Players not only get to pick a team but sometimes their teammates
Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving teamed up awhile back to be sure they’d literally team up in the future.
Jimmy Butler took a smaller paycheck to leave Philly and join the Heat — a team he’s been interested in for some time.
Kawhi Leonard has three teams sitting on pins and needles awaiting a decision from him before they can move on to other targets.
When it comes to NBA roster construction, the ball is definitely in the free agents’ court.
If this time of year reminds us of anything, it’s that NBA players are in charge in this
league. They not only can decide where they should play but who should play with them.
In addition, players have found a way to control the messaging when they switch teams.
And all the while, the world is watching the NBA in July just as much as it does in December.
The highly anticipated, always thrilling free agency period started at 5 p.m. Sunday, and within seconds, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski started firing off a dozen tweets outlining deals for several top-shelf players.
Tampering rules were definitely broken. Meetings weren’t even supposed to start until that deadline.
And conversations between athletes were clearly conducted long before then. In some cases, years before.
Teams are still preparing presentations, working to lure the league’s brightest stars. But a lot of players’ minds are made up long before that process even starts.
In the case of Durant and Irving, who are joining forces in Brooklyn — though probably not until the 2020-21 season, when Durant is projected to return from a ruptured Achilles tendon —the decision to play together started before last season, according to a Bleacher Report article by Howard Beck. The team they’d play for didn’t matter as much as the fact they’d mesh their talents and try to win a title together.
Knicks fans hoped the duo would end up in New York. There was a chance they’d unite in Boston. But Brooklyn made it work and landed two of the summer’s hottest commodities.
Butler was the Rockets’ biggest target in free agency. General manager Daryl Morey and Co. no doubt were planning to roll out the red carpet to entice the Houston native.
They didn’t even get the chance.
Butler’s interest in Miami was publicized long before Sunday. And some back-and-forth on Twitter with former Heat star Dwyane Wade (like Butler, a Marquette product) made it seem like Jimmy Buckets was pretty settled on the idea of heading to South Beach.
He even left money on the table in Philadelphia to make it happen.
The other top available player is Leonard, who is coming off an NBA championship with Toronto. Instead of making a quick decision and announcing it when the clock struck 5 on Sunday, he is holding three teams hostage. The Raptors want to keep the player who led them to their first title, while the two Los Angeles teams are holding out hope the star will return to play for one of his hometown teams.
All three teams are in a holding pattern while they await his decision. His power over all three is something to behold. The two that don’t land Leonard might be letting a lot of time go by without making any big deals. Depending on how long he takes, they may be scrambling to pull something off.
The Lakers already landed Anthony Davis, a player Lakers star LeBron James made clear he wanted on the roster. (Davis won’t be a free agent until next summer, but he had already made it clear he wouldn’t re-sign with the Pelicans, forcing their hand.)
The Rockets saw player relationships — particularly the one between Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony — come into play last offseason when the team signed Anthony. (Let the record show these pairings don’t always work out.)
Several years ago, James recruited Chris Bosh to Miami. He’d later help convince Shane Battier and Ray Allen to join the Heat.
A few years later, there was a very entertaining Twitter exchange among players from the Clippers and Mavericks as both teams tried to get DeAndre Jordan.
Players recruiting other players is just as important (if not more so) than owners and general managers doing so.
Players have their reasons.
There’s ring-chasing. It’s why Durant went to Golden State and upset the entire NBA as he did. It’s why Irving wants the shot to play alongside him.
There’s chemistry. If guys are really good friends, they want to be around each other.
There’s location. Miami and Los Angeles are great places to live. It doesn’t take a lot of convincing to get someone to play in either locale.
For whatever reasons, the really good NBA players are flexing their power and choosing who they want to play with and where.
As this trend continues, free agency will remain one of the most compelling parts on the NBA calendar, keeping the league in the spotlight year-round.