3 available free-agents that the Brooklyn Nets can still pursue

Free-agency is mostly over, but here are three available free-agents for the Brooklyn Nets to consider.

The Brooklyn Nets have made it through free-agency and have made some solid moves along the way. They were able to create some salary relief through the trades of Joe Harris (to the Detroit Pistons) and Patty Mills (to the Houston Rockets) that could be useful later.

When it comes to pure free-agency, Brooklyn was able to take care of the necessary business. They re-signed wing Cam Johnson which was arguably their most important task this offseason with added pressure from budding guard Mikal Bridges. With Johnson’s contract taken care of, they were able to add some guard depth in Dennis Smith Jr. and Lonnie Walker IV.

Johnson agreed to a four-year, $108 million contract, Smith Jr. agreed to a one-year, $2.53 million deal, and Walker IV took a one-year offer. With all of the moves that the Nets have made thus far in the offseason, they still have options in terms of bringing more players and here are three available free-agents that are still available for them to consider:

Three potential lower-cost depth targets for the Boston Celtics in free agency

A recent Bleacher Report analysis highlights a pair of wings and a big Boston ought to keep tabs in in free agency.

The Boston Celtics will have their work cut out for them this offseason as they try to beef up their roster in pursuit of a title in the 2023-23 season with one of the most expensive payrolls in the league before they add a single body to their ball cub just as the first elements of the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) designed to punish teams like Boston start to come into effect.

In layman’s terms, that means the Celtics will not have much money to work with this offseason, limited to whatever they can do with the taxpayer midlevel exception and veteran minimum deals available to them.

Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley put together a trio of potentially low-cost targets for the Celtics to pursue in free agency with those limits in place for Boston — let’s see which players the B/R analyst believes are both attainable in that range and a good fit.

Five best players on buyout market Lakers should look at

Will the Lakers sign someone from the buyout market? If so, one of these five men could fit the bill.

The Los Angeles Lakers’ roster looks a lot better, or at least a lot more balanced and cohesive, after the three deals they made in the final hours before last Thursday’s NBA trade deadline.

At least on paper, they have more outside shooting, forward depth, a legitimate two-way center other than Anthony Davis and a point guard, D’Angelo Russell, who is a much better fit than Russell Westbrook.

But by no means do the Lakers have a complete roster.

They could use another legitimate 3-and-D wing, as well as one more center who can defend and rebound.

Now that the trade deadline is in the rearview mirror, teams are waiving players they deem superfluous, creating a buyout market that has some interesting bit players.

Los Angeles has one open roster spot available, and it could fill the spot with a player on the buyout market.

These five players could help the Lakers a little if they want to sign with the Purple and Gold.

Best post-trade deadline Boston Celtics wing buyout targets

Now that the dust has settled and it’s clear the Celtics are looking to add wing depth via a buyout signing, here are our favorite targets.

With the Boston Celtics trading for veteran Oklahoma City Thunder big man Mike Muscala in their sole move at the 2023 NBA trade deadline, the need to fortify the club’s frontcourt has diminished.

But if the team hopes to make the postseason with their star wings healthy and with fresh legs, adding another body off the buyout market to bolster the team’s wing depth ought to be Boston’s next priority.

While it is not yet clear whether the better candidates for what the Celtics are after will even be bought out at the time of writing, we have identified a handful of prospects Boston’s front office ought to be inquiring after.

Larger wings able to play more than one position should be the focus of any buyout signing, and the disabled player exception granted to the team after Danilo Gallinari’s injury gives Boston an edge as a contending squad.

Five Boston Celtics buyout candidates for the 2023 NBA postseason

With the $3.2 million disabled player exception available to be used to sign a player in the last year of his deal or a free agent, the Boston Celtics will be able to offer more salary than most other teams.

“Boston is going to pick off whoever they want on the buyout market,” said an anonymous source to Celtics Blog’s Keith Smith regarding the team’s plans for team building beyond the 2023 NBA trade deadline. “They have money and minutes. And they’re a title contender. That checks all the boxes.”

With the $3.2 million disabled player exception available to be used to sign a player in the last year of his deal or a free agent, the Boston Celtics will be able to offer more salary than most other teams, as well as being a contender with some real needs to be filled.

The league awaits potential buyout options that could hit the market soon that might be up the Celtics’ alley — let’s dive into some of the better options out there.

Report: Will Barton, Boston Celtics have mutual interest should Wizards wing be bought out

Washington, of course, would have to play ball, but if they find no suitor for Barton it might make sense for all.

Could Washington Wizards veteran Will Barton be a potential buyout candidate for the Boston Celtics? According to Keith Smith of CelticsBlog (via Heavy’s Adam Taylor), there is mutual interest in such an outcome. With Barton earning $14.3 million this season as an expiring deal, it is not out of the question that the veteran wing could be bought out by the Wiz.

Barton is having a down season in a reduced role, hitting just barely above his solid 37.4% rate from 3 from 2-point range as well. Still, a clearer if not larger role on a contending team might be a solid fit for a player who was putting up 14.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, and .9 assists per game.

This outcome would of course require Washington 1) not trading Barton elsewhere and 2) actually buying out the Baltimore native’s deal.

But if no suitor for his services appears with a solid offer in hand, it certainly would make a lot of sense for all parties for such a scenario to play out.

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Will Barton, Monte Morris trade grades: Who won the Nuggets and Wizards deal?

Will Barton will now play for fellow Baltimore native Wes Unseld Jr., who coaches the Wizards.

NBA free agency also means the trade market is as active as ever, and we had a trade between the Denver Nuggets and Washington Wizards this morning.

After trading JaMychal Green to the Thunder and gaining some draft capital (which was used on UCLA freshman Peyton Watson) in the process, Denver has been active in the trade market of late.

As we’ve done in the past, we’ll grade the trade for both sides to help break down who won and lost the deal.

This is a guard and a wing trade for … a guard and a wing. Let’s break it all down for you:

Potential trade targets starting on December 15

Trade discussions should pick up soon as most players that were free agents in the 2021 offseason will become trade-eligible on December 15.

With the NBA season more than a quarter of the way complete, teams are finally starting to understand their rosters and if changes are required. There hasn’t been a trade in two months but discussions should begin to pick up soon as most players that were free agents in the offseason will become trade-eligible on December 15. The trade deadline is also two months away, so transactions should start occurring soon. Here are some players that are set to become eligible next week:

Potential trade targets starting on December 15

With the NBA season more than a quarter of the way complete, teams are finally starting to understand their rosters and if changes are required. There hasn’t been a trade in two months but discussions should begin to pick up soon as most players that were free agents in the offseason will become trade-eligible on December 15. The trade deadline is also two months away, so transactions should start occurring soon. Here are some players that are set to become eligible next week:

NBA trade deadline: Projected rotation for Nuggets with Aaron Gordon

After earning a spot in the 2020 Western Conference Finals, the Denver Nuggets made a huge splash during the 2021 NBA trade deadline.

After earning a spot in the 2020 Western Conference Finals, the Denver Nuggets made a huge splash during the 2021 NBA trade deadline.

Hungry to build on the success they had last season, Denver’s front office made a push to land Aaron Gordon from the Orlando Magic as well as two-time NBA champion JaVale McGee from the Cleveland Cavaliers. They also acquired Gary Clark, a sneaky good role player, to the mix.

While the organization surrendered longtime starter Gary Harris as well as promising prospect RJ Hampton in the deal, they maintained much of the depth necessary to make another run in the postseason later this year.

Denver came into the season with some excellent star power behind MVP candidate Nikola Jokic and a stellar guard in Jamal Murray. They maintain excellent upside with the firepower of Michael Porter Jr. as well.

With all three on the floor, the Nuggets have outscored opponents by 13.1 points per 100 possessions this year. That ranks as the second-best among three-man groups in the Western Conference that have played at least 600 minutes together thus far in 2020-21.

But they also have Will Barton, Paul Millsap and Monte Morris – all of whom are reliable veterans who play well within their roles. So when you add Gordon and McGee to that already strong core, you suddenly have one of the deepest rosters in the NBA.

As such, below, we have broken down the new group for the Nuggets as they prepare to make a playoff push.

The league is moving more and more towards positionless basketball. Note that we define “guards” as the playmakers and primary initiators, “wings” as the versatile athletes who can typically play somewhere between two through four and “bigs” as the main frontcourt threat.