Well the NBA season is barely a week over and the off-season action has been fast and furious. Although deals cannot be finalized prior to July 10th, the proposed trades resulting in verbal agreements have been plentiful. In addition to the trades, free agent signings have officially commenced and the buyers this year have made themselves known as aggressive moves have already been made.
With the biggest fish in the sea yet to commit, both Dwight Howard and Josh Smith have been generating a lot of headlines thus far. It would appear as though Howard has finished his “show me love tour” and we the waiting world should have an answer soon...maybe. Meanwhile, teams who aren’t in the Howard sweepstakes continue business as usual as they go about bettering their rosters.
The Los Angeles Clippers are one team that is trying it’s best to be better. The have a verbal commitment from Chris Paul on a $100-plus million contract, they procured the services of new head coach Doc Rivers and they just acquired J.J. Redick in a deal involving the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks. The Clippers definitely came out ahead here as Redick will be the spot-up shooter that the offence sorely missed last season. Redick will be able to space the floor and force defenses to stretch which will open up the driving lane for Paul as well as pick-and-roll opportunities in the high post.
The Phoenix Suns picked up Eric Bledsoe in this deal from Los Angeles and given that Bledsoe is in the final year of his contract, one would figure that the Suns are prepared to sign him to an extension. If this holds true and Bledsoe gets a nice new four or five year deal to be the Suns point guard of the future; the question then becomes what to do with Goran Dragic and his remaining three years and $20-plus million owing.
Staying in the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder let Kevin Martin go to unrestricted free-agency and Martin promptly signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves for for a reported four year and $28 million. The Timberwolves must be fairly certain that Andrei Kirilenko will depart as they just committed his salary to Martin.
The Oklahoma City Thunder’s nemesis resigned the biggest Thunder pest of them all in inking Tony Allen to a reported four year $20 million deal. This is a great fit for Memphis and even at $5 million per year should the need ever arise it would be easy to move Allen and that contract.
Another Thunder nemesis has resigned with the San Antonio Spurs as expected. Manu Ginobili announced that he has re-upped for another two years with the Spurs; however, terms of the deal are not yet known. Ginobili would have taken a pay-cut from his $14 million to be sure but just how much remains unknown. The Spurs have also locked up Tiago Splitter on a four year $36 million deal. Splitter was a valuable asset last season; however, $9 million annually seems a bit steep given the talent level. Splitter would have undoubtedly received interest from other teams, but I doubt salary offers would have reached that high. I dare say that the Spurs might have outbid themselves for Splitter’s services.
The New Orleans Pelicans are making some waves in the free agent waters as they waded in with a substantial four year $44 million offer to current Sacramento King restricted free agent Tyreke Evans. Now the Kings can match this offer but it seems unlikely as the contract value exceeds Evans market value. This moves makes little sense for the Pelicans as they already have Greivis Vasquez, Eric Gordon and Jrue Holiday in the backcourt. Why on earth would they commit huge dollars to such a backcourt? It just doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Over in the Eastern Conference the Brooklyn Nets have obviously made the biggest splash thus far as they pulled a sign and trade deal with the Boston Celtics for both Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. This is a bold move as the Nets are looking to become contenders immediately. Their rosters looks to be stocked but as we learned from the woes of the 2012-13 Los Angeles Lakers, team chemistry can’t be bought.
The Detroit Pistons are rumoured to be active in the market as they have made preliminary inquiries about acquiring the services of Rajon Rondo, Rudy Gay and Josh Smith. While it is unlikely that they will be successful in acquiring any of these guys, it is nonetheless entertaining to hear the rumours flying about.
It is abundantly clear that the Pistons would trade Rodney Stuckey and Charlie Villanueva for a bag of balls and some athletic tape, yet they still can’t find any takers. Joe Dumars is hoping that the rebuilding Celtics or the woeful Toronto Raptors can be swayed by the expiring contracts and might in turn be willing to part with some assets. The Pistons will continue to try to add pieces in their commitment to spending money but it remains to be seen who they can lure to the Motor City.
We will definitely be seeing some more player movement in the coming days and expect more free agent signings to become known as the July 10th deadline approaches. The world continues to wait on Dwight Howard’s decision and you can bet that once that big domino falls we should see a flurry of activity from the teams that lost out in the sweepstakes.