5-Team Trade? My Thoughts From Day 3 of NBA Free Agency!
Day 3 of NBA free agency is upon us and we still had some more big moves, as NBA free agency just never seems to die. Today, I gave my thoughts on all of the major moves from today, from the Hawks extending John Collins to Kemba Walker heading to the Bronx. Here are all of my thoughts from Day 3 of NBA Free Agency.
John Collins Re-Signs With Atlanta, 5yrs/$125 Million Dollar Deal
This one doesn’t surprise me. Collins was a key piece to the Hawks Eastern Conference Finals run and he fits seamlessly with their timeline of youth players ready to contend for a championship. Collins and Trae Young make a great pairing and both of those guys got long-term deals this offseason, as they will be at the front of this new era of Hawks basketball.
Now, some might say that paying John Collins $20-25 million per year is too much, and you would be right and wrong by saying that. I don’t think Collins is worth this contract, but then again, you aren’t going to find anybody better that the Hawks can get. Collins is young and very talented, so losing him would make them a lot worse.
I think you’re finding now in the NBA that being talented gets you a lot of money. Maybe Evan Fournier isn’t worth $20 million per year, but he’s still talented. Maybe John Collins isn’t worth this money, but it’s not like he’s bad. The Hawks don’t exactly have somebody nearly as good on their roster as of right now. With Onyeka Okungwu being out, having Collins is essential for them next season.
Like it or not, this contract for John Collins is well worth it and it should make the Hawks contenders in the Eastern Conference for a very, very long time.
Kemba Walker Bought Out, Plans To Sign With The Knicks
I think we all knew that Kemba Walker wasn’t going to be staying with OKC, it just didn’t make sense for him to be there. Walker had 2 years left on his massive contract, worth about $74 million. Obviously Kemba’s knee injuries have slowed him down considerably, so he’s now nowhere near the type of player that warrants that much money.
Walker will get to become a free agent and accord to Woj, a reunion with his hometown New York Knicks is in order. The Knicks made big moves in free agency to retain D-Rose, Burks, and Nerlens Noel, but they also snagged Evan Fournier, which is one of the best signings in free agency, in my opinion.
But they still needed that point guard. They didn’t go after Lonzo Ball, they tried to trade for Collin Sexton, and if Damian Lillard ever became available, they would certainly want him. But now they get a decent enough PG who can score and this contract for Walker likely won’t be massive.
The Knicks are planning to give Walker around $8 million per year, a much better representation of what Walker brings to the table. When healthy, he can give you 25-30 minutes of solid shot-creation and offense. Obviously, health has been a struggle for Walker, but this deal is cheap and he could really help the Knicks.
The Knicks continue to have one of the best free agencies in the league. They brought back 3 key pieces and then replaced Elfrid Payton and Reggie Bullock with Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier. That’s a pretty massive upgrade as the Knicks look a lot different and a lot better heading into next season.
Enes Kanter Signs With Boston, One-Year Deal
Brad Stevens has won be over for the most part this offseason. Got rid of Kemba and snagged Al Horford down low, a major upgrade that makes Boston a lot better. But I don’t like this move for a lot of reasons. First, Kanter isn’t useable in the playoffs. Sure he’s a great offensive rebounder and can score, but the Celtics don’t really have a point guard who can maximize what Kanter does offensively.
Then there’s the defense. He is so bad defensively, always has been. The only thing he’s good for is low post defense and even then, it’s not great. The Celtics can’t use Kanter in the playoffs unless injuries hit them hard again and they really need him. Kanter really only played major minutes in the 2019 playoffs because of the Jusuf Nurkic injury. Other than that, never really played in the playoffs.
Third, I don’t like the rotation now. I guess he’s ok for like 10 minutes per game, but I want Horford and Robert Williams to get the bulk of the center rotation minutes. Horford is starting (likely) and Williams will come off the bench, which is great. I’m just hoping that Ime Udoka doesn’t compromise the talented but raw Robert Williams, as he still has a lot of developing to do.
As you can tell, I don’t really like this move. I think they should try and sign some type of point guard, maybe Raul Neto.
Victor Oladipo Re-Signs With Miami, One Year Deal
Yeah…that isn’t a max contract. Oladipo has been decimated by injuries and when the Heat traded for him in March of last season, it was puzzling. But the Heat have a completely revamped team, a lot better than when they got swept by the Bucks in the first round, and now they’re bringing the washed up Oladipo back? Doesn’t make sense to me.
The deal is very, very, very cheap, only the minimum, so it’s literally no risk at all for the Heat. But what does Oladipo bring you? Some defense off the bench with incredibly streaky offense? Do you really want that. Here’s your roster as it is currently
Lowry (S)
Robinson (S)
Butler (S)
Tucker (S)
Adebayo (S)
Herro (B)
Dewayne Dedmon (B)
Max Strus (B)
Gabe Vincent (B)
The bench isn’t great or anything, but how much can you really expect from Oladipo. I guess he’s just trying to bump up his stock for 2022 Free Agency, but I just don’t know if he brings anything of worth to Miami. Maybe I’m completely wrong, but I just don’t see the point. I guess he’s just depth and he was cheap, but at best he becomes a solid two-way bench player.
Terrence Davis Re-Signs With Sacramento, Two Year Deal
I don’t think this is a bad deal or anything, but how many guards does one team need? At least Davis isn’t a point guard. Davis is a talented scorer and only 24 years old, so he could be a key contributor off the bench for the Kings in the next few seasons. But now the Kings have so many young guards, to the point where you wonder how they’re all going to fit in.
You have De’Aaron Fox, the All-Star. He’s fine, he’ll fit in no matter what.
Tyrese Haliburton was the steal of the draft last year, great shooter and passer.
Buddy Hield, one of the best shooters in the league. Doesn’t make sense to have him with Haliburton, should look to trade him.
Realistically, Haliburton-Fox-and Terrence Davis should really be it for the guards. But with the 9th pick in the draft, they took another undersized guard in Davion Mitchell. I think Mitchell is a great player, he can shoot and more importantly, he’s great defensively.
But now, Luke Walton, aka an idiot, has to find time for Haliburton/Mitchell/and Terrence Davis. Haliburton deserves minutes because of what he did last year. Terrence Davis deserves minutes because he’s talented. Davion Mitchell has great potential.
So it’ll be very interesting to see who gets playing time and how much. Again, I like the Terrence Davis deal, but the Kings youth movement in the backcourt is going to lead to a crunch and somebody is going to get left out eventually. The question is, who and when?
Warriors Receive: Protected 2nd Round Pick
Jazz Receive: Eric Paschall
Warriors: This one is weird. When the Warriors were terrible in 2020, Paschall was one of the few bright spots. The 2nd round pick averaged 14 points per game on nearly 50% shooting and was selected to All-Rookie First Team. He was on track to being a really solid player for the Warriors.
But in 2021? He regressed. His minutes went down a lot and so did his production overall. Paschall dealt with some injuries, his 2nd season wasn’t as great as the first one, let’s just put it that way.
But to go from All-Rookie First Team to now being traded for a 2nd round pick? It just seems weird. Maybe the Warriors didn’t like his fit, but it kind of just seems like they gave up on him. They didn’t even get anything good in return, so what’s the point of trading him. He’s obviously talented in some capacity, he could have been a decent role player for you. This trade kind of baffles me.
(Ok, so apparently they did this to clear a roster spot. They released Alen Smailagic a couple of days ago, so maybe they just wanted another roster spot? I don’t know, this trade doesn’t make any sense to me, still).
Jazz: The Jazz have done good things this offseason with their limited cap space. They re-signed Mike Conley for 3 years and even got Rudy Gay for 2 years, some more bench depth. While Paschall might not play much, this seems like taking candy from a baby.
A 2nd round pick? That’s it? The Jazz get a talented young player, something they don’t really have since most of their team is now veterans. But now they have Jared Butler and Eric Paschall, some guys who can develop and help the team down the line. Who knows, maybe Paschall could even help the Jazz this season.
He’s mostly an interior presence, but he’s a decent mid-range shooter and not the worst defender. This is a pretty good move for Utah, because they literally gave nothing up and they’re getting a pretty decent player in return.
(and, he’s close friends with Donovan Mitchell since childhood, so that’s an added bonus. Perhaps this was just a move to keep him happy? Maybe?)
Wizards Receive: Spencer Dinwiddie, Signs 3yr/$62 Million Dollar Deal
Nets Receive: 2024 2nd Round Pick & 2025 2nd Round Pick Swap (via WASH)
Spurs Receive: Chandler Hutchison & 2022 2nd Round Pick (via WASH)
Wizards: The Wizards should be rebuilding, I don’t know why they insist that they’re trying to win. They’re roster isn’t good, but what do I know? In 2019-20, Dinwiddie was great and would have been worth this type of money. But he only played 3 games this past season before suffering an partial ACL tear.
So we don’t really know what Dinwiddie the Wizards are getting. Even if he’s what he was, the Wizards are a play-in team at best. They just aren’t that talented and I don’t know why they just haven’t traded Beal yet and blown everything up.
Losing Chandler Hutchison does hurt, he’s young and he’s decent. But the Wizards did trade Hutchison to get under the luxury tax, so to them it’s worth it. They didn’t give up much and they’re taking a risk with Dinwiddie. But still, just REBUILD ALREADY!
Nets: They weren’t going to keep Dinwiddie, at least they got something for him. They are still very good and they were excellent even without Dinwiddie last year. I doubt they care about this in the slightest.
Spurs: FINALLY!!! The Spurs doing something that makes sense. Zach Collins is talented, but incredibly injury prone. Doug McDermott isn’t worth 3yrs/$42 million. They completed a sign-and-trade for DeRozan and whiffed on their 12th draft pick, taking a tremendous risk by taking Joshua Primo.
But this move finally makes sense. Hutchison is young and talented and should get solid minutes. He fits in their timeline of a rebuild, I like this move. They also got a pick from this and they didn’t really give up anything. Solid move, maybe the first move that I actually 100% agree with, probably the least risky move of the offseason for the Spurs.
Full 5-Team Trade Involving Westbrook, Dinwiddie, etc.
That trade above gets added on to this trade, which the great Bobby Marks has laid out. So here is the full 5-team trade as it stands right now;
To Washington:
Kyle Kuzma (via Lakers)
KCP (via Lakers)
Montrezl Harrell (via Lakers)
Aaron Holiday (Draft Night Trade, via Indiana)
#31 Pick, Draft Rights to Isaiah Todd (via Indiana)
To Lakers:
Russell Westbrook (via Wizards)
To Brooklyn:
2024 2nd (via Washington)
2025 2nd (via Washington)
$11.5 Million Dollar Trade Exception
To Indiana:
Pick #22, Draft Rights to Isaiah Jackson (traded from LA to Washington, from Washington to Pacers)
To San Antonio:
Chandler Hutchison (via Washington)
2022 2nd Round Pick (via Washington)
The thing that we learned from this whole trade is that the Nets now have a $11.5 million dollar trade exception. Maybe they use that for a center, maybe they involve that in a potential Deandre Jordan trade. Interesting to see what Sean Marks does there. The Nets cannot use the trade exception via sign-and-trade because of the hard cap provisions, but a regular trade, they can use it for that.
This trade also looks like it’s wrapped up. Unless the Bulls or Thunder get involved like they were rumored to, this is the final trade, kind of just two trades glued together.
Saben Lee Re-Signs With Detroit, Three Year Deal
Lee was a 2nd round pick last year who played sparingly, but he’s decent and the Pistons just want youth. I hope he gets some sort of playing time, but that might be hard with Cade and Killian Hayes ahead of him. If he gets some playing time he could be decent enough, but the Pistons have control over him for the next few seasons, interesting to see if he carves himself a role there.
Danny Green Re-Signs With Philadelphia, 2yrs/$20 Million Dollar Deal
The 76ers needed Green’s shooting back. He shot 41% from 3 last year and he provides some much needed shooting, especially because it looks like Ben Simmons is going to be staying in Philly, barring some drastic change.
The 76ers got back most of their players, but they haven’t made any sort of major move yet. Apparently Ben Simmons to the Warriors trade talks have resumed, but I still don’t think they’re as good as Brooklyn or Milwaukee, maybe even Miami for that matter.
What Are Your Thoughts From Day 3 of NBA Free Agency? Leave A Comment Down Below!
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