While everyone else is getting ready for their Canada Day (or July 4) long weekend, the basketball world is at the starting line of the 2016-17 season, champing at the bit to strike first in free agency, leverage the new wheelbarrows full of cap space, and ultimately change the landscape of the NBA in short order. Free agency began at the stroke of midnight, and with it we enter a pretty strange new frontier: The New TV Money Era, where a ludicrous national rights deal will push the NBA’s salary cap from $70 million to $94 million, based on the latest reports.
We won’t know the exact cap level until July 7, when the league’s free agent moratorium is lifted and all of the moves you’ll hear rumored over the next week can become official. That won’t stop teams from being incredibly active, and you’re going to see some insane numbers being thrown around.
Over the weekend, we’ll have daily open threads to discuss the latest rumors and signings, and of course, we’ll make separate posts if the Raptors do anything. For now, consider the open thread a means of discussing all the insanity.
Resources
If you haven’t yet, go and read my free agency primer, which goes into a lot of the details about the Raptors’ cap situations and what they can and can’t do. My follow-up mailbag is up now, too.
As a quick refresher, this is what the Raptors’ cap sheet looks at right this second:
To help calibrate with the new cap money, here’s a chart comparing what different salaries will take up in the cap this year compared to last year. Basically, you need to change your benchmark for what $10 million means, or how valuable an asset on a cheap (looking at you, Patrick Patterson) or rookie deal is.
Raptors rumors
Earlier
*DeMar DeRozan is not taking meetings with other teams initially, and the expectation is that he’ll have an agreement with the Raptors in short order (though it may make sense for him to wait to sign to preserve cap space). He’s meeting with the Raptors sometime today.
***DeRozan is re-signing at 5 years, $139M.
*Power forward is a stated area of need, but the asking price was too high on Serge Ibaka.
*Nerlens Noel, however, may be a more reasonable target, and the Raptors have interest.
New
*Here’s some more on both the Ibaka and Noel fronts from Bruce Arthur:
Raptors GM Masai Ujiri is said to believe he can get Ibaka in free agency next year if he desires, but the big man’s flatlining rebounding and shot-blocking indicate that he may not be the player he once was.
Talks for Philadelphia power forward Nerlens Noel, the sixth pick in the draft two years ago, fell apart on draft night — per sources, Terrence Ross would have gone the other way, but the Raptors apparently asked for more. Either way, Ross is in play. A lot of pieces could be in play, for the right return.
*Marc Spears and Sam Amick are reporting that DeRozan’s deal may be closer to $145M than $137.5-139, but Arthur and Grange have held firm at $137.5. It’s possible that reported difference could be due to incentives in the contract that would set the initial cap total at $137.5M with the upside to reach $145M. By adding incentives deemed to be “not likely to be achieved,” they won’t count against the cap until realized. Things like certain point or assist plateaus, All-NBA inclusion, MVP, and so on are things that could fall under this category.
*Dwane Casey was spotted with Meyers Leonard in L.A. but there’s probably nothing to it.
*The Raptors met with Ryan Anderson today.
Reported agreements/close – Friday
Re-sign
Mike Conley – Memphis – 5 years, $153M (full max)
DeMar DeRozan – Toronto – 5 years, $137.5-139M (90.9% of max)
Andre Drummond – Detroit – 5 years, $128-130M (full max, with player option on year five)
Bradley Beal – Washington – 5 years, $128M (full max)
Nicolas Batum – Charlotte – 5 years, $120M (78.5% of max)
Hassan Whiteside – Miami – 4 years, $98.6M (full max)
Evan Fournier – Orlando – 5 years, $85M
Dwight Howard – Atlanta – 3 years, $70.5M
Kent Bazemore – Atlanta – 4 years, $70M (with player option on year four)
Jordan Clarkson – L.A. Lakers – 4 years, $50M
Darrell Arthur – Denver – 3 years, $23M
New homes
Chandler Parsons – Memphis – 4 years, $94M (full max)
Evan Turner – Portland – 4 years, $70M
Joakim Noah – New York – 4 years, $72M
Timofey Mozgov – L.A. Lakers – 4 years, $64M
Solomon Hill – New Orleans – 4 years, $52M
Matthew Dellavedova – Milwaukee – 4 years, $38.4M (offer sheet)
Jeremy Lin – Brooklyn – 3 years, $36M
E’Twaun Moore – New Orleans – 4 years, $34M
Jared Dudley – Phoenix – 3 years, $30M
Al Jefferson – Indiana – 3 years, $30M
Mirza Teletovic – Milwaukee – 3 years, $30M
D.J. Augustin – Orlando – 4 years, $29M
Jerryd Bayless – Philadelphia – 3 years, $27M
Ish Smith – Detroit – 3 years, $18M
Jeff Green – Orlando – 1 year, $15M
Justin Hamilton – Brooklyn – 2 years, $6M
