NBA Free Agency has barely just started and we’ve already seen a ton of deals pour in.
A big story so far is that most teams have been able to find ways to retain their big-named free agent talent that hit the market this offseason. However, there are some players who’ve managed to find new homes and some teams that have been able to fill a few gaps here and there because of it.
There are also plenty of big moves left to be made. Will James Harden be on the move? Will Damian Lillard ultimately choose to stay put in Portland?
Those are the things we’re still waiting to find out. Until then, here are the winners and losers from the opening day of NBA Free Agency.
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Winner: LA Lakers
The Lakers reportedly agreed to terms with Gabe Vincent on a 3-year, $33 million deal.
This certainly isn’t the splashy point guard everyone thought the Lakers were going after, but it’s definitely one that fits what they’re trying to do. Vincent defends, shoots the ball well and showed this postseason that he has some shot-creation ability. That’s a solid move for LA.
Not only that, but the Lakers also retained Rui Hachimura on a cheaper deal than expected at $51 million. And the team bolstered its bench with additions of Taurean Prince and Jaxson Hayes.
None of these moves are the splashy sorts of things we’re used to from the Lakers, but they’ll certainly make them a better team going into next season.
Winner: Fred VanVleet
If you’d told me back in October that Fred VanVleet was going to sign the first max contract of the 2023 offseason, I probably would’ve laughed in your face.
Yet, here we are. VanVleet signed a 3-year, $130 million deal with the Rockets. This was shocking.
Winner: Tyrese Haliburton
The Pacers have reportedly locked in Tyrese Haliburton on a 5-year, $260 max deal.
It’s the biggest contract in the history of the Indiana Pacers and it’s well deserved. Haliburton is very clearly a building block for Indiana moving forward.
He’s already spending a bit of that, too.
Tyrese Haliburton, Georges Niang, and Travis Kelce went out partying last night after Haliburton and Niang signed new contracts yesterday 🥳
(via tyresehaliburton / IG)pic.twitter.com/uUHT2KFER7
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) July 1, 2023
Turn up then, Tyrese.
Winner: Kyrie Irving & the Dallas Mavericks
One of the situations the entire league had its eyes on heading into the offseason was the status between Kyrie Irving and the Dallas Mavericks.
The Mavericks took a massive risk this season in trading for Irving. They traded valuable rotation players and draft picks to snag him from Brooklyn before any other team could but, considering the fact that Irving was a free agent this offseason, he could’ve just left the team high and dry this offseason for nothing. They’d have been left to build around Luka Doncic with a cobweb-filled asset cupboard.
But Irving is reportedly coming back to Dallas on a near-max 3-year, $126 million deal. The Mavericks get their guy. Irving gets his money and a long-term commitment. Crisis averted in Dallas.
Winner: Draymond Green & the Warriors
You want to know how valuable Draymond Green is? This dude has managed to run two teammates out of Golden State in the span of four years and, yet, somehow he still managed to reportedly get a $100 million deal this offseason.
The Warriors and Green have reportedly come to terms on a 4-year, $100 million contract that also includes a player option in its final year. The Warriors also shave a bit off of their luxury tax bill with this deal.
Winner: Kyle Kuzma
Kyle Kuzma is not going to play for a winning team next season in Washington, so some might look at his reported 4-year, $102 million contract as a loss.
But he still got paid. He went to Washington to prove his worth as a player who can contribute at a high level and make his teams better. He did that in Washington — the team wasn’t good, but it certainly would’ve been worse without him. Now Kuzma is reaping the benefits of that.
Winner: Teams trying to retain their players
The first day of free agency honestly wasn’t all that interesting because so many teams managed to just retain their players on new deals.
Green is staying with the Warriors. Irving is staying with the Mavericks. Kuzma re-signed with the Wizards. Cam Johnson re-signed with the Nets. Khris Middleton is going back to the Bucks.
If there’s one thing the new collective bargaining agreement has done, it’s created an advantageous ecosystem for teams in retaining their talent. It’s harder for the competition to splurge knowing that they’ll lose key roster building tools once things get too expensive down the line. Combine that with bird rights that teams have on their own free agents and it’s just a bit easier to make sure talent stays put.
Winner: Bruce Brown
Bruce Brown isn’t going back to the team he just won a championship with, but he has finally found that big deal he’s been searching so long for.
Brown reportedly signed a two-year, $45 million deal with the Pacers. That’s something he simply couldn’t pass up. That’s about three times the $7.8 million annual salary the Nuggets could’ve offered him. Good for Brown, man. They are spending big in Indiana this offseason.
Winner: Rich Paul
Say what you want about Rich Paul, man, but he’s getting his clients to the bag.
Between Draymond Green, Fred VanVleet and Jerami Grant alone Rich Paul netted nearly $400 million total for three of his clients on the opening day of free agency. You’ve got to respect that.
LeBron James sure does.
And y'all still wanna question is Rich Paul is the H.I.M. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣. It says a lot about you if you not feeling us. I told him less is more it's plenty of us
— LeBron James (@KingJames) July 1, 2023
Loser: Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are going all in right now on a roster that just doesn’t feel ready for that.
Yes, they’ve signed Fred VanVleet and he’s a very good player. But he’s not the sort of floor-raiser that’s going to lead your team to a 45-win season and have them competing for a play-in spot.
The Rockets have a roster filled with youth between their new rookies in Cam Whitmore and Amen Thompson plus Jalen Green, Jabari Smith and Alperen Sengun. This isn’t a team that’s ready to win and it just feels like they’re forcing things with their moves so far.
Loser: Philadelphia 76ers
James Harden is holding the Philadelphia 76ers hostage right now. He’s reportedly demanded a trade after opting into his contract for the 2023-24 season and it’s hard for the 76ers to make any real moves not knowing how the Harden situation is going to end up.
They won’t be able to make moves until there’s more clarity here, but the rest of the market isn’t waiting.
Loser: Denver Nuggets
Losing Bruce Brown matters for the Denver Nuggets. It won’t necessarily make or break their championship chances, but they lost a valuable option at point guard behind Jamal Murray.
Brown was someone who played well above his size and also made play after play for the team down the stretch during the NBA Finals. He won’t be easily replaced here. Maybe Christian Braun takes his minutes at guard, but they’ll still need someone to slot in for Braun’s role, too.
They have the entire summer to figure this out, but this isn’t an easy pill to swallow for the Nuggets here.
Loser: Portland Trail Blazers
I’m just not sure what the Trail Blazers are doing right now. Damian Lillard gave the Blazers a chance to improve the team before he requested a trade of any sort.
Yet, here they are, and the biggest thing they’ve done is given Jerami Grant a $160 million deal. Jerami Grant is a very good player. That’s not the sort of move that’s going to move the needle for Lillard, though.
Things are just starting and anything can happen. But many big names on the market are already flying off of it. We’ll see how this turns out. But it’s hard to feel good about where Portland is at this point.
TBD: Miami Heat
The Heat just lost two key rotation players in Vincent and Max Strus, who is reportedly going to the Cavaliers in a sign-and-trade.
Those are great deals for both Strus and Vincent, but it’s going to be hard to replace players of their caliber moving forward for Miami. They’re waiting on the chips to fall with Lillard in Portland, but while they’re waiting the market is drying up quickly.
If they can swing Lillard here, obviously, they’d be a big winner. But if not? Whew, boy. The Heat are going to have a lot of work to do.
