NBA Landscape Survey
The Orlando Summer League is underway and we've seen a few nice performances from high-profile rookies like Frank Kaminsky and Stanley Johnson, but today's column will keep the focus squarely on free agency.
With marquee players agreeing to deals, attention has shifted to second-tier free agents like Josh Smith and J.R. Smith , as well as restricted FAs like Enes Kanter and Tristan Thompson. We'll begin by breaking down two of the two most important free-agent signings of the summer – LaMarcus Aldridge to the Spurs and DeAndre Jordan to the Mavericks. After that we'll survey the entire free-agent and trade landscape as of midnight on Sunday.
Follow me on Twitter @Knaus_RW for news and insights throughout the offseason, and keep an eye out for Rotoworld's NBA Draft Guide later this summer. The Draft Guide will have a complete free-agency breakdown in addition to rookie previews, mock drafts, rankings and tons of added content to help you dominate your draft.
LaMarcus Aldridge to the Spurs (four years, $80 million)
Aldridge's decision to leave Portland for San Antonio was perhaps the most momentous signing in free agency, as he spurned the Blazers, Suns, Lakers and others to pursue a championship in his home state of Texas. San Antonio isn't done. They need to re-sign Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili while padding the roster with ring-chasing veterans -- they've already convinced David West to accept a minimum-salary deal, and made a subtle-but-savvy deal to acquire Ray McCallum. The NBA's other 29 teams should be very afraid.
Aldridge does not want to play center, so at the moment it appears that Tim Duncan will start in the middle with support from whichever big men the Spurs pick up on the coming weeks. Aldridge has been a top-20 fantasy player for five consecutive seasons, a streak that shouldn't be jeopardized even if his touches decrease under Gregg Popovich. Consider that last year Aldridge ranked 14th in the NBA with a 27.6% usage rate, while the Spurs' highest-usage player was Tony Parker at 23.9% (ranking 46th in the league).
San Antonio prizes ball movement and they won't be as keen on giving Aldridge wing isolations on possession after possession -- he made only 39.4% of his jump shots last season, the vast majority of which came from mid-range. That facet of his game won't disappear but it should be deemphasized, which isn't a bad thing. The potential for fewer shots should be offset by easier shots closer to the basket, which is good news for prospective fantasy owners. When a league scout was asked how the Spurs will fit Aldridge into their offensive system, he replied, "It will be so easy for them it's not even funny."
DeAndre Jordan to the Mavericks (four years, $80 million)
UPDATE: In an unparalleled reversal, Jordan reneged on his verbal agreement with the Mavs and agreed to a multi-year deal with the Clippers. This will have long-term repercussions, hopefully shortening or eliminating the 'moratorium' period of free agency, but for now it leaves the Clippers to celebrate while the Mavericks scramble for answers. As I wrote on Twitter, "As surreal and amusing as this NBA day has been, DeAndre Jordan's vacillations have put the Mavs' entire franchise in a lurch." We'll have plenty to say about this in the coming weeks. The stats below still hold some value, primarly as they pertain to DeAndre's offensive role, so glean what you can from it before progressing to the league-wide free agent information which follows. What a day.
Jordan spurned the Clippers to join the Mavericks on a maximum deal, presumably convinced that he will have a featured offensive role in Dallas. It won't be hard for him to get more looks than he did in Los Angeles, where his usage rate of 13.5% ranked 341st in the NBA (tied with Joel Freeland and Shawn Marion).
Just as striking is the fact that Jordan's usage rate ranked 16th out of 20 players who suited up for L.A. last year, ahead of only Ekpe Udoh, Reggie Bullock, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Dahntay Jones. In the Clippers' losses he had an 11.9% usage rate, but in their wins it was 14.2%. Oh yeah, and he led the NBA with ridiculous 71.0% FG shooting in 2014-15.
Chris Paul isn't dishing the rock to DeAndre anymore and the Mavs' current backcourt depth chart consists of Devin Harris and Raymond Felton. That's a legitimate concern, as Jordan's offense essentially consists of dunks off alley-oops, pocket-passes and put-backs. He had a combined 481 baskets off dunks, alley-oops, layups and tip shots last season. He had a total of 23 baskets off every other type of shot, with only 10 jump shots to his credit. Still, more touches will inevitably result in more points and a more heavily-weighted FG% for DeAndre, which should easily offset any additional FTs he takes (and misses).
Jordan should also repeat as the league's leading rebounder as a member of the Mavericks. Tyson Chandler, who left for Phoenix in free agency, led the Mavs with 11.5 boards per game last season. Dirk Nowitzki ranked second on the team at 5.9 rpg, followed by Chandler Parsons (4.9), Al-Farouq Aminu (4.6), Rajon Rondo (4.5) and Brandan Wright (4.1). Those last three players have all left Dallas as free agents, going to Portland, Sacramento and Memphis, respectively. Simply put, there will be copious caroms for Jordan to collect.
We'll now shift gears to the 'landscape survey' portion of the column.
Players who changed teams as free agents
Player | New Team | Contract Years | Total $ Amount | Annual Salary |
Tyson Chandler | Suns | 4 | $54,000,000 | $13,500,000 |
Greg Monroe | Bucks | 3 | $50,000,000 | $16,666,667 |
DeMarre Carroll | Raptors | 4 | $60,000,000 | $15,000,000 |
Robin Lopez | Knicks | 4 | $54,000,000 | $13,500,000 |
Wesley Matthews | Mavericks | 4 | $52,000,000 | $13,000,000 |
Amir Johnson | Celtics | 2 | $24,000,000 | $12,000,000 |
Monta Ellis | Pacers | 4 | $44,000,000 | $11,000,000 |
Rajon Rondo | Kings | 1 | $9,500,000 | $9,500,000 |
Kosta Koufos | Kings | 4 | $33,000,000 | $8,250,000 |
Arron Afflalo | Knicks | 2 | $16,000,000 | $8,000,000 |
Al-Farouq Aminu | Blazers | 4 | $30,000,000 | $7,500,000 |
Lou Williams | Lakers | 3 | $21,000,000 | $7,000,000 |
Ed Davis | Blazers | 3 | $20,000,000 | $6,666,667 |
Marco Belinelli | Kings | 3 | $19,000,000 | $6,333,333 |
Brandan Wright | Grizzlies | 3 | $18,000,000 | $6,000,000 |
C.J. Watson | Magic | 3 | $15,000,000 | $5,000,000 |
Derrick Williams | Knicks | 2 | $10,000,000 | $5,000,000 |
Kyle O'Quinn | Knicks | 4 | $16,000,000 | $4,000,000 |
Paul Pierce | Clippers | 3 | $10,000,000 | $3,333,333 |
Bismack Biyombo | Raptors | 2 | $6,000,000 | $3,000,000 |
Gary Neal | Wizards | 1 | $2,100,000 | $2,100,000 |
Thomas Robinson | Nets | 2 | $3,000,000 | $1,500,000 |
Brandon Bass | Lakers | unknown | unknown | |
Jeremy Evans | Mavericks | 2 | minimum | |
Aron Baynes | Pistons | 3 | unknown |
*Cory Joseph agreed to a four-year, $30 million deal with Toronto ($7.5 million per season).
*David West agreed to a minimum-salary deal with the Spurs. He'll earn $1.4 million on what is likely a one-year contract, which is shocking considering he opted out of a $12 million player option with the Pacers.
*Mo Williams agreed to a two-year, $4.3 million deal with the Cavaliers.
*Alan Anderson agreed to a one-year, $4 million deal with the Wizards.
*Jason Smith agreed to a one-year, $4.3 million deal with the Magic.
*Jeremy Lin agreed to a two-year, $4.0 million deal with the Hornets.
*Gerald Green agreed to a one-year, $1.4 million deal with the Heat.
*Marcus Thornton agreed to a one-year, vet-minimum deal with the Rockets.
*Mirza Teletovic agreed to a one-year, $5.5 million deal with the Suns.
*Wayne Ellington agreed to a one-year, $1.5 million deal with the Nets.
*Jordan Hill agreed to a deal with the Pacers - the terms are unclear.
*Amare Stoudemire agreed to a one-year, $1.5 million deal with the Heat.
Free agents who stayed put
Player | Team | Contract Years | Total $ Amount | Annual Salary |
Kevin Love | Cavaliers | 5 | $110,000,000 | $22,000,000 |
Marc Gasol | Grizzlies | 5 | $108,000,000 | $21,600,000 |
Brook Lopez | Nets | 3 | $60,000,000 | $20,000,000 |
Dwyane Wade | Heat | 1 | $20,000,000 | $20,000,000 |
Paul Millsap | Hawks | 3 | $59,000,000 | $19,666,667 |
Jimmy Butler | Bulls | 5 | $90,000,000 | $18,000,000 |
Kawhi Leonard | Spurs | 5 | $90,000,000 | $18,000,000 |
Goran Dragic | Heat | 5 | $90,000,000 | $18,000,000 |
Draymond Green | Warriors | 5 | $85,000,000 | $17,000,000 |
Tobias Harris | Magic | 4 | $64,000,000 | $16,000,000 |
Brandon Knight | Suns | 5 | $70,000,000 | $14,000,000 |
Khris Middleton | Bucks | 5 | $70,000,000 | $14,000,000 |
Thaddeus Young | Nets | 4 | $50,000,000 | $12,500,000 |
Omer Asik | Pelicans | 5 | $60,000,000 | $12,000,000 |
Danny Green | Spurs | 4 | $45,000,000 | $11,250,000 |
Iman Shumpert | Cavaliers | 4 | $40,000,000 | $10,000,000 |
Corey Brewer | Rockets | 3 | $24,000,000 | $8,000,000 |
Jae Crowder | Celtics | 5 | $35,000,000 | $7,000,000 |
Rodney Stuckey | Pacers | 3 | $21,000,000 | $7,000,000 |
Patrick Beverley | Rockets | 4 | $25,000,000 | $6,250,000 |
Jonas Jerebko | Celtics | 2 | $10,000,000 | $5,000,000 |
Alexis Ajinca | Pelicans | 4 | $20,000,000 | $5,000,000 |
Kyle Singler | Thunder | 5 | $25,000,000 | $5,000,000 |
Mike Dunleavy | Bulls | 3 | $14,000,000 | $4,666,667 |
Dante Cunningham | Pelicans | 3 | $9,000,000 | $3,000,000 |
Lavoy Allen | Pacers | 3 | unknown | |
Richard Jefferson | Mavericks | unknown | unknown |
*Reggie Jackson agreed to a five-year, $80 million extension with the Pistons late on Sunday night ($16 million per season).
*Manu Ginobili agreed to a two-year, $5.7 million deal with the Spurs.
*Omri Casspi agreed to a two-year, $6 million deal with the Kings.
*J.J. Barea agreed to a two-year, $5.6 million deal with the Mavericks.
*Joe Ingles agreed to a two-year, $4.5 million deal with the Jazz.
*Leandro Barbosa agreed to a one-year, $2.5 million deal with the Warriors.
*Aaron Brooks agreed to a one-year deal with the Bulls, almost certainly for the veteran minimum.
*Charlie Villanueva agreed to a minmum-salary, one-year deal with the Mavericks.
*Will Barton agreed to a three-year, $10 million deal with the Nuggets.
*Austin Rivers agreed to a two-year, $6.2 million deal with the Clippers.
As expected, LeBron James (two years, $47 million), Tim Duncan (two years, $10.4 million) and Kevin Garnett (two years, $16 million) have also joined this list. It's a delightful state of affairs for fans who purchased any of these players' jerseys last season.
Anthony Davis (five years, $145 million) and Damian Lillard (five years, $125 million) also landed max contract extensions, cementing their status as franchise players, and both guys are poised for their best-yet fantasy season -- Davis is rapidly becoming the consensus No. 1 pick, while Lillard should flirt with top-10 value as the be-all, end-all of Portland's offense.
Players who have changed teams via trades
Roy Hibbert to Lakers (terms undisclosed)
Tiago Splitter to Hawks (for 'future considerations')
Nicolas Batum to Hornets (Gerald Henderson & Noah Vonleh to Blazers)
Ersan Ilyasova to Pistons (Caron Butler and Shawne Williams to Bucks)
Lance Stephenson to Clippers (Spencer Hawes & Matt Barnes to Hornets)
Matt Barnes to Grizzlies (for Luke Ridnour)
Mason Plumlee and Pat Connaughton to Trail Blazers (Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Steve Blake to Nets)
Marcus Morris, Danny Granger and Reggie Bullock to Pistons (for 2020 second-round pick
Nik Stauskas, Jason Thompson and Carl Landry to the 76ers (for 'future considerations')
Greivis Vasquez to Bucks (for protected 2017 first-round pick)
Jeremy Lamb to Hornets (for Luke Ridnour)
Jared Dudley to Wizards (for future second-round pick)
Luke Ridnour to Raptors (for Tomislav Zubcic's draft rights)
Jon Leuer to Suns (for rookie Andrew Harrison)
Zaza Pachulia to Mavericks (for future second-round pick)
Unrestricted Free Agents
Point Guards | Shooting Guards | Small Forwards | Power Forwards | Centers |
Andre Miller | J.R. Smith | Wesley Johnson | Josh Smith | Kevin Seraphin |
Jameer Nelson | Justin Holiday | Luc Mbah a Moute | Carlos Boozer | Amare Stoudemire |
Donald Sloan | Jason Terry | Dorell Wright | Darrell Arthur | Cole Aldrich |
Ronnie Price | Willie Green | Glenn Robinson | Jason Maxiell | JaVale McGee |
Alexey Shved | John Jenkins | Tayshaun Prince | Luis Scola | Justin Hamilton |
John Lucas | Ben Gordon | Jeff Taylor | Andrea Bargnani | Greg Stiemsma |
Ish Smith | Jimmer Fredette | Lance Thomas | Tyler Hansbrough | Henry Sims |
Darius Morris | Ian Clark | Rasual Butler | Ekpe Udoh | Ryan Hollins |
Shane Larkin | Alonzo Gee | Glen Davis | Jerome Jordan | |
Jason Richardson | Quincy Acy | Chuck Hayes | ||
Dahntay Jones | Jeff Ayres | Earl Barron | ||
Landry Fields | Drew Gooden | Bernard James | ||
Michael Beasley | Reggie Evans | Lou Amundson | ||
Luke Babbitt | Shawne Williams | Kendrick Perkins | ||
James Jones | Matt Bonner | Joel Anthony | ||
Hedo Turkoglu | Nazr Mohammed | |||
Restricted Free Agents
Point Guards | Shooting Guards | Small Forwards | Power Forwards | Centers |
Matthew Dellavedova | K.J. McDaniels | Tristan Thompson | Enes Kanter | |
Nick Calathes | Robbie Hummel | Kostas Papanikolaou | Jeff Withey | |
Norris Cole | Ognjen Kuzmic | |||
I'm sure to have missed some players or mangled a few numbers...if you see any errors or inconsistencies, please do let me know on Twitter. And as usual, follow Rotoworld's player news page and official Twitter account for all the latest trades, signings and NBA news.
