NBA Free Agency: analysis of the best and worst offers

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BOSTON – Is it over?

Three days after the start of the most accelerated free agent spell in NBA history, more than 89% of list spots are taken, ESPN’s Bobby Marks says. Gordon Hayward is a Hornet, Montrezl Harrell is a Laker, and Oklahoma City rounded up draft picks like teens once did baseball cards.

So what do we think?

I love Hayward’s four-year, $ 120 million contract with Charlotte… for Gordon Hayward. All The list of free agent winners must be overcome by Hayward and his agent, Mark Bartelstein, chose not to receive a salary of $ 34.2 million for next season in Boston to turn around and strike a monster deal with the Hornets. After three years of injury with the Celtics, Hayward will earn $ 30 million over the next four years at Charlotte. Unbelievable.

David E. Klutho / Sports Illustrated

I don’t like the Hornets deal… because I don’t really understand. Charlotte got some badly needed star power when they drafted LaMelo Ball, a dynamic playmaker. Hayward, 30, gives Ball a proven goalscorer to pass, but at what cost? A signing and trade with Boston is still possible, but otherwise the Buzz will forgo Nicolas Batum and extend the $ 27 million owed to Batum next season over three years, according to the Charlotte Observer. That would effectively make Hayward a $ 39 million a year player on the team’s books over the next three seasons. The same team that drew a hard line on franchise cornerstone Kemba Walker a year ago.

And why? To get some extra wins? Finish tenth in the conference standings instead of 12^e? Batum’s expiring contract could have been a valuable business chip in the months to come. The teams are loading up for the summer of 2021, when Giannis Antetokounmpo will (for now) lead a strong free agent class. Instead, after years of distress over Batum’s contract, the Hornets inked another player to a new one. According to an NBA source, “signing Hayward is like signing Batum for a four-year extension.”

I don’t know what to make of the Celtics’ late, for two reasons: we don’t know what Indiana was really offering in a trade and we don’t know if the Pacers were ready to pony up. the kind of contract that Charlotte did. If Myles Turner was on the table, as reports suggest, Boston should have accepted it. Complete stop. Turner struggled in Indiana last season, where the Turner-Domantas Sabonis forward zone didn’t quite perform. But it’s a ground spacing blocking center with a reasonable contract ($ 18 million a year for the next three seasons) and if you can get that kind of player in exchange for a player who doesn’t. had no interest in playing for you, you do. .

I love what the Celtics did after that, however, catching Tristan Thompson to consolidate the front line and signing Jeff Teague to support Walker. Thompson is exactly what Boston needs, a big, physical, bouncy man to tangle with big conference bodies. Teague was so separated last season between Minnesota and Atlanta, but he’s a capable substitute who made nearly 37% of his lines last season.

Ashley Landis / USA TODAY Sports

I love what the Lakers have done, and is there a frame that performs better than Rob Pelinka? Pelinka was proactive from the start, flipping Danny Green for Dennis Schroder, anticipating Rajon Rondo’s defection and adding a playmaker who can catch and shoot. The Lakers then surprised everyone by signing reigning sixth man Montrezl Harrell to a two-year contract, weakening their roommates at Staples Center. I’m not sure exactly how Harrell fits in with Anthony Davis – Davis, as has often been noted, prefers to play alongside traditional centers, like Dwight Howard, to save himself from wear and tear – but the addition of Marc Gasol will help him with that. And the LA attack got much stronger.

(Speaking of Howard, thinking he had an offer, tweeting about accepting the offer only to find out he does not have have an offer and was forced to accept one from Philadelphia, which will connect Howard behind Joel Embiid, as Yahoo Sports is the kind of bizarre offseason drama that only Howard could be involved in.)

I love the Nets’ decision to put Joe Harris on a four-year, $ 75 million contract, keeping Brooklyn’s top marksman to space the floor for Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. I understand the Washington decision committed $ 80 million over the next five years to Davis Bertans, but damn it – what a contract. The Wizards have insisted they will bring Bertans back, turning down several first-round picks for him before the trade deadline. But it’s a risk, especially with some uncertainty about John Wall’s future.

Meanwhile – what is Duncan Robinson thinking right now? $ 75 million for Harris, $ 80 million for Bertans and Robinson is a better shooter than the two, and he did so last season on a team that reached the final. Two years ago, Robinson was doing three in quiet G-League gyms. Next summer, when Robinson hits free agency, he could become a $ 100 million player.

Greg Nelson / Sports Illustrated

I like the four-year, $ 75 million deal Fred VanVleet signed with Toronto, which allows VanVleet, a signatory to the free agent not drafted four years ago, to be well paid and keep a 26-year-old local talent in the bosom of the Raptors. I don’t like Toronto’s inability to re-sign Serge Ibaka which creates a gaping hole in the Raptors frontline (returning Marc Gasol for Aron Baynes seems to be close to a washout). I like Ibaka’s form in Los Angeles, where he will swing between the two front spots while joining close friend Kawhi Leonard. The Clippers are still looking for help from the point guard – Charlotte’s Terry Rozier remains on the line – but Ibaka’s signing mitigates Harrell’s loss.

I don’t like the three-year, $ 41 million contract Houston handed to Christian Wood, in part because he rewards Wood for a full season by putting good numbers on a bad team, in part because I don’t know exactly what the Rockets want. term plan is. Part of the machinations to acquire Wood was the Robert Covington-Trevor Ariza trade, which ended with Houston tying the No.16 pick in last Wednesday’s draft for Detroit to absorb Ariza. Wood is a solid offensive player. He’s mobile, can make dribbling plays, and shot 38.6% of three last season. He wrestles defensively, but is 25 and will play for a head coach, Stephen Silas, who excels in player development.

He’s better than Ariza, but could Ariza’s expiring contract have been used for something more in a few months? Would that No.16 pick, which the Pistons spent on Washington’s great man Isaiah Stewart, have been more valuable? These are questions worth asking as the Rockets move closer to what appears to be an inevitable rebuild.

I love what Milwaukee did, even after the Bogdan Bogdanovic acquisition deal failed. The Bucks improved the backcourt with the Jrue Holiday trade, then replenished the bench with Bryn Forbes, DJ Augustine, Torrey Craig and Bobby Portis, all while stepping down from valuable reserve Pat Connaughton. Will this be enough to convince Antetokounmpo to sign an extension? Who knows, although it’s hard to see how the Bucks could have done more.

Winslow Townson / USA TODAY Sports

I like what Portland has done, correcting the main weaknesses. After seeing LeBron James brutally run over the Blazers in the bubble, Portland picked up a pair of wing defenders at Covington and Derrick Jones and re-signed Rodney Hood. They effectively traded Hassan Whiteside for Enes Kanter, a cheaper and familiar alternative, and bolstered the frontcourt with Harry Giles, a once promising prospect whose career has been hampered by a knee injury. Oh, and Carmelo Anthony is back. Not a bad season for Blazers GM Neil Olshey.

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