NBA FREE AGENCY

SportsBeat!

Written by Aaron Cantin

NBA free-agency began a bit later than usual (yes we are still suffering the ripple effects of two shortened NBA seasons due to the coronavirus pandemic) but it was worth the wait. Some major dominoes fell in the early hours that will help determine what the 2021-22 NBA season will look like. Saying this, there are still some notable players who have yet to find homes. I will provide a quick recap and a grade for the players who have already signed and will look ahead and give my best prediction as to where the big remaining names will end up.

Source: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

Signings

Kyle Lowry to the Heat

Damn, this one hurts. Lowry is going to Miami in a three-year deal with a sign-and-trade involved. According to Woj, the deal is around $90 million. Lowry was rumored to be headed to Miami a few days prior to free agency opening, even as other teams were expected to pursue the guard. Dallas, New Orleans, and Los Angeles were other notable names. With Lowry in Miami, the Heat are expected to bring back most of the group that went on an unexpected run to the NBA Finals in the Orlando bubble. Getting a veteran guard with championship experience is always a good thing. Butler has also been very vocal about wanting to play with Lowry for many years. He will finally get his chance and I expect big results.

Grade: A

DeMar DeRozan to the Bulls

This one surprised me. DeRozan is headed to Chicago in a sign-and-trade deal with the Spurs. The guard has a three-year, $85 million deal which will be well worth it. DeRozan is a good piece to have to take some scoring pressure off Zach LaVine, but the Bulls have to be careful about giving up future assets for a team that hasn’t shown it can contend yet. Chicago is building something special though and can use DeRozan’s veteran presence. You know what you’re going to get from DeRozan and at the very least, Chicago will be in the postseason for the first time in a while. It's not so much the new signings that are the question for the Bulls but rather the roster built around them.

Grade: B

Chris Paul to the Suns

Paul is coming back to Phoenix on a four-year deal worth up to $120 million. This could be ugly on the back end of the deal as Paul will be 40 when it expires, but the Suns just made the NBA Finals after a 10-year playoff drought. There’s no reason they wouldn’t want Paul back and there’s no reason Paul would attempt to find another situation after making the Finals. For Paul, this is an A+ deal. For the Suns, however, it is extremely risky. It's a move they had to make or the fan base would riot. The Suns have the potential to be very good for the next four years but so do many other Western conference teams. It's a bit too long for my blood.

Grade: B

Lonzo Ball to the Bulls

Who saw this coming? Not me. But good in Chicago for making it happen. The Bulls needed a point guard and reportedly tried to get Ball at the deadline, but the New Orleans Pelicans were not dealing. This was not a well-kept secret around the league and Ball is headed to Chicago in a sign-and-trade. The value is decent at $85 million over four years, especially if Ball keeps shooting from behind the arc the way he did last season. If he, Zach LaVine, and DeRozan work well together, watch out for this Bulls team.

Grade: A

Mike Conley to the Jazz

It's a guard’s league and this contract is just another example. Conley returned to the franchise on a three-year deal and hopes to be part of a championship team next season. The Jazz was the West’s No. 1 seed this past season but had some bad injury luck and ultimately got bounced by the Los Angeles Clippers in the second round. Conley was hurt for most of that series and feels he could’ve been the difference for his team. With Donovan Mitchell on the rise, it makes sense for the Jazz to bring Conley back at a fairly reasonable price. But doing what they did all of last season for a second time is a huge test. Is Conley really good enough to put the Jazz over the edge? To me, he is not efficient enough and needs the ball more to be a real threat.

Grade: C+

Top Remaining Free-Agents

Those are the big dogs that are locked up. Let’s take a look at the most notable names still available. This list may surprise you.

Kawhi Leonard

Why isn't it a bigger deal that a top-five player in the league is still a free agent? Because that's how convinced everyone is he is re-signing in L.A. Leonard's résumé speaks for itself. He is a two-time Finals MVP. He will also almost certainly re-sign with the Los Angeles Clippers after opting out of a $36 million option, but it is at least interesting that he will reportedly meet with other teams and has yet to commit to his incumbent club. Most rivals would bend over backward to land Leonard, regardless of whether his ACL surgery keeps him out all of next season.

This is most likely just a staring contest between Leonard, who understands that the investment ownership made in him is contingent upon his return, and the Clippers, who know they still have control over any sign-and-trade agreement their superstar might seek. In the end, Leonard will get what he wants out of Steve Ballmer's deep pockets because the alternative is a long-term future short of championship aspiration.

Reggie Jackson

This list falls off dramatically from Leonard to Jackson. Despite that, Jackson can still be valuable for contenders. Once Leonard went down in the Western Conference finals, Jackson was the second-best player behind Paul George on a Clippers team that came within two wins of the Finals. Over the final eight games of the playoffs, Jackson averaged 21.4 points on 49/37/86 shooting splits, reaffirming his status as one of the league's most efficient scorers in isolation. He should be due a significant raise from his minimum salary.

Dennis Schroder

After finishing runner-up in the 2020 Sixth Man of the Year race, the Los Angeles Lakers sought Schroder's services as a third option next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis. That partnership yielded unproductive results. With James and Davis in and out of the lineup, Schroder struggled to establish a consistent role, and he disappeared in the playoffs. There is reason to believe he can return to form in the right situation but it won't be in Los Angeles. I see Schroder coming to the East and earning a pretty penny while doing so. The potential for Schroder to be a bust-player in a couple of years is way too high for me to take him seriously though.

Lauri Markkanen

The big-man from the Bulls still does not get enough respect in my opinion. Markkanen has played for three different coaches in four seasons on a Chicago Bulls roster in constant flux. His true potential is still untapped. He is a 7-footer and career 40% shooter on 6.1 3-point attempts per game. If Markkanen can find a base level of defensive competence, he holds serious value at age 24. Sign him up now.

Kelly Oubre Jr.

There are many reasons to like Oubre. His length and athleticism make him a versatile defender, and he looks the part of a valuable weapon on the wing, but his career 33% 3-point shooting is a major concern. If you cannot make a leap in that regard while playing in the space provided by Stephen Curry's brilliance, then what chance do you have elsewhere? If Golden State lets him go, that's three teams in three years. I think Golden State will walk away from the pretty boy.