During the NBA’s free agency moratorium, the big dogs were wined, dined and promised the world in recruitment of their services. Meanwhile, coaches and GMs are still busy trying to woo the remaining second- and third-tier free agents to shore up their rosters. It’s the game within the game. After the smoke clears, expect lots of toasting and boasting from the winners in free agency and plenty of wound licking and PR spin from the losers. Though the game is far from over, it’s not hard to separate the champs versus the chumps in this year’s offseason.
Champs
Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs: The San Antonio Spurs ran laps around the other teams in free agency. It’s almost embarrassing. The Spurs took care of business at home and made kepts its homegrown talent in tow by reaching agreements with Tim Duncan, Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. The team also nabbed arguably the best player available in LaMarcus Aldridge, beating out the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Houston Rockets and others. Adding a perennial All-Star like Aldridge to a team just one year removed from an NBA championship with no significant losses to the roster is huge. That signing alone would’ve put them atop the list of winners. However, they also added former All-Star David West to the mix.
West is currently getting the side eye from the player’s union after he opted out of a $12.6 million contract with the Indiana Pacers to sign for the veteran’s minimum ($1.5m) with the Spurs in order to chase a championship. He’s not alone though. Duncan is also catching shade from the union as the future Hall of Famer is expected to earn around $5 million after taking a massive pay cut to help acquire talent for another title run. Between the two, there are lots of millions left on the table, but they both value championships over cheddar and it’s nobody’s business but their own.
Golden State Warriors: The Warriors are the actual NBA champs and you know what they say, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The Warriors re-signed Draymond Green and dumped the contract of seldom-used David Lee. Considering that Lee was the highest paid player on the team, his subtraction gives the team some flexibility and won’t hurt them on the court.
David Lee: Lee was overlooked all season long in Golden State. After Green confiscated Lee’s starting spot, he was relegated to the pine for most of the year.
In the NBA Finals though, Lee proved that he can still play and earned a championship ring. Now, he’s been shipped back to the East where he can shine.
In Boston, he should be able to start, put up solid numbers, return to the playoffs and get a nice, fat paycheck in next season’s free agent market when the team salary caps jump quite a bit.
Chumps
Edit: It’s been made official. DeAndre Jordan signed a 4-year, $88M deal with the Los Angeles Clippers early this morning, cementing himself as the chump of the year. Jordan wasn’t even man enough to meet with Mark Cuban or even take or return a phone call to let him know that he changed his mind. The move will set the Mavs back a year, but ultimately they will be better off without him. You can’t trust a guy like that to lead your team when the going gets tough. DJ is better served as a third or fourth wheel.
DeAndre Jordan and the Los Angeles Clippers: Jordan was the other premier free agent on the market. He was set to earn champ status by committing to join the Dallas Mavericks. In Dallas, Jordan would certainly shed his third wheel status behind Blake Griffin and Chris Paul. However, since verbally committing to the Mavs on July 3, reports indicate Jordan may have had a change of heart. He is scheduled to meet with Doc Rivers and several Clippers players and officials about returning to Lob City.
Has Jordan lost his mind? Did he forget being an afterthought on offense?
When Griffin went down with a staph infection in February, Jordan averaged 16 points and 17.2 rebounds per game. The Mavs want to feature him on the offense. The Clippers do not.
Still, Jordan has caught a case of cold feet. It remains to be seen if he’ll show up for the wedding or leave Mark Cuban and Dirk Nowitzki at the altar.
If he backs out of his verbal agreement, it’ll set a terrible precedent for the league and will cripple the Mavs organization. Something tells me Mavs fans could be blowing up Lil B’s Twitter if this goes south.
Hopefully the butterflies will subside and he’ll be in Dallas at the start of the season. Shame on Jordan and Rivers.
Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks: Let’s face it, the Knicks and Lakers could combine rosters and still possibly miss the playoffs in the West. The rosters are very similar, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony and a bunch of random guys. LeBron James might be able to win with a bunch of average Joe’s, but neither Bryant nor Anthony can at this point in their respective careers. To make matters worse, their bodies are starting to break down and their gigantic contracts no longer add up. The teams struck out with almost every free agent they pursued. Aldridge? Nope. Jordan? Nope. Greg Monroe? He didn’t just say no, he chose the Milwaukee Bucks instead! Nothing more needs to be said. Both will struggle to win 30 games even if their stars remain healthy.
Portland Trail Blazers: The Blazers won 51 games and earned a #5 seed in the tough Western Conference. They did the right thing and ponied up a max contract to Damian Lillard. However, Lillard will be on the only starter to return as they dealt Nicholas Batum then watched Aldridge, Wesley Matthews and Robin Lopez depart via free agency. Things are going to be bad in Portland.
Follow Ishmael and In the Clutch on Twitter @IshmaelSistrunk
