In spite of a torn ACL suffered in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, Klay Thompson is going to get a five-year, $190 million max offer from the Golden State Warriors to remain with the team.
Other than that, however, there isn’t a ton of certainty as to how free agency will go once teams and players can officially start talking on Sunday at 4 p.m. MDT.
Except, of course, for the Saturday afternoon news the Kyrie Irving is Brooklyn-bound, and that the Celtics are poised to replace him with Kemba Walker. Also, that the Magic and Kings are set to retain Nikola Vucevic and Harrison Barnes, respectively.
Beyond that, though — anyone feel confident about what this year’s Finals MVP, Kawhi Leonard, is going to do? Each of the Raptors, Clippers, Lakers, and Knicks have been rumored frontrunners to land him in the last week alone.
How about former two-time Finals MVP Kevin Durant, who was widely expected to leave the Warriors, at least until he tore his achilles and may still? Nets? Knicks? Clippers? Back to the Warriors after all?
Meanwhile, what about Jimmy Butler? Stay with the Sixers? Sign-and-trade to the Rockets? Joining LeBron and Anthony Davis on the Lakers? He’s also set up a meeting with the Heat, who currently have no cap space, but that’s probably no impediment to Pat Riley.
If the Nets do indeed land Irving, does D’Angelo Russell go from restricted to unrestricted? And if so, where does he wind up? Back in L.A.? Perhaps in Phoenix?
FILE - At left, in a March 20, 2019, file photo, Boston Celtics' Kyrie Irving is shown during an NBA basketball game against the Philadelphia 76ers in Philadelphia. At right, in a May 8, 2019, file photo, Golden State Warriors' Kevin Durant is shown during the first half of Game 5 of the team's second-round NBA basketball playoff series against the Houston Rockets in Oakland, Calif. Rarely relevant at the same time on the basketball court, the Knicks and Nets are front and center in the free agency race, two of the teams best positioned to make a splash when the market opens. Both can afford two top players, with hopes of landing not only a Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving, but possibly even both. (AP Photo/File)
We’ve still got Khris Middleton … and Al Horford … and DeMarcus Cousins … though we need no longer worry about Nikoka Mirotic, who apparently eschewed big NBA offers to come in favor of returning to Spain. And after all that, we still haven’t even yet gotten to Tobias Harris, who remains a person of interest here in Utah.
Honestly, with a couple hundred free agents on the market this summer, and the chaos that’s about to ensue, the league will look markedly different next season no matter how it all shakes out.
Of course, the other side of the coin is figuring out what the various teams will be trying to do.
Do the Raptors have any way at all to pivot if Leonard decides to leave Toronto and head back home to Southern California? Are the Bucks willing to pay the luxury tax to run it back and retain the likes of Middleton, Malcolm Brogdon, and Brook Lopez?
We know the Lakers are determined to land another superstar to form a Big Three, but what if they don’t come away with Leonard or Irving? Do they settle for Butler? Bring back Russell? Heed the pleading advice of pundits everywhere and split up the $32M among some quality role players? (They’ve been linked to the likes of Patrick Beverley and DeAndre Jordan already.)
Do the Sixers stay true to their professed desire to spend a ton to retain Butler and Harris? Do the Rockets really blow it all up and ship off Clint Capela, Eric Gordon and P.J. Tucker and try to force a sign-and-trade for Butler?
Philadelphia 76ers' Jimmy Butler, right, goes up for a shot against Toronto Raptors' Kyle Lowry during the first half of Game 6 of a second-round NBA basketball playoff series Thursday, May 9, 2019, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
Does Trader Danny Ainge in Boston have any more tricks up his sleeve (beyond the rumored Walker pairing) to salvage an offseason that’s been nothing short of disastrous, given the apparent impending departures of Horford and Irving? And can the Nets convince someone to come be Irving’s running mate in Brooklyn if they do indeed land the mercurial star?
Can the Knicks land anyone of consequence at all? Or, after an offseason that began with dreams of teaming up Durant, Irving and Zion Williamson at Madison Square Garden, will they wind up with the likes of Cousins and Terry Rozier and try to spin it as a desired outcome?
All that and more is about to unfold.
And you don’t even have to stay up until the wee hours of the night anymore to first satiate your voracious thirst for news. Commissioner Adam Silver moved the start of the negotiating deadline up six hours from its traditional July 1 at midnight ET allegedly to spare players and execs the ignominy of having to do business past bedtime, though the opportunity to have news programs full of NBA goings-on probably didn’t hurt.
Of course, all of Saturday’s unofficial announcements may have spoiled that just a touch.
It isn’t likely to be a problem. As we’ve established, there surely won’t be any shortage of news to talk about.
SETTING THE MARKET
Here are five players whose decisions will get the dominoes falling once free agency begins on Sunday:
Kawhi Leonard • The Raptors rolled the dice on acquiring him last summer, knowing he might not stay. Now, after winning a title … he still might not stay. Raptors? Clippers? Lakers? Who knows?
Kevin Durant • He might be as big an enigma as Leonard, especially now that he’ll miss the season with a torn Achilles. A return to the Warriors? Teaming up with Kyrie on the Nets? With Leonard or Butler on the Clippers? Resurrecting the Knicks?
Kyrie Irving • Everyone assumes he’s going to Brooklyn, and he may well do that. But might be be enticed to reunite with LeBron now out in L.A.?
Jimmy Butler • He’s seemingly been mentioned as a candidate for almost every team with max space. The Sixers want to keep him. The Rockets are going hard for him. The Clippers and Lakers are both interested. And he’s meeting first with the Heat.
Tobias Harris • He’s probably more of a secondary target for a lot of teams, but he’ll still probably come away with a max deal. Who will it come from? The Sixers? Nets? Maybe even the Jazz?
