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2022 NBA Offseason Thread — Trades, Free Agency, Firings, Sacramento doing dumb things, etc


Patrick Bateman

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Lots of action in free agency today, lots of re-signings too.  I'm happy to see Rubio going back to Cleveland! He was a huge catalyst to the Cavs first half of the season success. 

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July 1 updates

1:11 p.m. ET: The Atlanta Hawks are trading Kevin Huerter to the Sacramento Kings for Justin Holiday, Maurice Harkless and a future first-round pick, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. The Kings are sending a 2024 lottery-protected first-round pick to the Hawks for Huerter, sources told ESPN. The pick becomes top-1212 protected in 2025, and top-10 protected in 2026.


12:50 p.m. ET: Free agent center Robin Lopez has agreed to a one-year deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Lopez averaged 7.1 points and 3.5 rebounds in 36 games with the Orlando Magic last season.


12:42 p.m. ET: Free agent F/C Drew Eubanks is returning to the Portland Trail Blazers on a one-year deal, his agent James Dunleavy of Excel basketball told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.


12:20 p.m. ET: Free agent guard John Wall officially agrees with the Los Angeles Clippers on a two-year deal for the taxpayer midlevel, sources told ESPN's Tim MacMahon. The deal is worth $13.5 million.


12:13 p.m. ET: Zach LaVine has agreed to a five-year, $215 million max contract to return to the Chicago Bulls, a source confirms to ESPN's Jamal Collier. The fifth year is a player option.


12:13 p.m. ET: Free agent center Jusuf Nurkic has agreed on a new four-year, $70 million deal to stay with the Portland Trail Blazers, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.


11:35 a.m. ET: Once the San Antonio Spurs finalize the expected release of forward Danilo Gallinari, his preference is to join the Boston Celtics upon clearing waivers, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.


11:14 a.m. ET: Free-agent guard Theo Pinson is returning to the Dallas Mavericks on a one-year deal, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. The Mavs made Pinson a priority because he is such a critical part of their chemistry and culture, according to ESPN's Tim MacMahon. They believe Pinson, who is no longer eligible for a two-way deal, has developmental potential.


10:22 a.m. ET: Free-agent center Mitchell Robinson has agreed on a four-year, $60 million contract to stay with the New York Knicks, his agents, Thad Foucher and Joe Smith, told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.


10:21 a.m. ET: Bruce Brown has agreed to a two-year, $13 million-plus deal with the Denver Nuggets, sources told ESPN's Malika Andrews.


9:39 a.m. ET: Free-agent guard Ricky Rubio agreed to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year, $18 million deal, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Rubio played an immense role in the Cavaliers' torrid start to the season a year ago before tearing his left ACL. Cleveland traded him to Indiana as an expiring contract at deadline, but both sides were hopeful a reunion could happen -- and now it will on a new multiyear deal.


2:14 a.m. ET: Gary Payton II is finalizing a multiyear deal with the Portland Trail Blazers, his agent, Aaron Goodwin, confirmed to ESPN. Payton, who spent the past two seasons with the Golden State Warriors, is expected to join the Blazers on a three-year, $28 million deal, sources told ESPN's Marc J. Spears. The Warriors offered Payton the taxpayer midlevel exception, sources told Spears.


12 a.m. ET: Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker has agreed on a four-year, $224 million supermax extension, his agents Jessica Holtz and Melvin Booker of CAA Basketball told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. The deal begins in 2024-25 and brings Booker's total contract value to six years and $295 million.


12 a.m. ET: The Memphis Grizzlies and Ja Morant have agreed to terms on a four-year designated rookie extension likely worth $226 million, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Morant was named the NBA's Most Improved Player last season.


12 a.m. ET: The Denver Nuggets and Nikola Jokic have agreed to terms on a five-year, $264 million supermax extension, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Jokic, 27, is the two-time reigning NBA most valuable player.


12 a.m. ET: Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns has agreed on a four-year, $224 million supermax extension, his agent Jessica Holtz of CAA Basketball told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. The deal begins with the 2024-25 season and delivers Towns' total contract value to six years and $295 million.

 

Edited by Dutchrudder
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18 hours ago, shadow_operative said:

it's Devin Booker, who is apparently an un-tradeable superstar who is worth more than KD. he finally made the All NBA Team and now his overratedness has reached its peak. if the Suns won't trade him for 3-4 years of KD they deserve to lose.

I'm surprised that the 3pt% is not better, but he is a guy I would be reluctant to trade. If I'm Phoenix I offer cp3 plus Ayton and picks before I offer Booker. 

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6 hours ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Look at Dort’s stats and development over three years.  Also a very good defender.  Similar to Butler.

I also said “poor man’s.”

He's not a poor man's Jimmy Butler. He's not a homeless man's Jimmy Butler. He couldn't even be Jimmy Butler's butler. He's much closer to being a poor man's Tony Allen than anything having to do with Jimmy Butler.

He's an undersized wing, a plus defender who can't shoot, can't create and puts up pretty decent numbers on a team that is purposefully trying to lose. The next meaningful game he plays in will be his first. Even on shitty teams, somebody has to put up some numbers. They slightly overpaid for him. I'm not sure why because nobody else was beating down the door for him but it doesn't matter because they have so much cap space. Presti seems to fall in love with these guys who can't shoot. It's like Andre Roberson all over again.

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8 minutes ago, Llogg said:

I'm surprised that the 3pt% is not better, but he is a guy I would be reluctant to trade. If I'm Phoenix I offer cp3 plus Ayton and picks before I offer Booker. 

A little hesitant, ok.    Unwilling to trade?   Nah.   KD is still better than Booker now and probably for the next 3 yrs and should (barring injury) be able to get them over the hump especially if they were able to keep Bridges, Ayton and Cam Johnson.    Just swapping KD in for Booker is a pretty major upgrade.

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8 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

He's not a poor man's Jimmy Butler. He's not a homeless man's Jimmy Butler. He couldn't even be Jimmy Butler's butler. He's much closer to being a poor man's Tony Allen than anything having to do with Jimmy Butler.

He's an undersized wing, a plus defender who can't shoot, can't create and puts up pretty decent numbers on a team that is purposefully trying to lose. The next meaningful game he plays in will be his first. Even on shitty teams, somebody has to put up some numbers. They slightly overpaid for him. I'm not sure why because nobody else was beating down the door for him but it doesn't matter because they have so much cap space. Presti seems to fall in love with these guys who can't shoot. It's like Andre Roberson all over again.

They overpaid because they have to get to the salary floor.   

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1 minute ago, Reynolds Woodcock said:

That is a great trade for the Celtics. Give up scrubs and a late first round pick absent a total collapse. 

Oh yeah, it addresses their largest problem.   Ball security.    Stops Smart/Brown/Tatum from trying to make plays

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44 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

The next meaningful game he plays in will be his first.

He did play almost 30 minutes a game during a 7 game playoff series in his rookie year, but $85 mil sure seems like a lot for the type of player he is.

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Good.  Sure, it destroys the Nets, but kudos for taking a stand, I suppose.

https://theathletic.com/3393222/2022/07/01/kd-trade-nets-joseph-tsai/

 

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Kyrie Irving’s decision this week to opt into the final year of his deal in Brooklyn did not soothe Kevin Durant’s wandering mind.

Durant asked to be traded on the opening day of NBA free agency, even though Irving took the $37 million sitting in front of him without any trade stipulations attached. The Nets are under no obligation to trade Durant — he has four years and $198 million left on his contract. But it would be no surprise now to see him and Irving both traded before the start of training camp.

 

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Nets owner Joseph Tsai had already reached his limit, multiple sources told The Athletic, after years of injuries, off-court embarrassments and playoff failures were followed by threats leaked by Irving and Durant during Brooklyn’s contract negotiations with Irving.

Tsai, 58, co-founder of Alibaba Group, China’s largest commerce retailer, was born in Taiwan, went to high school in New Jersey, has two degrees and four varsity letters (lacrosse) from Yale and is worth $9 billion, according to Forbes.

 

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As an owner, he stays out of his basketball operations staff’s way, for the most part, giving his blessing on the most important decisions, and would otherwise understand/support/not be averse to the general trend of player empowerment in the modern NBA.

Tsai would understand that, under normal circumstances, stars at the level of Durant and Irving can force trades one year after signing max extensions (Durant) or try to negotiate another max contract (Irving) publicly if that’s what it comes to. Tsai has sat at a bargaining table or two in his career.

 

Spoiler

In this particular set of circumstances surrounding Durant, Irving and the Nets, things got more complicated than planned. Brooklyn spent three full seasons paying the luxury tax, failed to get out of the second round of the playoffs, fired a popular coach, traded away a lot of assets to bring in another star in James Harden and then was forced to trade him because he had lost all faith in Irving’s commitment to winning. That led to acquiring a player on a max contract who was physically and mentally unable to play at all last season (Ben Simmons), all while neither Irving nor Durant came close to playing in half of the Nets’ games. Add in Irving’s refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccine and the team cohesiveness that affected last season, and it’s no wonder Tsai has reached his limit.

Here’s a look at how Tsai came to the point where both could be traded.

In the summer of 2019, the Nets pulled a major coup by attracting both star free agents. It was a package deal. Irving signed a four-year, $137 million contract, ending his two tumultuous seasons in Boston. Durant came aboard via a sign-and-trade for four years and $165 million, even though he’d torn his Achilles the previous NBA Finals with the Warriors and would miss the entire 2019-20 season. It was a risk any team would take on two championship-winning, gold-medal-winning players who are as gifted as just about anyone else in the NBA at their respective positions.

In Year 1, with Durant out, Irving started strong but suffered a shoulder injury. As The Athletic detailed in a previous story about Irving, he sought so many opinions on his shoulder, outside of Nets doctors, that it delayed either his return, or surgery, or both for weeks. It was a frustrating time for the franchise, but Irving is by no means the only injured star to take the care of his body into his own hands. It’s the cost of doing business.

The Nets were headed for the playoffs in a pandemic-shortened season, and Irving was out for the remainder of the year because of shoulder surgery, when Brooklyn fired coach Kenny Atkinson.

The following offseason, with Irving and Durant healthy and preparing to play, the duo jumped on KD’s podcast and belittled the role new coach Steve Nash would play in directing the team. Irving went AWOL for about a week from the team early in the 2020-21 campaign, willingly violating COVID-19 protocols to attend a family birthday party. While he was out, he was spotted on a Zoom call for a local politician minutes before the Nets were to play a game.

Right around that time, Brooklyn traded promising center Jarrett Allen, talented guard Caris LeVert, two other players and their first-round draft picks through 2027 for Harden. Tsai and GM Sean Marks mortgaged the team’s whole future to win now, adding Harden to the All-Star tandem already under contract. 

Durant was hurt for most of that season. He played in 35 of a possible 72 games. And when the playoffs arrived, Harden, and then Irving, were both injured. The Nets still almost beat the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round, coming within Durant’s big toe of moving on to the conference finals.

Then there was last season. You remember the highlights and the lowlights. A few things to keep in mind, though, in trying to understand how Tsai might be looking at his big picture with the Nets right now:

• Tsai is a huge proponent of the COVID-19 vaccine. He’s received at least four doses of it.

• Durant urged the organization to go back on its original stance and allow Irving to play and practice where eligible on the road, according to sources. Brooklyn was in second in the East on the day of Irving’s first game.

• Not only did the Nets get worse with Irving back on the team (falling all the way to the Play-In Tournament), but it was with Irving in the fold that Harden decided he would not re-sign in Brooklyn and wanted to be traded to the 76ers. Simmons, Seth Curry and Andre Drummond came over from Philadelphia, but Simmons never suited up — in a disappointment to the entire franchise.

•  Almost as an aside, Harden declined the $47 million player option on his contract this week, with a pledge to the Sixers to sign a long-term, team-friendly deal so they can add more pieces. That literally almost never happens in the NBA. Meanwhile, Brooklyn owes Simmons more than $100 million over the next three seasons. He hasn’t played a single minute since June 2021 and is coming off back surgery.

Most of this ties directly back to Irving and to Durant. Irving has played in 103 of a possible 226 regular-season games for Brooklyn; Durant, with that missed 2019-20 campaign, can count just 90 games. 

If both have played their last game with Brooklyn, it’s a safe bet the Nets are heavily involved in trades that suit all parties, if only because doing so will probably produce the largest returns.

What Tsai will not do is demand Durant to honor his contract in Brooklyn.

Because he’s had enough.

 

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1 hour ago, d2o said:

 

 

 

I'm willing to give anybody who makes a trade with Sacramento the benefit of the doubt, but can somebody please explain this from Atlanta's POV? They just mortgaged the future for Dejounte Murray, now they're dumping a good young player on a reasonable contract to get under the tax line. In return, they get salary filler plus a lottery protected pick from the Kings, a team that hasn't made the playoffs since 2006. Like that thing is ever conveying. Heurter has real value, not only as a trade chip, but as a rotation player and floor stretcher on a "contending" team. That one is a head scratcher for me.

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7 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

I'm willing to give anybody who makes a trade with Sacramento the benefit of the doubt, but can somebody please explain this from Atlanta's POV? They just mortgaged the future for Dejounte Murray, now they're dumping a good young player on a reasonable contract to get under the tax line. In return, they get salary filler plus a lottery protected pick from the Kings, a team that hasn't made the playoffs since 2006. Like that thing is ever conveying. Heurter has real value, not only as a trade chip, but as a rotation player and floor stretcher on a "contending" team. That one is a head scratcher for me.

 

Sacramento sent a pick.  I'm guessing that Atlanta can use that sometime if needed for another trade.

 

 

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1 minute ago, Patrick Bateman said:

4 firsts for a big you'll have a hard time playing in the playoffs???  Hmmm..... I'm thinking Minnesota..... just did Minnesota things.

I actually like it for MIN.    They dont need Gobert to score.   They need him to do the shit that KAT wont/cant.   KAT gets to move to PF and play away from the basket like he seems to prefer to do.    4 firsts is a lot but I'm guessing a couple of those may end up just being swaps 

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1 minute ago, d2o said:

I actually like it for MIN.    They dont need Gobert to score.   They need him to do the shit that KAT wont/cant.   KAT gets to move to PF and play away from the basket like he seems to prefer to do.    4 firsts is a lot but I'm guessing a couple of those may end up just being swaps 

Geeez.......4 firsts and a swap.    They didnt have to give up any of their true core players.     Maybe they try and move DLo and recoup at least one pick.

 

 

 

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What in the blue fuck is Minnesota thinking?

Rudy Gobert sucks. He is a monolith. He has repeatedly shown to be useless in the playoffs. He has a horrible contract. I would think that Utah would have to send picks out to get rid of him.  The motherfucking Timberwolves. It's like they finally had a modicum of success and just couldn't fucking help themselves. My God.

Every single trend in the NBA is pointing to multi-functional, position-less basketball and they quadruple down on a one-trick defensive pony like Rudy fucking Gobert, in an age where there are like 3 true centers in the league. Congrats Timberwolves and good luck playing 4 on 5 on offense for the next half decade and clogging the lane for Anthony Edwards. Why? Just... why? 

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Gobert is a pussy on the court. But as someone said, Minnesota would probably screw up those picks regardless but damn, that seems like a lot for Gobert. He was a nonfactor against Dallas in the playoffs. He couldn't stay on the floor to guard anyone and moved like a sloth. He'd fit in with the slower paced eras. 

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What in the blue fuck is Minnesota thinking?
Rudy Gobert sucks. He is a monolith. He has repeatedly shown to be useless in the playoffs. He has a horrible contract. I would think that Utah would have to send picks out to get rid of him.  The motherfucking Timberwolves. It's like they finally had a modicum of success and just couldn't fucking help themselves. My God.
Every single trend in the NBA is pointing to multi-functional, position-less basketball and they quadruple down on a one-trick defensive pony like Rudy fucking Gobert, in an age where there are like 3 true centers in the league. Congrats Timberwolves and good luck playing 4 on 5 on offense for the next half decade and clogging the lane for Anthony Edwards. Why? Just... why? 

We played 4 on 5 last year on offense with Jared Vanderbilt and still led the league in scoring
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17 minutes ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:


Want me to read off Minnesotas top 10 picks the last 15 years and tell me how precious lottery picks are? 2 of them, ant and kat are on the team. The rest have been traded.

So because your organization is abysmal at drafting, we should trust them in trading?  I know it has to be soul wrecking exercise to come up every summer and defend the Twolves and their mismanagement of maybe the best basket of draft assets over the past decade.  Come up and explain why this guy or this pick or this trade is actually a good thing.  Knowing deep down, the Wolves will most likely fuck it up.  I feel for ya, MN.  It’s like being a Longhorn football fan the last decade….

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