NBA Free Agency starts today, June 30, at 6pm. Hundreds of millions of dollars are going to be guaranteed across the league within minutes of the bell, even if no deal can be official for another week. That does not mean that things haven’t happened already. Not only was the draft last week, but we have already seen trades and injuries that have reshaped the league with likely more to come. Let’s get you ready for the ball Cinderella!
Catastrophic Injuries
I hate to bring it up, but the most important things to happen to this offseason happened during the regular season, key players across the league got VERY hurt. The following players will likely miss significant time this season and has forced their teams to alter their plans.
- Dejounte Murray – Torn Achillies tendon in February. If everything goes right, he could be back by the All-Star Game on February 15.
- Tyrese Haliburton – Torn Achillies tendon in Game 7 of the Finals. I don’t think there could possibly have been a worse time for him to have this injury. Not only did he miss the game, but there is basically no way he could recover in time to play this season.
- Jayson Tatum – Only slightly better than Haliburton, Tatum tore his Achillies tendon in the second round of the playoffs. He is likely out for the entire regular season but could possibly make it back for the Playoffs if that is what he and Boston wants for him.
- Damian Lillard – Lillard tore his Achillies tendon in the first round of the playoffs. In theory he could make it back for the playoffs, but all the guys above are in their mid-20s. Lillard is about to turn 35. Not only does that make recovery that much harder, but returning to peak physical form, though not a guarantee for anyone, is much harder for someone at his age.
- Kyrie Irving – Torn ACL in March. Like Lillard, there is no guarantee of a full return to form for the 33 year old Irving, but he is aiming to be back before the All-Star break, sometime in January.
- Joel Embiid – Joel is still not fully recovered from a knee injury suffered in the 2023-34 season that caused him to miss most of last season. There is no guarantee that he will ever be fully recovered or even recovered enough to reliably play again.
Notable Transactions
The offseason unofficially kicked off with the Desmond Bane to Orlando trade about 3 weeks ago. A lot has happened since then including a bunch of extensions that were signed over the weekend. Let’s catch you up…
- Orlando trades for Desmond Bane, Memphis gets extra first round picks
- Houston acquires Kevin Durant for Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks
- Houston resigns Fred Van Vleet, 2/$50m
- Houston resigns Jabari Smith, 5/$122m
- Atlanta acquires an unprotected 2026 pick from New Orleans (best of NO or MIL)
- Atlanta acquires Kristaps Porzingis from Boston
- Boston acquires Anfernee Simons from Portland for Jrue Holiday
- Washington acquires CJ McCollum from New Orleans (for Jordan Poole! LOL)
- Minnesota resigns Naz Reid, 5/$125m
- Minnesota resigns Julius Randle, 3/$100m
- LA Clippers resign James Harden, 2/$81.5m
- Dallas resigns Kyrie Irving, 3/$119m
- Charlotte acquires Collin Sexton
- Portland buys out Deandre Ayton
Teams With Real Money to Spend
- Brooklyn $35m – They are the only team on the board that could make a serious run at anyone’s free agent without a sign and trade. If your team has a free agent that you are worried might go elsewhere, Brooklyn is the boogieman.
- Detroit $17m to $14.1m – They have their own free agents that they could let walk and that’s how they facilitate between having a little extra room and just having the non-taxpayer mid-level. We’ll have to see how they want to operate.
- Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Houston, Memphis, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Portland, Sacramento, San Antonio, Utah, and Washington $14.1m – All of these teams will likely have access to the nontaxpayer mid-level exception of $14.1m
Teams With No Money to Spend So They Might Make Some Unexpected Trades
- Boston – They are no longer the 2nd Apron horror show they were a few weeks ago, but Boston is still probably open for business. At first, I thought the Derrick White and Jaylen Brown rumors were silly, but White is 31 on Wednesday and will NEVER have a value this high. The Celtics might be secretly in the business of finding the NEXT Derrick White rather than continue to pay the old one. As for Brown on the other hand will be 29 during the season and will probably hold his value for a little longer, but it’s not out of the question.
- Cleveland – They are firmly in the second apron with 3 max contracts and 2 more $20m guys. As great as they were last year, a potential $100m tax bill might motivate them to move Darius Garland.
- Denver – The Nuggets have shed role players year after year, but can’t seem to ever find too much wiggle room. They would love to get rid of Michael Porter.
- New York – Mikal Bridges is up for an extension. While they aren’t too expensive this season, they will be next year. Anyone other than Brunson is a possible trade candidate for a roster reshuffle.
- Phoenix – At least the other second apron team, Cleveland, is competitive. This roster is a mess. They are like 99% not trading Devin Booker, but they could reroute Jalen Green after his trade from Houston. Could this be the time to finally get rid of Bradley Beal?
- Toronto – The guy who put together this mess of a roster, Masai Ujiri, recently parted ways with the organization. Left in his wake is an expensive starting 5 that makes sense positionally, but is just a hodge podge of NBA castoffs and Scottie Barnes. Why in the world did they trade for Brandon Ingram? The worst of it is that I don’t think anyone else in the league wants RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, or Ingram.
Key Free Agents
- Myles Turner – There’s no way he is leaving Indiana. They could squeeze him considering only Brooklyn could offer him more money, but I doubt they want to squeeze him after their run this season. It feels like he is 35, but he is only 29.
James Harden- Jonathan Kuminga (R) – Has anyone had a more tumultuous first couple years with a team despite nothing happening? It seems like everyone considers him a potential future star except for Steve Kerr. I have no idea if he is good or not.
- Quentin Grimes (R) – His camp says they want $25m per season. That is not happening. No teams besides the Nets and Sixers can offer more than $14.1m.
- Guerschon Yabusele – He was just too damn good this year. It is possible a team like the Spurs could give him the full mid-level.
- Cam Thomas (R) – No one gets a bucket and gives a bucket like Cam Thomas. It is probable that the Nets resign him because I don’t think anyone is giving him the mid-level. He would be a fun 6th man in Orlando though.
- Santi Aldama (R) – He is an up and coming per-36 darling who some team is going to bet on. He is 6’11” and can shoot.
Julius Randle- Josh Giddey (R) – The Bulls are going to give him so much more money than he deserves and continue their putrid pos-up in purgatory. I still can’t believe they gave up Alex Caruso for him.
- Brook Lopez – His time in Milwaukee has likely come to an end, but we all thought that last time too so who knows. He could easily go ring chasing anywhere he wants.
- Al Horford – JUST GO AWAY ALREADY!!!
And Finally, the Max Extensions
Some guys like Jokic and SGA can sign early extensions if they want to right now, but it is not a big deal if they don’t. By extending early, they can only sign 3 year deals. If they wait a year, they can sign 4 year deals for even bigger slices of the salary cap pie. They will be offered, but it is completely up to them. Here are other guys who might level up this summer
- Mikal Bridges – The Knicks gave up a TON to get him last year, but the way the season ended, they are probably skeptical about giving him a max contract. Would he take less to stay with his buddies Brunson and Hart?
- De’Aaron Fox – Do the Spurs want to give him the max after drafting Dylan Harper and having ROY Stephen Castle? Probably. Still, a 4/$229m contract is quite the commitment. Spurs are in a good position to pay it though.
- Trae Young – Zack Lowe has been beating the drum that Atlanta is not going to offer him the max, 4/$229m. If they don’t, his days in Atlanta could be numbered.
- Josh Giddey – Whatever he gets paid will not be worth it.
- The 2022 Draft Class
- Paolo Banchero – He is going to sign a max deal with Orlando
- Chet Holmgren – There is a possibility that he signs for a little less than the max, but I doubt it
Jabari Smith Jr- Shaedon Sharpe – Portland will probably try to re-up him in the 5/$150m range
- Dyson Daniels – exploded onto the scene last year and was a legit threat for DPOY
- Jalen Williams – Much like Chet Holmgren, the Thunder will try to convince Williams to take less than the max to keep the team together. We’ll see.
The news is going to be coming in hot tonight at 6pm sharp so keep an eye out for Sixers news from me.
The Bobby Marks article about the cap space left for every team saved me like 90 minutes of rummaging through Spotrac.com. Not that I didn’t do my daily rummaging anyway.
Philly Front Office 
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