What do the latest moves in NBA free agency mean for every team, and what's next across the league?
On Day 1, many teams quickly reached agreements with star players, including the Brooklyn Nets (Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving), Boston Celtics (Kemba Walker) and Philadelphia 76ers (Tobias Harris and Al Horford).
You can find team-by-team analysis on all of the movement here. Go here for my Day 3 analysis.
Note: The latest updates will be posted here, with teams sorted alphabetically. The most recent additions include D'Angelo Russell to the Warriors, Jamal Murray's extension and the Jimmy Butler sign-and-trade.
More: Projecting the starting salary for every available free agent
Boston Celtics
1. Agreed to a reported two-year, $10 million deal with center Enes Kanter
Assuming the Celtics aren't able to complete a sign-and-trade deal involving Kyrie Irving that would allow them to stay over the cap while adding Kemba Walker, Walker's salary will just about use up their cap space and leave them with only the $4.8 million room exception to spend in free agency above the minimum. That was Boston's tool for adding a starting center, and it will be used on Kanter.
At that price, I tend to think the Celtics could have done a little better. I'd prefer Ed Davis and Richaun Holmes, both of whom also signed for the room exception to be backups (Davis with the Utah Jazz and Holmes with the Sacramento Kings). Boston also might have had an opportunity to pry versatile defender Kevon Looney away from the Golden State Warriors because of their hard-cap issues.
Aside from Looney, who may be willing to take less money to return to the Warriors, those other alternatives haven't played as significant a role in the playoffs as Kanter did for the Portland Trail Blazers. Unexpectedly thrust into a starting spot by Jusuf Nurkic's compound lower leg fracture, Kanter acquitted himself well as the Blazers reached the conference finals. He was adequate defensively in Terry Stotts' drop coverages while playing through a shoulder injury that limited him offensively. Only in the conference finals against Golden State were Kanter's defensive issues exposed.
As compared to the departed duo of Aron Baynes and Al Horford, Kanter will surely be a defensive downgrade. He's a poor rim protector for a center and also struggles when asked to defend in space. At the other end, though, Kanter provides way more shot creation than the limited Baynes and will give the Celtics a legitimate dive threat in the pick-and-roll after they played more pick-and-pop with Horford.
Danny Leroux of RealGM.com points out one important complication to this deal for Boston: In the past, Kanter has been unable to travel to Toronto because of security and visa concerns related to his outspoken criticism of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whom Kanter has compared to a dictator. In addition to two regular-season games north of the border between the division rivals, a Celtics-Raptors playoff series is a reasonable possibility, and the NBA and NBPA should work with the U.S. State Department to find a solution so Kanter is able to play in Toronto if that happens.
Next up for Boston is a new deal for reserve big man Daniel Theis, a restricted free agent who figures to take on a larger role in the Celtics' thinner frontcourt. After that, they'll be looking to fill out the roster with players at the minimum. Assuming Boston re-signs Theis and signs No. 33 pick Carsen Edwards, that will be 13 players under contract.
Brooklyn Nets
1. Agreed to a reported four-year, $40 million deal with center DeAndre Jordan
How do the Nets have the cap space to sign Jordan after already agreeing to max deals with Durant and Irving to start free agency? The answer appears to be in unlikely incentives for both players.
With guidance from my ESPN colleague Bobby Marks, I previously wrote about unlikely incentives as a way for the Lakers to maximize their cap space. When a team signs a player with unlikely incentives in the first year of his contract, such as Irving or Durant, all of the team's unlikely incentives are counted to make sure they remain below the salary cap. But that restriction no longer applies when a player -- in this case, Jordan -- is signed without unlikely incentives. Then, only the team's likely incentives count against the cap, same as in future years.
In other words, signing Jordan without bonuses will, in effect, wipe the slate clean of the unlikely bonuses in other contracts.
As a result, Brooklyn can structure the offseason by first either signing Durant and Irving (or acquiring them via sign-and-trade deals) with contracts that feature up to the maximum 15% unlikely incentives, presumably based on targets like winning 45 games that are unlikely now because of the Nets' 2018-19 record but would in reality be likely to pay out Durant and Irving.
Only then would Brooklyn sign Jordan to the reported contract, which must not contain any unlikely incentives. In that matter, thanks to Durant and Irving sacrificing guaranteed money to add their teammate, the Nets have essentially created more than $10 million in extra cap space -- enough to sign Jordan to this deal. (Note that because unlikely incentives do initially count against the cap, this maneuver wouldn't help Brooklyn get the small amount of extra cap space necessary to sign both Durant and Irving to full max deals. That would still require a trade.)
Now the question is whether Jordan is worth it. Though not quite 31, Jordan has aged rapidly because of his dependence on athleticism. Because he's still a strong finisher and his size won't fade, Jordan might be worth $10 million in the first couple of years of this deal. By 2022-23, when Jordan will be 34? That looks incredibly unlikely. Worse yet, the Nets might have to start Jordan ahead of third-year center Jarrett Allen, a similarly good pick-and-roll option who's far more active defensively at this stage of his career.
If paying Jordan heavily was the price of landing Durant and Irving, obviously Brooklyn would do it every time. The Nets haven't sacrificed any flexibility, though if the incentives in Durant's and Irving's contracts are in fact likely to be achieved, that would increase their future luxury-tax bill. It's Durant and Irving who may have more opportunity to regret their decision if they don't achieve full max money because of the incentives.
Dallas Mavericks
1. Agreed to a reported four-year, $33 million deal with forward Maxi Kleber
2. Agreed to a reported four-year, $32 million deal with guard Seth Curry
3. Agreed to a reported one-year deal with guard J.J. Barea
It's been an interesting 24 hours for the Mavericks, who were originally reported as the destination for Goran Dragic as part of the Jimmy Butler sign-and-trade before follow-ups indicated they thought they were getting Derrick Jones Jr. and Kelly Olynyk instead. With $29 million in cap space, Dallas couldn't have taken on Dragic's $19.2 million salary and still made a competitive offer to Danny Green, who appears to be their top target in free agency.
While they wait on Green, who's seemingly in a holding pattern pending a decision by Toronto Raptors teammate Kawhi Leonard, the Mavericks did spend a more modest chunk of their cap space on bringing back Curry. The 42 games Curry started and 29.0 minutes he averaged in Dallas in 2016-17 remain career highs, but the Mavericks led him walk last summer after he missed the entire 2017-18 season due to a stress fracture in his left leg. Curry stayed healthy in Portland and was a key contributor off the bench as the Blazers reached the conference finals.
Four years is a long time to commit to Curry, who will turn 29 in August, but he seems like a good fit alongside Luka Doncic. Curry can defend point guards, often the better matchup for him, while spacing the floor for Doncic as a point forward.
The Mavericks also went four years (the last at team option) on Kleber, who was a restricted free agent at age 27 because he came to the NBA relatively late in his career. I like the value on a deal that pays him less than the non-taxpayer midlevel exception over that span. Kleber has quietly become one of the NBA's best combination rim protectors/3-point shooters. Per Basketball-Reference.com, he was one of 13 players to average at least a 3-pointer and a block per game last season, and did so while averaging the fewest minutes per game (21.2) of the group.
I think one of the teams with cap space seeking a stretch big man like New Orleans or Sacramento would have been wise to consider a lucrative offer sheet for Kleber that could have been backloaded because of the Gilbert Arenas provision, but perhaps the threat of Dallas matching was too great. So instead the Mavericks ensure they continue to have at least one sharpshooting big man from Wurzburg, Germany.
As for Barea, I assume decades from now he'll still be playing in Dallas and successfully running pick-and-rolls for Rick Carlisle. Though an Achilles rupture in January will be the greatest threat yet to Barea's continued success in his mid-30s, the Mavericks were sure to bring him back. Per ESPN's Tim MacMahon, Barea will get the veteran's minimum if Dallas uses all its cap space but could get a slightly larger one-year deal otherwise.
Because the Mavericks can renounce Barea's cap hold and Kleber counts just $1.8 million (which could be further reduced to $1.6 million if Dallas withdrew his qualifying offer, which wouldn't affect the ability to sign him to the reported deal), they've still got $22 million in cap space. The luxury tax is a bit of a concern for the Mavericks if they spend all of that and also re-sign restricted free agent Dorian Finney-Smith to a contract much larger than his $1.9 million hold.
Denver Nuggets
1. Agreed to a reported five-year, maximum extension with guard Jamal Murray
Somewhat surprisingly, Murray was the first player from the 2016 draft to sign a rookie extension. The Nuggets facilitated a quick decision by giving Murray the max, worth an estimated $170 million based on current cap projections for 2020-21. (The exact value of the deal won't be determined until next June 30, when the cap is set.)
I'm not sure Murray is quite at the level where he should get a full max without any negotiation. He's not yet been an All-Star and scored with below-average efficiency last season, posting a 53.8 true shooting percentage as compared to the league average of 56.0. It's an especially interesting move for a low-revenue Denver team that seems unlikely to pay the tax anytime soon. Between Murray and All-NBA First Team center Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets will have an average of more than $60 million per year committed between 2020-21 and 2022-23, when Jokic can be an unrestricted free agent.
Those caveats noted, Murray is still just 22 and plays a position where players typically don't break through until their mid-20s. Jokic's unique passing ability takes some playmaking pressure off Murray, who's able to operate more like a combo guard than a pure point guard, but his shooting and decision-making should improve for years to come.
My SCHOENE projection system is bullish on Murray's future, pegging him for nearly 28 wins above replacement over the next three seasons -- a total that would have ranked him seventh among this year's free agents, just behind max player D'Angelo Russell. Given the weak crop of 2020 free agents, Murray would have had a great chance at getting a max offer sheet next summer with terms more favorable to him.
Additionally, the way teams treat budding stars during rookie extension talks often plays an outsized role in their willingness to return when they become unrestricted free agents. So I can see why Denver wanted to take care of Murray now rather than squeeze every nickel out of this deal.
Golden State Warriors
1. Agreed to a reported sign-and-trade for guard D'Angelo Russell
2. Agreed to a reported three-year, $15 million deal with center Kevon Looney
After completing a sign-and-trade for D'Angelo Russell that subjects them to a hard cap of $138.9 million this season, the Warriors clearly prioritized retaining Looney to the point that even the extra couple hundred thousand above the veteran's minimum owed to former Brooklyn Nets Treveon Graham and Shabazz Napier was too much for them. (Graham and Napier will be rerouted to the Minnesota Timberwolves with cash as part of the deal, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski).
Every dollar was earmarked for Looney so Golden State could make an offer to him competitive with other teams willing to use their room midlevel exception to sign him to a two-year, $10 million deal. The Warriors ended up matching that salary on a per-year basis while giving Looney a third year, appropriate for a player coach Steve Kerr called "a foundational piece" during the Western Conference finals.
In the short term, Golden State would have been better off letting Looney walk and replacing him with a center at the minimum while instead using the buffer under the hard cap to sign a wing using the taxpayer midlevel exception. But, as I noted in my analysis of the Russell sign-and-trade, this move is clearly about 2020-21 and beyond. By then, the Warriors will have more flexibility to replace the departed Kevin Durant and Andre Iguodala at small forward while still having Looney under contract.
For now, Golden State can't sign any player for more than the veteran's minimum and must sign both of this year's second-round picks (Eric Paschall and Alen Smailagic) for the rookie minimum. That would give the Warriors a full 15-player roster with $430K in room under the hard cap, per Bobby Marks' analysis.
Houston Rockets
1. Agreed to a reported three-year, $11.1 million deal with forward Danuel House
2. Agreed to a reported one-year, minimum deal with forward Gerald Green
3. Agreed to a reported one-year, minimum deal with guard Austin Rivers
With a Butler sign-and-trade out of the picture, the Rockets have been focused on bringing back last year's roster more or less intact. They moved quickly in the first 24 hours of free agency to re-sign the three reserves who played the most minutes for them in 2018-19.
House, a restricted free agent, was the most expensive. Because Houston has only non-Bird rights for him, this offer will require the team to utilize the bulk of its taxpayer midlevel exception. What's left over is close to the minimum salary for experienced players, so I suspect the Rockets will save it to potentially use during the season, when the minimum salary will prorate more rapidly than the exception will.
It remains to be seen whether House is worth it. He was a pretty generic fringe NBA wing up through 2018 training camp, when he was waived by the Warriors. House then landed in Houston and proved to be a great fit for the Rockets' switch-heavy scheme because of his physical strength. Hitting 42% of his 3s didn't hurt either. House has been only an OK 3-point shooter in the G League (36.8% career). At 26, House is right in his prime, and my SCHOENE projections suggest he'll be a valuable reserve over the length of this contract. So I'm good with Houston using the tax midlevel on a player who fell out of the rotation against Golden State in the playoffs.
During that series, Rivers was one of the most reliable options for coach Mike D'Antoni, logging 25.6 minutes per game. Again, fluky 3-point shooting (45.5%) didn't hurt. Rivers' inefficient scoring (he posted a subpar 50.3 true shooting percentage during the regular season) has long explained the discrepancy between how he's seen around the league and his weak advanced stats. At the minimum, though, Rivers is a worthwhile value to return.
Meanwhile, Green is playing his third consecutive minimum contract for his hometown team. Green can't really be trusted in the playoffs due to his occasional lapses in focus, but his volume 3-point shooting (3.8 per 36 minutes last season) and athleticism make him useful for sopping up minutes during the course of the regular season.
Indiana Pacers
1. Agreed to a reported three-year, $31.5 million deal with guard Jeremy Lamb
2. Agreed to a reported three-year deal with guard Edmond Sumner
Apparently unwilling to beat Utah's four-year, $73 million offer to forward Bojan Bogdanovic, the Pacers quickly pivoted to a pair of key moves that give coach Nate McMillan a variety of interesting options this season.
Already, Indiana had used part of its cap space to deal for Phoenix Suns combo forward T.J. Warren in a deal that will be completed after the moratorium. The Pacers followed that up Sunday by adding Malcolm Brogdon via sign-and-trade with the Milwaukee Bucks on a four-year, $85 million deal, along with a three-year, $31 million contract for former Charlotte Hornets wing Jeremy Lamb that might have been my favorite handed out on the first day of free agency.
Aside from center Myles Turner, pretty much every key rotation player for the Pacers is now capable of playing multiple positions. That's particularly meaningful in the backcourt, where Brogdon can play more shooting guard before All-Star Victor Oladipo returns from a ruptured quadriceps tendon (Indiana president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard said recently he's hopeful that happens in December or January) and then slide over to point guard alongside Oladipo as part of a big backcourt.
Lamb should play both wing positions, with Warren playing both forward spots and Domantas Sabonis apparently set to start at power forward alongside Turner while possibly also backing him up. That versatility will give McMillan the ability to play big or small depending on the opposition and vary the level of shooting and defense on the court.
While I wasn't a fan of giving up a first-round pick to get Brogdon via sign-and-trade -- a move Brian Windhorst reported on Monday's edition of the Hoop Collective was based on Pacers owner Herb Simon's philosophy about making trades for restricted free agents rather than signing them to offer sheets -- I love the contract for Lamb, who ranked 12th in my statistical projections for free agents over the next three years. The 11 players ahead of him, including Brogdon, all got $20-plus million per year. Lamb got barely half that. Given his age (27) and scoring ability (19.3 points per 36 minutes) at a position where contributors are hard to find, Lamb could prove a bargain.
Depending how Indiana structures these contracts, the team should still have about $5 million in cap space along with the $4.8 million room exception. The Pacers could still use a couple of rotation pieces -- a guard to bolster the rotation before Oladipo's return and a big man in case they don't want to rely on third-year forward T.J. Leaf or rookie center Goga Bitadze. Add those and Indiana is in good shape to again contend for a top-four seed and home-court advantage in the opening round of the playoffs.
Los Angeles Lakers
If Kawhi Leonard doesn't join the Lakers, what will they do?
Having secured a meeting with the Finals MVP and top free agent on the market, the Lakers have no choice but to wait for Leonard to make his decision. But while Leonard moves at his own pace, not taking any meetings on the opening day of free agency, action elsewhere has been frenzied. The other max targets the Lakers sought as fallback plans no longer appear to be available. And many of the quality role players the Lakers could have targeted by splitting up their cap space are already spoken for, too.
Here's my look at what the Lakers would be able to do if they don't get Kawhi.
Miami Heat
1. Agreed to a reported sign-and-trade for Jimmy Butler.
On Monday afternoon, the Heat's sign-and-trade deal for Jimmy Butler and trade sending Hassan Whiteside to the Portland Trail Blazers merged into one, behemoth four-team move that allows the Heat to add Butler.
The LA Clippers emerged as the fourth team necessary to make the money work for the Heat and Philadelphia 76ers, getting a first-round pick to take Portland forward Maurice Harkless into their cap space.
With starting center Jusuf Nurkic coming back from a compound fracture of his left tibia and fibula, the Blazers add an expensive insurance policy in the form of Whiteside, who will make $27.1 million in the final season of his contract.
How did all four teams make out? I unpack the many, many details here.
Milwaukee Bucks
1. Agreed to a reported one-year, minimum deal with guard Wesley Matthews
2. Agreed to a reported two-year, $10 million deal with center Robin Lopez
Getting Matthews to sign on for a return to his home state at the veteran's minimum is a terrific move by the Bucks in the wake of losing Brogdon in a sign-and-trade. While Matthews isn't a long-term replacement, he substantially upgrades Milwaukee's wing depth and reduces my concern about the Bucks' options on the perimeter if Eric Bledsoe struggles in the playoffs.
Besides the homecoming, I'd imagine the opportunity to start was a big reason why Matthews chose Milwaukee over what surely must have been more lucrative offers elsewhere. He prioritized playing time as a free agent after the 2019 trade deadline, signing with the Pacers -- for whom he averaged 31.5 minutes the rest of the season -- over better contenders.
The Bucks could offer Matthews the best of both worlds. Depending where Kawhi Leonard signs, they could be the favorites to win the 2019 championship, and Matthews looks like the early favorite to start at shooting guard over Hill, Sterling Brown and Pat Connaughton. He's probably still the best wing defender of that group and a 38% career 3-point shooter. Again, it's unbelievable that skill set went for the veteran's minimum on the second day of free agency.
I'm less enamored of the contract for Robin Lopez, a solid veteran whose unlikely post-up scoring spree last season -- he averaged 5.0 PPG on post-ups after the All-Star break, per Second Spectrum tracking on NBA Advanced Stats, the league's sixth-highest average in that span -- overstated his value.
In a league where center production is higher than ever, Lopez hasn't kept pace. And while I appreciate his pattern recognition and boxing out on defense, skills Milwaukee will now get from both Lopez brothers, I would have preferred the Bucks give third-year big D.J. Wilson a shot at a bigger role. Wilson's defensive switchability could make him valuable in the playoffs and he brings floor spacing this Lopez twin can't provide.
New Orleans Pelicans
1. Agreed to a reported trade for forward Derrick Favors
The Utah Jazz essentially allowed Favors to become a free agent while technically under contract, knowing they were going to use his nonguaranteed 2019-20 salary on a better shooter at power forward. Indeed, they eventually agreed to terms on a reported four-year, $73 million deal with Bojan Bogdanovic.
After Favors chose to join the Pelicans, the two teams quickly worked out a trade that prevents the possibility of Favors being claimed off waivers by another team.
Here are my trade grades for the Pelicans and Jazz.
New York Knicks
1. Agreed to a reported two-year, $21 million deal with guard Reggie Bullock
2. Agreed to a reported two-year, $16 million deal with guard Wayne Ellington
3. Agreed to a reported two-year, $16 million deal with guard Elfrid Payton
During Day 2, the Knicks' strategy is starting to take on greater clarity. As Bobby Marks first reported, the two-year deals they've handed out to all the free agents they've signed save Julius Randle (three years) all include a team option on the second season. (The Randle contract also has a team option, but in Year 3.) So New York will retain the flexibility to create max cap space next summer.
To get that flexibility, the Knicks had to overpay in terms of 2019-20 salary, and the six deals they've signed -- including three analyzed yesterday for Randle, Taj Gibson and Bobby Portis -- will exhaust their $70 million in cap space.
New York had to do something with the money, but I would have prioritized taking back players on expiring contracts in salary dumps over heading into free agency. For example, the Knicks could have been a destination for either Andre Iguodala -- who came with a lightly protected first-round pick -- or Goran Dragic, who are at least as good values as the players New York got.
It's one thing when the Knicks were able to sign players who could plausibly be part of their long-term future. If Portis, Randle and Payton succeed, they could become important pieces. That's less realistic with Gibson (age 34), Ellington (32 in November) and Bullock (29 in March). The veteran leadership those players bring is useful, as is the floor spacing Bullock and Ellington will provide, but at some point there's diminishing returns to those qualities on a non-contending team.
This New York offseason reminds me of Sacramento's moves in the summer of 2017, when Knicks GM Scott Perry was briefly part of the Kings' front office before getting promoted to his current job. Like New York, Sacramento spent lavishly on veterans to put around a noncompetitive young core. George Hill got the three-year deal ($57 million with just $40 million guaranteed) while Zach Randolph got a two-year, $24 million deal and Vince Carter a one-year contract worth $8 million.
Instead of becoming more competitive, the Kings won five fewer games. (That surely won't happen here.) Hill, unhappy with a reserve role behind rookie De'Aaron Fox, was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers midseason. Perhaps with a long-term view, the moves worked. Sacramento did jump to 39 wins this year behind the development of the young players on the roster then. But none of the three veterans the Kings added in 2017 played a single minute for them in 2018-19.
Of the Knicks' contracts, the ones for Payton and Ellington are my favorites. At 25, Payton is still young enough to take a step forward, particularly at a position where players tend to develop late. At $8 million a year, Ellington is the most tradeable of New York's deals. A contender might be willing to give up second-round picks to add him at the deadline.
Orlando Magic
1. Agreed to a reported four-year, $100 million deal with center Nikola Vucevic
2. Agreed to a reported four-year, $54 million deal with guard Terrence Ross
3. Agreed to a reported three-year, $29 million deal with forward Al-Farouq Aminu
4. Agreed to a reported one-year deal with guard Michael Carter-Williams
The Magic managed to bring back both of their key free agents on reasonable contracts. Because of the limited market for centers, and perhaps because of concern that his All-Star appearance in 2018-19 was a career year, Vucevic never approached max territory. A deal in this range felt like the right outcome for both sides.
Ross would have been an interesting fallback option for the L.A. Lakers if they don't get Kawhi Leonard, so Orlando had to pay well beyond the non-taxpayer midlevel to secure his return. That's higher than I would have preferred for a 28-year-old who's not really a two-way contributor, but the Magic would have had only their non-taxpayer midlevel exception available to replace Ross if he left.
Instead, Orlando had the midlevel earmarked for Aminu, a surprising addition. The value at that price is good for a player who's been a starter through most of the last four seasons. It will be interesting to see how Steve Clifford utilizes Aminu, presumably as a super-sub behind starting forwards Aaron Gordon and Jonathan Isaac. He could play with either of the two starters with limited distinction between the small forward and power forward in those pairings.
The Magic continued filling out the roster Monday by re-signing Michael Carter-Williams, whose emergence as the backup to D.J. Augustin at point guard coincided with Orlando's push to secure a playoff spot. Carter-Williams' dreadful shooting for the Magic (33.9% overall, 15.8% on 3s) contrasted with his unsustainably strong plus-minus numbers -- according to NBA Advanced Stats, Orlando outscored opponents by 14.5 points per 100 possessions with him on the court during the regular season. Depending when Markelle Fultz is able to return to the court, Carter-Williams could again run the Magic's second unit.
These four signings take the Magic into the luxury tax, which they seem certain not to pay as a team that went 42-40 a year ago and can't expect dramatic improvement this season. There's no obvious small contract Orlando could move to get out, so the team may be planning to waive center Timofey Mozgov and stretch his $16.7 million salary over the next three years. That would give the Magic room to re-sign restricted free agent center Khem Birch while staying safely below the tax line.
Phoenix Suns
1. Agreed to a reported three-year, $51 million deal with guard Ricky Rubio
2. Agreed to a reported two-year, $10 million deal with center Frank Kaminsky
Phoenix's mysterious offseason continues with the signing of Rubio, who had previously been linked to the Pacers. The first question here: How are the Suns creating the cap space necessary to make him the reported offer? After dealing for center Aron Baynes and the No. 24 pick (Virginia guard Ty Jerome) from the Celtics, they'll have a maximum of $14.2 million in cap space if they maintain the rights to restricted free agent Kelly Oubre Jr. -- enough to offer Rubio only $45 million over three years.
Renouncing the rights to Oubre doesn't seem likely with Phoenix as yet leaving the other cap space that would create untouched. So there may be another move coming to shed salary.
The other key question is what, exactly, the Suns are doing from a big-picture perspective. Since the day of the draft, they've added Baynes, Kaminsky, Rubio and Dario Saric to the roster. The one clear through line is improved shooting, which first-round picks Jerome and Cameron Johnson also provide. But if that was the priority for first-year GM James Jones, an elite shooter as a player, it's tough to understand Phoenix signing the non-shooting Rubio.
Rubio seems like a particularly poor fit with the Suns given the amount of time he'll spend spotting up while shooting guard Devin Booker handles the ball. That's a similar problem to the one the Utah Jazz faced with Rubio, granting that Phoenix will have better shooting in the frontcourt than Utah's starting five offered. Rubio's playmaking and defense will be huge upgrades for the Suns, and he's the best point guard they've had since trading Eric Bledsoe in November 2017. Still, this feels like an overpay for a 28-year-old point guard whose game may not age well.
Two years at the room exception is also generous for Kaminsky, who was not tendered a $4.5 million qualifying offer by the Charlotte Hornets after his rookie contract expired. Kaminsky fell out of the rotation in January, playing just 40 minutes total the next two months. He reemerged in March due to other injuries and excelled the rest of the season, averaging 12.8 points in 22.6 minutes per game.
As a 7-footer, Kaminsky's 3-point range (he has made 37% of his 3s the past two seasons and 35% in his four-year career) gives him value. The rest of his game is limited, however. Kaminsky struggles on the glass and doesn't really have an ideal defensive position. He gives up quickness to power forwards and strength to centers.
Portland Trail Blazers
1. Agreed to a reported trade for center Hassan Whiteside.
With starting center Jusuf Nurkic on the mend from a compound fracture of his left tibia and fibula, the Portland Trail Blazers add an expensive insurance policy in the form of Whiteside, who will make $27.1 million in the final season of his contract.
Meanwhile, the Miami Heat create additional breathing room with regards to the hard cap that would be triggered if they complete a sign-and-trade deal for Jimmy Butler while also adding another rangy wing defender to the mix.
How did both teams make out? I unpack the many details.
Day 1 deals
Here's my analysis of the initial wave of major free-agency moves and what they mean:
And here's my roundup of more news, including:
Terry Rozier | Hornets
Kristaps Porzingis, Dwight Powell | Mavericks
Derrick Rose | Pistons
Patrick Beverley | Clippers
Jonas Valanciunas | Grizzlies
JJ Redick, Nicolo Melli | Pelicans
Julius Randle, Taj Gibson, Bobby Portis | Knicks
Bojan Bogdanovic, Ed Davis | Jazz