Looming free agency assures more drama
MIAMI — Drama is never in short supply during NBA free agency.
This year will be no exception.
Case in point: A Utah fan has been lobbying Gordon Hayward to stay with the Jazz, citing a story this week about how the Massachusetts Legislature is aiming to raise taxes on those who make more than $1 million a year. That fan happens to be U.S. congressional hopeful Tanner Ainge, the son of Boston Celtics president Danny Ainge.
So, even family ties get crossed during free agency, which starts at 11 p.m. Friday, the moment players like Hayward (who became a free agent Thursday after he declined the player-option final year on his contract), Kyle Lowry, Blake Griffin, Paul Millsap and many more can start officially taking meetings and hearing pitches that will help them decide where to play next season.
Chasing the Warriors
“You never know what’s going to happen in free agency,” Miami Heat president Pat Riley said. “We’ll see what happens on July the 1st. It’s always a pretty exciting time.”
With Chris Paul traded to the Rockets, and with free-agents-to-be Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry widely believed to be locks to stay with Golden State, Hayward could be considered the top available player in free agency. He’ll meet with the Heat on Saturday, a team that will have around $35 million to spend once they officially part ways with Chris Bosh and get relief from the remainder of his contract.
No deals can be executed until July 6, but it’s likely that agreements adding up to $2 billion or more will be in place by when the moratorium ends. Everyone is chasing Golden State, and the Rockets fired the first big salvo.
Minnesota made a splash, getting Jimmy Butler on draft night. Butler says he’s recruiting more players to join him, Andrew Wiggins and KarlAnthony Towns.
The Pacers’ Paul George isn’t a free agent, and neither is Carmelo Anthony. But both could be on the move; the Pacers will likely have to trade George now to ensure they don’t lose him for nothing next summer, and Anthony could be freed by New York after the Knicks decided this week to part ways with president Phil Jackson after three futile, playoff-free, turbulence-filled seasons.
Reason for pause
There’s so much money out there to spend, thanks to the salary structure that skyrocketed when the league’s $24 billion television deal began filling the NBA coffers. It led to some huge, eye-raising deals last summer — and teams might be more cautious this summer.
“Some of the contracts were sort of out of whack,” Riley said. “From my experience with talking to a number of teams this year, those contracts are already trying to be dumped.”