NBA free agency is off and running and it hasn’t been as exciting as previous years. It’s been pretty uninspiring to say the least.
We are used to the excitement of deals being announced by one of the many NBA insiders just moments after free agency starts. The non stop Twitter (X) notifications announcing where someone’s new home or that they’ve signed a massive deal to stay put. We got none of that this year.
The reason? The new CBA.
Tampering was a big issue previous to this offseason and most people didn’t have a problem with it. There were some owners, teams, and fans that did because they lost a guy but for the most part, it wasn’t an issue to a lot. It was seen as the thing that everyone does but no one talks about. Until the new CBA was announced.
In the new CBA, the penalty for tampering is much more drastic for a player or team. Previously, if a player was found guilty of tampering they could be suspended and/or fined a maximum of $50,000. If anyone affiliated with the team was found guilty the league could deduct draft picks and be fined up to $5 million.
The penalties are worse with the new CBA. Although teams are allowed to start talking to their own free agents before the start of free agency to try and negotiate a new deal. they still aren’t allowed to talk to potential free agents until the official start. If they are caught doing so, the fines are pretty big.
Agents can get fined up to $125,000 by the NBPA if a decision is made before the start of free agency. Players and agents can’t announce their new deals until the moratorium period ends. The new fines can be up to $2 million if caught tampering and/or draft picks being taken away. A tampered with player can even be suspended for their new team. The biggest thing is, if a team was a repeat offender, no matter where they landed in the draft, their first round pick would be 30th.
Those pretty severe penalties led to everyone just waiting for any deal to be announced the second free agency started and left being disappointed to the lack of excitement.
Deals did get done though. Deals that could change the trajectory of a few teams.
Here are the winners and losers of the early periods of free agency.
*Losers could potentially become winners if they have other additions*
WINNERS
A+ offseason/free agency
Thunder
The Thunder should be everyone’s big winner of free agency/the offseason. The number one team in the West drastically increased their odds at winning a championship next season.
OKC replaced Josh Giddey (who is a good player but just wasn’t going to reach his potential on OKC’s roster) with Alex Caruso who a better fit. He’s a good shooter, doesn’t need the ball in his hands, and is an All NBA Defender. They also added Isaiah Hartenstein who was coveted by quite a few teams. He’s going to help with their rebounding and rim protection issues while also being a good passer.
Then, they retained their own guys in Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins while having a pretty good draft. It’s hard to see any other team having a better offseason than the Thunder.
Mavericks
The Mavericks represented the West in the NBA Finals and they got better.
They did lose Derrick Jones Jr. to the Warriors but they “replaced” him with Klay Thompson who is still pretty good in his own right. Defensively at this stage in his career, he probably isn’t as good as Jones is but he could make up for it on the offensive end where he averaged 18 points and shot 39% from three last season. Think of all of the open corner threes that Jones was on the receiving end of and replace him with Klay.
Dallas also got off of Tim Hardaway Jr.’s contract, which they’ve been trying to do for a while, and replaced him with Quinten Grimes who could add a little more consistency to their bench. Perhaps the biggest addition though is signing Naji Marshall. It isn’t a flashy signing but he could turn out to be a very huge addition. He’s a great utility guy that can do a little of everything on the floor and makes their bench much better while also being able to start from time to time.
Sixers
The biggest thing for the Sixers going forward is going to be health but anytime you can add a player like Paul George it’s a huge deal. He gives them a bonafide scoring option outside of Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.
Philadelphia did lose a key piece in Tobias Harris but PG should more than make up for that. Again, health is going to be the biggest thing because Embiid and PG typically deal with health issues every year but if they can stay healthy or at least be on the floor during the playoffs they become a viable threat to dethrone the Celtics.
Spurs
The Spurs have one of the best talents in the league in Victor Wembanyama but they had an issue with really getting him the ball and someone running their offense. They have solved those issues.
Signing future NBA hall of famer Chris Paul for any amount of time is huge. Not only is he going to be someone that can run their offense and get Wemby the ball but he can be a mentor to him and the other young players on the team. That is invaluable. Only time will tell if they’re close to a playoff or play-in team but the experience and leadership he’s going to provide is going to be massive and that’s a win in itself.
LOSERS
What exactly are they doing?
Clippers
The Clippers didn’t have many options this offseason due to their high payroll and them trying to avoid the second apron this upcoming season but even knowing that doesn’t make things any better.
Losing Paul George is a huge deal for a team that needs all of the talent they can get. Not being able to replace him makes it worse. PG was a huge part of their success so at the worst they should have tried to get something for him instead of losing him in free agency for nothing. A franchise moving to a new building needs all the stars they can get.
Plus, they don’t have control of any of their first round draft picks until 2030 and that makes things worse for them. Their options are few. Then you have to add in the fact that they are reportedly trying to trade Russell Westbrook who opted into the last year of his deal. However, the market isn’t that high for him right now and the return might not be what they want. Either way, they’re going to have a lot of work to do if they want those fans in their new arena to be excited every single night.
Lakers
In some cases the Lakers had some success this offseason. They drafted Dalton Knecht who is projected to be one of the most NBA ready guys in the draft. They also resigned LeBron James to a two year deal and that was probably the most important thing for them this offseason.
That might be the only good they’ve had in the offseason. They didn’t get the guy they wanted to be their new head coach. Even though JJ Redick could end up being a great coach. LA also didn’t get any of the free agents they wanted. LeBron reportedly was willing to take a payout for them to obtain a few guys who included James Harden, Klay Thompson, Demar Derozan, and Jonas Valanciunas. At this moment, Derozan is the only one they can still get but that would take a lot of work to do and seems more unlikely now.
They also need to figure out how to improve the roster with limited resources. Things are just aren’t looking too good if they want to be a team that wants to be in the championship next season.
Heat
The Heat haven’t really anything this offseason outside of resigning Kevin Love and that’s why they’re here.
Their options are few but Pat Riley has made something out of nothing plenty of times. The Celtics are the clear favorites to come out of the East but the next spot is up for grabs. While every other team is trying to get better and position themselves to be a legit threat. They have signed Alec Burks but is that enough? They need to make moves or they will be in jeopardy of getting lost in the mix.
