Tag: NBA Free agency 2023

Here’s why the NBA’s worst free-agent contracts actually aren’t as bad as you think

The big money deals you’ve seen in free agency aren’t as big as you think.

Welcome to Layup Lines, our basketball newsletter where we’re now knee-deep into the NBA offseason and right in the swing of things with the WNBA. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every afternoon. This is Mike Sykes. 

We’re now officially in the dog days of the summer when it comes to the NBA. The draft is far behind in the rearview mirror. NBA Summer League has come and gone.

All we’re left with now is waiting on the Damian Lillard trade and whatever free agency deals might come down the pipeline over the next couple of months or so. Now is a good time to look back on the summer and talk about the things that we got right, wrong and everything else in between.

And one of the things I feel like I personally got wrong was my reaction to some of the deals that we saw out there.

We saw some big money getting dished out this summer. Just to name a few examples here, Jerami Grant got a 5-year, $160 million deal from the Trail Blazers. There was also Fred Van Fleet who got a 3-year, $130 million deal from the Rockets. And Dillon Brooks got a four-year, $80 million deal from Houston, too.

Obviously, more power to them. They deserve every dollar because that’s what the market dictates. But, man. I can’t lie, y’all. That’s a lot of money for three players who have combined for one career All-Star appearance. At least, that was my initial reaction, anyway. And it was the same reaction a lot of others out there had, too.

But here’s the thing. Everyone else and I who had that reaction to those deals were completely wrong. Maybe they do end up being bad deals in the end — we don’t know yet. But just because the dollar amount is massive doesn’t mean the deal isn’t worth it.

We’re simply looking at these figures wrong. Instead of looking at the raw number there, the proper way to view these deals is within the context of the league’s salary cap.

Take Grant’s deal, for example. He’s going to make $27 million for the Trail Blazers next season in the first year of his deal. Sounds like a lot, right? But the NBA’s salary cap is set at just over $136 million. Relative to that, Grant’s salary number is only about 19 percent of the Blazers’ entire salary cap. Still big, sure. But not as big as you think.

Let’s add a bit more context to that. The salary cap 10 years ago back in 2013 was set at $58 million. Back in 2013, that $27 million figure would only be about $11 million. Not as bad, right? Right.

Plus, who would you rather see get all of this money? The players that you love to watch play or the owners? It’s not like it’ll be money going into your pocket.

I say all of this to say the salaries of the NBA aren’t what they used to be. They’re closer to baseball numbers than old-school basketball numbers these days. The league is making money hand over fist and has a new television deal right on the horizon. Those numbers will jump again very soon.

So when we see the first $50 million deal for a non-All-Star player in a few years here, remember: Don’t jump to conclusions. The percentage matters — not the dollar figure. Then you can go from there.

The Tip-Off

Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.

Draymond Green and Chris Paul are teammates now, but — surprise, surprise — Green still doesn’t like his new teammate.

Shocking, I know. The Warriors forward confirmed as much earlier this week on the Patrick Beverley podcast. He talked about how the Warriors trading for Paul doesn’t change the history he’s had with the Hall of Fame point guard. Our Cory Woodruff has more here.

“I’ve publicly said I didn’t like Chris [Paul] before, I’m just not going to be like, ‘Oh man that changed now he my teammate,’ No, I look forward to talking amongst men,” Green told Beverley on the show, via ESPN.

Looks like the Warriors may have potentially swapped one chemistry issue for Green in Jordan Poole with another in Chris Paul. We’ll see how it works once they get on the court.

This has some messy potential, though. Good luck to the Warriors.

Shootaround

— Cory Woodruff has you covered on the list of players invited to this year’s FIBA World Cup training camp.

— Steph Curry is dishing out AppleTV+ trial subscriptions like he is no-look passes. Hopefully, they don’t fly out of bounds.

— I ranked LeBron James’ signature shoes. Yup. That’s how deep we are into summer content.

— This weird clause in the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement is destroying James Harden’s trade leverage.

The 7 best NBA free agents remaining on the 2023 offseason market

A look at the talent left on the NBA free agency market

The NBA free agency frenzy in the 2023 NBA offseason is mostly over, with so many of the best names inking contracts, including some sneaky-good deals.

But there are a few intriguing names — ones who could be a factor for a contender — still out there who could be good to grab as we move into the “when is Damian Lillard going to get traded?” portion of the summer.

Now is a good time to run through who’s left to sign, although by the time you read this, they could be snatched up by a team.

Here they are, in no particular order:

The 10 best Damian Lillard trade destinations, ranked

Damian Lillard is on the move. Here are the best destinations he should consider

After a little over a decade, the Damian Lillard era in Portland seems to finally be coming to a close.

The 7-time All-Star has reportedly requested a trade from the Portland Trail Blazers not even 24 hours into the NBA’s free agency period, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

This has been a long time coming. The Heat, Clippers and 76ers are all already making calls on Lillard, according to reporting from Wojnarowski. The Blazers are reportedly looking for trades that will send back young players and draft picks for Lillard. With many teams having already spent so much draft capital, the market might not be as robust as they’d think.

Lillard also reportedly wants to go to the Miami Heat specifically, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania, which takes a bit more leverage from the Trail Blazers in looking for a deal.

With that being said, plenty of teams are going to call Portland looking for a way to land the All-Star point guard. With that in mind,

Why James Harden’s impending chaotic exit from the 76ers shouldn’t surprise anyone

James Harden, folks. An agent of chaos.

Welcome to Layup Lines, our basketball newsletter where we’ll prep you for a tip-off of tonight’s action, from what to watch to bets to make. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every afternoon.

The first person that I thought after I’d learned the news that James Harden was demanding a trade from the Philadelphia 76ers was Doc Rivers.

He jumped on the Bill Simmons podcast to talk about his tenure with the Philadelphia 76ers and how it ended. Specifically, he talked about coaching James Harden. And, boy, it seemed like he’d had a rough go at it.

He described coaching Harden as “challenging.” He broke down exactly what he’d meant by that and it boiled down to the way the 76ers were playing.

“So, yeah, at times, to get him to move it and get him to play the way I needed him to play—I thought the first half of the year, we were the best team in the game. I thought James was playing perfect basketball. He was the point guard of the team. He was still scoring, but he was doing more playmaking and scoring. Then in the second half, he started scoring more, trying to score more, and I thought we got stagnant at times. I thought we changed.”

I didn’t really know what to think of this initially. Why would Harden just all of a sudden change the way he was playing? Especially if what the 76ers were doing was actually working. That just doesn’t make a ton of sense.

But now that Harden is demanding a trade for the third time in four seasons? I think I get it now. When Harden is done with something he is capital D done. He’s not doing it anymore. I think that’s what happened with the 76ers offense and I think that’s what happened with his time in Philadelphia. He was just done.

Harden expected a big contract in Philadelphia after he took a pay cut for the team last season, according to reporting from The Athletic’s Sam Amick. But his market dried up. The Rockets weren’t there to provide him the leverage that he needed to put Philly in a corner and ultimately pay him.

So he created his own leverage. He opted into his deal and told them “Trade me.” He’ll go find a new deal elsewhere. Maybe it won’t be as big, but maybe the situation will be better. Above all else, though? He would be done with the organization that just burned him.

That’s where we are with James Harden. He’s willing to risk it all — a long-term deal and big money — just to make sure he’s not playing in a 76ers uniform next year.

It’s surprising, but it’s hardly shocking. This is James Harden now. It’s what he did with the Rockets before. It’s what he did with the Nets. And, now, it’s what he’s doing with the 76ers.

He’s bringing chaos to the table and telling them to work with it. They don’t have any other choice but to oblige.

The Tip-Off

Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.

Jerome Miron / USA Today Sports

Jeff Van Gundy deserved so much better, man. For years, he’s been giving us excellent basketball commentary — along with annoying complaints about officials — on ESPN’s broadcasts.

But, on Friday, he was laid off by the company behind Disney’s on-air talent cuts. Fans were in shock. Charles Curtis has more.

“Jeff Van Gundy, the former NBA coach who had become the leading voice for the NBA on ESPN alongside Mike Breen and Mark Jackson, was let go, according to a report from the New York Post’s Andrew Marchand.

JVG had been at the network for 16 years after a career that included coaching the New York Knicks for seven seasons and the Houston Rockets for four more through 2007.”

The broadcast legitimately will not be the same without Van Gundy. It’s going to be so weird watching and not hearing his voice. Hopefully, someday soon, we’ll hear it on our television sets again.

Shootaround

— Our Prince Grimes is looking at the teams that are best suited for Draymond Green this summer.

— This Chris Duarte trade was so weird and out of nowhere. Bryan Kalbrosky has the breakdown on it.

— Speaking of James Harden, the Clippers seem to be overwhelming favorites to sign him. Blake Schuster has more on that.

— We now know how tall Victor Wembanyama is. He’s…very tall.

Enjoy the weekend, folks!

30 under-the-radar NBA free agents who could be key signings in 2023, including Dillon Brooks

Here are 30 free agents you’re probably not thinking too much about right now.

The NBA Draft is finally out of the way and it’s time to start the new league year.

You know what that means. It’s time for free agency. The most chaotic time of the NBA calendar that everyone loves so much. This is where all the drama happens.

RELATED: Here’s our undrafted free agent tracker

Who is going to play with what team? Where are all of the big stars going? Is anyone going to demand a trade? There’s always a name or two out there on the market that completely shocks the NBA world.

But the little names are out there, too. There are plenty of free agents who aren’t superstars who could completely shift the NBA on where they go.

Here are 30 under-the-radar names you should be watching this summer.

MORE:

Why trading Damian Lillard right now might not actually be the best move for the Trail Blazers

It’s not the right time to trade Damian Lillard. Not yet.

This is the on-site version of FTW’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Here’s Mike Sykes. 

NBA free agency starts on Friday, but that’s not what everyone will be paying attention to once the clock strikes 6 p.m. ET.

We will all be watching the Damian Lillard situation out in Portland.

Obviously, this is a thing that’s been culminating for years at this point. And, let’s be honest, folks, the “will they, won’t they” vibes that we’re getting from both Dame and the Trail Blazers has definitely worn on most of us.

The dance between the two sides continues with the news about the meeting between Lillard and the Blazers’ brass. Lillard isn’t requesting a trade … yet. He’s waiting around to see what the Blazers do. And most people are just asking why at this point. Either do it or don’t, Dame.

But, honestly? If I’m the Trail Blazers? I think I might just hold firm on Dame Lillard, y’all. It might not be the right time to trade him.

Lillard is easily one of the best 15 players in the NBA right now and one of the best at his position. Typically, you’d get a whale of a return for a player like Lillard. I’m talking draft picks out the wazoo. All the pick swaps. A young prospect to kickstart a rebuild. That’s typically all on the table.

But The NBA trade market is zapped.

Obviously, circumstances were different, but the best draft pick compensation the Wizards could get out of moving Chris Paul, Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis was a 2030 top-20 protected first-round pick. The Hawks had to salary dump John Collins.

Lillard is better than all of them with a different contract. But still, it’s very clear, NBA teams are not here right now for offering up the farm for a single player.

It’s the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement. Player trade values have shrunk because teams aren’t willing to circumvent the salary cap for a massive talent like Lillard anymore. They’ll lose key roster-building tools if they do like the taxpayer mid-level exception, for example. Some teams aren’t even willing to part with draft picks anymore because they know they’ll lose guaranteed cheap salaries.

So if you’re the Trail Blazers looking at that market, why would you trade Damian Lillard? This is one of your best players in franchise history and you might get pennies on the dollar for him. Absolutely not.

That’s not what a lot of us want to hear and I get that. People are tired of hearing legacy-building propaganda about how Damian Lillard isn’t running from the grind or how he doesn’t actually want to play on a stacked team or whatever. It’s almost cartoonish at this point.

But, hey, man. We might be getting another year of this. So buckle in, folks. More Lillard memes are coming.

Quick Hits: The top 32 NHL prospects … 10 NBA players who could be traded … and more.

Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports

— Our Mary Clarke ranked her top 32 NHL prospects ahead of the draft. Get ready for a good time.

— Along with Damian Lillard, names like Zion Williamson and others could be on the move this summer. Our Charles Curtis has more.

— Robert Zeglinski ranked every Black Mirror episode and, honestly, I think this might break me.

— Baseball fans are roasting this umpire for a terrible strike call to end the Nationals game and I can’t blame them. This was bad.

Looking ahead to the top 2023 NBA free agents, including … LeBron James

Some big names hit the market NEXT summer, in 2023.

This year’s free agency period will be highlighted by tons of fringe moves involving key rotational players but very few big names. The big names that are out there, like Bradely Beal and Zach Lavine, could very well re-sign with their current teams.

So for those looking for potential star movement, the summer of 2023 offers a little more excitement. Granted, many of next summer’s top free agents are older players who can’t swing the fortunes of a franchise by themselves. But in the right situations, some of these guys can have a big impact.

Here’s a look at some of the top unrestricted free agents of 2023, via Spotrac.