedom of action and changed the face of various teams.
TWO DISCONTINUED SUPERSTARS. A disgruntled and impatient star who asks to be traded is now a “must-have” for the NBA market, and the movie is on repeat this summer, even doubling up on the main characters: Damian Lillard and James Harden. Portland and Philadelphia point guards requested that they be transferred to their respective franchises, indicating in Heat and the Clippers your favorite destinations. However, teams from Florida and California do not appear to have packages that meet the requirements. Blazers and Sixers, therefore, are forced to look for a third team that can help them facilitate a successful outcome of the negotiations. If the blazers have already protected themselves (in case of goodbye Lillard) with a choice Scoot Henderson On draft night, the same cannot be said for the 76ers. Daryl Morey, CEO of Philadelphiahas a possible natural replacement for the roster James Harden (Tyrese Maxey)but you have to try to get another star from the former Houston Rockets – or at least a couple of high-level role players – in addition to Joel Embiid who no longer seem convinced of a future for living in the city of brotherly love. With summer camps and training camps approaching, a solution will need to be found quickly, both for Lillard than for Harden.
THE STARS HAVE ALREADY CHANGED. For the two stars still waiting to be sold, there are others who have already changed their minds: Bradley Beal, Kristaps Porzingis and Chris Paul. Now former key player Washington Wizards he defined his
departure from the capital in the direction Arizonato form a new trio of wonders with Durant and Booker (to which is also added Ayton) in that Phoenix. The Suns had to take “all” of Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, five picks in the second round, and four pick exchanges to put Beal in the corner. Even DC and CP3’s arrival times were not immediately sent by the Wizards to the Golden State Warriors, in an exchange in which the Bay welcomed Jordan Poole and Patrick Baldwin Jr. to be part of Washington’s new young core ready to enter recovery mode, also stepping down Porzingis to the Celtics. From long Latvian new Wizards General Manager Will Dawkinsgot blue Daniel Gallinari and Mike Muscala from Bostonto which was added Tyus Jones of Memphisin a three-team draw, he called Marcus Smart leave the greens after nine seasons to wear the jersey Grizzly.
MAIN CHARACTERS. free agency NBA it’s always a special assignment that can see some teams change their position in the league thanks to an affordable salary. This year the main characters are Houston Rocketswhat after taking Ime Udoka as the new head coach they have invested over cap 80 million free places. So they landed in Texas Fred Van Vliet ($130M in 3 years), Dillon Brooks ($80M in 4 years), Jock Landale (24M in 4 years) and Jeff Green (16M in 2 years). With these signatures and with a choice Amen Thompson on draft night, the Rockets reapplied for the postseason, looking to secure a spot to play in the West. Absolute supporters of free will were also Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers. The first strengthened the shallow list with the advent of Eric Gordon, Yuta Watanabe, Keita Bates-Diop, Drew Eubanks and Chimezi Mehtu, plus the return of Damion Lee. OUR Lakers instead they confirmed two new contracts both Rui Hachimura and Austin Ravesthe great heroes of the last round of the yellow-purple playoffs and brought to the LBJ court a trio consisting of Gabe Vincent, Jackson Hayes and Cam Reddish.
WINNERS AND WINNER. As is often the case with higher salary caps, the real free agent winners are the players who manage to secure better contracts than in the past. The first example is Van Vliet, Desmond Bain and Jerami Grant can boast of contract extensions, which are not a bad thing (207 million over 5 years for a Grizzlies player and 160 for a Blazers player). Another free agency winner without a doubt Draymond Green, which, despite ongoing all-season rumors of his possible move to the Lakers, was extended for another four years for a total of $100 million with the Golden State Warriors, and also packaged and shipped Poole to Washington, with whom he came to strikes at the start of the season. They can celebrate too Jaylen Brown and Anthony Davis who, with signed contract extensions, will earn more than 60 million a year. They breathed a sigh of relief Dallas Mavericks who saw Kyrie Irving stay in Texas by renewing the franchise contract Mark Cuban, instead of thanking and saying goodbye, leaving her in canvas pants. Completing the list of winners, it is impossible not to mention San Antonio Spurs, who, with the number one draft pick (later converted to Victor Vembanyama), won bingo for the third time in his history. Those who smile the least Denver Nuggets and Toronto Raptors. The defending champions lost Bruce Brown (married to the Indiana Pacers with a two-year, $52 million contract), while the Canadians continue to remain in limbo, with Masai Ujiri unable to work up the courage with both hands and restore the franchise to Scotty Barnes trading OG Anunobi and Pascal Siakam.
FROM EUROLEAG TO NBA. Among the many moves of free agents, it is also worth mentioning the jump from Europe to the USA of the last two Euroleague MVPs, i.e. Vasily Micic and Sasha Vezenkov. The Serbian put an end to the soap opera that ran every summer by signing a three-year, $23.5 million contract with Oklahoma City Thunderwhich acquired the rights in 2020 from Philadelphia 76ers (the team that selected him 52nd overall back in 2014) and the Bulgarian (selected 52nd overall by the Brooklyn Nets in 2017) Sacramento Kings with a three-year contract totaling $20 million. Californians, last season’s real surprise, signed former Olympiacos want to add danger from the perimeter with a 40% three-point shooting in the last Euroleague campaign. OUR Thunder instead, they would put Mičić at the helm of the second quintet, using him as both a main creator and his teammates, something that was lacking last season for a young OKC who were one step away from the playoffs.
FREE AGENTS ARE STILL FREE. The best have already found a home, but some interested players are still available on the market, including Christian Wood, PJ Washington, Kelly Aubre Jr., T.J. Warren and Hamidou Diallo.