Limited salary pot led to early flurry of deals
In the opening three hours of NBA free agency 2018, deals were reached at a rapid pace.
Nineteen players in that span agreed to deals, from major (a four-year commitment from Paul George to stay in Oklahoma City) to minor (a one-year deal for Derrick Rose to stay in Minnesota).
What did the flurry of early activity mean?
Players wanted to lock in on money before it dries up, because that’s what is going to happen this summer.
Money is tight this offseason. Not many teams have the kind of salarycap space to give out big contracts. Oh, there are a few teams (Los Angeles Lakers, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Dallas) with money to spend, but this isn’t like the summer of 2016 when the salary cap jumped from $70 million in 2015-16 to $94.1 million in 2016-17.
The cap for 2018-19 is $101.86 million, up from $99.09 million last season. Teams have limited flexibility to spend if they are over the salary cap or luxury tax ($123.7 million for 2018-19), and a handful of teams with money to spend — especially those rebuilding — are prudent, looking ahead to future seasons. LeBron James will sign for a big number, as likely will DeMarcus Cousins, even if both are short-term deals.
After the flurry of deals were reached early Sunday, the rest of the day was quiet as teams and agents mapped out stage two of free agency.
The restricted free agent market will be interesting, because of several young players — Clint Capela, Julius Randle, Aaron Gordon, Jabari Parker, Marcus Smart and Zach LaVine. Re- stricted free agents can sign an offer sheet with another team, but the team they played for last season has the right to match the deal and keep the player.
It’s possible one or more of those players do not get the offer sheet they want or an offer from another team at all, thus not getting the lucrative contract they sought. On Twitter, LaVine laughed at the idea that he isn’t worth more than $15 million a season.
After the restricted free agents and a couple of other unrestricted free agents (Tyreke Evans, Derrick Favors), it will be a scramble to secure money and it will be a buyer’s market allowing teams to sign players to valuable contracts. Agents have work to do in the remainder of free agency.
Another reason teams are protecting salary cap space: The league informed teams in a memo that the salary projection for 2019-20 is $109 million and for 2020-21 it is $116 million. Those are substantial increases compared to what happened between last season and next season.
Also, next summer is shaping up to be another big free agent year. Players such as Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, Klay Thompson, Jimmy Butler, Al Horford, Kevin Love, Tobias Harris, Khris Middleton, Ricky Rubio, Kemba Walker and Jeff Teague will be available in unrestricted free agency along with a high-end class of restricted free agents starting with Karl-Anthony Towns and Kristaps Porzingis.
So on Sunday, agents and players went to work early, reaching deals and securing money, and while some of the transactions might not look significant compared to the big money thrown around two seasons ago or even last season in the first day of free agency, some players wanted to make sure they got paid.