What have been the highlights and lowlights from NBA free agency?
As we approach the end of the NBA's moratorium period Friday, a large portion of free agency is already complete. Approximately 100 free agents, including the vast majority of the top players of the market, have already agreed to new contracts they can begin to make official once the moratorium ends.
Which teams have done the best and worst? Which contracts stand out in a positive and negative fashion? And which player best fits his new team? Let's take a look at free-agency superlatives.
Most improved team: Miami Heat
Despite teams handing out more than $2 billion worth of contracts this week, including extensions, at most one team seems to have really moved from outside the ranks of championship contenders to joining that group: the Heat, who landed the best free agent to change teams with a sign-and-trade deal for veteran point guard Kyle Lowry.
I still have reservations about Miami's age and depth. In Lowry and P.J. Tucker, the Heat added two players in their mid-30s who will be asked to play far bigger roles than the Los Angeles Lakers' fleet of veterans signed for the minimum. Tucker in particular is a risk after declining dramatically as a shooter last season. Despite those concerns, the Heat did more to help themselves by adding those two than any other team with a realistic chance of a deep 2021 playoff run.
Best offseason: Washington Wizards
Ten days ago, the Wizards were looking at losing key contributors to last season's eighth seed because of limited spending power this offseason and next without going into the luxury tax. At best, Washington would've been running things back and hoping for better results. Instead, Russell Westbrook's trade request and the Lakers' interest opened up an alternative path for the Wizards to get younger and deeper.
By virtue of expanding the Westbrook deal to include a sign-and-trade for free agent Spencer Dinwiddie, Washington has added five contributors in exchange for Westbrook and reserve Chandler Hutchison: Dinwiddie, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell, Aaron Holiday and Kyle Kuzma. New Wizards head coach Wes Unseld Jr. now has a deep, versatile roster with which to work.
Worst offseason: New Orleans Pelicans
By contrast to Washington, the Pelicans have gotten older and thinner this summer while costing themselves a pair of future first-round picks. When New Orleans moved back seven spots in this year's first round and gave up the Lakers' 2022 first-round pick to send Steven Adams and Eric Bledsoe to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Jonas Valanciunas, it looked like a precursor to a run at one of the veteran free agents at point guard.
Instead, the Pelicans struck out and ended up giving up another first-rounder to the Charlotte Hornets as part of a sign-and-trade to bring in restricted free agent Devonte' Graham as a replacement for Lonzo Ball, who is more than two and a half years younger.
Yes, New Orleans saved money with that exchange, but it's unclear how the Pelicans might use those savings to get them any closer to the playoffs in year three for Zion Williamson. For now, New Orleans appears to be gambling heavily that recent first-round picks Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Kira Lewis Jr. can be far more effective in larger roles than they were last season.
Best value contract: Lonzo Ball, Chicago Bulls
At $21.25 million per year on a four-year contract, Ball didn't exactly come cheap. However, if the 23-year-old Ball can continue to develop his game, he's likely to easily be worth the small premium the Bulls paid relative to older guards with less upside, such as Evan Fournier ($19.5 million per year) and Tim Hardaway Jr. ($18.5 million).
Best value contract (buyout division): Kemba Walker, New York Knicks
When I projected the top 20 free agents on the market in terms of three-year wins above replacement, Walker was still under contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder and therefore wasn't considered. Had he been, Walker would have ranked fourth in the group behind Kawhi Leonard, Chris Paul and Ball. Given Walker's history of knee issues, that projection might be too optimistic. Still, as compared to the deals those free agents got (or will get, in Leonard's case), nabbing Walker at seven figures per year rather than eight is a bargain for the Knicks.
Best value contract (minimum division): Otto Porter Jr., Golden State Warriors
There were plenty of candidates here with multiple veterans already taking minimum deals to play for contenders in desirable markets. Nicolas Batum would have been the winner, but he's technically not playing for the minimum, as the Clippers could offer him 20% more using non-Bird rights. So I'm going with Porter.
If Porter can stay healthy -- always the key question mark after he played just 42 games the past two seasons -- he's a more complete two-way role player than anyone the Lakers landed and an ideal fit as a small-ball power forward in Warriors lineups with Draymond Green at center.
Worst value contract: DeMar DeRozan, Bulls
From a pure dollar for dollar standpoint, DeRozan's three-year, $85 million contract might not have been the worst handed out this summer. However, context makes it the worst value. First, paying DeRozan on top of Ball -- somehow the Bulls end up at both extremes of this list -- means Chicago will likely go into the luxury tax in 2022-23 if it's able to re-sign Zach LaVine, making this a pricey roster for the talent it features.
Second, the sign-and-trade deal Chicago completed with the San Antonio Spurs to get DeRozan cost not only valuable frontcourt contributor Thaddeus Young but also a first-round pick and two second-rounders to entice the Spurs to take on the $10 million contract of forward Al-Farouq Aminu. As a result, the Bulls found themselves overpaying in two ways.
Best new (old) Laker: Trevor Ariza
At age 35, Ariza started 27 of the 30 games he played for the Heat last season, plus all four in the playoffs, showing he still had something left in his first game action since March 2020. Of the free agents the Lakers signed, Ariza is the best and most versatile perimeter defender. He can take the most challenging assignments off LeBron James' plate. Yet Ariza has to hit shots: He's a career 35% 3-point shooter and hit that same mark last season.
Best new (old) Laker: Wayne Ellington
The 33-year-old Ellington is a little younger than some of the Lakers' other minimum signings, but he's an old Laker too, having played 65 games for the team during the 2014-15 season. (Ariza, Kent Bazemore and Dwight Howard are all rejoining the Lakers after previous stints -- two in Howard's case.) Ellington knocked down 42% of his 3s last season for the Detroit Pistons and is a career 38% shooter on high volume, providing much of the spacing the Lakers so desperately need around their stars.
Best fit: Reggie Bullock, Dallas Mavericks
Bullock should be what the Mavericks hoped they were getting in Josh Richardson last season: a strong wing defender who can create space for Luka Doncic. The latter task was the issue for Richardson, who made just 33% of his 3s. Bullock, by contrast, is a 39% career 3-point shooter who hit 41% last season in a 3-and-D role for the Knicks. Ideally, Dallas would have added more shot creation to help take some of that load off Doncic, but at $10 million a year that wasn't a realistic outcome.
Worst fit: Robin Lopez, Orlando Magic
Lopez's one-year, $5 million contract is totally reasonable for one of the NBA's better reserve centers last season. However, the 33-year-old veteran is an odd fit on a rebuilding Orlando team trying to develop young big men Wendell Carter Jr. and Mo Bamba. Lopez is too productive at this point to serve primarily as a veteran mentor. Perhaps the Magic see Carter playing more at power forward this season, but that's not an ideal use of his skill set.
Best gettable free agent remaining: Dennis Schroder, Lakers
There's no question Leonard is the best player left without a deal four days into free agency. Still, he's not a realistic target for teams without $39 million in cap space, which is all of them save the Oklahoma City Thunder. Among players who might actually change teams, the current leaders are Schroder and Kelly Oubre Jr., and it seems like there's a more reasonable prospect of an Oubre return to Golden State than Schroder re-signing with the Lakers after they replaced him with Westbrook.