Day one of free agency sees stars staying home
Jul 10, 2018 4:24:40 GMT
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Post by TimPig on Jul 10, 2018 4:24:40 GMT
Entering a free agency period where more teams than usual had space to offer a max contract, most of the offseason's big fish decided to stay in their current pond.
Jim Halpert, Sekou Doumbouya, and Andre Turner all stayed home on maximum deals. The Detroit Pistons retained the services of veteran Jackie Moon for three years at $10,000,000 per year.
We did see two of the bigger-name point guards on the market find new homes, however, as both R.J. Cole (max deal with the Kings) and Barry Obama (5 years at an AAV of $15,568,137) will be tasked with leading two underachieving teams back to respectability.
"R.J. Cole got a max? Seems a bit much," commented Orlando Magic general manager J-SON Skrouse, providing the Kings and their new 23-year-old point guard with some bulletin board material.
"I offered him an MLE," commented Mavericks GM D. Lap, doing everything he could to take a subtle shot at the evaluation skills of his fellow Western Conference general manager.
When asked about the signing, Kings general manager Billy King provided an...interesting response.
"If Tuna re-signs with my team, I will just quit and apply for jr. commish because that will clearly be the high point of my tenure," he said, grossly misunderstanding the question and the player it was referring to, but in doing so, providing more high praise for the "god level" roster construction skills possessed by the Chicago Bulls front office.
Obama, on the other hand, returns to the city where he spent his teenage years shortly after he arrived in the States from Africa. He'll hope to mentor the Bullets young up-and-comers in Simisola Shittu, Rashard Lewis, Charles Barkley, and Mike Miller.
"Obama in D.C.? Seems right," commented D. Lap, cementing the opinion of many GMs who want to see the former Grizzly finish his career in the capital.
One of the more interesting moves on day one of free agency came out of Seattle for the second year in a row.
Last season, it was the surprising max contract offer to Romeo Langford.
This year, the Sonics signed Michael Porter Jr. to a three-year contract with an average annual value of $6,000,000 per year.
Last year the 24-year-old averaged 10.4 points and 6.1 rebounds in 23.4 minutes per game off the bench for the Pacers. The former high creation pick has shown flashes of potential and with the right investment, looks like he can be a serious contributor in this league. It was a shrewd move by the Sonics, who will own his bird rights and be able to offer the best free agency package of any team in the league should Porter pan out.
"We're getting a young core together," said Sonics general manager Duc Mullins in between run throughs of the Oklahoma Drill he was inexplicably putting his young squad through.
"Hopefully Porter can play to his grades," added Mullins shortly before watching Porter Jr. take a brutal hit to the head from center Melvin Turpin that left the 24-year-old combo forward unconscious for at least three minutes.
Jim Halpert, Sekou Doumbouya, and Andre Turner all stayed home on maximum deals. The Detroit Pistons retained the services of veteran Jackie Moon for three years at $10,000,000 per year.
We did see two of the bigger-name point guards on the market find new homes, however, as both R.J. Cole (max deal with the Kings) and Barry Obama (5 years at an AAV of $15,568,137) will be tasked with leading two underachieving teams back to respectability.
"R.J. Cole got a max? Seems a bit much," commented Orlando Magic general manager J-SON Skrouse, providing the Kings and their new 23-year-old point guard with some bulletin board material.
"I offered him an MLE," commented Mavericks GM D. Lap, doing everything he could to take a subtle shot at the evaluation skills of his fellow Western Conference general manager.
When asked about the signing, Kings general manager Billy King provided an...interesting response.
"If Tuna re-signs with my team, I will just quit and apply for jr. commish because that will clearly be the high point of my tenure," he said, grossly misunderstanding the question and the player it was referring to, but in doing so, providing more high praise for the "god level" roster construction skills possessed by the Chicago Bulls front office.
Obama, on the other hand, returns to the city where he spent his teenage years shortly after he arrived in the States from Africa. He'll hope to mentor the Bullets young up-and-comers in Simisola Shittu, Rashard Lewis, Charles Barkley, and Mike Miller.
"Obama in D.C.? Seems right," commented D. Lap, cementing the opinion of many GMs who want to see the former Grizzly finish his career in the capital.
One of the more interesting moves on day one of free agency came out of Seattle for the second year in a row.
Last season, it was the surprising max contract offer to Romeo Langford.
This year, the Sonics signed Michael Porter Jr. to a three-year contract with an average annual value of $6,000,000 per year.
Last year the 24-year-old averaged 10.4 points and 6.1 rebounds in 23.4 minutes per game off the bench for the Pacers. The former high creation pick has shown flashes of potential and with the right investment, looks like he can be a serious contributor in this league. It was a shrewd move by the Sonics, who will own his bird rights and be able to offer the best free agency package of any team in the league should Porter pan out.
"We're getting a young core together," said Sonics general manager Duc Mullins in between run throughs of the Oklahoma Drill he was inexplicably putting his young squad through.
"Hopefully Porter can play to his grades," added Mullins shortly before watching Porter Jr. take a brutal hit to the head from center Melvin Turpin that left the 24-year-old combo forward unconscious for at least three minutes.
