A stable, mostly surprise-free start to NBA free agency

Either the leaks were all high quality, or the status quo reigns in the league.

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

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A Cotton Office in New Orleans; Edgar Degas; 1873

Tons of deals were leaked in the early hours of NBA free agency, but little shocking happened. Part of that is quality reporting from the NBA’s newsbreakers in the weeks leading up: we had a good sense of where teams’ heads were at, and some of those teams made moves in advance of June 30 that tipped their hands.

The other part of it is that most teams in the NBA are some level of decent or have a short-term path to recovery. So the status quo with smaller upgrades seems to be the state of play for many clubs. That would also explain the relatively quiet trade market so far this offseason with just Bradley Beal and soon James Harden moving among All-Star caliber players. Damian Lillard, of course, looms. And there could always be other surprises.

Kyrie Irving was purported to be taking meetings (OK Jan), but his three-year deal with the Mavericks leaked soon after the opening bell of free agency. It’s a win for Dallas in that Kyrie is a quality player and had they lost him outright in free agency without compensation they would be in a horrific spot. They didn’t. We’ll see what percentage of games he plays over his contract, and what percentage of games he plays the Mavericks win.

Draymond Green stayed with the Warriors. Khris Middleton re-signed with the Bucks. Cam Johnson re-signed with the Nets. Jerami Grant signed a huge new deal with the Blazers. (We’re going to come back to this one in the coming days. I have questions.) The Pelicans quickly re-signed Herb Jones as their restricted free agency gambit paid off. (Really smart move that will fly under the radar.) For some reason, Kyle Kuzma re-signed with the Wizards, who currently appear to be the only team intentionally tanking next season.

The best players to change teams in the opening hours of free agency: