Warriors: Kevin Durant (2yrs/$53m), Omri Casspi (1yr/min)), Nick Young (1yr/5.2m)
Durant is officially the biggest bargain in the NBA. I think Casspi is one of most underappreciated players of the last few years, they're gonna love him in Golden State. I think Young is one of the most over-appreciated players of the last few years, but w/GSW he'll get plenty of chances to look good. Great moves, all three of them. I expect the Warriors to be pretty pretty pret-ty good next year.
Pacers: Darren Collison (2yr/$20m)
Collison is perhaps the best 2nd string PG in the league, which might make his price tag worth it. But with Indy he'll be expected to carry a lot of the load (and no one's quaking at that Collison/Oladipo back court). On second thought: I kinda like Collison and given the upheaval they've gone through, the Pacers could be one of those nice surprise teams in the sorry ass East next year.
Wizards: Mike Scott (1yr/min)
I hate to be that guy but wasn't Scott busted in a big time marijuana sting a coupla years ago? Am I remembering that wrong? (Also, another thing I'd normally never point out: Scott has the weirdest looking tats in the league, like a kindergarten class went hognutty with some Sharpies)
Kings: George Hill (3yr/$57m), Zach Randolph (2yr/$24m)
I don't remember the last time I thought this, but I kinda like everything the Kings have done this summer. Hill is a bit injury-prone and he's an unorthodox PG but I'm in the camp that thinks he's underrated. And Zebo kinda looks like DeMarcus, Kings fans will appreciate that. Two nice veteran moves, not terribly contracts (a little rich but not bad for Sacto).
Celtics: Gordon Hayward (4yr/$128m).
The pitch is this: 'Gordo, sign a 4 year deal and we will beat Lebron in that time and rule the East'. I kinda wanted Hayward to stay in Utah, this is not as big as Durant going to the Warriors but not dissimilar: the Jazz were a good team getting better and the West needs all of those teams it can get to throw at the Warriors. But going to Boston was in the cards the whole time. Good get for the Celtics, they're ready to challenge Lebron and in 2018-19 they may well be ready to make a for-real run at a title. (*)
Thunder: Patrick Patterson (3yr/$16.4m), Andre Roberson (3yr/$30m).
I love what the Thunder got going on, I think PG and Russ are gonna be great together and Patterson is the perfect pick-up to throw in that rotation. He'll work hard without needing the ball or the spotlight, a dirty work guy that's guy a bit more offensive skill than you realize. Roberson's role is now clearly defined and they got both these guys on reasonable deals. I think OKC has a puncher's chance of getting the #1 seed.
Heat: Dion Waiters (4yr/$52m)
Waiters was really good last year and the Heat kinda cooked up some magic there once they got rolling. Can they run back? Ehhh, we'll see.
(*) I always thought there was a weird twist to the Stevens-Hayward mentorship that people ignored. Imagine this scenario: the Celtics bring Hayward in, give him the pitch, retire his jersey, take lots of pictures, that kinda crap; then everyone leaves and Stevens and Hayward sit down to chat. And Hayward says, 'Coach, Utah wants to give me a shit ton of money to build around me and I kinda like what we're building out there and I like the town and my wife is happy and they're gonna give me a SHIT TON of money...I kinda wanna stay in Utah.' If the coach-player relationship is truly as strong as we think it is then Stevens has to say: 'That sounds great, kid! You should do that! I love you and I want you to be happy and if you like the team and your wife is happy, then go get that fucking money and kick some ass!' And Hayward would've stayed.
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