2019 Official NBA Free Agent thread

[Pelicanidae]

I think if nothing else, we've learned in the last couple of months that ownership/management are critically important to sustaining success in the NBA. Given that group's resources, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if they bounce back quickly. If by done, you mean for the next 2 years, I agree. If by done you mean falling all the way down the ladder, I don't expect that at all.

I mean that I don't believe they are going to be a championship team within the next three or four years. The "dynasty" is over. If and when they next make the finals, their team will have a very different look from the last few years.

[da ThRONe]

Ok I feel similar to how I felt about or draft picks sans Williamson. I have some reservations, but I don't strongly dislike it. I thought we should have focus more on youth and featuring Zion. Not worrying about competing next season.

[13 - 3]

Real question - how many Klutch clients signed today?

Or are they all waiting for the Lakers to strike out?

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) July 1, 2019

[Mythrol]

Ok I feel similar to how I felt about or draft picks sans Williamson. I have some reservations, but I don't strongly dislike it. I thought we should have focus more on youth and featuring Zion. Not worrying about competing next season.

To be fair Favors is only 27. I mean we only have 5 players on the team even over 24 at this point and we have a full roster. I'm not sure how you could focus on youth much more than dedicating 2/3 of your roster to youth.

[PELICANSFAN]

D-Lo to the Warriors?

Woooooow. What a downgrade for them. They essentially moved Durant and Iguodala for D'angelo Russel.

And Klay won't be back until February, and will probably see at least some decrease in his performance due to the injury, which may rob him of some lateral quickness.

Golden State look like they might be done as a powerhouse team.

DLo is a huge get for them. They were able to turn KD leaving into a 23 year old All-Star. I cannot understand why the Nets did that.

[Pelicanidae]

DLo is a huge get for them. They were able to turn KD leaving into a 23 year old All-Star. I cannot understand why the Nets did that.

The Nets did that because they were getting Kyrie Irving.

D-Lo is a solid player, sure, but he's not GREAT. He's not a top 20 player. He's not a top 25 player. I'd have to sit and work it out, but I get the feeling he's not a top 30 player. And they just hard capped themselves for it, forcing them to give up Iguodala (which meant including a FRP!).

Their roster next year is:

PG: Stephen Curry/????????????
SG: D'Angelo Russell/?????????????
SF:????????????????????????????????
PF: Draymond Green/?????????????
C: ????????????????????????????????

And they're hard capped. Obviously Klay will still be on their roster but he won't play until February at the earliest, which is why I didn't include him. They'll probably have to start him at the 3, now.

Plus, Steph Curry + D-Lo is a great recipe to get absolutely shredded by opposing guards all season long.

[Taker597]

To be fair Favors is only 27. I mean we only have 5 players on the team even over 24 at this point and we have a full roster. I'm not sure how you could focus on youth much more than dedicating 2/3 of your roster to youth.

Do you think David plan was only to get a stop gap 5 to see how Hayes developed in stead of committing 3-4 for a center that'll eat up an excessive amount of big minutes. It seems like Griff got a plans for Hayes in year 2. Got him on the clock.

We could probably resign Favor next off-season, but I'm not sure what is his market.

[PELICANSFAN]

The Nets did that because they were getting Kyrie Irving.

D-Lo is a solid player, sure, but he's not GREAT. He's not a top 20 player. He's not a top 25 player. I'd have to sit and work it out, but I get the feeling he's not a top 30 player. And they just hard capped themselves for it, forcing them to give up Iguodala (which meant including a FRP!).

Their roster next year is:

PG: Stephen Curry/????????????
SG: D'Angelo Russell/?????????????
SF:????????????????????????????????
PF: Draymond Green/?????????????
C: ????????????????????????????????

And they're hard capped. Obviously Klay will still be on their roster but he won't play until February at the earliest, which is why I didn't include him. They'll probably have to start him at the 3, now.

Plus, Steph Curry + D-Lo is a great recipe to get absolutely shredded by opposing guards all season long.

But they did not have to S&T him to GS. They could have just renounced his rights. The Warriors did not send them any assets in return. Instead, GS gets an All-Star PG and a TPE.

[Mythrol]

But they did not have to S&T him to GS. They could have just renounced his rights. The Warriors did not send them any assets in return. Instead, GS gets an All-Star PG and a TPE.

It also allowed them to dump a couple of players too though so they did get something out of it.

[Pelicanidae]

But they did not have to S&T him to GS. They could have just renounced his rights. The Warriors did not send them any assets in return. Instead, GS gets an All-Star PG and a TPE.

Eh, not sure. I just don't think it's that much of a disaster.

GS getting another all-star PG doesn't mean much when it's D'Angelo Russell, given the context of their team. If they were able to retain Iggy, Klay was healthy, and they had cash to sign a decent center, then maybe. But they weren't, he isn't, and they don't. They've essentially done what most people were hoping LA would do: blow their cash on three big players and then run with G leaguers around them, to the tune of the 10th seed in the West.

[Mythrol]

Do you think David plan was only to get a stop gap 5 to see how Hayes developed in stead of committing 3-4 for a center that'll eat up an excessive amount of big minutes. It seems like Griff got a plans for Hayes in year 2. Got him on the clock.

We could probably resign Favor next off-season, but I'm not sure what is his market.

I think Griffin's plan was to try to make a competitive team that still has a ton of flexibility moving forward. I think establishing a winning culture with so many young guys on our team is really key to sustainable success here so he brought in two guys with tons of playoff experience and know how to do things the right way to pair with Jrue in showing the young ones what is expected on them.

Is his specific plan for Hayes to take over for Favors next year? No I don't think he specifically planned that out. I think he saw Favors as a great fit for the team and our system and jumped on it. If Hayes is ready next year, great, if not I would expect we will do something similar next off season either with Favors or another center.

If it were me, I'd probably try to do an extension with Favors now. Add 1-2 more years to his deal at similar money. My concern is next summer is such a weak FA class we might have to end up overpaying to keep Favors instead of losing him and being forced into putting too much onto Hayes too soon.

But given the situation we were in, I'm much happier about having Favors on a 1yr/17m deal instead of Horford on a 4yr/109m deal.

[Pelicanidae]

Free agent Wayne Ellington has agreed to a two-year, $16M deal with the New York Knicks, agent Mark Bartelstein of @PrioritySports tells ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2019

Good move by the Knicks, and I cannot believe I'm saying that.

[13 - 3]

But they did not have to S&T him to GS. They could have just renounced his rights. The Warriors did not send them any assets in return. Instead, GS gets an All-Star PG and a TPE.

Nets got Deandre Jordan too

[13 - 3]

Free agent Wayne Ellington has agreed to a two-year, $16M deal with the New York Knicks, agent Mark Bartelstein of @PrioritySports tells ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2019

Good move by the Knicks, and I cannot believe I'm saying that.

Stephen A Smith can’t wait

[13 - 3]

That not apologizing for anything. It's facts. There is no telling how Durant will look 2 YEARS from now. He will probably need another year just to get his legs back. The Nets are effectively paying Durant $80 million to rehab. Plus I'm not a Kyrie fan since he's not a great leader at point guard and may start pouting again if things dont go right.

The Knicks just need to weather the great loud mouth firestorm for now.

It was all pre-planned before the injury. At least they are not denying it on First Take.

[HartOfaPelican]

Free agent Wayne Ellington has agreed to a two-year, $16M deal with the New York Knicks, agent Mark Bartelstein of @PrioritySports tells ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2019

Good move by the Knicks, and I cannot believe I'm saying that.

With all the FA they got. I can see them making the playoffs as the 8 seed next year. A step forward for them.

[PELICANSFAN]

Nets got Deandre Jordan too

He was not part of the trade.

[PELICANSFAN]

It also allowed them to dump a couple of players too though so they did get something out of it.

Both players were team option and not guaranteed. They could have simply declined the options and waived those players. Maybe there is something that has not yet been reported, as I cannot see why the Nets would make the Durant a S&T just to do the Warriors a favor.

[Pelicanidae]

With all the FA they got. I can see them making the playoffs as the 8 seed next year. A step forward for them.

I mean, what's their lineup now?

PG: DSJ/Ntilikina
SG: Ellington/Bullock/Trier
SF: Barrett/Knox
PF: Randle//Portis
C: Robinson/Gibson

I might be forgetting someone, and I'm not actually sure where they're gonna play some people (Is 6'7 Bullock going to play SF? Does Randle see heavy small-ball 5 minutes? Who knows), but that's not a terrible team. It's better than they had last year. They have actual NBA players on their team now.

[HartOfaPelican]

I mean, what's their lineup now?

PG: DSJ/Ntilikina
SG: Ellington/Bullock/Trier
SF: Barrett/Knox
PF: Randle//Portis
C: Robinson/Gibson

I might be forgetting someone, and I'm not actually sure where they're gonna play some people (Is 6'7 Bullock going to play SF? Does Randle see heavy small-ball 5 minutes? Who knows), but that's not a terrible team. It's better than they had last year. They have actual NBA players on their team now.

The roster is def strong especially with the addition of RJ.... even tho I don’t think he will be as good as people say.

Why I really think they will make it... is the fact that the east got weaker this year and the west got stronger again.

East Worse:
Celtics
Hornets
Bulls
Bucks (losing brogdon)
Wizards

East better:
Indiana
Nets - but not till 2021 when KD is back
Philly (debatable)
Knicks


Will make playoffs:
Celtics
Nets
Pacers
Bucks
Philly
Toronto

Fighting for 7/8 seed:
Hawks
Pistons
Knicks
Magic

I like the Knicks better than all of them right now. I think they get in on the 7/8 seed.

[Mythrol]

Both players were team option and not guaranteed. They could have simply declined the options and waived those players. Maybe there is something that has not yet been reported, as I cannot see why the Nets would make the Durant a S&T just to do the Warriors a favor.

Maybe they would rather him go the Warriors than the Lakers.

[JJackisangry]

I’ve had some time to sleep it off, and in my humble opinion, the Wizards are still a bunch of turds. BOOOOOO HISSSSSSSS

[NMThreeMVP]

Ok I feel similar to how I felt about or draft picks sans Williamson. I have some reservations, but I don't strongly dislike it. I thought we should have focus more on youth and featuring Zion. Not worrying about competing next season.

Competing in meaningful games is a part of Zion's development. It's the difference between playing poker on your iPhone with play money, and playing poker in a tournament with a $1000 buy in.

[Creative]

Tim MacMahon: Rockets would be among the teams with strong interest in Andre Iguodala if he receives a buyout from the Grizzlies, per sources.

–via Twitter espn_macmahon

Adrian Wojnarowski: Free agent guard Michael Carter-Williams has agreed to a one-year deal to return to the Orlando Magic, league source tells ESPN.

– via Twitter wojespn

[Taker597]

Ok I feel similar to how I felt about or draft picks sans Williamson. I have some reservations, but I don't strongly dislike it. I thought we should have focus more on youth and featuring Zion. Not worrying about competing next season.

I would strongly disagree going the Sixers process of rebuild/ contending. One... It got Sam Hinke blackballed. Two... They didn't get Embid till like year 2 or 3 of tanking. We got Zion in year 0. We traded AD for a bunch of assests. We still got to keep Jrue happy in the middle of his prime. We are too good to tank. So, we might as well get a Jumpstart on building a culture.

I can say.... Philly gonna need to actually get to an ECF for a half a decade of tanking to be even remotely worth it. All that tanking and it only got them Embiid and Simmons. If Simmons do not develop a shot. He could be joining Noel, Markelle, and Okafor