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INDIANAPOLIS -- NBA free agency officially opens at 6 p.m. on Tuesday with the flipping over of the league calendar which formally allows teams to begin negotiating with free agents who are not their own. Players can't formally sign until July 6 so this is sometimes considered a "legal tampering period" but there will be news about players agreeing to change teams starting not long after the clock hits 6 p.m. in the Eastern time zone.
That being said, teams have been able to negotiate with their own free agents since the day after the NBA Finals and in the same stretch teams have been able to engage with other on trades so some of the biggest personnel stories of the summer have already come to pass. The Giannis Antetokounmpo trade between the Bucks and Heat the day before the draft still marks the biggest move of the summer, but Monday was one of the overall most active days of the cycle so far as it marked a deadline for many players and teams to decide on player and club options for this season.
Over the course of the day, some of the league's most interesting free agents came off the board either because options were exercised or extensions were executed. Among them were Sacramento's Zach LaVine, Golden State's Kristaps Porzingis, Houston's Fred VanVleet, Miami's Andrew Wiggins, the Lakers' Deandre Ayton, Oklahoma City's Luguentz Dort, Detroit's Kevin Huerter, San Antonio's Julian Champagnie, the Clippers' Brook Lopez and Utah's Jusuf Nurkic. However, there was a major trade with troubled All-Star point guard Ja Morant going from Memphis to Portland for Jerami Grant and Kris Murray and intrigue among several players who either declined options or saw their clubs decline them.
Former MVP James Harden declined his player option but is apparently working on a multi-year deal with Cleveland. Golden State's Draymond Green declined his player option, but the point of that was apparently to open up room under the first luxury tax apron to allow the Warriors to try to make plays for the Lakers' LeBron James and the Wizards' Anthony Davis to try to pair the two Olympians with Green and Stephen Curry. Atlanta's Jonathan Kuminga had his club option declined as did the Clippers' Bogdan Bogdanovic and Nicolas Batum and Oklahoma City's Kenrich Williams. The Clippers' Bradley Beal and the Lakers' Marcus Smart both declined player options to opt for free agency.
The Pacers for their part have been fairly quiet and there isn't much smoke going around about their potential involvement in any player movement. They picked up the $2.8 million club option for Micah Potter, which gives them the bird-in-hand advantage of having three centers under contract heading into free agency. However, his contract is not fully guaranteed until July 10, so they can continue to monitor the free agent market to see if they can find a better center and waive Potter if they do.
However, the Pacers also saw a potentially cost-effective bench shooting guard leave the board as the Knicks gave Landry Shamet a four-year, $24 million deal to stay in New York. There was reason to believe that the Knicks -- ordered by owner James Dolan to stay under the second apron -- might not be able to keep Shamet after his spectacular shooting performance in the Eastern Conference Finals, but the Knicks kept him and stand to lose center Mitchell Robinson.
Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan said last week that the Pacers probably wouldn't be making any "earth-shattering, ground-breaking moves." Given thart they've indicated that they'd like to keep all nine players on the roster who are making at least $5 million per year -- including fourth-year wings Jarace Walker and Ben Sheppard -- there isn't much room for them to move. They have two open contracts after trading guard Kam Jones to Chicago for the pick they used to take Purdue's Braden Smith while convincing him to take a two-way contract that doesn't count against their cap/tax figure. They are about $2.4 million under the luxury tax and about $10 million under the first luxury tax apron. They aren't currently hard-capped at the first apron, but they would be if they used the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which would mean using more than $6.1 million to sign free agents above the veteran minimum. However, if they don't go over that figure to get anyone, it would be difficult with limited open roster spots to get over first apron anyway.
Still, the Pacers have to get somebody to fill those spots. At the moment they appear to be in wait-and-see move as their decisions could be determined by how others fall into place and what drives the market. They might not make a lot of action as soon as free agency opens, but the dominos start to fall at 6 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers free agency news, rumors, intel: Who will the Indiana Pacers pursue
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That being said, teams have been able to negotiate with their own free agents since the day after the NBA Finals and in the same stretch teams have been able to engage with other on trades so some of the biggest personnel stories of the summer have already come to pass. The Giannis Antetokounmpo trade between the Bucks and Heat the day before the draft still marks the biggest move of the summer, but Monday was one of the overall most active days of the cycle so far as it marked a deadline for many players and teams to decide on player and club options for this season.
Over the course of the day, some of the league's most interesting free agents came off the board either because options were exercised or extensions were executed. Among them were Sacramento's Zach LaVine, Golden State's Kristaps Porzingis, Houston's Fred VanVleet, Miami's Andrew Wiggins, the Lakers' Deandre Ayton, Oklahoma City's Luguentz Dort, Detroit's Kevin Huerter, San Antonio's Julian Champagnie, the Clippers' Brook Lopez and Utah's Jusuf Nurkic. However, there was a major trade with troubled All-Star point guard Ja Morant going from Memphis to Portland for Jerami Grant and Kris Murray and intrigue among several players who either declined options or saw their clubs decline them.
Former MVP James Harden declined his player option but is apparently working on a multi-year deal with Cleveland. Golden State's Draymond Green declined his player option, but the point of that was apparently to open up room under the first luxury tax apron to allow the Warriors to try to make plays for the Lakers' LeBron James and the Wizards' Anthony Davis to try to pair the two Olympians with Green and Stephen Curry. Atlanta's Jonathan Kuminga had his club option declined as did the Clippers' Bogdan Bogdanovic and Nicolas Batum and Oklahoma City's Kenrich Williams. The Clippers' Bradley Beal and the Lakers' Marcus Smart both declined player options to opt for free agency.
The Pacers for their part have been fairly quiet and there isn't much smoke going around about their potential involvement in any player movement. They picked up the $2.8 million club option for Micah Potter, which gives them the bird-in-hand advantage of having three centers under contract heading into free agency. However, his contract is not fully guaranteed until July 10, so they can continue to monitor the free agent market to see if they can find a better center and waive Potter if they do.
However, the Pacers also saw a potentially cost-effective bench shooting guard leave the board as the Knicks gave Landry Shamet a four-year, $24 million deal to stay in New York. There was reason to believe that the Knicks -- ordered by owner James Dolan to stay under the second apron -- might not be able to keep Shamet after his spectacular shooting performance in the Eastern Conference Finals, but the Knicks kept him and stand to lose center Mitchell Robinson.
Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan said last week that the Pacers probably wouldn't be making any "earth-shattering, ground-breaking moves." Given thart they've indicated that they'd like to keep all nine players on the roster who are making at least $5 million per year -- including fourth-year wings Jarace Walker and Ben Sheppard -- there isn't much room for them to move. They have two open contracts after trading guard Kam Jones to Chicago for the pick they used to take Purdue's Braden Smith while convincing him to take a two-way contract that doesn't count against their cap/tax figure. They are about $2.4 million under the luxury tax and about $10 million under the first luxury tax apron. They aren't currently hard-capped at the first apron, but they would be if they used the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which would mean using more than $6.1 million to sign free agents above the veteran minimum. However, if they don't go over that figure to get anyone, it would be difficult with limited open roster spots to get over first apron anyway.
Still, the Pacers have to get somebody to fill those spots. At the moment they appear to be in wait-and-see move as their decisions could be determined by how others fall into place and what drives the market. They might not make a lot of action as soon as free agency opens, but the dominos start to fall at 6 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers free agency news, rumors, intel: Who will the Indiana Pacers pursue
Continue reading...
