What do the latest trades and signings in NBA free agency mean for every team? What's next across the league?
NBA free agency officially began on Friday, with De'Aaron Fox agreeing to a max extension, the Lakers and Clippers making key moves and plenty more signings. Go here for my analysis from Day 1.
You can find team-by-team analysis on all of Saturday's movement here, including Gordon Hayward leaving Boston for Charlotte, Fred VanVleet's return to the Toronto Raptors, Kris Dunn heading to the Atlanta Hawks and the finalizing of the Steven Adams trade.
Note: The latest updates will be posted here, with teams sorted alphabetically.
MORE: NBA trade grades | Latest NBA free agency buzz
Atlanta Hawks
1. Agreed to a reported two-year, $10 million deal with Kris Dunn
2. Agreed to a reported two-year, $15 million deal with Rajon Rondo
Dunn is the kind of player the Hawks should be targeting in free agency: young enough at 26 to be part of the team going forward and someone who addresses their weakness at the defensive end of the court.
The idea that Dunn, the No. 5 pick in the 2016 draft, would become a starting point guard has faded with time. Instead, Chicago used him as a de facto small forward in three-guard lineups last season, and Dunn responded with far and away the best defensive season of his career. Dunn's plus-3.0 defensive rating in ESPN's real plus-minus ranked second behind Patrick Beverley among rotation guards, helping him finish as the leading vote-getter among guards not to make last season's All-Defensive Team.
In Atlanta, Dunn projects as a backup who can share ballhandling duties and guard the opposition's best weapon while also generating high-value steals (his 3.8 per 100 possessions last season led the NBA). I would have preferred that the Hawks make a run at De'Anthony Melton or Jevon Carter, two similar players who are a bit younger than Dunn. However, Atlanta might not have wanted to tie up its cap space with an offer sheet to one of those restricted free agents. Because the Bulls surprisingly elected not to make a qualifying offer to Dunn, the Hawks are able to sign him outright.
Rondo is another curious investment. There's no question he fills a need. The Hawks collapsed offensively any time starting point guard Trae Young hit the bench last season, scoring 15.5 fewer points per 100 possessions, according to NBA Advanced Stats data. However, for all of Rondo's gifts as a passer, his teams have posted a better offensive rating with him on the court just once in the past six seasons, per Cleaning the Glass data.
Of course, when I cite that stat, I mean regular seasons. We're long past the point where so-called "Playoff Rondo" can be considered fluky. Rondo's teams have made the playoffs nine times in his career, and he's rated better on a per-minute basis by my wins above replacement player (WARP) metric in six of them despite the typical decline against playoff competition.
Back in the Boston days, this meant Rondo going from playing at an All-Star level to an All-NBA one. Nowadays, he's a marginal contributor at best during the regular season (he's totaled 7.7 WARP over the past four) but a valuable role player once the postseason hits. Last season's transformation was one of his most dramatic. Not only did Rondo make 3-pointers at a 40% clip, he also contributed on defense after limiting his effort at that end during the regular season.
All of that is to say I'm wary about Atlanta signing Rondo based on what the team saw in the playoffs and getting the regular-season version instead. It's also worth remembering that Rondo will turn 35 in February, making age a real concern. In a best-case scenario, adding Rondo still does nothing to help the Hawks beyond the length of this contract.
Next up for Atlanta appears to be an offer sheet for Sacramento Kings guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, a restricted free agent. If the Hawks sign Dunn using their room exception, they still have somewhere in the neighborhood of $19 million in cap space, more than enough to offer Bogdanovic a contract that will make the Kings' decision on matching difficult.
Boston Celtics
1. Agreed to a reported two-year, $19 million deal with Tristan Thompson
2. Agreed to a reported one-year, minimum-salary deal with Jeff Teague
I'm not sure center was a particularly important need for the Celtics, who still had Grant Williams and Robert Williams as backups to Daniel Theis after trading away Enes Kanter and Vincent Poirier earlier this week. I'm also not sure who would have been a better target for Boston's non-taxpayer midlevel exception after Paul Millsap agreed to re-sign with the Denver Nuggets.
At least Thompson is a center whose skill set translates well to the postseason, as we saw during Cleveland's four NBA Finals runs from 2015 through 2018. Because of his nimble feet, Thompson excels switching out on guards and preventing them from beating him off the dribble.
The Celtics can hope for Thompson to regain efficiency playing a smaller role with better teammates. His usage rate declined and his true shooting percentage went up from .528 to .580 with LeBron James' return to Cleveland in 2014-15, and the opposite effect occurred with James' departure: usage rate up from 13% to 18%, true shooting percentage down from .569 (and .594 in 2016-17 with Kyrie Irving) to .551.
After Brad Wanamaker signed with the Warriors, Boston replaced him at the veterans minimum with Teague, who made $19 million during the final season of a three-year contract in 2019-20. Teague was particularly ineffective after a midseason trade to the Atlanta Hawks and might be nearing the end of his serviceable career at 32. If that proves the case, the Celtics might have to turn to first-round pick Payton Pritchard sooner than expected.
With the salaries for Theis and forward Semi Ojeleye guaranteeing Saturday, Boston has a choice for the 15th roster spot between adding another free agent and keeping Javonte Green, whose salary is non-guaranteed. I'd still like to see the Celtics add a combo forward with size and shooting ability using the biannual exception. Glenn Robinson III would be a sensible target.
Brooklyn Nets
1. Agreed to a reported one-year deal with Jeff Green for the veterans minimum
As has been heavily rumored, a former teammate of Kevin Durant in Oklahoma City is rejoining him with the Nets. No, not that one (yet). Or that one (yet).
Since the last of his big paydays from the Orlando Magic in 2016-17, Green has reinvented himself as a contributor to contenders while making the veterans minimum. That's meant an itinerant lifestyle for Green, who's joining his ninth team in the past seven seasons. He split 2019-20 between the Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets, spending more than a month on the sideline in between those spots.
It will be interesting to see whether Brooklyn sees Green as a center, the role he frequently played for the small-ball Rockets. Against 5s, Green's ability to run inverted pick-and-rolls with a guard as the screener and knock down open 3s (including 43% in the playoffs, far better than his career 33% mark in the regular season) made him valuable.
The Nets now have 14 players, including two who will become guaranteed within the next week (newly acquired Bruce Brown and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, both locks to stick). The team could fill that 15th spot if the right player (Serge Ibaka?) is available with its taxpayer midlevel exception. Otherwise, the Nets might just focus on filling out the roster with non-guaranteed invitees to training camp.
Charlotte Hornets
1. Agreed to a reported four-year, $120 million deal with Gordon Hayward
You can find my full analysis of the deal here.
Chicago Bulls
1. Signed Denzel Valentine to his one-year, $4.6 million qualifying offer
2. Agreed to a reported one-year, $5 million deal with Garrett Temple
In the first week of transactions for the Bulls' new front office led by Arturas Karnisovas, an interesting choice saw them hand out a one-year qualifying offer to restricted free agent Valentine -- who promptly signed it -- but elect against offers for Dunn and Shaquille Harrison, making them unrestricted. This was notable given Harrison played about as much as Valentine last season and had a qualifying offer less than half the size, while Dunn played far more than Valentine.
I do think Chicago is right to expect more from Valentine going forward. Before missing all of 2018-19 due to ankle surgery, he'd shown promise in his sophomore NBA campaign by shooting 39% from beyond the arc. Valentine should have more of an opportunity to play this season under new coach Billy Donovan. That said, I don't think Valentine taking the qualifying offer is a good outcome for the Bulls because he'll be an unrestricted free agent next summer if he does play well.
To replace Dunn and Harrison in the role of primary perimeter defender, Chicago added Temple to an almost identical 2020-21 salary to the one the Nets turned down as a team option. Of course, the Nets would have had to pay several times Temple's salary in luxury tax while the Bulls are safely under the tax line. I'm not sure getting older on the wing by replacing the 26-year-old Dunn with the 34-year-old Temple makes sense, but in this case the lack of long-term financial commitment is a clear positive.
Chicago now has 15 players under guaranteed contract and has all but finalized its roster, barring a trade.
Dallas Mavericks
1. Agreed to a reported two-year, $3.5 million deal with Wes Iwundu
Picked near the top of the second round in 2017, No. 33 overall, Iwundu lost his foothold with the Orlando Magic after they added Gary Clark and James Ennis III midway through last season. He came off the bench behind both players in the postseason and didn't get a qualifying offer from the Magic, who opted to bring them back instead.
At the minimum, Iwundu is a reasonable flyer for the Mavericks. If he can get back to the 37% 3-point shooting we saw in Year 2, Iwundu could be a reasonably efficient scorer. His length helps Iwundu on defense, where he's particularly adept at challenging shots from behind.
Signing Iwundu will give Dallas 13 players on the full NBA roster. Second-round pick Tyrell Terry should be the 14th, giving the Mavericks one more spot to fill.
Denver Nuggets
1. Agreed to a reported two-year, $15 million deal with JaMychal Green
2. Agreed to re-sign Paul Millsap to a reported one-year, $10 million deal
3. Agreed to a reported two-year deal with Facundo Campazzo
The Nuggets found themselves subject to a hostile frontcourt takeover by the Detroit Pistons, who got commitments Friday from Denver free agents Jerami Grant (three years, $60 million) and Mason Plumlee (three years, $25 million).
I suspect the Nuggets were already planning to replace Plumlee given their luxury-tax concerns. Retaining Grant was a much bigger priority. Denver gave up this year's first-round pick to get him from the Oklahoma City Thunder in the summer of 2019, presumably with the intent of Grant replacing Millsap long term at power forward.
Nonetheless, the Nuggets are probably better off without Grant on their books for $20 million a season, which would have made it difficult for them to keep the rest of the roster together. Denver came up with a solid Plan B, bringing back Millsap at a deep pay cut on Saturday and adding JaMychal Green as a backup big man on Friday.
For 2020-21, Millsap is probably still a better player than Grant. Nuggets lineups with Millsap, point guard Jamal Murray and All-NBA center Nikola Jokic performed much better last season (plus-9.6 net rating) than those with Grant in Millsap's place (dead even), per Cleaning the Glass data. Millsap is a much better rebounder and elicits more respect from defenses as a shooter than Grant does.
Green brings the versatility to both back up Jokic and play alongside him more effectively than Plumlee did. He's developed into a plus outside shooter, knocking down 39% of his 3-point attempts over the past two seasons, and is a more switchable defender than Plumlee. Green doesn't really protect the rim, which might make it wise to pair him in second-unit frontcourts with 2019 second-round pick Bol Bol.
Besides getting older with Grant's departure, Denver has lost its top wing defender in the playoffs. The three players he matched up with most frequently, according to Second Spectrum tracking, were Kawhi Leonard, Donovan Mitchell and LeBron James. My ESPN colleague Adrian Wojnarowski reported Saturday the Nuggets pulled their qualifying offer to defensive specialist Torrey Craig, so they're suddenly light on wing defense.
Before dealing with the frontcourt, Denver on Friday agreed to sign Argentine national team point guard Campazzo, a two-time EuroLeague champion with Real Madrid who was playing for them as recently as Wednesday. My SCHOENE projection system compares the 5-foot-11 Campazzo to a variety of backup point guards of recent vintage, including Earl Watson, suggesting he should be a quality contributor over the length of this contract.
Adding Campazzo might clear the way for the Nuggets to trade backup point guard Monte Morris, who could become too expensive for the team as an unrestricted free agent next summer. Morris can play a larger role elsewhere than is possible backing up Murray.
Detroit Pistons
1. Agreed to a reported three-year, $60 million deal with Jerami Grant
2. Agreed to a reported three-year, $25 million deal with Mason Plumlee
3. Agreed to a reported two-year deal with Jahlil Okafor
In a confusing sequence of events, the Pistons spent the week using their cap space to take on other team's contracts for draft picks -- getting the No. 16 and No. 38 picks in Wednesday's NBA draft -- before reversing course Friday and handing out one of the biggest deals for a player to change teams so far.
Recreating enough room to offer Grant $60 million over three years and Plumlee $25 million over the same span will require creative and self-sabotaging cap maneuvers. At a minimum, Detroit will waive center Dewayne Dedmon and stretch the $14.3 million remaining over the next five seasons. That decision explained acquiring Dedmon from the Atlanta Hawks in a trade on Thursday: Because it had two seasons remaining, Dedmon's contract counts less per year after being stretched than Tony Snell's expiring deal would.
Depending on the exact amount needed to sign both Grant and Mason Plumlee, the Pistons might have to waive Rodney McGruder and stretch his $5.2 million guarantee over five years, too. The most Detroit could pay Grant and Plumlee without stretching McGruder's salary is about $81 million, shy of the $85 million reported combined value of their deals.
If the Pistons indeed stretch both contracts, that would put $3.9 million in dead salary on their payroll each of the next five seasons. That's a tough price to pay just as Detroit finally clears a $5.3 million cap hit for Josh Smith that dated back to when his salary was stretched way back in 2014.
The stretch provision can be a useful tool to managing cap space for teams in the established phase of the building process. The Pistons aren't there yet, making a lavish offer to Grant questionable. His 3-and-D skill set makes Grant ideal as the final piece of a puzzle, like he was for the Nuggets, not an early building block. Detroit will be paying Grant, a useful though limited role player, like an above-average starter over the life of this contract.
There's a similar valuation issue with Plumlee and perhaps centers in general. Over the past week, Detroit drafted a center (Isaiah Stewart, the No. 16 pick), traded for a center (Tony Bradley) and signed two centers in free agency (Jahlil Okafor and Plumlee). This is tough to understand for a couple of reasons.
First, center has been far and away the easiest position for NBA teams to fill. Last year, the Sacramento Kings (Richaun Holmes) and Los Angeles Lakers (JaVale McGee) signed starting centers for less than $5 million apiece. The Lakers (Dwight Howard) and Oklahoma City Thunder (Nerlens Noel) signed quality backups for the veterans minimum. The Pistons themselves proved this rule by claiming Christian Wood off waivers and seeing him average 21.9 points and 9.4 rebounds in 12 starts after they traded Andre Drummond.
In a vacuum, then, expending scarce resources on replaceable centers doesn't make sense. Bradley and Okafor came cheap, but Detroit used a premium pick just outside the lottery on Stewart and had to create additional cap space to sign Plumlee. Based on the ease of finding centers, I rate Plumlee no better than replacement level next season. Plumlee's projection only drops from there because his game is so much more dependent on athleticism than skill and he'll turn 31 in March.
In this case specifically, the Pistons' moves make even less sense because they chose them over re-signing Wood, who went to the Houston Rockets in a sign-and-trade that will pay him $41 million over the next three years. At the same price point, I'd rather have Wood than Grant. For $19 million less over the same time period, that isn't even a question.
All of this feels like a rerun of the Stan Van Gundy era for the Pistons, which was sabotaged by his regime's tendency to overpay role players, eventually forcing Detroit into making tough choices on which ones to keep.
Golden State Warriors
1. Agreed to a reported one-year, $2.25 million deal with Brad Wanamaker
Having waived point guard Ky Bowman earlier this week, the Warriors needed a reliable backup to Stephen Curry to go along with second-round pick Nico Mannion. Golden State was willing to offer a little more than the veterans minimum to Wanamaker, a not-inconsiderable investment given the size of the team's potential luxury-tax bill.
For a backup, Wanamaker is unusually well-rounded. He's a quality defender with size (6-foot-3) who's made 38% of his career 3-point attempts. However, Wanamaker is not much of a playmaker, having handed out just 5.6 assists per 100 team plays last season -- about average for a combo guard rather than a point guard. The Warriors might think they can compensate with their system and Draymond Green's playmaking.
As my colleague Bobby Marks notes, Golden State has two options for completing this deal. The Warriors could take it out of their $5.7 million taxpayer midlevel exception or use the $9.4 million disabled player exception they'll surely be granted in the wake of Klay Thompson's injury. If they go the latter route, the rest of the exception will be lost.
LA Clippers
2. Agreed to a reported two-year, $19 million deal with Serge Ibaka
After using their non-taxpayer midlevel exception to sign Ibaka, the Clippers will be hard-capped at the luxury-tax apron, $6.3 million greater than the tax line. That will probably limit the Clippers to minimum offers as they fill out their roster.
The Clippers will almost assuredly waive Joakim Noah, who is on a non-guaranteed minimum contract but counts at $2.7 million rather than the typical $1.6 million charge for minimum contracts because it's a multiyear contract. If they want, the Clippers could re-sign Noah to a contract that pays him the same amount and still save $1.1 million against the cap. They'll also probably waive center Justin Patton, acquired from Detroit in a trade this week, whose salary is likewise non-guaranteed.
If No. 33 pick Daniel Oturu agrees to a contract paying him the rookie minimum ($900,000), the Clippers would have three other roster spots to sign minimum-salary free agents.
Los Angeles Lakers
1. Agreed to a reported three-year, $40 million deal with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
In re-signing Caldwell-Pope, the Lakers did a good job of avoiding what John Hollinger of The Athletic has termed the "Bird rights trap," where teams far over the cap overpay to re-sign their own players because they have few avenues to replace them.
To some extent, the Lakers hard-capping themselves by using the non-taxpayer midlevel exception to sign Montrezl Harrell prevented that; they couldn't actually have started Caldwell-Pope's contract any higher than this if they wanted to. Still, the Lakers held the line on years (three instead of four or the maximum five) and actually got a partial guarantee on the third season.
With four roster spots open and nothing but the veterans minimum to offer, the Lakers now will get busy trying to sell free agents on the L.A. lifestyle and a chance to join the defending champs.
For my full analysis of the Caldwell-Pope news and the Lakers' offseason so far, click here.
Miami Heat
1. Agreed to a reported one-year, $3.6 million deal with Moe Harkless
2. Agreed to a reported two-year, $11.6 million deal with Avery Bradley
With Jae Crowder's departure for the Phoenix Suns, Miami could comfortably use the $9.3 million non-taxpayer midlevel exception to replace him. The Heat opted to split that total between Bradley and Harkless to complete their 2020-21 roster.
By replacing Crowder and Derrick Jones Jr. with Bradley and Harkless, Miami has remained equally deep and strengthened its backcourt rotation. Remember, Kendrick Nunn was out of that rotation for much of the postseason, and a healthy Nunn can play a key role. Now the Heat have added Bradley, who started 44 of the 49 games he played last season for the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers before opting out of the restart.
The big question entering training camp will be how Miami starts games. Erik Spoelstra could put either Bradley or Nunn in the starting lineup and play with a smaller frontcourt duo of Jimmy Butler and Duncan Robinson. Alternatively, Harkless as a starter would be the closest thing to a like-for-like substitution for Crowder. Or the Heat could go back to the bigger lineups they used for much of the 2019-20 regular season with Meyers Leonard at center and Bam Adebayo at the 4. Spoelstra is going to have plenty of options.
Miami got good value on both Bradley and Harkless, considering the team's unwillingness to spend beyond this season. (The Heat hold a team option on Bradley's 2021-22 salary, similar to deals for Leonard and Goran Dragic struck Friday.) Harkless at $3.6 million looks like a particular bargain after he started 48 of the 62 games he played last season for the LA Clippers and New York Knicks.
One downside is that Miami might miss Crowder's combination of strength and quickness at power forward. Harkless is slightly taller at 6-foot-7 but not as strong, making him better suited to defend wings than 4s. Still, given the self-imposed limitations on the Heat's offseason, they have to feel good about the results.
Milwaukee Bucks
1. Agreed to re-sign Pat Connaughton to a reported three-year, $16 million deal
2. Agreed to a reported two-year, $7.5 million deal with Bobby Portis
3. Agreed to a reported three-year, $21 million deal with D.J. Augustin
4. Agreed to a reported two-way deal with Jaylen Adams
After losing unrestricted free agents Robin Lopez and Wesley Matthews, the Bucks have a rotation again. I'm not sure I love it.
Augustin should help Milwaukee during the regular season after the Bucks traded their incumbent point guards, Eric Bledsoe and George Hill, to get Jrue Holiday. Augustin could back up Holiday or play alongside him with Holiday moving off the ball. A 38% career 3-point shooter, Augustin should bounce back from last season's relative slump to 35% and provide floor spacing in addition to a steady hand at the point.
I'm less convinced Augustin will work in a big role during the postseason. His teams have advanced beyond the first round only once in his career, back in 2013 when Augustin was a backup to Hill with the Indiana Pacers. As a result, we've never seen how much Augustin's small stature (5-foot-11) might become an issue deeper in the playoffs, when mismatch basketball becomes common.
A three-year commitment also looks generous to Augustin, who turned 33 earlier this month and will be 35 in the final season of this contract. I would have targeted a big man who can switch on defense with the Bucks' non-taxpayer midlevel exception instead.
Milwaukee seems to believe Portis fills that need on a two-year contract for the $3.6 million biannual exception with the second season a player option, per my ESPN colleague Bobby Marks. Portis is a big man who shoots 3s (36% career), so he fits the Bucks' system from that standpoint. The problem is Portis is a dreadful defender. His minus-0.8 defensive rating in ESPN's real plus-minus ranked 75th among power forwards last season.
Portis doesn't protect the rim (his career block rate, 1.2% of opponents' 2-point attempts, is worse than the average for small forwards) and hasn't proved quick enough to keep up in switch-heavy schemes. Consider me unconvinced that Portis, who has played six career playoff games back in 2016-17, is ready for the crucible of high-level competition.
Connaughton got a nice bonus when the original contract he agreed to (two years, $8.3 million with a player option on the second season) didn't fit into Early Bird exception, which requires at least two years -- not counting options. With the midlevel exception spoken for, Connaughton got a bump to $16 million over three years. For the Bucks, that's still decent value for the one free agent Milwaukee has re-signed so far, though it could make it harder for the Bucks to skirt the luxury tax.
Later, Milwaukee agreed to a two-way contract with guard Adams, who finished second in G League MVP voting last season while playing for the Bucks' Wisconsin Herd affiliate.
Also: Trade grades for Milwaukee's Jrue Holiday deal.
New Orleans Pelicans
1. Finalizing a trade for Steven Adams involving the Bucks, Thunder and Nuggets
You can find my full grades for the deal here.
New York Knicks
1. Agreed to re-sign Elfrid Payton to a reported one-year, $5 million deal
2. Agreed to a reported one-year, $6 million deal with Alec Burks
3. Agreed to a reported one-year, $5 million deal with Nerlens Noel
Perhaps it is a new day in New York, as the Knicks' three moves so far in free agency have shown admirable restraint and reasonable value.
I was a little surprised that New York waived Payton on Thursday before the remaining $7 million of his $8 million salary became fully guaranteed for 2020-21. Well, that made a lot more sense when the Knicks were able to bring him back for $5 million. Payton, who started 36 of the 45 games he played last season, is a capable transitional point guard for a team like New York lacking a long-term starter at the position.
Payton's value was perhaps best reflected by the 17 games he missed due to a hamstring strain in late October, during which the Knicks went 2-15 and coach David Fizdale lost his job. New York's offensive rating was 7.0 points per 100 possessions better with Payton on the court, according to NBA Advanced Stats, second to Marcus Morris among Knicks regulars.
Assuming he comes off the bench, adding Burks should help New York score when Payton sits. Quietly, Burks was one of the league's better reserves last season, averaging 16.1 points per game before being traded by the Golden State Warriors to the Philadelphia 76ers at the deadline. He has developed from a shooting liability into a strong threat off the dribble, hitting 1.8 3-pointers per game at a 38.5% clip in 2019-20.
Given Burks' reasonable salary and his skill set, I wouldn't be surprised if the Knicks are able to get a second-round pick or two for him at the deadline. Same with Noel, although teams have never been willing to rely on him as much as his advanced stats would suggest.
Throughout his career, Noel's teams have consistently defended better with him on the court. Last season, his plus-0.7 defensive rating in ESPN's real plus-minus ranked 20th among centers. Pairing Noel with incumbent Mitchell Robinson ensures New York 48 minutes of strong shot-blocking and above-the-rim finishing on offense.
Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, New York still has $21 million in cap space remaining, or possibly more if either Noel or Payton can be signed using the $4.8 million room exception. We'll see whether the Knicks can continue to use the rest of it in a responsible manner. They're running out of roster spots with 14 players on NBA deals.
Orlando Magic
1. Agreed to re-sign James Ennis III
2. Agreed to re-sign Gary Clark to a reported two-year, $4.1 million deal
3. Agreed to a reported two-year deal with Dwayne Bacon
Having begun free agency $12 million below the luxury-tax line, the Magic focused exclusively on bringing back their own players on modest contracts.
Ennis was important to bring back after he started 18 of the 20 games he played for Orlando after the deadline, averaging 8.5 points per game, which would be a career high. A competent 3-and-D role player, Ennis should be able to carve out a role despite increased competition for playing time at the forward spots with the return of Al-Farouq Aminu and addition of 2019 first-round pick Chuma Okeke, who was out with injury.
Carter-Williams was a key part of the Magic's second unit. Despite poor 3-point shooting (29% last season, actually better than his 26% career mark), he has found his niche as a defensive-minded wing. Orlando's plus-1.4 net rating with Carter-Williams on the court was second to that of departed backup point guard D.J. Augustin among rotation regulars, per NBA Advanced Stats. With Augustin gone, Carter-Williams might have to log more minutes on the ball this season unless first-round pick Cole Anthony is ready to claim the backup job right away.
The one piece of outside shopping the Magic did was for Bacon, a 2017 second-round pick by the Hornets who fell out of favor in Charlotte late last season. He played just one game between the All-Star break and the stoppage of play. Bacon's inefficient play has held him back; only in 2018-19, when he made made 44% of his 3-pointers, has he come within a mile of a league-average true shooting percentage. Because Bacon doesn't do much else but shoot, it's a good thing this deal is for the minimum and non-guaranteed in the second season.
The Magic signed Clark after he was waived by Houston ahead of contracts guaranteeing and saw him become a starter in the playoffs with Aaron Gordon sidelined. Clark was predictably overexposed in that role but showed enough promise that Orlando prioritized him over recent second-round picks Melvin Frazier Jr. and Wesley Iwundu for the 15th and final spot on the full NBA roster.
Phoenix Suns
1. Agreed to a reported three-year, $30 million deal with Jae Crowder
2. Agreed to re-sign Jevon Carter to a reported three-year, $11 million deal
In my analysis of the Chris Paul trade, I docked the Suns a bit for making the trade prior to the draft rather than waiting to maximize their cap space first. A few days later, it's clear Phoenix had a better read of the market than I did.
The Suns' $17 million or so in cap space might not have been enough to get Danilo Gallinari (three years, $61.5 million), Jerami Grant (three years, $60 million) or Davis Bertans (who got $16 million annually but on a five-year deal only the Washington Wizards could offer). But Phoenix pivoted nicely, using the $9.3 million non-taxpayer midlevel exception to sign Crowder away from the Heat after he started all 21 playoff games during the team's run to the NBA Finals.
Crowder fits into a versatile Suns frontcourt, where he can trade positions with Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson, depending on matchups, bringing more physical strength to that group.
Because the vast majority of his shot attempts are 3s (80% during the 2020 playoffs), Crowder's value will always be tied to how often those go in. He seemingly couldn't miss during the first few weeks of the postseason, shooting 42% from beyond the arc through Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. Crowder slumped thereafter and finished at 34%, right at his career mark.
Since Crowder is undersized for a combo forward at 6-foot-6, there's a little concern about how he might age. This deal takes him through age 32, which is about as long as I'd be willing to commit.
On Saturday night, Phoenix agreed to a new deal with Carter, a restricted free agent coming off a strong second season. Carter's defensive ability has never been in question. He's relentless pressuring the ball and has the ability to cover bigger opponents at 6-foot-1.
Carter's improvement last season came as a shooter. After hitting 33% of his 3-point attempts as a rookie with the Grizzlies, Carter jumped up to 42.5% in 2019-20. Given Carter was a 39% shooter his last two seasons at West Virginia and a quality foul shooter, I think he can sustain a percentage north of 38%, enough to make him a threat. Carter was particularly effective in the bubble playing alongside Cameron Payne, which looks like the Suns' backup backcourt this season.
Phoenix still has about $21 million to spend while staying out of the luxury tax, so the next order of business is re-signing restricted free agent Dario Saric.
Portland Trail Blazers
1. Agreed to re-sign Carmelo Anthony to a reported one-year minimum deal
I thought this week's other moves spelled the end of Anthony's time in Portland after one happy season. The Blazers, who were down to 19-year-old rookie Nassir Little at power forward before signing Anthony almost exactly a year ago (Nov. 19), suddenly are flush with options at the forward spots.
Zach Collins' shoulder surgery opened the door for Portland to sign Anthony, and it worked out well for the Blazers that starting small forward Trevor Ariza opted out just as Collins returned for the restart of the season, allowing Anthony to slide to the wing. Now, Collins should be back in the lineup. So too will wing Rodney Hood, who suffered an Achilles tendon rupture not long after Portland signed Anthony. And the Blazers have added forwards Robert Covington (via trade for Ariza) and Derrick Jones Jr. (via free agency).
In interviews, Anthony has made it clear that he thinks his stint in Portland went better than his other post-New York Knicks stops (Oklahoma City and Houston) because the organization was up front with him about his role. As a result, I have to assume Anthony is re-signing with eyes wide open to the possibility -- or even likelihood -- that he won't start or play as many minutes per game as last season.
Based on that understanding, the Blazers weren't going to do much better for the veteran's minimum. Their star players look up to Anthony, who was a positive presence in the Portland locker room last season. Here's hoping things go equally well the second time around.
San Antonio Spurs
1. Finalizing a reported three-year, $27 million deal with Jakob Poeltl
Unless they make a trade, this is looking like an uneventful offseason for the Spurs. In addition to the two centers they agreed to re-sign Friday, they also guaranteed the $5.5 million salary of forward Trey Lyles by keeping him on the roster beyond his guarantee date. The combination of moves puts San Antonio within about $2 million of the luxury-tax line, not counting the non-guaranteed $2.6 million contract for Tyler Zeller, meaning waiving Zeller and signing second-round pick Tre Jones might complete their 14-player roster.
Poeltl and the Spurs quickly found common ground on a contract that pays the restricted free agent just about what another team would have been able to on a three-year offer sheet for the non-taxpayer midlevel exception. A three-year deal will put Poeltl back on the market at age 27, giving him a chance to play his way into a bigger deal the next time around.
After two years as a two-way player, Eubanks has graduated to a full NBA contract for the minimum on the strength of a solid run in the seeding games as Poeltl's primary backup with LaMarcus Aldridge sidelined. Eubanks averaged 7.0 points and 6.3 rebounds in just 17.7 minutes per game, shooting 56% from the field.
Toronto Raptors
1. Agreed to a reported four-year, $85 million deal with Fred VanVleet
The market for VanVleet appeared to dry up before free agency opened for business. The Phoenix Suns, who might have been able to create sufficient cap room for a big offer by trading Kelly Oubre Jr., instead decided to add Chris Paul at point guard. And the Detroit Pistons, frequently linked to VanVleet -- who started his career in Toronto playing for current Pistons coach Dwane Casey -- opted to sign big men and trade for VanVleet's former teammate Delon Wright to play point guard.
As a result, it's no surprise to see VanVleet return to the Raptors on a long-term deal that should be reasonable for both sides. That option was always going to be tough to beat provided Toronto wasn't too scared of committing multiyear salary because of the possibility of using cap space next summer.
If the Raptors structure this deal to decline in Year 2 before raises in Years 3 and 4, $19.55 million is the minimum possible salary for VanVleet in 2021-22 based on the reported total. Add in OG Anunoby's cap hold if Toronto waits on a new contract until next summer ($11.6 million) and the Raptors can get to a maximum salary slot for a player with seven to nine years of experience (like, say, two-time reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo) if Norman Powell declines his player option or is traded.
I am a little disappointed we won't get to see VanVleet run his own team, at least not before Kyle Lowry's contract expires next summer. While VanVleet has adapted well to an off-ball role, point guard is his more natural position. In 848 minutes with Lowry on the bench last season, VanVleet averaged 22.0 points and 7.8 assists per 36 minutes according to NBA Advanced Stats -- better than Lowry's per-36 averages (19.4 and 7.4, respectively).
Lineups with VanVleet at point guard were effective, outscoring opponents by 5.6 points per 100 possessions. However, I'm not sure the Raptors could count on VanVleet shooting as well as he did in that smallish sample -- he was both more accurate from 3-point range and dramatically better as a finisher with Lowry on the bench.
With VanVleet back in the fold, Toronto still has plenty of work to do before beginning training camp in Tampa, Florida, the team's temporary home due to Canadian travel restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The only center currently under contract for the Raptors is 2019 second-round pick Dewan Hernandez, with starter Marc Gasol, sixth man Serge Ibaka and reserve Chris Boucher (restricted) all free agents.
Whether Toronto can re-sign Gasol and Ibaka, and for how long, will give us a better idea of just how important a run at Antetokounmpo in the summer of 2021 remains. If the Raptors are still prioritizing 2021 cap space, we're probably looking at one-year offers, which might not be enough to retain both players.
Washington Wizards
1. Agreed to a reported one-year deal with Robin Lopez
2. Agreed to a reported one-year, minimum-salary deal with Raul Neto
Lopez will be an adult in the room for the Washington defense, though he didn't come cheap. After turning down a $5 million player option with the Milwaukee Bucks, Lopez will make slightly less than the full $9.3 million non-taxpayer midlevel exception, per Keith Smith.
At that price point, I might have preferred waiting around on the center market, which moved slowly while waiting for Gasol and Ibaka to make decisions. Nerlens Noel has a stronger defensive track record than Lopez and Dedmon could be available on the cheap after being waived.
I'm sure that Lopez's reliability was appealing to the Wizards, whose young centers aren't as disciplined with their positioning or as vocal calling out defenses. Although only average at protecting the rim, Lopez is outstanding at boxing out his opponents and rarely fouls.
After signing Lopez, Washington is limited to minimum-salary offers to avoid the luxury tax. One of them went to Neto, another steady hand, this time at point guard. That position didn't look like a need for the Wizards with Ish Smith around as a quality backup to John Wall and the addition of Cassius Winston in the second round of the draft, but Washington might want extra cover with Wall coming back from an Achilles tendon injury.
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 analysis, including:
Danilo Gallinari | Atlanta Hawks
De'Aaron Fox | Sacramento Kings