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With teams starting to round out their rosters one week into NBA free agency, here's my analysis of the latest major and minor deals:
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Golden State Warriors
1. Re-signed forward James Michael McAdoo to a reported one-year, minimum contract
There's an interesting bit of cap minutiae here. The Warriors appeared to have enough room to retain McAdoo's Early Bird rights, which would have allowed them to sign him to a multi-year contract starting at up to $6.2 million. Instead, Golden State elected to renounce McAdoo's rights altogether and sign him for the veteran's minimum (a little less than $1 million).
Danny Leroux pointed out earlier in the week that re-signing McAdoo to an Early Bird contract could have allowed Golden State to use him as a trade chip later in the season. And while the Warriors have to watch their 2017-18 spending in case they need to use cap space to re-sign Kevin Durant for his higher maximum salary, the second year required to use the Early Bird exception could have been non-guaranteed. So it looks like Golden State might have missed a bit of an opportunity for creative cap management here.
As far as the on-court implications, McAdoo figures to have a bigger role this season after playing spot minutes in 2015-16. Unless Golden State can get another veteran to sign on for less money, McAdoo could be the Warriors' backup center this year. He brings mobility in that role, though his poor defensive rebounding is a major concern.
Los Angeles Clippers
1. Signed center Marreese Speights to a reported two-year, minimum contract
Speaking of backup Golden State centers, one of the players ahead of McAdoo on the depth chart last season is headed to a West rival. Even in a center-rich market, presumably Speights could have gotten a little more than the veteran's minimum somewhere, so getting him at that rate is a coup for the Clippers. With no ability to offer players more than the minimum, the Clippers needed a break like this.
Speights is an interesting fit in L.A. While a defensive liability, he is a quality offensive center, particularly now that he's added 3-point range to his repertoire. He made nearly as many 3s in last year's playoffs (18) as he did in his entire NBA career before 2015-16 (19). That makes Speights something of a low-cost version of Spencer Hawes, the Clippers' backup for DeAndre Jordan in 2014-15.
The Clippers may actually be about done shopping. If they sign second-round picks David Michineau and Diamond Stone (as Doc Rivers has indicated) and hold on to second-year forward Branden Dawson (whose salary is non-guaranteed), the Clippers are at the maximum 15 players.
Miami Heat
1. Signed forward Derrick Williams to a reported one-year, $5 million deal
Still unsigned a week into free agency, I figured Williams might regret declining his 2016-17 player option with the New York Knicks for slightly more than $5 million. Alas, Williams ended up getting a contract that will probably net him slightly more after considering the respective income tax rates.
Williams was a good scorer in New York, averaging 18.7 points per 36 minutes with above-average efficiency. But he contributes little defensively, so Williams still ranked 92nd among power forwards in ESPN's real plus-minus -- out of 96 players. In Miami, Williams can crossmatch defensively when he plays with Justise Winslow, but those lineups will be shooting-challenged to say the least.
Signing Williams to a one-year deal does seem to signal the Heat's plan going forward in free agency. If they match the Brooklyn Nets' offer sheet for Tyler Johnson, they'll have about $16 million in cap space next summer, which would increase to $22 million if Miami lets Johnson go. The Heat would surely have a path to max cap space in either case, and maintaining that flexibility seems ideal after Dwyane Wade's defection.
If Miami does plan to match on Johnson, there is urgency to spend the team's remaining $14.5 million in cap space before doing so by early Sunday morning. As soon as the Heat match, Johnson's cap hit goes from $1.2 million to the $5.6 million he'll make this season, but Miami can exceed the cap to match using Johnson's Early Bird rights.