The insanity of the start of free agency appears to have died down some. We went a full day without a ridiculous Lakers or Warriors signing, and there’s a sense that the league seems to be re-calibrating in the wake of such a major shake up out of the gate on July 1. That, or a market that projected to be very cool initially and looked quite temperate in the opening hours has, as expected, grown quite frigid.
To wit, of the 51 deals that have gone down (excluding rookie signings), only 12 have been for $25 million in total or more, and two of those contain unguaranteed portions. What’s more, 32 of those deals have been one-year contracts or contracts one side can opt out of after one year, a move that could be mutually beneficial as teams look to roll cap space over to 2019 and players look to re-enter what should be a much friendlier market as the over-spending of 2016 starts to come off of the league’s books. There have been big deals, sure, and even some bad ones. All told, though, the initial flurry perhaps confused that the market really hasn’t proven robust. Even Fred VanVleet’s two-year, $18-million deal already looks like a smart bet by the point guard, given that not a single restricted free agent has received an offer sheet.
This could all play in Toronto’s favor a bit. They don’t have a lot of financial flexibility without making a trade, even if they decide to lean a little more all-in than they already were in the post-LeBron Eastern Conference landscape. Short of a trade, they have the taxpayer mid-level and minimum deals to offer, and a cold market could improve the relative value of those deals on the market if Toronto can sell the situation well. That might mean looking outside of their three free agents – Lucas Nogueira, Lorenzo Brown, and Malcolm Miller – or retaining one and adding another piece, or shaking up the back end of the bench on the discount market altogether. It makes sense that they’ve waited to make that splash until the market-open frenzy dissipated.
RAPTORS MOVES
RESOURCES & REQUIRED READING
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. I’ve also written a bunch on cap specifics and the offseason in general. Hopefully somewhere within these links is an answer to any question you may have:
- Here at Raptors Republic…
- At The Athletic (RR readers can get 20 percent off a subscription here)…
- A salary cap Q&A as a follow-up to my primer
- A deep explainer on Fred VanVleet’s restricted free agency
- What a cold market could mean for the Raptors’ bargain bin options
- Which Raptors are most likely to stay and go
- What went into the decisions on qualifying offers
As a quick refresher, this is what the Raptors’ cap sheet looks at right this second:
To help calibrate for free agency, here’s a chart containing all of the maximums and exception amounts, based on the new $101,869,000 salary cap (note that for the minimum salaries, those deals can run longer if cap space is used, but they max out at two years if a team is using the minimum player salary exception):
Here are a few other very useful resources:
- Mark Deeks’ offseason manifesto
- Jared Dubin’s free agency guide
- Jeff Siegel’s 30 teams, 30 days series
- The Dunc’d On podcast’s mock offseason
- Zach Lowe’s pulse-of-the-league primer
- Basketball Insiders’ team salary pages
- Larry Coon’s CBAFAQ
RAPTORS RUMORS
A reminder: There is a ton of information to sort through this time of year. Some of it will be legitimate, some of it will be misinformation. Always consider the source, their track record, and why a player/agent/team may want information out in the world.
Tuesday
- As I noted on Twitter yesterday, Nick Nurse was overseas with Jonas Valanciunas and Jakob Poeltl as they participated in FIBA qualifiers. A random guess: He was also there speaking to some international coaches about joining his bench. Nurse was very in favor of adding Sarunas Jasikevicius to his staff, per a source, before Jasikevicius opted to stay in Lithuania with a major raise, and he’s stated his preference for experienced hands. Sergio Scariolo, Spain’s national team head coach, was linked to the Raptors earlier in the process. Another name to watch might be Andrea Trinchieri, who earned rave reviews for making the most of a small-budget situation with Brose Bamberg, similar to how Nurse first earned his reputation in England. Trinchieri also has a pretty robust resume, having won titles in Russia, Italy, and Germany, winning Coach of the Year three times across those levels and EuroCup. He’s also a free agent. Nate Bjorkgren and Matt Brase are two other names to watch as that search unfolds.
Wrap-up so far
- There hasn’t been much outside of the Fred VanVleet deal, save for continued rumblings that everything – and everyone – is on the table for the Raptors.
- They were also said to have expressed interest in Ersan Ilyasova, who wound up back in Milwaukee for the 20th time on a three-year, $21-million deal the Raptors couldn’t beat on money or situation (Ilyasova still lives there).
- It really seems like maybe some of the like was waiting for the market to re-calibrate following the Lakers madness and the first wave of signings. It’s been boring from an Eastern Conference perspective.
REPORTED AGREEMENTS/CLOSE – WEDNESDAY
The following deals have either been reported as done or in the finalization stages. Until noon on July 6, nothing is absolutely locked in (remember DeAndre Jordan?), but if it’s on this list, it’s done per a reporter on the trusted list.
Re-sign
- Amir Johnson, 76ers, 1 year, $2.4M (Adrian Wojnarowski)
- Raymond Felton, Thunder, 1 year, $2.4M (Adrian Wojnarowski)
New homes
- To come…
Trades & Other
- To come…
Deals from Sunday-Tuesday
The following deals were reported prior to Wednesday.
- Chris Paul, Rockets, 4 years, $160M (Adrian Wojnarowski)
- Devin Booker, Suns, 5 years, $158M extension (expected this weekend) (Adrian Wojnarowski)
- LeBron James, 4 years (3+PO), $153.3M (Klutch Sports)
- Nikola Jokic, Nuggets, 5 years, $148M (Adrian Wojnarowski)
- Paul George, Thunder, 4 years (3+PO), $137M (Adrian Wojnarowski)
- Aaron Gordon, Magic, 4 years, $64M (Shams Charania)
- Kevin Durant, Warriors, 2 years (1+PO), $61.5M (Shams Charania)
- Will Barton, Nuggets, 4 years (3+PO), $54M (Chris Mannix and Chris Haynes)
- Derrick Favors, Jazz, 2 years (2nd unguaranteed), $36M (Shams Sharania)
- Dante Exum, Jazz, 3 years, $33M (Adrian Wojnarowski)
- Jerami Grant, Thunder, 3 years (2+PO), $27M (Adrian Wojnarowski)
- Avery Bradley, Clippers, 2 years (2nd low guarantee), $25M (Shams Charania)
- DeAndre Jordan, Mavericks, 1 year, $24M (Marc Stein)
- Doug McDermott, Pacers, 3 years, $22M (Adrian Wojnarowski)
- Ersan Ilyasova, Bucks, 3 years (3rd unguaranteed), $21M (Adrian Wojnarowski)
- Julius Randle, Pelicans, 2 years (1+PO), $18M (Adrian Wojnarowski)
- Fred VanVleet, Raptors, 2 years, $18M (Shams Charania)
- Joe Harris, Nets, 2 years, $16M (Adrian Wojnarowski)
- Trevor Ariza, Suns, 1 year, $15M (Shams Charania)
- Tyreke Evans, Pacers, 1 year, $12M (Shams Charania)
- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Lakers, 1 year, $12M (Chris Haynes)
- J.J. Redick, 76ers, 1 year, $12M (Adrian Wojnarowski)
- Marco Belinelli, Spurs, 2 years, $12M (Adrian Wojnarowski)
- Aron Baynes, Celtics, 2 years (1+PO), $11M (Shams Charania)
- Rudy Gay, Spurs, 1 year, $10M (Shams Charania)
- Rajon Rondo, Lakes, 1 year, $9M (Sam Amick and Adrian Wojnarowski)
- Glenn Robinson III, Pistons, 2 years (1+TO), $8.3M, (Shams Charania)
- Mario Hezonja, Knicks, 1 year, $6.5M (Adrian Wojnarowski)
- Seth Curry, Blazers, 2 years (1+PO), $6M (Adrian Wojnarowski)
- Anthony Tolliver, Timberwolves, 1 year, $5.8M (Shams Charania)
- Dwight Howard, Wizards, 1 year, $5.4M (Jared Weiss)
- DeMarcus Cousins, Warriors, 1 year, $5.3M (Shams Charania and Adrian Wojnarowski)
- Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks, 1 year, $5M (Shams Charania)
- Lance Stephenson, Lakers, 1 year, $4.5M (Shams Charania and Chris Haynes)
- Raul Neto, Jazz, 2 years (2nd unguaranteed), $4.4M (Adrian Wojnarowski)
- Ed Davis, Nets, 1 year, $4.4M (Adrian Wojnarowski)
- Nerlens Noel, Thunder, 2 years (1+PO), $3.3M (Shams Charania)
- Derrick Jones Jr., Heat, 2 years, $3.2M (Ira Winderman)
- Elfrid Payton, Pelicans, 1 year, $2.7M (Adrian Wojnarowski)
- Jeff Green, Wizards, 1 year, $2.5M (David Aldridge)
- Jose Calderon, Pistons, 1 year, $2.4M (Chris Haynes)
- JaVale McGee, Lakers, 1 year, $2.4M (Chris Haynes)
- Gerald Green, Rockets, 1 year, $2.4M (Mark Berman and Shams Charania)
- Derrick Rose, Timberwolves, 1 year, $2.4M (Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charania)
- Omri Casspi, Grizzlies, 1 year, $2.2M (Adrian Wojnarowski)
- Michael Carter-Williams, Rockets, 1 year, $1.8M (Adrian Wojnarowski)
- Mike Scott, Clippers, 1 year, $1.7M (Adrian Wojnarowski)
- Kevon Looney, Warriors, 1 year, $1.6M (Chris Haynes)
- Nik Stauskas, Blazers, 1 year, $1.6M (Chris Haynes)
- Luke Kornet, Knicks, 1 year, $1.4M (Marc Berman)
- Brad Wanamaker, Celtics, 1 year, $838K (Adrian Wojnarowski)
- The Pacers released Al Jefferson
- The Lakers renounced Julius Randle
- The Wizards claimed Thomas Bryan off waivers from the Lakers
- The 76ers acquired Wilson Chandler, a 2021 second-round pick, and the right to swap 2022 second-round picks from the Nuggets for “minimal” cash consideration. (Shams Charania, Adrian Wojnarowski, and Jake Fischer)
- The Nets will buy out Dwight Howard once that trade becomes official after the moratorium
