Where will Kawhi play?
EXPECTEDLY, fireworks broke out at the start of the NBA free-agent negotiating period last July 1 (Manila time).
After two days of twists and turns, a majority of the 170 free agents — including a handful of top-tier talents with maximum or super-maximum contracts — have been taken in free agency at the strike of the opening bell with the exception of “The King of the North” Kawhi Leonard, who powered the Toronto Raptors to their first NBA title last month with a 4-2 decision over the 2017 and 2018 titlist Golden State Warriors.
In another day or two, a decision from the Los Angeles-born Leonard may come. The 6-foot-7 28-year-old forward has narrowed his “wish list” to the two LA clubs — the Lakers and Clippers — and Toronto.
I quickly noticed that many of the free agents who so far have already entered into verbal agreements look to change addresses and transfer to new teams.
Free-agent and trade agreements of every kind have been verbally declared but all of that won’t be binding until the five-day labor moratorium expires on midnight of July 7.
I repeat, verbal agreements with free agents for a transfer or return or consummating trades are NOT binding per se. They become official only on July 7 midnight when contracts are signed and trades are finalized.
Any free agent can change his mind as to where he wants to play as long as he has yet to sign a contract.
In the past there were two cases wherein a free agent did not honor their verbal agreements during the free agency negotiating period.
In July of 2004, Carlos Boozer agreed to stay put with his original employer of two seasons, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and then turned around after the conclusion of the moratorium to hook up with the Utah Jazz.
Then there was the summer of 2015 when DeAndre Jordan agreed to transfer to the Dallas Mavericks only to return to the Los Angeles Clippers after some prodding from his LAC teammates and team personnel.
It can happen again. Who knows?
If things eventually hold up (as they should 99.9 percent of the time), it will be the Brooklyn Nets who will be the biggest winner in the free-agent sweepstakes.
In a stunning development, the Nets corralled three high-profile free agents in
6-foot-9 forward Kevin Durant (4 years, $164 million), 6-foot-3 point guard Kyrie Irving (4 years, $141 million) and 6-foot-11 center Hyland DeAndre Jordan Jr. (4 years, $40 million).
Durant and Irving took less than the maximum to create money for the acquisition of Jordan. The duo each gave up between $4 million and $6 million annually to allow Jordan to get to $10 million a year.
To secure the services of Jordan, Irving would have to commit to a four-year, $122 million pact while Durant’s deal would come in at $137 million.
Nonetheless both are likely to recoup those losses as the Nets can structure their deals to include 15 percent of unlikely bonuses in each year. If the incentives are met, Durant and Irving would be able to regain the lost earnings to push their deals back to $164 million and $141 million, respectively.
Unrestricted free agents they all were, Durant bolted Golden State, Irving left the Boston Celtics and Jordan departed from the New York Knicks. There is no compensation to be awarded to their previous clubs.
The Knicks struck out on Durant for they were unwilling to offer the Warriors’ 2017 and 2018 Finals MVP a maximum contract due to inability to play most — if not all — of the 2019-20 season due to a ruptured right Achilles tendon he sustained in Game Five of the Finals between the Warriors and Raptors. Neither were they able to entice Irving to Gotham City following the decision of the 30-year-old Durant to relocate to the most populous borough of New York City, Brooklyn, and trek to the East for the first time in his pro tenure after stops in Seattle, Oklahoma City and Golden State the last 12 seasons. The Knicks reportedly also were concerned if the 27-year-old Melbourne-born Irving could handle the pressure of playing in the media capital of the world after his acrimonious exit in Boston.
With the largest salary cap space available in free agency with over $70 million, New York settled for six serviceable free agents, chief of whom is bulky frontliner Julius Randle, who averaged 21.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 73 games last season in his lone year with the New Orleans Pelicans. The 6-foot-9 Randle agreed to a three-year, $63-million deal to thrill the home crowd at the Madison Square Garden.
With Irving – an All-NBA Second Team selection – on board, Brooklyn agreed to a sign-and-trade deal with Golden State involving its restricted free-agent point guard D’Angelo Russell. The 6-foot-5, 23-year-old Russell, another ex-Laker (2015-17) who became an All-Star last campaign in his second season with the Nets, has agreed to join the Warriors on a four-year, $117-million maximum pact. The Warriors are expected to ship a future protected first-round choice to Brooklyn while Russell, 6-foot-1 point guard Shabazz Napier and 6-foot-5 swingman Treveon Graham will go the Warriors, who in turn will jettison Napier ($1.9 million) and Graham ($1.7 million), both with a year remaining on their respective contracts that are non-guaranteed, and some cash to the Minnesota Timberwolves so that they could lower their payroll and avoid the hard cap while enabling them to re-sign unrestricted free agent Kevon Looney, a 6-foot-9, 23-year-old forward-center, to a three-year, $15-million deal.
To create the salary cap flexibility to turn Durant’s free-agent deal with Brooklyn into the acquisition of Russell, Golden State sent the 2015 NBA Finals MVP with three title rings, Andre Iguodala, and a protected 2024 first-round draft pick to the Memphis Grizzlies.
The do-it-all 6-foot-6, 35-year-old forward, who just days ago lambasted Golden State team officials for lying about player injuries (in his case a year ago and now regarding Kevin Durant) while promoting his book “The Sixth Man,” has a year left in his contract. Word is that Iguodala will seek a buyout and the Lakers have expressed their interest in him.
The acquisition of Russell puts him in the Warriors’ starting backcourt alongside Stephen Curry as the latter’s co-Splash Brother Klay Thompson, who has agreed to remain with the Warriors on a five-year, $190-million maximum contract that includes a 15-percent trade kicker, will be sidelined for the bulk — if not all — of the 2019-2020 wars due to a torn ACL in his left knee, an injury he suffered in the Finals series-clinching Game 6 loss to the Raptors.
The Warriors are likely to lose 6-foot-9, 24-year-old power forward-center Jordan Bell, a restricted free agent who has agreed to sign an offer sheet with guaranteed money from the Timberwolves. Golden State is not matching the offer sheet to Bell, who spent the last two seasons in the Bay Area.
The Celtics are about to bid goodbye to their free agents Irving, forward-center Alfred Joel Horford Reynoso – Al Horford in short – and point guard Terry Rozier (restricted).
Rozier is bound for the Charlotte Hornets and Horford is headed to the Philadelphia 76ers on a four-year, $109 million deal that includes $97 million in guaranteed money (the other $12 million in bonuses tied to winning). A 6-foot-10, 33-year-old native of the Dominican Republic, Horford will now play power forward for the 76ers in tandem with center Joel Embiid.
In comes Kemba Walker, an All-NBA Third Team selection with the Hornets last season, who agreed to take a maximum four-year, $141-million deal with the Celtics after spending his first eight seasons in the Queen City in the bosom of team owner Michael Jordan, who was unwilling to gift Kemba a max deal.
The Celts renounced their rights to Rozier to clear cap room for Walker to earn $32 million annually at the start of his four-year deal. Rozier, a 6-foot-1, 25-year-old point guard, then agreed to sign a three-year, $58-million deal with the Hornets.
Boston also agreed to sign unrestricted free-agent Turkish center Enes Kanter, who split time with New York and Portland last season, to a two-year, $10-million pact. The 6-foot-11, 27-year Kanter, who was actually born in Zurich, Switzerland, is expected to help in the development of undrafted Senegalese rookie Tacko Fall, a 7-foot-6, 23-year-old product of the University of Central Florida, who is expected to sign an Exhibit 10 contract with the Celtics. (Exhibit 10 contracts are one-year deals paying the minimum salary and can be used for two-way contracts.)
The Celtics have a shortage in biggies with the departure of Horford and Aaron Baynes (draft-day trade that sent him and the No. 24 overall draft choice (Ty Jerome of reigning NCAA champion Virginia) to the Phoenix Suns for its 2020 first-rounder via the Milwaukee Bucks).
The 76ers picked up Horford but lost two of their top three UFA. The 6-foot-9 Tobias Harris, who split time with the LA Clippers and the Sixers last season, is returning to Quaker City on a new five-year, $180-million agreement.
However, guard J.J. Redick, an outstanding three-point shooter at Philly for the past two seasons, has reached an agreement with the Pelicans on a two-year, $26.5-million deal and volatile swingman Jimmy Butler is headed to the Miami Heat in a proposed sign-and-trade deal that also involves the Portland Trail Blazers and the LA Clippers.
Butler, who turns 30 on September 14, was acquired by the 76ers in a trade with Minnesota last November 12. The Heat intends to ink Butler to a four-year, $142 million deal while jettisoning center Hassan Whiteside to the Trail Blazers in exchange for forwards Meyers Leonard and Maurice Harkless, guard Josh Richardson to the 76ers and a protected 2023 first-rounder to the Clippers. Harkless and his expiring $11 million contract then will be shipped to the Clippers. Originally, Miami’s Slovenian guard Goran Dragic was involved in a previous three-team, Butler sign-and-trade package but the Dallas Mavericks deemed Dragic’s salaries in the next two seasons too high. The 6-foot-3, 33-year-old Dragic, who earlier picked up his 2019-20 option with the Heat worth $19.2 million, is being targeted by the LA Lakers in a potential trade.
With the previous trade of veterans Mo Wagner, Isaac Bonga and Jemerrio Jones and a 2022 second-round pick to the Washington Wizards and new recruit Anthony Davis waiving his $4 million trade bonus, the Lakers created a cap space of $32 million to sign a prominent free agent (is Leonard the man?) to a max contract. Unfortunately, Leonard has yet to come up with a decision and most of the Lakers’ targeted free agents have gone elsewhere.
The Lakers now have five players on their roster. In addition to LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Kyle Kuzma, the Hollywood City outfit picked up a second player in NBA free agency yesterday, agreeing to terms with scrappy 6-foot-7 frontliner forward Jared Dudley on a one-year, $2.6-million veteran’s minimum deal. Dudley, who turns 34 on July 10, is a 12-year pro who played for the Nets last season.
Earlier, the Lakers agreed to sign 6-foot-4 shooting guard Troy Daniels, a six-year who played with the Suns the past two seasons, to a one-year, $2.1-million deal.
The Lakers still don’t have a point guard yet. They are likely seek the recall of 13-year vet Rajon Rondo, a 6-foot-1, 33-year-old playmaker with championship experience (2008 with Boston), for a second straight season with the club on a veteran’s minimum contract.