You win some, you lose some. The same is true for NBA free agents.
The free agency Moratorium officially opened last Thursday and was immediately followed by a series of moves that were logical and annoying. Zach LaVine stays in Chicago ($ 215.2 million for five years), Bradley Beer returns to Washington ($ 251 million for five years), and Anferney Simmons stays in Portland (4). For $ 100 million a year), Jalen Branson has agreed to join New York. Knicks (4 years, $ 104 million).
The team is also busy with trade, and Utah is sending Rudy Gobert to Minnesota. Compared to the bomb revelation from Kevin Durant, all the news is inferior. He wants to get out of Brooklyn. Durrants availability will make a big difference in the situation of free agents.
However, it may take some time for it to resolve. But which team has made the right or wrong call so far? There are still many moving parts, but the USATODAY Sports NBA team is trying to figure it all out.
Let’s take a look at the biggest winners and losers of the first five days of free agents.
NBA Free Agent: Money will fly as soon as seven players total $ 1.5 billion
Day 3, NBA Free Agent Tracker: Darius Garland signs extension with Cleveland
Days 1-2, NBA Free Agent Tracker: T’Wolves exchange for Gobert. The warrior protects Looney.Ravine stays in the Bulls
Loser: Golden State Warriors
It’s hard to call an active NBA champion a “loser,” but the Golden State broke up with the two key role players in the title run. Gary Payton II signed a three-year $ 28 million deal with the Portland Trail Blazers, and Otto Porter Jr. signed a two-year deal with Toronto. The Warriors were able to maintain Kevon Looney ($ 25.5 million for three years), but the depth of the Golden State was hit hard.
The NBA’s highest-priced player? Stephen Curry and LeBron James lead the pack
Winner: Minnesota Timberwolves
Timberwolves may have paid Utah Jazz the king’s ransom in exchange for Rudy Gobert. , 2025 and 2027, plus the top five protected picks of 2029 – but Minnesota adds three defensive players of the year to its lineup.
Gobert joins D’Angelo Russell, Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns, who signed a $ 224 million extension last week for four years. This lineup can cause damage and conflict in the West.
Rudy Gobert: Minnesota is reportedly making a big move to win a jazz star
Loser: Miami Heat
Heat could make it to the Eastern Conference finals, losing PJ Tucker to conference rival Philadelphia and losing the Sixman of the Year Tyler Herro. However, the heat can quickly change from a loser to a winner, especially if Kevin Durant is landed. Miami’s excellent front office is committed to improving the roster.
Loser: Brooklyn Nets
The Brooklyn Nets issue is not due to free agents. Kyrie Irving exercised player options in the final year of the 2022-23 season contract, but it’s not clear if Irving will play another game on the Nets. The same is true for Kevin Durant, who requested Nets to trade just hours before the free agent opened. This is about five months after Brooklyn exchanged James Harden for Ben Simmons in Philadelphia.
Brooklyn will certainly win the first round pick if he trades off Durant and Irving, but after this unsuccessful experiment, Net is on the verge of another rebuild.
Kevin Durant Request a deal from Brooklyn Nets before the NBA free agent opens
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To be determined: Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers have traveled around the fringe and signed contracts with Troy Brown, Jr., Damian Jones, Juan Toscano Anderson, and Lonnie Walker IV. But that’s not enough to promote the Lakers to a competitor. We are waiting to see if they can win Kyrie Irving (or another star) in off-season trading.
Winner: Boston Celtics
The Celtics didn’t have to do much, but they couldn’t stay the same. I needed to get a playmaking point guard that would add depth to the rotation. Brad Stevens, president of Boston’s basketball business, made a deal to improve his team in his one-year job and created another team as a free agent. Boston acquired Malcolm Brogdon from the Pacers without giving up on a major rotation player. Rotations featuring Jason Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, Robert Williams, Grant Williams, Al Horford, and Brogdon are both offensive and defensively dangerous.
To be determined: Sacramento Kings
Give Kings temporary props to find a shooter around the combo of De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis, who are neither winners nor losers. The off-season acquisitions Malik Monk (free agent) and Kevin Huerter (via trade) will help Kings stretch the floor. Sacramento also drafted Keegan Murray with a fourth-place pick. Looks good on paper. Let’s see what Kings and new coach Mike Brown can do with this roster on the court.
Winner: Philadelphia 76ers
The Sixers seduce PJ Tucker from Miami (slightly expensive, but good for Tucker, a defensive, three-point corner specialist) and, in collaboration with James Harden, declined the player’s option for $ 47.4 million. I made a longer deal. The annual salary will be slightly lower. As a result, the Sixers were able to have some financial flexibility to improve their rosters. The Sixers also added cheap depth and reached a deal with Danuel House Jr., who played with Harden in Houston.
Undecided: Utah Jazz
What is jazz? That’s an unknown question so far. Utah last week hired 34-year-old Will Hardy as the new head coach to replace Quin Snyder. Utah exchanges Gobert with multiple players and multiple first round picks in Minnesota, sending Royce O’Neal online and the first in 2023 with conditions to build around Donovan Mitchell. We did a draft topic for the round.
TBD: Portland Trail Blazers
Joe Cronin, the new Trail Blazers GM, won’t sit still as Blazers trades Jerami Grant, drafts Shadowon Sharp, holds Anfernee Simons and Jusuf Nurkić, and adds Gary Payton II. It was. It’s an improvement that has more to do, but it’s a decent start to help Damian Lillard.
TBD: Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks bought the near-average triple-double All-Star Dejounte Murray last season, which is helping Trae Young. However, the Hawks also traded Kevin Huerter to Sacramento, lost Delon Wright to Washington, and sent Danilo Gallinari and three draft topics to San Antonio. The Hawks had a disappointing season from 2021 to 22. Fighting in the east may require more than a contract with Murray.
Loser: New York Knicks
Knicks added Jalen Brunson in a four-year, $ 104 million transaction. It’s a great addition to free agents, if not a little overpayment. But the question is how good this makes Knicks. Maybe better than last season. It may not be. It doesn’t promote them to competitors because the roster is currently standing.
This article was originally published in USA TODAY: NBA Free Agent 2022 Winners (T’Wolves, Celtics) and Losers (Warriors)
