Monday, July 10, 2017

2017-18 NBA Free Agency (Day 1)

Clippers: Blake Griffin (5yrs/$170m). Yeah, I thought the Clips would keep CP3, they did not. Paul and Crawford are out, Reddick walked, wouldn't be surprised to see Deandre out too (send him to Dallas for Nerlens?). This team now belongs to Blake (and Austin Rivers) til kingdom come. The Clippers are a mediocre big market team with a lot of money: it'd be nice if they could develop young talent and make the most of draft picks, but they'll probably Knicks their way out of problems, piecemealing ever mediocre-er talent around Blake, hoping he avoids injury enough to have a badass playoff run in him. I dunno, I'm not feeling it. I would've bet on CP bringing the banana boat crowd around, if I was the Clippers, I'd rather do that for the next 3-5 years.

Warriors: Steph Curry (5yrs/$201m), Shaun Livingston (3yrs/$24m), David West (1yr/min), Andre Iguodala (3yrs/$48). Lebron's right: Steph is worth way more than that. Warriors are serious about keeping the band together and I applaud them. Paying a crazy tax on this team would be the greatest pleasure of my life, if you've got the money to buy the Mona Lisa, just buy it, don't worry if you can't afford it, it'll still be the Mona Lisa next year too. I'd love to go broke owning this team--might even more fun than being on the team! Love that the Warriors are smart enough to keep this thing going.

Spurs: Patty Mills (4yrs/$50m). I thought he would've been a 2nd strong PG for the Wolves (Wolves did okay though). Wasn't sure the Spurs would bring the big coin for Mills, I think its a pretty good move for them. He fits what they want, he's already there, get him paid and back on the court.

Wolves: Jeff Teague (3yrs/$57m). Personally I like Ricky Rubio, thought he was a pretty good fit for the new look Wolves. But Teague will go well with Butler and Towns, he'll do all right for Wiggins, Dieng and Bjelica too. I like what Wolves have done this summer,Teague/Butler/Crawford gives them a whole new look and feel. Thibs now has the horses and the depth, if the Wolves don't take a big step forward, it'll be eye-opening.

Pelicans: Jrue Holiday (5yrs/$126m). Wow, $126m for Jrue Holiday? I like him as much as the next guy and the family vibe the Pels have with him is transcendent they say, but, man, that's a lot. The Pelicans have roughly 3 months to make it work with Boogie, by Feb he's either staying or going, that seems like a lot to tie into an oft-injured thoroughly okay PG. But the Pelicans have to do it their own way. (They've been snakebit ever since drafting Anthony Davis, every move they've made is to try to get something going with him as soon as possible, but their moves have just been impatient)

Bucks: Tony Snell (4yrs/$46m). I always thought Snell could be a nice player and last year he finally had a breakthrough. This seems like a reasonable deal, perhaps a little rich but someone would've paid him, it might as well be the Bucks. They're stockpiling a lot of 'nice' players there, they're just one free agent away from being the beast of the East. Snell isn't it but the groundwork is being laid expertly by Kidd and co.

Rockets: Nene Hilario (3yr/$11m), Zhou Qi (undisclosed). Nene played well for the Rockets off the bench last year, I think CP will do right by Nene, the money seems reasonable to me. I was intrigued by Zhou in the 2016 draft, he ran up and then back down the mocks leading up to the draft, settled at the Rockets in middle 2nd rd. You never know, he might be awesome. What happens if Zhou is the next Lativian Gangbanger and Harden and Paul go Melo/DRose on him? (I'm totally talking myself into that! smh)

Pistons: Langston Galloway (3yrs/$21m). I don't see what Stan Van is doing in Detroit. Last year Reggie Jax/KCP, this year Langston and Avery Bradley. I dunno, I guess that's better.

Knicks: Ron Baker (undisclosed). Everybody loves the plucky underdog in the Big Apple, right? Hey, for better or worse Baker was one of the brighter pieces of news the Knicks had all last year. And he's still cheap as hell, ride him out, see if it turns into Ron-sanity.

Sixers: JJ Redick (1yr/$23m), Amir Johnson (1yr/$11m). I like both these pick ups. Redick is still a helluva shooter, good enough defender and accomplished podcaster (that counts, man, you fuckin' A right it matters) and Johnson is a reliable hard working/good guy veteran. Yes, they're overpaying but the Sixers got nothing but money to spend and 1-year deals are worth their weight in gold.

Hornets: Michael Carter-Williams (1yr/$2.7m). That's not much to see if the former ROY (remember?  He won ROY!) can get it back.

Cavs: Jose Calderon (1yr/min). Is Calderon gonna be better next year than Deron Williams was this year? I think I'm gonna go with a strong 'probably not'.

Bulls: Cristiano Felicio (4yrs/$32m). I kinda like Felicio and I that's pretty good deal for the Bulls, that's a moveable contract on a nice young big man.

Jazz: Joe Ingles (4yrs/$52m). I like watching Ingles. He's one of the most amazingly slow players, I've ever seen. He's so tall for his position, he's always trying to be active but he takes so long to do whatever he's gonna do, he kinda unfolds across the floor. Anyway, I like his game, I think he can play with Rubio.

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