Evaluate all the madness of the opening hours of the NBA free agency

Here is a dive through all the zaniness that has happened in the early hours of Sunday morning, and what it means for the coming days and weeks:

– We need to start with Oklahoma City, where Thunder's chief executive, Sam Presti, has not only convinced Paul George to sign a four-year contract for $ 137 million (with an option player), but the Thunder also brought Jerami Grant on a $ 27 million contract. This indicated two things: first, the Thunder are ecstatic to keep George, that they had no guarantee of re-signing with them last summer when they exchanged for him. They will now be a factor in the West for years to come.

More immediately, however, the agreement in Oklahoma City on the pace to be the most expensive team in the history of the NBA, with payroll commitments and taxes around 310 million of dollars . The Thunder will have to find a way to deal with this in the coming weeks. It will probably be a matter of negotiating or stretching and giving up both Kyle Singler and Carmelo Anthony, which could save them about $ 23 million in wages for the coming season. That, in turn, could save Oklahoma City well over $ 100 million in combined payments of taxes and wages

[Paul George’s decision to re-sign with the Thunder is a monumental win for Oklahoma City]

Whatever the case may be, the important thing here is that George's & # 39; "Is committed to Oklahoma City for the long run, and it's a pretty cool thing for a franchise that does not have a way to recover from losing Kevin Durant. there are two summers.

– While the Thunder were undoubtedly the biggest winners of the Golden State Warriors' opening hours has to be a close second. Not only did they get Durant for a third season, but taking a one-year contract with a player option for a second, as opposed to a two-year contract with a player option for a third, he has saved the Warriors. $ 5 million this year. This coincides pretty well with the cost of the taxpayer's mid-level exception, which should allow Golden State to add another contributor to its list. champions defending time. But add to Trevor Ariza surprisingly leaving the Houston Rockets for a year, $ 15 million with the Phoenix Suns, and George is not going to Los Angeles to form a great potential team with LeBron James (should he end up there) , and the

– Speaking of Houston, the Rockets quickly agreed on a four-year $ 160 million contract with Chris Paul to keep the star leader, re-signed Gerald Green for the minimum veteran and should meet the center of free agent Clint Capela, which the team also plans to keep, Sunday. But what happened with Ariza?

It seems to have simply become a price to make it too prohibitive with the rest of Houston's lineup. With Paul in the fold, Houston is about $ 114 million for eight players. Add to Capela for, say, $ 25 million per, and the Rockets are up to $ 139 million for nine players. If Houston had also matched Ariza's $ 15 million, then filled out his list with minimum wages, the Rockets would have wound up about $ 158 million.

Addition of luxury taxes (which for this list would have been about $ 109 million) and Houston would have paid nearly $ 270 million for his team next season. It was clearly too much for the owner Tilman Fertitta at the stomach. Now, it seems likely that Luc Mbah has Moute back, and the Rockets hope he'll avoid the shoulder problems that plagued him in the playoffs and kept him out of trouble. 39; be a reliable contributor against Golden State. But even though he's in good health and as good as it was last year, losing Ariza is a blow to Houston's chances – and a huge win for Golden State

[Three years after jilting the Mavericks, DeAndre Jordan agrees to one-year deal with Dallas]

– As mentioned earlier, George staying in Oklahoma City is another option James' board of directors in Los Angeles, where he is more and more likely that he will play next season. This is another win for Golden State, as it will be much harder for James to build a team capable of competing with the Warriors right out of the gate with the Lakers he s' in. done there.

What could change that, of course, is if Kawhi Leonard finds himself in Los Angeles. But it feels like Leonard is going anywhere at this point, it will be the Philadelphia 76ers. Between the assistant of long-time Spurs Brett Brown who heads the Sixers, these being in the East Conference and the pieces that can form a ceiling higher than Markella Fultz (the unprotected 2021 Miami Heat, rookie Zhaire Smith, Robert Covington). he feels like a natural fit. This, of course, assumes that the Sixers are ready to roll the dice of such a move with Leonard a year away from the free agency and after his strange season in San Antonio.

– Someone who hopes that James goes to the Lakers is DeMarcus Cousins, as this could be a lifesaver for a one year contract in a market where he seems more and more likely than he is. it will not be much. DeAndre Jordan traveling to the Mavericks for a one-year contract has eliminated the prospective suitor from his services with a captains' room, leaving the New Orleans Pelicans with a reduced-price contract or joining the Lakers as his only realistic options.

[Where will DeMarcus Cousins land?]

If none of these materialize … Boogie could have a long summer.

– The Denver Nuggets immediately made their two biggest deals, holding key free agents Nikola Jokic and Will Barton for long-term contracts. This is probably a good thing for the Nuggets, and it's a win for them.

But the problem for Denver: Signing the two players allowed the Nuggets to raise about $ 197 million in combined pay and luxury tax for next season. Let's just say that there is not a single person in the NBA who thinks the Denver property group is willing to pay so much for the team next season.

Swap at least two of Wilson Chandler, Kenneth Faried and Darrell Arthur between now and The start of next season – with Denver's first-round pick in 2019 being, at a minimum, the cost of doing business – is the most obvious job that exists. The only question that arises is whether the two teams competing – the Chicago Bulls and the Atlanta Hawks – will agree

– To return to Phoenix for a moment, not only was it amazing to see Ariza leaving Houston, but it was also shocking to see him land with the Suns. Obviously, Phoenix is ​​committed to improving immediately, and Ariza's defense and shooting on the perimeter, as well as his presence in the locker room should help. Mikal Bridges, too, that Phoenix traded to spend the night at the repechage

But the Suns are still without a leader – unless they plan to have a point of guess Booker (which is an option) or that they expect French. Rookie Elie Okobo, 31st pick in the repechage, is immediately a big player of impact (he has the potential to be an impact player, but expect it to be immediately a stretch)

Perhaps the happiest person of Ariza Phoenix is ​​the Hawks general manager, Travis Schlenk, who can now offer the Suns Dennis Schroder in a trade. Schroder for Brandon Knight makes a lot of sense for both teams, and would not shock me if something like that happened. Another name to take into account: Jeremy Lin, one of the three guardians that the Brooklyn Nets have today, with Spencer Dinwiddie and Angelo Russell

– The saddest on the news Ariza 's were probably Fred VanVleet and Marcus Smart, the two best restricted free agent point guardians on the market who no longer have an obvious suitor in the free agency. It will be extremely interesting to see where the two players come from, as this could lead to lengthy, contentious negotiations with their current teams to determine their market value. Outward deals no longer seem likely, as virtually everyone in the league has spent his cap in Phoenix on a leader, rather than a wing like Ariza.

This will make their current teams, Toronto and Boston, rather satisfied, as they both have financial constraints to work in the interior. The Raptors are already in the tax, while the Celtics would like to avoid it. Boston brought back Aron Baynes right away, as planned, but now the Celtics are walking a tightrope to avoid the tax and bring back Smart.

– Speaking of ceiling space, it disappears quickly. The Mavericks are running out of space after Jordan's signing (which, incidentally, getting Jordan on a one-year deal was both awesome for Dallas, and a sign of the lack of leverage that He had on the market); Suns are out of space after signing Ariza; and Indiana has drastically cut its $ 20 million by giving Doug McDermott a $ 22 million three-year contract as soon as he leaves the factory.

Addition to Chicago and Atlanta will likely just look for dead money teams and Philadelphia being likely to spend a lot to keep JJ Redick for a second straight year after hitting on their best targets, and here are the teams with usable ceiling space in the NBA after about three hours of free agency: the Lakers (largely intended for a prospective James deal), the Sacramento Kings (about 18 million dollars) and the Pacers (about 14 millions of dollars).

Good luck to the rest of the free agents on the market. Finding offers will be a lot easier to say than what to do.

– A person who may have trouble finding a suitable offer to his liking is Jabari Parker. The Bucks seemed to indicate their intentions using the exception of mid-level non-taxpayer Ersan Ilyasova. And Ilyasova's return to Milwaukee was a bit of a surprise (though he played for new coach Mike Budenholzer in Atlanta last season), signaling that the franchise probably will not pass through Parker.

Parker is not that's exactly what Budenholzer likes to play, and a big contract for him – with the threat of injury that accompanies him – just does not have any meaning for a Bucks team that needs to go home next summer. Signing Ilyasova does not guarantee that Parker will not be back, but it's still an indication that it's far from being a priority in Milwaukee. At this point, the best question is to know it's going to be a priority no matter where.

– Finally, a quick note on the Spurs, who chose to re-sign Rudy Gay, and then use the exception of their taxpayer on Marco Belinelli to bring the Italian back to San Antonio for a $ 12 million contract over two years. This certainly does not give the impression that the Spurs are going to engage in a complete rebuilding when they move on to Leonard. In fact, this could indicate that they just decided to cringe, bring Leonard back for the next season and see if they can attempt it with supermax (assuming it's in good health and qualifies for it)

. do not go away anytime soon.