NBA Days 2-5 Free Agency Recap: The Neophytes
While you were enjoying Independence Day weekend, sunshine, and booze , the NBA kept on chugging. Days 2-5 of free agency saw a couple of big names leave the board (Bismack Biyombo and Harrison Barnes), headed to new teams that few saw as major landing spots before the summer.
As with the Day 1 recap, the focus today will be not on free agency as a whole, but on the league’s neophytes — the guys either coming off their rookie deals or so young they might as well be. Furthermore, these reactions are only for players who made the cut for CBS Sports’ Top 100 Free Agent rankings.
Among the other biggest takeaways from the long weekend were the aggressive approach taken by the Brooklyn Nets under new GM Sean Marks and the Dallas Mavericks force-feeding themselves the Golden State Warriors’ mushy leftovers. Somehow, the biggest deals for the NBA’s best young players this weekend really only concerned three teams.
Check back here daily as the rest of free agency unfolds; U&M will continue provide daily recaps of these signings including reactions, future implications and the like. Enjoy.
DAY 2
Bismack Biyombo – 23 years old- Unrestricted FA
Agreed to sign with the Orlando Magic for 4 years, $72 million
Reaction: The money makes sense but the fit is less than ideal. Unless the Magic are speed-dialing every front office in the country trying to unload Nikola Vucevic, there is a near-paradoxical disjointedness within Orlando’s frontcourt. Somehow, they are going to now add Biyombo to a rotation that already included Vucevic, Serge Ibaka, and Aaron Gordon. While he rebounds much better than any of those guys and could create a pretty fearsome rim-protecting duo with either of the non-Vuc guys, Orlando GM Rob Hennigan has some figuring to do after a busy and confusing offseason.
DAY 3
Andrew Nicholson – 26 years old- Unrestricted FA (No Qualifying Offer from Orlando)
Agreed to sign with the Washington Wizards for 4 years, $26 million
Reaction: The Magic somehow cycle through productive and interesting youngsters about as quickly as they acquire them. Remember, this team has also said goodbye to Victor Oladipo, Maurice Harkless, Tobias Harris, and Kyle O’Quinn in recent years, to name but a few. Now, Nicholson is on the out and fellow free agent Dewayne Dedmon appears close behind. In Nicholson, the Wizards get a young, rangy big man to back up Markieff Morris. He figures to be a core part of their big man rotation along with veteran big man Ian Mahinmi, also signed by Washington over the weekend. The Wizards are nearly capped out, with between $3 and $7 million in remaining room depending on their guarantee decision for Drew Gooden. For less than $7 million in average annual value, Nicholson is a great get.
Tyler Johnson – 24 years old- Restricted FA
Agreed to sign an offer sheet with the Brooklyn Nets for 4 years, $50 million
Reaction: Let’s appreciate the reign of Sean Marks in its infancy; find a DIY Swamp Dragons shirsey, jump on the bandwagon, and buckle up. After landing Jeremy Lin early on, the Nets doubled down on value signings with Johnson and the next guy on this list. Marks and the front office made the intelligent call of outbidding aggressive and cap-tight teams for those teams’ restricted free agents. With the Heat and Dwyane Wade still in disagreement and Hassan Whiteside getting paid a whole lot of money, the Nets swooped in and gobbled a promising young combo guard in Johnson who adds shooting and defense with the added upside of being a sometimes-ball handler for only $12 million per year.
Allen Crabbe – 24 years old- Restricted FA
Agreed to sign an offer sheet with the Brooklyn Nets for 4 years, $70 million
Reaction: In grabbing Crabbe at what might be slightly above market value (the same deal as the more proven Kent Bazemore got), the Nets potentially get a bucket-making young wing who has clear potential to get better on both sides of the ball and fit next to the other guys already in place. The Blazers had decisions to make on a big chunk of their roster, especially on the wing, and appear set to choose the bigger and more versatile Moe Harkless over Crabbe and the veteran Gerald Henderson. Ironically, Marks has succeeded this offseason by reaching just past the market for young guys he wants, and is now beating Blazers GM Neil Olshey by taking Olshey’s strategy right back at him.
Dwight Powell – 24 years old – Restricted FA
Agreed to return to the Dallas Mavericks for 4 years, $37 million
Reaction: The latter fifth of this piece will be entirely Mavs-centric, which is great news considering the focus of this piece is young free agent acquisitions. While Powell doesn’t bring them any closer to this Dubs Lite oddity, he is a great value at $9M per year for a team who has cycled through young frontcourt talent like Ian Mahinmi and Brandan Wright as if they were the Kardashians looking for professional athletes to date. He’s a much better offensive player than a defensive one at this point, which is opposite the Mavs correct trajectory, but will probably play huge minutes behind two old, broken vets in Andrew Bogut and Dirk Nowitzki this year. At the very least, re-signing a youngster is great news for Cubes and Co.
DAY 4
Harrison Barnes – 24 years old – Restricted FA
Agreed to sign an offer sheet with the Dallas Mavericks for 4 years, $98 million
Reaction: The Mavericks 2016-17 slogan: live and let live. To make up for their swings and misses at Mike Conley and Hassan Whiteside, the Mavs picked up right where the Jazz left off in 2014, playing opossum for the Warriors’ world-crushing free agency run. However, the Mavericks give Barnes a home where he won’t have to test his skills as offensive Alpha; Dirk can still key an efficient offense and generate attention on- and off-ball. Barnes can inject some speed and athleticism into the oft-creaky half-court sets of coach Rick Carlisle and bump up the defense, perhaps most importantly. Gone are the days of Carlisle having to engineer control over a dominant wing presence; Harry B is here, for the whole world to see.
DAY 5
Seth Curry – 25 years old- Unrestricted FA
Agreed to sign with the Dallas Mavericks for 2 years, $6 million
Reaction: Serious question: could Curry have gotten eight figures from a desperate team late in July or August? I don’t think he could have, but it’s reasonable to think he could have approached those numbers over a short deal for someone with a need at guard and money to burn to reach the salary floor. Instead, he’ll further the youth movement in Dallas and play a similar role as Dwight Powell; light backup minutes during the beginning of the season and probably in the playoffs, but a huge burden in January and February as the vets around him begin to break down. Consider the shooting and spacing in a lineup like this: Deron Wiliams-Curry-Wes Matthews-Barnes-Dirk. Lineup of Death, Shmineup of Shmeath.