Players can now officially sign the contracts they've agreed to in the past week, and more moves are still on the way.
Here's a team-by-team analysis of the latest major and minor deals:
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Brooklyn Nets
1. Signed guard Allen Crabbe to a reported four-year, $75 million offer sheet
Here we go. One of the summer's most interesting decisions will be whether the Blazers match this offer, designed by the Nets to inflict maximum pain on Portland's salary cap. Brooklyn included basically all the little things a team can include in an offer sheet -- a player option on the fourth year, a trade bonus, and unlikely bonuses that don't currently count against the cap but could push the deal's value as high as $83 million.
Is Crabbe worth it? My vote would be no. His 3-point shooting (39 percent last season on nearly five attempts per 36 minutes) makes Crabbe an ideal role player. He won't hurt a team offensively. But $17.5 million a year is a lot for a role player, even in this market, and I don't think Crabbe provides enough other value to be a long-term starter in the league.
Crabbe rarely created his own shot (some 84 percent of his shots were assisted, per Basketball-Reference.com) or set up teammates (2.4 assists per 36 minutes) and is only decent defensively. He's not as valuable as his shooting would imply, and because he hasn't shown the potential to do more offensively, he's probably close to his peak value at age 24.
If I were the Blazers, I'd probably let Crabbe walk, even though losing his shooting would leave a big hole in Portland's second unit. The Blazers' other wing options off the bench, newly signed Evan Turner and fellow restricted free agent Maurice Harkless, are below-average 3-point shooters.
Still, I think the long-term cap implications are too problematic for Portland. Matching this offer and picking up Festus Ezeli's team option would more or less cap the Blazers out for next summer before they even begin negotiating an extension for starting shooting guard C.J. McCollum, who can reasonably expect the max salary. If Portland matches on Crabbe and re-signs one of its other restricted free agents, the Blazers are probably looking at paying the luxury tax in 2017-18.
The salary-cap implications aren't as problematic for the Nets, whose payroll will grow only modestly over the next couple of seasons. Even if they end up with both the restricted free agents they've signed to offer sheets (Crabbe and Tyler Johnson), Brooklyn would still have a path to max cap space in the summer of 2018 when Brook Lopez's contract expires. So while I don't like the value any better for the Nets, there's not as much downside from that standpoint.
Dallas Mavericks
1. Signed guard Nicolas Brussino to a reported three-year contract
The 23-year-old Brussino averaged 14.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists last year playing in his native Argentina. According to Layne Vashro, the level of competition in Argentina is comparable to the Sun Belt Conference, which would make Brussino an unspectacular fifth-year prospect. He does have good size at 6-foot-7 and 3-point range, so maybe there's something here.
Detroit Pistons
1. Signed center Boban Marjanovic to a three-year, $21 million offer sheet
Like Tyler Johnson of the Miami Heat, who officially inked a reported four-year, $50 million offer sheet with the Brooklyn Nets in the early hours Thursday, Marjanovic was subject to the "Gilbert Arenas provision" of the NBA's collective bargaining agreement, which limits his salary the next two seasons but also creates the possibility of a backloaded offer.
This deal isn't nearly as backloaded as Johnson's, but it's reportedly structured to pay him $5.6 million this season, $5.9 million in 2017-18 and $9.5 million in 2018-19. It would go on the Spurs' cap for those amounts while counting a flat $7 million per season for Detroit.
ESPN's Marc Stein reports that San Antonio can't match this deal, which would be true if the Spurs have already agreed to pay Manu Ginobili more than the veteran's minimum. Because San Antonio is using cap space to sign Pau Gasol to a reported two-year, $30 million deal, the Spurs also would have to use cap space to match this offer. And that would be possible only if San Antonio could renounce Ginobili's cap hold and re-sign him for the minimum.
The question then becomes, what are the Pistons thinking here? Detroit already signed a backup for Andre Drummond away from the Spurs last summer (Aron Baynes), and part of the logic behind signing power forward Jon Leuer to a reported four-year, $42 million deal was the ability to play him at both frontcourt positions. (Rookie Henry Ellenson will presumably eventually be able to do the same.) So where does Marjanovic fit into that?
Perhaps Stan Van Gundy & Co. see Marjanovic as a useful luxury item. Against the right matchups, he's incredibly productive, as reflected in his robust per-minute stats last season. With so many other options, the Pistons don't have to play Marjanovic every night if they don't want to. They might feel they can get enough value out of him against other immobile centers or teams without strong pick-and-roll attacks to justify $7 million a year.
The long-term implications in Detroit are interesting. The Pistons join the L.A. Clippers as the second team with at least $100 million in committed 2017-18 payroll, according to my projections. The Clippers' figure includes both Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, who are all but certain to opt out. The only player option for Detroit is Baynes' $6.5 million.
In fact, Detroit has more than $100 million committed in 2018-19. Realistically, the Pistons are capped out through the life of Marjanovic's contract and won't be able to shop in free agency using anything more than their mid-level exception.
Detroit can still make trades to shake up its core, but the team will have limited flexibility for the next several seasons. We'll see if this roster is good enough to justify that expensive commitment.
Golden State Warriors
1. Re-signed guard Ian Clark to a one-year contract, according to The Vertical
Steve Kerr appears to be a fan of Clark's game. Advertised as a sharpshooter out of Belmont, Clark has only been about average from 3-point range during his NBA career (a shade under 36 percent last season) and is a bit of a tweener -- not quite big enough to guard 2s or strong enough as a ballhandler to run the point full time. But his ability to play either role makes him an ideal fifth guard, so a Clark return makes sense.
We won't really be able to evaluate the implications of this deal until terms are reported. If Clark is making more than the minimum, that means the Warriors are using non-Bird rights to re-sign him, which would prevent them from offering James Michael McAdoo more than the minimum, according to my cap projections.
Los Angeles Lakers
1. Reportedly re-signed guard Marcelo Huertas to a two-year contract
As an NBA rookie at the age of 32, international veteran Huertas was most notable for a series of lowlight Vines.
Look past those plays, however, and Huertas was a good playmaker. He handed out 7.5 assists per 36 minutes. Alas, Huertas' poor 3-point shooting (26.2 percent), penchant for turnovers (3.3 per 36) and inability to keep opposing guards in front of him left him below replacement level. He's a good presence to have around and fun to play with, but if Huertas sees big minutes it's a problem for the Lakers.
Miami Heat
1. Signed guard Rodney McGruder to a three-year contract, according to The Vertical
It's McGruder's misfortune to be a shooting guard the Heat signed the day after losing Dwyane Wade to the Chicago Bulls. Obviously, McGruder is not Wade's replacement, though he's got a chance to make the roster after impressing in Orlando summer league.
McGruder played NBA-caliber ball last season with Miami's D-League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, shooting 61 percent on 2-point attempts and 38 percent on 3s. He didn't shoot nearly as well in 2014-15 and doesn't stand out statistically anywhere else, so overall McGruder projects as a below-replacement NBA player.
Portland Trail Blazers
1. Signed center Festus Ezeli to a reported two-year, $15 million contract
By staying patient with the center market, the Blazers appear to have gotten one of the summer's better bargains. According to Marc Spears of The Undefeated, Ezeli will make $7.4 million this season and Portland holds a $7.3 million team option for 2017-18. At most, Ezeli will make less the next two years than the L.A. Lakers will pay Timofey Mozgov for 2016-17.
One possibility is Ezeli's relatively small contract represents concern on the part of teams about the health of his knees. Ezeli missed the entire 2013-14 season after knee surgery and was never quite the same after undergoing another surgery in February.
Alternatively, Ezeli might have just been a victim of poor timing. Since the center market moved so quickly, few teams had both the money and the need to pay a center this much money. For that matter, it's up for debate whether center really was a need for Portland, which got good play from both starter Mason Plumlee and backup Ed Davis last season.
Despite that fact, I think Ezeli makes sense because he brings complementary skills. The Blazers ranked 20th in blocked-shot rate last season, and Ezeli blocked shots more than 50 percent more frequently than Portland's leader in Davis (4.8 percent of opponents' 2-point attempts while on the court for Ezeli, compared to 3.3 percent for Davis).
Surprisingly, the Blazers protected the rim well during the 2015-16 regular season. Opponents shot 56.9 percent inside 3 feet against Portland, which ranked third in the league, according to NBA.com/Stats. Rim protection became more of an issue during the playoffs, when opponents shot 64.0 percent inside 3 feet, 13th out of 16 teams.
Davis and Plumlee also are better pick-and-roll options than Ezeli, a limited passer and finisher. So I wouldn't have been in favor of signing a center to a big deal that would have all but forced the Blazers to move one of their incumbents. That isn't the case here. Portland can easily keep all three for at least this season, potentially giving Davis some minutes at power forward to make room for Ezeli.
From a cap standpoint, Ezeli fits well, too. The Blazers won't have to renounce any of their restricted free agents to sign him. Bringing back all three of Allen Crabbe, Maurice Harkless and Meyers Leonard would potentially put Portland in the luxury tax, so I don't expect it. Leonard likely seems the odd man out with so much depth now in the frontcourt. But the Blazers can re-sign him if they so desire.
San Antonio Spurs
1. Reportedly re-signed guard Manu Ginobili
2. Reportedly signed center Dewayne Dedmon to a two-year, $6 million deal
After announcing last week that he would return for a 15th NBA season without specifying that it would be in San Antonio, Ginobili tweeted Thursday morning that he would be back with the Spurs.
We still haven't heard the terms of the deal, but San Antonio should be able to sign Gasol while retaining Ginobili's cap hold, allowing him to make a more reasonable salary after taking less money to help the Spurs sign LaMarcus Aldridge last summer.
Once San Antonio has exhausted its cap space, Dedmon is apparently set to sign for their $2.9 million room exception. He's a good fit for the Spurs, the kind of athletic rim protector they've lacked since ... well, I'm not sure who the last such player in San Antonio was. Young Tim Duncan, perhaps? That lack of athleticism on the front line was glaring last year, and given the Spurs' limited resources, Dedmon was about the best they could have hoped to get.
Dedmon ranked 10th in the league in block percentage among players who saw at least 500 minutes of action last season, and he is also a defensive rebounder. He had a hard time carving out a consistent role in Orlando because he's not an offensive threat whatsoever, and he may struggle with execution in San Antonio's system.
Unless the Spurs were going to get Festus Ezeli to sign on for the room exception, however, they weren't going to find a better option than Dedmon.
Washington Wizards
1. Signed guard Marcus Thornton to a reported one-year, minimum-salary contract
Thornton, who began last season with the Houston Rockets, joined the Wizards after being released following the trade deadline. In 14 games with Washington, he supplied his usual volume scoring (19 points per 36 minutes).
Thornton tends to use plays at an above-average rate with below-average efficiency. And that's probably just fine for a fifth guard. Though he's a poor defender, Thornton won't hurt the Wizards much if he has to play -- a likelihood backing up injury-plagued Bradley Beal.