NBA leaders are already focusing on the free agency 2019

Part of the front office work of the NBA is to plan the establishment of the free agency well in advance. But the circumstances surrounding this season and the next wave of stars available have made things a bit absurd.

In talking to leaders, scouts and league agents, it became clear that many teams are focusing a lot on the 2019-20 season, even with the start of the 2018-19 season. OK, it is not revolutionary. The Los Angeles Lakers were thinking of LeBron James a year ago today. But it is usually a third railway subject, whispered on the side of the mouth and evoking innuendo. At least until the leaves are out of the trees. But even in this case, it is often the teams that are in tank mode or who think at least be in tank mode. Now, even the playoff level teams sneak past.

There are several reasons why:

• Many believe that the Golden State Warriors will again win the title and will still part one way or another next season. This is essentially a referendum on Kevin Durant's upcoming free agency, not so much Klay Thompson's, although some leaders are also wondering what will happen with Draymond Green. He is eligible for an extension next summer and has made it clear that he expected to be taken care of after playing, from his point of view, on the low-cost contract signed before the peak of course. If he's got a good season and made the All-NBA team or wins the defensive player of the year again, he would qualify for an extension in supermax, which would really place the Warriors in a hard situation. If Durant left, the Warriors would be under significant pressure to keep Green.

  We could continue with these Warriors permutations. Believe me, their competitors did it because comparing their current list is disheartening. But in the end, the 2020 title is considered much more promising than 2019. Plans are developed accordingly.

• Many believe that several large free agents will move out next summer. This includes Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler (for now) and DeMarcus Cousins. But there are two other names on the lips of the executive: Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving.

  Davis is not a standalone player until 2020, but some teams are already thinking about trade deals if Davis passes on an extension that the New Orleans Pelicans may propose to him next summer. This is the option that raises goosebumps among a handful of teams who think they have a chance to reach Davis. The fact that Davis and the Pelicans made a fantastic start and that Davis continued to engage outside for New Orleans did not slow this downturn.

  Now, could you say why Irving is included? He stated that he was reconnecting with the Boston Celtics and that's all. Irving seems really happy in Boston and is delighted with the current composition and direction of the team. And he is willing to accept a $ 190 million contract over five years. In fact, it would seem that Irving is in tune with some front-offices in terms of fast forwarding until 2019-2020. He told reporters in New York this week that he had already given "serious consideration" to the Knicks, but that he had moved on and that he had made a decision. The free agency next year is already moving happily with the free agents themselves, it seems.

  As any college coach will tell you, a verbal commitment is simply that. In addition, the Celtics will likely be willing to make a five-year offer to Irving, but this is no small feat at the moment, given Irving's history of injuries and many months to come. Many executives have the lover with Irving's name on it in the "UFA" column (free agent unrestricted) on their whiteboards.

• There is a ton of capping there. Up to 10 teams can reasonably open enough to create space for a maximum player, and another handful can be a big buyer. After the relative bear market of last year, there are many options here.

  The big markets are on the hunt with both New York teams and the two Los Angeles teams in position to chase the max players, and Philadelphia is right there too. In fact, almost no team is really excluded because there is so much space available that there is a good chance that wages will be paid in exchange for draft picks. The names intended for the market are large enough not to exclude any ceiling offset transaction.

Sorry for talking about free agency in October, but it's all these guys who seem to want to talk.

to play

DeMar DeRozan tells Patty Mills, cutter, who comes against the Lakers.

DeMar DeRozan bristled when he heard One of the reasons the Toronto Raptors traded it last summer was that it was too iso, which is old-fashioned. The Raptors exchanged it because they were lucky enough to rank among the top five talents, all the rest having been that facade. Nevertheless, it was said.

A few years ago, it was fair to say that DeRozan had done too much iso, but his game has evolved and became more complete. He had an average of 5.2 assists per game last season in Toronto. In three games with the San Antonio Spurs, he has 27 assists. He beat the Lakers Monday with 14 overtime wins.

While point guard Dejounte Murray is out for the season and the second, Derrick White, is injured, coach Gregg Popovich relies on DeRozan to play. It fits her well.

"This has always been the next part of my game that I wanted to improve," said DeRozan. "I knew I could score, I wanted to be that player capable of scoring at a high level, but also to trust his teammates at a high level.It's a part of my game with which I am more at l & # 39; home. "

In defense of Chris PaulRockets coach Mike D Antoni said that Paul's suspension was not "fair" compared to that inflicted on Rajon Rondo and Brandon Ingram of the Lakers. One of Dr. Antoni's points was how much it was going to cost Paul $ 491,781. Rondo was released 186,207 $ and Ingram 158,817 $. It was a creative but lame defense. Paul earns $ 35.6 million this season, but it does not affect the severity of the penalty.

In any case, two years ago, when the president of the players' union, Paul, took part in the negotiation of the new collective agreement, he won the victory by modifying the formula to reduce fines. for suspensions. Under the old rules, players were fined 1 / 110th of their salary for each suspended game. The current number is 1 / 145th. This change ultimately allowed Paul to save $ 156,000.

Steve Ballmer's project Changing the way fans can watch LA Clippers' games is really interesting. This week, I watched the game Clippers-Rockets with the features of "Clippers CourtVision", which use player tracking technology to add new features to the broadcast.