July 5 Free Agency Open Thread

Raymond Felton and Amir Johnson. That’s it. With all due respect to Johnson, who is a long-time favorite and among the best humans out there, that is a profoundly underwhelming day of signings early in free agency, even on the American holiday for July 4. Sure, it’s usually the quietest day of the moratorium, but two deals at the veteran minimum? Last year, there were seven deals on July 4, including the Gordon Hayward blockbuster and Patrick Patterson heading to Oklahoma City. This was next to nothing. And hey, it’s fine. The heavy lifting was done July 1 and 2, and the rest of the free agent class isn’t exactly worth approaching super-aggressively. I’m sure U.S. reporters appreciated the day mostly off. Maybe even Woj had time for a BBQ instead of whatever NASA-issued meal replacement pills he normally exists on.

With such a quiet day heading into the end of the moratorium, I thought it was worth a look at some interesting free agent facts so far (based on my own tracking, so apologies if they’re off a bit):

• There have been 53 non-rookie deals given out.
• Only 12 have been for $25 million or more in total, and only 10 have that much guaranteed.
• There have been 34 one-year deals.
• Eight teams still have cap space, but only Atlanta and Sacramento currently have $10 million or more.
• Five teams, including the Raptors, are already into the luxury tax.
• There are the following exceptions out there (teams with the non-taxpayer can opt to use the tax-payer to avoid the hard cap):
  • Room: ATL, DAL, IND, PHX, SAC
  • Taxpayer MLE: DEN, OKC, TOR
  • Non-taxpayer MLE: BOS, CHA, CHI, CLE, DET (partial), HOU, LAC, MEM, MIA, MIL (partial), MIN (partial), NY (partial), ORL, POR (partial), SA (partial), UTA (partial)
  • Bi-Annual: BOS, CHA, CHI, CLE, LAC, MIL, MIN, NO, NY, ORL, POR, SA
• The following notable free agents still remain, courtesy Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights, sorted by former team (“None” indicates there are no rights held on them by their old team):

Hopefully today’s a little more interesting, and then Friday we get Summer League action. We’ll update the thread throughout the day, as usual.

RAPTORS MOVES

• RAPTORS RE-SIGN VANVLEET
  • Cap fall-out and some other financial notes

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…
  • My annual Raptors free agency/salary cap primer
  • The Raptors tendered three RFAs a qualifying offer and let Bebe become unrestricted
  • An in-depth look at the Summer League roster and some potential camp invites within
• 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.

Wednesday

• To come…

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).
• As I noted on Twitter earlier this week, 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.

REPORTED AGREEMENTS/CLOSE – THURSDAY

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

• To come…

New homes

• Nemanja Bjelica, 76ers, 1 year, $4.4M (Jake Fischer)
• Isaiah Briscoe, Magic, TBD, TBD (Adrian Wojnarowski)

Trades & Other

• Houston is waiving Aaron Jackson (Shams Charania)

Deals from Sunday-Wednesday
The following deals were reported prior to Thursday.

• 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)
• Amir Johnson, 76ers, 1 year, $2.4M (Adrian Wojnarowski)
• Raymond Felton, Thunder, 1 year, $2.4M (Adrian Wojnarowski)
• 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 Bryant 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