<
>

NBA free agency: Rating all the latest deals

play
Marks: 'The picks are worth it' for Kawhi, George (2:16)

Bobby Marks explains how Kawhi Leonard and Paul George will affect the Clippers next season and what the rest of the roster will look like. (2:16)

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). The action continued with finalized sign-and-trades for D'Angelo Russell (Golden State Warriors) and Jimmy Butler (Miami Heat), plus Kawhi Leonard's decision to join the LA Clippers (along with Paul George).

You can find team-by-team analysis on all of the movement here, including moves by the Clippers, Grizzlies, Raptors and Wizards.

Note: The latest updates will be posted here, with teams sorted alphabetically.


LA Clippers

1. Agreed to a reported four-year, $28 million deal with center Ivica Zubac

2. Waived small forwards Sindarius Thornwell and Tyrone Wallace

Zubac's $1.9 million cap hold as a restricted free agent this summer was a big part of his value to the Clippers, who acquired him at the trade deadline in exchange for veteran center Mike Muscala. Zubac's counting so little against the cap enabled the Clippers to use their cap space to sign Kawhi Leonard and acquire Maurice Harkless via trade before exceeding the cap to pay Zubac any amount.

The annual salary for Zubac came in higher than expected in a market in which most centers playing roles as key reserves or fringe starters had to settle for the $4.8 million room midlevel exception. However, at 22, Zubac is younger than the veterans who got the room exception, giving him more upside. The Clippers are surely hoping he can build off the dramatic step forward he took last season, going from a fringe contributor his first two seasons to a reliable starter in the second half of 2018-19.

Last year saw Zubac become a high-percentage finisher, shooting 56% on 2-point attempts, and he was much improved on the defensive glass after joining the Clippers. Zubac was also one of the league's top rim protectors, holding opponents to 51.8% shooting within five feet of the basket as a primary defender, according to Second Spectrum tracking data on NBA Advanced Stats. That was the league's fourth-lowest mark among players who defended at least four such shots per game.

Even if Zubac proves incapable of starting as part of the Clippers' upgraded lineup, the good news is that paying him $7 million a year doesn't do much to limit the team's flexibility. If things go to plan, the Clippers won't use cap space anytime soon.

Speaking of cap room, the Clippers waived Thornwell and Wallace -- both of whose salaries were non-guaranteed -- to open up the last bit necessary to pay Leonard the full max. As I noted in last week's roundup on the Rodney McGruder deal, the Clippers could have gotten there by pulling their qualifying offer to McGruder since he had already agreed to a contract. While that would have opened up some small risk of McGruder backing out of the deal and finding another one as an unrestricted free agent, I suspect the real explanation is that the Clippers wanted those two roster spots to use on veterans.


Memphis Grizzlies

1. Signed guard Tyus Jones to a reported three-year, $28 million offer sheet

When I analyzed the sign-and-trade deal Memphis made in sending Delon Wright to the Dallas Mavericks earlier Sunday, I noted that the market for unrestricted free agents at point guard was incredibly weak. Well, the Grizzlies had a different idea in mind, going back to the restricted market to sign Jones to an offer sheet similar to the three-year, $29 million deal the Mavericks gave Wright.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have two days to decide whether to match the offer sheet for Jones, a decision complicated by their tax issues. As my ESPN colleague Bobby Marks noted, matching would put the Timberwolves on the verge of the luxury tax, something they're unlikely to pay for what might not be a playoff team. It's also unclear how much new Minnesota president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas values Jones, a player he inherited. Certainly, Memphis must expect the Timberwolves not to match this offer.

In that case, I can buy the idea that Jones and the second-round picks the Grizzlies got from Dallas are preferable to signing Wright to a similar contract. My multiyear projections for the two players were nearly identical. I tend to prefer Wright, given his superior defensive versatility, but a case can be made that Jones is the better backup because of his outside shooting.


San Antonio Spurs

1. Agreed to a reported two-year, $19 million deal with forward Marcus Morris

2. Reworked forward DeMarre Carroll's deal to three years, $20 million as part of a sign-and-trade with the Nets

After Danny Green committed to the Lakers in the wee hours of Saturday morning, Morris was for a brief period of time the most coveted unrestricted free agent left on the market. He started 53 games for the Celtics last season, proving a better fit in the lineup than Jaylen Brown or Gordon Hayward.

Morris is an above-average 3-point shooter (37.5% last season, 36.0% career) with the size to credibly guard either forward spot. Still, be careful not to overstate his value. His poor assist and steal rates mean Morris has never rated particularly well by advanced stats. Last season, he rated below average by ESPN's real plus-minus (RPM) at minus-0.8 points per 100 possessions.

Having previously committed to use their non-taxpayer midlevel exception to sign Carroll to a two-year, $13 million deal, the Spurs needed to get creative to sign Morris. They convinced the Nets to send Carroll to them in a sign-and-trade that returned Brooklyn the rights to 2015 second-round picks Nemanja Dangubic and Aaron White. Then they reworked Carroll's deal to a three-year, $20 million one eligible for a sign-and-trade by partially guaranteeing the extra season. Lastly, they traded Davis Bertans to the Washington Wizards to match salary with Carroll.

I'm not sure all that effort was worth it. Frankly, I'd rather have Bertans -- an elite shooter for a big man who hit 145 3-pointers last season at a 43% clip -- than Morris, whose skill set overlaps with those already on the Spurs roster. Carroll is a combo forward at this stage of his career. So is Rudy Gay, who agreed to a two-year, $32 million deal last week. Because of their versatility, all three players certainly can play together. But I think there are diminishing returns to that player type, compared to Bertans' floor spacing, particularly on a team that's short on 3-point shooting.

Last season, San Antonio was at its best with Bertans on the court. According to NBA Advanced Stats, the Spurs outscored opponents by 7.6 points per 100 possessions when Bertans played and had a minus-2.6 net rating when he was on the bench.


Toronto Raptors

1. Agreed to a reported two-year, $7.5 million deal with forward Stanley Johnson

2. Agreed to a reported one-year deal with forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson

Having lost both starting wings from last year's NBA champions (Leonard and Danny Green) in the time between when most people on the East Coast went to sleep Friday and when they woke up Saturday, Toronto started to replenish its roster over the weekend.

On Saturday, the Raptors agreed to a deal with Johnson that could use their biannual exception (valued at $7.4 million over two years) or part of their non-taxpayer midlevel exception. Which of those exceptions Toronto uses might depend on whether Hollis-Jefferson got more than the veteran's minimum on his one-year deal reported Sunday.

Johnson is an interesting fit with the Raptors, given his similarity to third-year forward OG Anunoby, Toronto's likely starter at the 3. Both are physically strong combo forwards with inconsistent outside shots. But Anunoby was already better as a rookie than Johnson has been at any point in his four-year career. He's a superior 3-point shooter (33% career vs. 29%) and more capable of channeling his athletic tools into quality defense.

Like Johnson, Hollis-Jefferson is an Arizona one-and-done product who has failed to build on early NBA promise. After starting for the Nets for most of his first three seasons, Hollis-Jefferson fell out of their rotation in 2018-19 as they became a playoff team.

Hollis-Jefferson's dreadful outside shooting (he has made just 41 3-pointers at a 22% clip in his NBA career) has made it impossible to play him as a wing in the modern game. The Nets even tried him as a center last year in switch-heavy defenses. It's unclear for now where Hollis-Jefferson fits into a Raptors frontcourt that brings back Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka and Pascal Siakam. With Gasol and Ibaka in the last year of their respective contracts, it's possible that one or both could be traded by the deadline, opening up more opportunity for Hollis-Jefferson.

Depending on the structure of Johnson's contract, Toronto has between $5.5 million and the entirety of its $9.3 million midlevel exception. The Raptors should prioritize a better shooter on the wing who can combine with Norman Powell at shooting guard. Justin Holiday of the Grizzlies would be the best option in terms of winning now, and Furkan Korkmaz would make sense as a reclamation project along the lines of Johnson and Hollis-Jefferson.


Washington Wizards

1. Acquired forward Davis Bertans from the Spurs

2. Waived guard Jonathon Simmons

Although I'm not sure exactly how Bertans fits into what the Wizards are doing with their roster during what looks like a transitional season, I love the value. Washington was able to use a trade exception to take on Bertans while giving up only the rights to White, who might come to the NBA at some point but would be lucky to become the contributor that Bertans is.

After the Wizards added Bertans and waived Simmons, whose 2019-20 salary was guaranteed for $1 million, they have 12 players under guaranteed contract along with three non-guarantees. The heavy lifting of Washington's offseason is probably complete.


Day 4, Day 5 and Day 6 deals

My analysis of the bigger moves:

A roundup of more news analysis, including:


Day 3 deals

Here's my analysis for Day 3, including:


Day 2 deals

Here's my analysis for Day 2:

A roundup of more news analysis, including:


Day 1 deals

Here's my analysis of the initial wave of major free-agency moves and what they mean:

Here's my roundup of more news, including: