Warriors, Kings among NBA free agency winners, losers
NBA free agency came in late November as opposed to early July in 2020, but the first weekend still brought plenty of excitement.The Warriors found some pieces to help mitigate the loss of Klay Thompson, the Kings bungled a sign-and-trade for Bogdan Bogdanovic and the Los Angeles Lakers continue stockpiling talent in their quest to repeat as NBA champions.Let's get into all of the winners and losers from a unique free agency period.
This one's pretty simple. The NBA's best team got better.
Dennis Schroder was brought in by trade and is a defensive and scoring upgrade over Rajon Rondo as a backup point guard, Montrezl Harrell won the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year award a season ago while playing in the same city, and Marc Gasol completes a major frontcourt overhaul alongside Anthony Davis.
Wesley Matthews is a solid 3-and-D veteran coming off the bench, and of course, LeBron James continues to look like the NBA's best player at the age of 35.
The Lakers will be clear favorites to win back-to-back titles.
Jrue Holiday is a fantastic player, but Milwaukee had to part with three first-round draft picks and two pick swaps to make the deal work in what ended up being a massive four-team trade, bringing them the veteran point guard from New Orleans.
There also was the confounding botched sign-and-trade centered on Bogdan Bogdanovic with the Kings, losing the aforementioned Matthews to the Lakers, and the fact that Giannis Antetokounmpo -- the franchise's reigning two-time MVP -- remains without a max extension as an impending Dec. 21 deadline.
It could have been worse for Milwaukee, but this weekend didn't leave many with a positive impression of the Bucks' front office.
Even amid a global pandemic, NBA teams weren’t willing to leave much cap space available.
The Warriors potentially could be looking at a total payroll costing over $300 million with luxury tax penalties, and three players agreed to deals worth in excess of $150 million.
Not only are agents going to be piling on the commissions in the coming years, but the NBA’s two most notable news breakers, Stadium’s Shams Charania and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, were crediting agents on nearly every agreement the two reported.
For a roster already featuring Blake Griffin, the Pistons loaded up in the frontcourt, agreeing to terms with three centers as well as forwards Jerami Grant and Josh Jackson.
For a team without a ton of talent in the backcourt, Detroit seemed to focus on the wrong position group in free agency, and guaranteed over $80 million to two former Denver Nuggets who didn’t average a collective 20 points per game.
It’s definitely a bold strategy, we’ll see how it pays off.
The Warriors suffered a massive, season-altering blow when Klay Thompson tore his right Achilles on Wednesday. The injury will force him to miss the entire 2020-21 season.
But general manager Bob Myers pivoted and was able to acquire 24-year-old Kelly Oubre from the Thunder.
Oubre isn't Thompson, but he will help soften the blow of losing the All-Star shooting guard.
The Warriors also filled out the roster with Brad Wanamaker and Kent Bazemore, solid depth moves.
The Kings did re-sign De'Aaron Fox to a max contract extension Friday, but not much else has gone their way over the last week.
Monday's trade with the Milwaukee Bucks involving Bogdan Bogdanovic fell apart and now is being investigated by the NBA. Bogi hit the restricted free agent market Friday, and signed an offer sheet from the Hawks. Now the Kings have a big decision to make: Match the offer and pay him $18 million a year, or let him go to Atlanta for nothing in return.
And Sacramento watched Harry Giles and Kent Bazemore agree to contracts with Western Conference teams.
