If you were fortunate enough to have raised a child who was capable of playing professional basketball at even a competitive level, yesterday began the most exemplary fortnight or so that shows exactly how blessed you and your family are. Per CBS Sports’ Brad Botkin:
NBA free agency has begun in earnest…Free agents, though, had not yet been allowed to negotiate with teams other than the one they finished last season. That changed Sunday night at 6 p.m. ET. NBA free agency is underway, and players can negotiate deals with anyone in the league.
And per NEWSWEEK’s Matt Levine, it didnt take very long for things to truly heat up this morning:
The biggest domino in free agency has fallen, as star forward Paul George has agreed to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers on a max deal. The deal is for four years and is worth $212 million. There had been growing speculation about George landing in Philadelphia as he and the Los Angeles Clippers couldn’t come to terms on a new contract. Philadelphia lands George to pair him alongside stars Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. The 76ers now become one of the favorites in the Eastern Conference and will be a tough team to beat. They had been missing a true wing player to compliment its two stars, so George will be a sight for sore eyes.
A number of the bigger names on this year’s list of eligible free agents have already chosen to stay put, either officially or effectively. George’s teammate James Harden, lately the king of wanderlust, will stay in Los Angeles for at least two more years, helping to lead the Clippers into the Intuit Dome. Lebron James is all but set to remain a Laker, with son Bronny on his way to Summer League and an eventual historic on-court pairing. He is reportedly already acting as an envoy to attract one of the more prominent players in play, the Warriors’ Klay Thompson, who potentially could wind up playing for a team his dad Mychal broadcasts for. Not quite the James connection, but it sure will make the Christmas Day photoshoot all the more appealing.
Botkin adds a few other moves of consequence that took place just as the starting gun was fired last night:
The Magic, meanwhile, made a notable move by landing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Part of the Nuggets’ 2023 championship team, KCP is heading to Orlando on a three-year, $66M deal. (And) Chris Paul…was waived by the Warriors before agreeing to a deal with the Spurs).
Many others chose to stand put. Botkin’s top 30 shows no less than a third of his list choosing to re-up with their current employers:
| RANK | PLAYER | POS | LAST TEAM | NEW TEAM | STATUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
LeBron James (39)
|
SF |
 |
Opted out of final year of his contract | |
| 2 |
Paul George (34)
|
SF |
 |
 |
Agreed to four-year, $212M deal |
| 3 |
Tyrese Maxey (23)
|
PG |
|
|
Agreed to five-year, $204M extension |
| 4 |
James Harden (34)
|
PG |
|
|
Agreed to two-year, $70M deal |
| 5 |
Pascal Siakam (30)
|
PF |
 |
|
Agreed to four-year, $189.5M deal |
| 6 |
OG Anunoby (26)
|
SF |
 |
|
Agreed to five-year, $212.5M deal |
| 7 |
Isaiah Hartenstein (26)
|
C |
|
Unrestricted | |
| 8 |
DeMar DeRozan (34)
|
SF |
 |
Unrestricted | |
| 9 | SG |
 |
 |
Agreed to three-year, $66M deal | |
| 10 |
Malik Monk (26)
|
SG |
 |
|
Agreed to four-year, $78M deal |
| 11 |
Immanuel Quickley (25)
|
PG |
 |
|
Agreed to five-year, $175M deal |
| 12 |
Klay Thompson (34)
|
SG |
 |
Unrestricted | |
| 13 |
Obi Toppin (26)
|
PF |
|
|
Agreed to four-year, $60M deal |
| 14 |
Tobias Harris (31)
|
PF |
|
Unrestricted | |
| 15 |
Nicolas Claxton (25)
|
C |
 |
Unrestricted | |
| 16 |
D’Angelo Russell (28)
|
PG |
|
|
Picked up $18.7M player option |
| 17 |
Bruce Brown (27)
|
SG |
|
|
Team picked up $23M option |
| 18 |
Gary Trent Jr. (25)
|
SG |
|
Unrestricted | |
| 19 |
Tyus Jones (28)
|
PG |
 |
Unrestricted | |
| 20 |
Miles Bridges (26)
|
PF |
 |
Unrestricted | |
| 21 |
Isaac Okoro (23)
|
SF |
 |
Restricted | |
| 22 |
Markelle Fultz (26)
|
PG |
|
Unrestricted | |
| 23 |
Malik Beasley (27)
|
SG |
 |
Unrestricted | |
| 24 |
Patrick Williams (22)
|
PF |
|
|
Agreed to five-year, $90M deal |
| 25 |
Jonas Valanciunas (32)
|
C |
 |
|
Agreed to three-year, $30M deal |
| 26 |
Caleb Martin (28)
|
SF |
 |
Declined player option | |
| 27 |
Nicolas Batum (35)
|
PF |
|
Unrestricted | |
| 28 |
De’Anthony Melton (26)
|
SG |
|
Unrestricted | |
| 29 |
Gary Payton II (31)
|
SG |
|
|
Picked up $9.1M player option |
| 30 |
Buddy Hield (31)
|
SG |
|
Unrestricted |
Where the likes of DeRozean, Hartenstein and Harris wind up will provide incremental fireworks in the next few days. One of the more positive qualities about the NBA free agency period is that there is often an urgency to get things done during the holiday period and no later than the end of the Summer League festivities, which get under way in Las Vegas a week from Friday. Unlike football, which tends to draw things out over several weeks and certainly baseball, which didn’t wrap things up until mere hours before the start of the regular season on the U.S. mainland.
Keep an eye for those alerts. You never know when firecrackers will go off this time of year.
Courage…