Monday, I posted a list of the top 30 free agents this NBA off season,
imho of course. Teams were permitted to begin courting free agents Wednesday. After two days, we know a great deal about how all this is going to shake out. Let's remember that none of these agreements go official until next week Wednesday, July 8th. Still most of the intrigue goes down in this week when talk can occur but ink stays off the dotted line. Updates after two:
The big news today was Ron Artest heading for the bright lights of LA. He'll sign for the mid-level exception, about $5.6 million a year, though it's still unclear if it'll be for three or five years. Basically, I agree with the pessimism expressed by Kelly Dwyer, but you can find a more balanced analysis from Forum Blue and Gold's Kurt Helin. My concerns are whether Artest will choose to mesh with the triangle offense, whether he'll detract from shots Gasol and Bynum should be getting, whether he'll be able to guard point guards like Ariza did (he won't), and whether Phil Jackson's successor can handle Ron-Ron.- The Detroit Pistons landed two free agent acquisitions in Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva. This will probably effectively take them off the market for the summer, and could seriously curtail their flexibility next off-season. They now focus simply on whether or not to re-sign Antonio McDyess. My thoughts are they'll try to deal Rip Hamiltion before next summer, especially as he plays the same position as Gordon, but regardless it doesn't look like they're planning on signing any marquee 2010 free-agents. The marquee consists primarily of Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, and they play the same positions as Gordon and Villanueva, respectively. Unless Dumars plans to make a pitch at Lebron James...
Several other free agents who were leading the rumor mill early Wednesday look to have settled on teams. ESPN's Chris Broussard
has been the man with the word today.
- Marcin Gortat has committed to Dallas, though Orlando says it'll match (Mavs management thinks it's a bluff). Gortat began to lean towards Dallas after Houston made it clear he would not receive their entire MLE.
- Trevor Ariza will most likely swap places with Artest. Word is Lakers management wasn't happy with the out and out way Ariza's agent David Lee (not to be confused with NY's restricted free agent) has handled negotiations. Ariza will most likely receive the entire MLE.
- Josh Childress has been back from Greece and met with Bucks management. Seems the bomb scare at the Greek finals spooked Childress, since he stands to lose money coming back to the NBA.
- The Thunder look to be waiting out the market on Paul Millsap, and it should be between OKC and the Jazz. If the Jazz hit the $80 million in annual salary mark to retain Millsap, they'll likely try to trade Boozer mid-season.
- Hedo Turkoglu seems to be headed to Portland. Nothing official yet, and the Raptors are still interested but want to hang on to Shawn Marion. I'm honestly not sure why.
- Boston heads the field for Rasheed Wallace. Reportedly, Doc Rivers, management, and the Celtics' Big 3 all went to Detroit to meet with 'Sheed.
On to the list. New developments appear below in
red. Just to reiterate: until a player's destination is determined, they will be marked TBD (to be determined). Players who are restricted free agents or are only suspected to be moving through trades will be demarcated as such. There are a few other names floating (again, you can
check ESPN's list), but for simplicity's sake we'll stick to these 30. I'm leaving a few of these as simply "verbal agreements" because sometimes those get reneged in the face of better offers. Stay tuned!
Kobe Bryant - Los Angeles Lakers: Kobe chooses not to opt out.- Carlos Boozer - Utah Jazz: Boozer exercises player option.
- Ama're Stoudamire - TBD (trade?)
- Ben Gordon - Detroit Pistons: Gordon will sign a 5 year deal for $55 to $60 million.
- Paul Millsap - TBD (restricted)
- Josh Smith - TBD (trade?)
- Ron Artest - Los Angeles Lakers: Looking like they were going to lose Ariza, the Lakers one-upped the rest of the arms race field.
- Trevor Ariza - TBD (verbal agreement with Rockets)
- Chris Anderson - TBD
- Lamar Odom - TBD
- Jason Kidd - TBD
- Hedo Turkoglu - TBD
- Rasheed Wallace - TBD
- David Lee - TBD (restricted)
- Shawn Marion - TBD
- Nate Robinson - TBD (restricted)
- Kyle Korver - Utah Jazz
- Charlie Villanueva - CV31 will sign with a five year $40 million deal with the Pistons.
- Brandon Bass - TBD
- Marcin Gortat - TBD (verbal agreement with the Mavs)
- Allen Iverson - TBD
- Andre Miller - TBD
- Mike Bibby - TBD
- Drew Gooden - TBD
- Antonio McDyess - TBD
- Grant Hill - TBD
- Zaza Pachulia - TBD
- Von Wafer - TBD
- Stephon Marbury - TBD
- Zach Randolph - Memphis Grizzlies: The Clips traded Z-Bo to the Grizz for Quentin Richardson, prompting the question: is Memphis a worse organization than the Clips?
