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With most of the All-Star-caliber free agents like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, DeMarcus Cousins and Paul George off the table within 2 days of free agency, the whirlwind start to the offseason has cooled down somewhat as teams gather their cap resources together and try to figure out a way to maximize whatever wiggle room they have - both for the short term as well as the long term.
Some teams have the cap space to pursue the remaining free agents with whatever they have, but they're electing to conserve their space for the summer of 2019, when arguably a more low-hanging fruit would be in the grasp of a lot more teams than has been this season - mainly due to the cap-space disaster signings made by franchises in 2016.
Let's take a look at the biggest events of free agency on the 7th of July.
#1 Devin Booker signs a max extension with the Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns locked up shooting guard Devin Booker to a max contract on Saturday, the team announced. Booker, 21, is fresh off a season in which he averaged 24.9 points, 4.2 and 4.7 assists per game.
Though injuries limited him to just 54 games last season, he also averaged 22.1 points in 78 games for the 2016-17 campaign. Phoenix used the No. 1 overall pick in this year's draft on center DeAndre Ayton. The Suns hope he can partner with Booker to push for a playoff spot in the loaded Western Conference.
Booker's five-year, $158 million extension is the first $100 million contract in Suns history. The Bulls and the Jazz are now the only teams yet to give out a $100 million contract, although the Jazz are likely to do so in the next couple of years for sensational rookie shooting guard Donovan Mitchell.
#2 Hornets, Magic and Bulls engage in a 3-team trade
Timofey Mozgov has been traded for the second time this summer. He's headed to Orlando with Jerian Grant. Bismack Biyombo is going to Charlotte. And Julyan Stone is headed to the Bulls.
Mozgov signed a 4-year, $64 million contract with the Lakers in the summer of 2016 that is right up there among the worst value-for-money deals going around the Association right now. Smack in the middle of the same conversation is Biyombo's 4-year, $72 million deal - the only defense for this contract being that at least Biyombo has stayed fit and been an able backup center with the ability to protect the rim behind the porous Nik Vucevic.
It is unclear what exact benefit any of these three teams reaped from swapping these albatross-neck deals, but it is clear that both Mozgov and Biyombo are unlikely to start in their new environments as well.
#3 Al Jefferson moves to China
An old-school center of a dying breed but with no future in the league now, Al Jefferson has seen the signs in the past 2 seasons, and is ready to move out of the NBA to step into the CBA instead. He reached a buyout agreement with the Pacers on Saturday, and is expected to still be available as a mid-season free agent signing after the CBA season ends.
Jonas Jerebko, a Utah Jazz big drafted in 2009 and who's played for the Pistons, Celtics and then the Jazz since last season, reached a buyout agreement of his own with the front office. Jerebko will now be joining the Golden State Warriors. He has the technical ability to be a passable center, although his natural position is as a power forward.
Jerebko is also a capable shooter, and among his best playoff performances were one during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals in 2017 as the Celtics beat the Cavs with an Avery Bradley buzzer-beater at the Quicken Loans Arena.
#4 Detroit Pistons sign Jose Calderon and Glenn Robinson III
Jose Calderon, who was an important rotation member for the Cavs for most of their regular season campaign and was their starting point guard until the George Hill trade, reached an agreement to return to the Detroit Pistons on an undisclosed deal.
Calderon, a 13-year NBA veteran, returns for his second stint as a Piston. The 6-3, 200-pound guard played in 28 games for the Pistons during the 2012-13 season after he was acquired from the Toronto Raptors in a three-team trade which saw the Pistons send Tayshaun Prince and Austin Daye to Memphis and the Grizzlies trade Rudy Gay and Hamed Haddadi to the Toronto Raptors. Calderon averaged 11.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 6.6 assists for the Pistons.
2017 Dunk Contest winner Glenn Robinson III was another wing player signed by the Pistons. Robinson III was unable to crack a stacked wing rotation for the Pacers last season.
