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Wow! What a crazy and busy Day 1 of Free Agency. In recent history, the NBA might not have witnessed so many deal agreements go down so early in Free Agency. There were so many deals and contracts flying around all day, that for some time you might struggle to keep up. Recently crowned NBA Champion Andrew Bogut agrees too:This @NBA free agency/trade period is nuts!!! Im struggling to keep up.....— Andrew Bogut (@andrewbogut) July 2, 2015Nonetheless, if you are lost too, don't worry, you are in the right place. While naming the Top 5 winners and losers of Day 1, we've got you covered on every deal that went down on. Here's the list:P.S:- Keep Up.
#9 Winner: Los Angeles Clippers
While the Washington Wizards seemed confident of re-signing Paul Pierce after he opted out of his contract, the Los Angeles Clippers gave him a pitch he could not resist. Eventually the temptation of re-uniting with Doc, his Head Coach from their Boston days, playing in his hometown of Los Angeles and earning 3.5 million per year got the better of Pierce.
He agreed with the Clippers to a 3-year, $10.6-million deal to play alongside All-Stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. Despite gelling well with the young Wizards team and having the chance to earn more, Pierce took the deal to join the Clippers, who are his fourth team in four years. The deal not only gives the Los Angeles franchise more firepower and roster depth, but also helps in their pitch to Jordan.
Signing Pierce means the Clippers are less dependent on any player for offense, making them more lethal if they weren’t enough already. Their bench production was a serious issue and along with the Lance Stephenson trade, Rivers has definitely addressed that issue. Next mission for the franchise in free agency is to make sure Jordan doesn’t leave the team because they have literally no shot blocker in their team after trading Spencer Hawes.
#8 Loser: Sacramento Kings
In a move to dump a lot of salary off their books, the Sacramento Kings traded Nik Stauskas, Jason Thompson and Carl Landry to the Philadelphia in exchange for rights to overseas players. The deal also includes Kings receiving a first round pick and the team swapping a couple first round picks. Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski first reported this trade:
Sources: 76ers sending the rights of overseas players to Kings. Philly wanted Stauskas and will take on Thompson/Landry salaries.
Now why does a move like dumping salary make Sacramento a loser for Day 1? This tweet from Wojnarowski explains everything:
So far, Sacramento is said to be hugely interested in Monta Ellis and Rajon Rondo. They are playing with the idea of signing of both these guards.
#7 Winner: Atlanta Hawks
Paul Millsap’s decision saved Atlanta the blushes on Day 1 of the Free Agency. Had he not agreed with the Hawks to a 3 year deal worth $59 million, the team would have had nothing to show for the day other than acquiring Splitter which might not have helped them a lot. Adding insult to injury, former Hawks forward DeMarre Carroll took to Instagram to announce his agreement with the Toronto Raptors:
A photo posted by DeMarre Carroll (@demarrecarroll1) on Jul 1, 2015 at 9:02am PDT
All in all even with Carroll’s departure, the Hawks can trust Budenholzer to make some moves that will help the team deal with his loss. Nonetheless, there is always Thabo Sefolosha who could take over defensively for Carroll, however, he does not have the same impact that Carroll does on the offensive end.
Splitter’s addition is also key because it helps Atlanta increase their size in the paint, something they were quite evidently falling short of during the Playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Anyway it was not all that bad of a day for Atlanta but look out for this franchise to make some interesting moves over the next couple of weeks.
#6 Loser: New York Knicks
Didn’t hear much on New York Knicks on Day 1?
That’s exactly why they are a Loser on Day 1. They did nothing, absolutely nothing. No trades, no agreements and no deals. When you win only 17 games the previous season, you get the number 4 pick in the draft and you are the Knicks of the Big Apple, you need to be more active than what Phil Jackson and his franchise.
Fair enough that players will hesitate to sign with the team given its reputation from last season, but the Knicks weren’t even in the serious rumors regarding any player. Every New Yorker takes pride in their basketball and the lack of quality talent making it to the Knicks has definitely got to hurt. Maybe the management does have plans and meeting set with players as the free agency period goes on. Still, not making any noise being a franchise from New York and with its market, is disappointing to say the least.
#5 Winners: Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls had a great team last season, and if it wasn’t for Pau Gasol being forced to sit they would have dominated the LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Nonetheless, their loss in the second round of the Playoffs cost their Head Coach his job and in came new Head Coach Fred Hoisberg. While the Coaching staff would change next season, the front office was confident they did not want to do the same with their players.
Towards the end of the day, Mike Dunleavy had agreed to a three-year deal with the Bulls and just a few hours after that, the blockbuster news of Jimmy Butler came out. Butler bet on himself by not taking Chicago’s contract last year and it paid off. They were forced to pay him quite a bit, something off the tune of $95 million over a five-year period including a player option for the fifth and final year.
Although they are still yet to sign free agent Taj Gibson, the Bulls have re-signed key players to make sure they remain competitive. With Kirk Hinrich also opting in with the team using the player option on his contract, almost the same entire team will be back next year. Let’s hope they can be more successful than they were this time around.
#4 Loser: Dallas Mavericks
If Dirk Nowitzki truly succumbs to the bench like he said he will do if asked, then the Mavericks will have only Chandler from their starting line-up returning next season. Guards Rajon Rondo and Monta Ellis are free agents and quite clearly not going to come back to sign with Dallas. Tyson Chandler was expected to be part of a sign and trade in order to acquire DeAndre Jordan, but he went ahead in a surprising move to agree to a 4-year deal with the Phoenix Suns.
Despite considered to be a front runner to sign with DeAndre Jordan, it’s hard to digest that he will want to leave the perfect circumstances in Los Angeles. They have a lot of positive to attract Jordan to their team, but that begs the question – Will that be enough? According to Grantland’s Zach Lowe, they are the leaders to sign Portland guard Wesley Matthews with an annual contract of around 15 million.
Despite being frontrunners for both players, why is Dallas a loser on Day 1?
Well, they didn’t close neither deal and they not only lost three players from their starting line-up (Chandler, Ellis and Rondo), but also contributing role players Al-Farouq Aminu, who has agreed to sign with the Portland Trailblazers.
#3 Winners: San Antonio Spurs
Very early into the free agency, Spurs made sure their rising star Kawhi Leonard stayed and they were able to do that as Leonard verbally agreed to a max contract with the Spurs. Now this franchise is considered to be a frontrunner for landing Aldridge, for that, the team needs more cap space to operate with so they trade starting center Tiago Splitter to the Atlanta Hawks clearing 8.5 million off their books. What they will receive in exchange from the Hawks is not known yet.
To cap off the day, San Antonio made sure another of their great two-way players returns with them next year. Shooting Guard Danny Green and the Spurs have agreed to a 4-year deal worth 45 million dollars. The move sort comes as a surprise as Green was expected to be one of the players that would be shipped in order to make some cap room for Aldridge to land in San Antonio.
Spurs are right behind Cavs as a winner. However, if they sign Aldridge, they will be the favorites for next season even possibly ahead of reigning NBA Champions Golden State Warriors.
#2 Loser: Los Angeles Lakers
Nothing seems to be going right for the Los Angeles Lakers since the Chris Paul trade that David Stern vetoed in 2011. They might not have been front runners, but they were among the teams interested and were even supposed to have a meeting with both LaMarcus Aldridge and Love. Despite being among the first scheduled to meet Aldridge, they have failed to impress the 30-year power forward and his camp.
According to reports, Aldridge loved the presentation involving the business and off-court aspects of Los Angeles, however, he wanted to see more of basketball in it. A source close to him said he has striked the Lakers off his list of teams. Wednesday went from bad to worse for the purple and gold when Love made his decision. So the franchise’s plans of a hopeful summer began with a boom at the office.
The chances of DeAndre Jordan leaving the Clippers to be a Lakers range from slim to highly unlikely especially with the Dallas Mavericks being huge frontrunners for the 26-year-old center. Landing Pistons’ free agent Greg Monroe is still a possibility, still it remains to be seen whether signing him would make a significant positive impact on the team’s season.
#1 Winner: Cleveland Cavaliers
There is a saying that goes something like this: “Don’t fix something that ain’t broken”. It might not actually be an old saying and those might not be the exact words, but a sort of mantra that has helped teams be consistently good, for example the San Antonio Spurs. After losing the 2013 NBA Finals in heartbreaking fashion to Miami Heat, the only made the one roster change during the summer and that was to bring Marco Belinelli into the mix.
The Cleveland Cavaliers might not be the Spurs but their so far trying to bring the same team that made the NBA Finals last season. They began the process before Free Agency by picking up productive center Timofey Mozgov’s team option for next season. Once the free agency began, it was clear, it was all about making sure Kevin Love re-signs with the team and once he did so, via an announcement on Players’ Tribune, the front office got down to work.
So the domino effect ensued and quickly after Love’s decision, Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Cavaliers and Iman Shumpert have agreed to a 4-year deal worth $40 million. A couple of hours after that Marc Stein tweeted news about the team and restricted free agent Thristan Thompson involved in a deal worth 80 million dollars over 5 years. This means the Cavaliers have to pay a lot of luxury tax this season but surely owner Dan Gilbert wouldn’t mind that if his half of the team that was successful last season is back. Those 3 deals makes Cavs clear and easy winners for the day.
Guess the Lakers players!
