The Five Best Free Agent Signings From This NBA Offseason

ByJoey Heldon October 24, 2019inArticles›Sports News

The NBA season is upon us. A lot has happened since the Toronto Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals. Players have re-signed, swapped teams, retired…and that’s just in the NBA! We’ve also been wowed by the U.S. Women’s National Team winning a World Cup championship, the NFL regular season kicking off, and the MLB playoffs keeping us on the edge of our seats.

All that’s to say that if you missed a free agent signing here or there, it’s completely understandable. But don’t head into the regular season feeling left out. We’re here to help you get up to speed with the five best free agent signings this offseason, starting with one that impacted the entire landscape of the league.

Note: This list only includes players that signed with new teams, not ones that re-signed with their current squads (like Klay Thompson with the Warriors) or were acquired in a sign-and-trade (like Kevin Durant with the Brooklyn Nets).

Kawhi Leonard , Los Angeles Clippers – 3 years, $103 million

Kawhi Leonard may never win the regular-season MVP, simply because he doesn’t play enough games during the regular season. But, as the Raptors showed us last year, it’s worth trading a quarter of the season to have a fresh Leonard for the playoffs. He’s now won NBA Finals MVP awards with two separate teams. And he’s going to play exactly where he wants to be, in southern California.

In signing Leonard, though, the Clippers also scored Paul George . Sure, they had to trade two players – Shai-Gilgeous Alexander and Danilo Gallinari – and five draft picks to get George, but the core of their team remains intact. This was a team that gave a fully healthy Warriors squad fits in the first round of the playoffs. Now they’ve added two All-Stars to the mix? It’s no wonder they’re among the favorites to win the championship this year.

J.J. Redick , New Orleans Pelicans – 2 years, $26.5 million

J.J. Redick turned 35 this summer, but at better than 41 percent from deep for his career, he’s a lethal shooter. That makes him invaluable for any team, as his ability to space the floor is the most coveted skill in today’s NBA. In fact, Redick may be getting even better with age – he averaged a career-high 18.1 points last season with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Redick joins a Pelicans team that’s looking to jumpstart its rebuilding process by pairing a veteran like Redick with its young talent, including Zion Williamson , Jaxson Hayes, Lonzo Ball , Brandon Ingram , and Josh Hart. Losing a star like Anthony Davis this summer will no doubt hurt, but relatively inexpensive contracts for guys like Redick are signs of a team headed in the right direction.

Kawhi Leonard (left) and J.J. Redick (Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

Bojan Bogdanovic, Utah Jazz – 4 years, $73 million

In the span of a few months, the Utah Jazz jumped from potential tough out in the first round of the playoffs to championship contender. While trading for Mike Conley grabbed the headlines, Jazz fans should be equally excited about the signing of Bogdanovic. The 30-year-old forward has continually improved throughout his time in the NBA, culminating in career highs in points, rebounds, assists, steals, field goal percentage, and three-point percentage. The Pacers losing him is a big blow, but their loss is the Jazz’s gain.

On top of being a strong contributor on offense that can easily catch fire from long range, Bogdanovic has stepped up his defensive game, too. He hounded LeBron James during the 2017-18 playoffs, forcing the four-time MVP into tough shots and making him work hard to score. If the Jazz advance in the playoffs, guess who they’ll likely have to face? LeBron James and the Lakers. Bogdanovic’s size also helps against guys like Leonard, too. He’ll help the Jazz make plenty of noise this year.

Tomas Satoransky, Chicago Bulls – 3 years, $30 million

Since Derrick Rose’s first knee injury in 2012, the Bulls’ point guard situation can be described as shaky, at best. They drafted Coby White out of UNC, but for at least his first couple of years in the league, he’ll likely be used as more of a change-of-pace guard off the bench. That gives Satoransky the chance to show he can thrive as a starting point guard.

He certainly looked like he could last season, when he took over for the injured John Wall in Washington. Satoransky’s 11.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 6.6 assists per 36 minutes were extremely solid. At 6'7″, he’s got the length to be a pesky defender and the ability to score over smaller guards. He’ll be given the wheels to the offense in Chicago; the Bulls are hoping he can drive them back to the playoffs.

Derrick Rose , Detroit Pistons – 2 years, $15 million

Speaking of Rose, he had perhaps his best post-injury season last year with the Minnesota Timberwolves, averaging 18 points per game on 48 percent shooting, including a 50-point effort. He also developed a three-point shot for the first time since…ever, hitting 37 percent of his tries from deep.

Rose is 30 years old and has a lot of wear and tear on his body, but last year seemed like an indication he’s revamped his game. Since tearing his ACL, he’s never played more than 66 games in a season, so the Pistons will have to expect several DNPs from Rose. But still, getting a starting-caliber point guard for less than $8 million a year is a steal.

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The 10 Highest Paid NBA Stars Will Each Earn $40+ Million Next Season

ByJoey Heldon September 2, 2021inArticles›Sports News

The frenzy of NBA free agency is behind us, and teams are now starting to look toward the upcoming season. Before things tip off, every team is buzzing with excitement; even the worst squads in the league have hope when the games haven’t yet been played.

Players will be excited to get back on the court, and some are more amped than others. That’s because, for the first time in NBA history, the league’s top stars are all going to be making huge dollars. Ten players will take home at least $39.3 million with their contracts. Paired with possible incentives, endorsement deals, and other perks, they’ll all easily clear $40 million.

Here’s a look at the league’s highest-paid players for the 2021-22 season, with salaries rounded to the nearest $100,000:

Steph Curry , Golden State Warriors — $45.8 million

If you think Steph Curry makes an absurd amount of money, you’re not wrong — but the Warriors likely consider it payback for the beginning of his career, when he was wildly underpaid. Curry was on a four-year, $44 million contract that kicked in during the 2013-14 season. That means he was making just $11 million per year during the Warriors’ first championship run, the season they went 73-9, and their second championship. He signed a four-year, $215 million extension this summer, which will pay him just under $60 million during the final season of the contract.

John Wall , Houston Rockets — $44.3 million

The second-highest-paid player on this list, Wall also may be the most fragile. He suffered an Achilles injury during the 2018-19 season which forced him to miss 50 games that year, the entirety of the following season, and 42 games this past season. But he’s looking for a second chance at stardom in Houston, which could land him another lucrative deal after this one’s up (though it likely won’t be worth nearly as much). Wall has a player option next season for more than $47.3 million — it would be absolutely shocking if he turns that down.

James Harden , Brooklyn Nets — $44.3 million

James Harden started last season with the Rockets — where he signed an extension worth $228 million in 2017 — before being traded to Brooklyn. Harden has a player option for the next season worth $46.8 million, though he may decline it to sign a longer deal with the Nets. His first season on his new team didn’t go nearly as smoothly as he’d hoped. He missed games during both the regular season and playoffs due to injury, and he enters this year still searching for his first-ever NBA title.

Steph Curry (L) and Kevin Durant (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

Russell Westbrook , Los Angeles Lakers — $44.2 million

In acquiring Wall, the Rockets traded one $40+ million man for another. Westbrook signed a massive deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and since inking that extension he’s moved on to the Rockets, the Washington Wizards, and now the Los Angeles Lakers. It’ll be fascinating to see how he fits alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis . But one thing’s for sure: the team is going to have a ton of guys that aren’t afraid of taking over a game.

Kevin Durant , Brooklyn Nets — $42 million

Durant came one toe on the line away from sending the Nets to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they likely would have been favorites to win the NBA title. He’ll get another crack at it this year, though he’s hoping he has a healthy surrounding cast, including Harden and Kyrie Irving . On top of next year’s salary of $40.9 million, Durant can also earn $1.1 million in likely incentives. He may be the best player in the NBA right now and just inked a long-term deal to stay in Brooklyn through the 2025-26 season.

LeBron James , Los Angeles Lakers — $41.2 million

James has had a rollercoaster of a career in Los Angeles since joining the Lakers back in 2018. He suffered an extensive injury his first year as the Lakers missed the playoffs entirely, but bounced back to capture his fourth NBA championship and Finals MVP in the NBA Bubble. This past year, the Lakers made the play-in tournament, defeating the Golden State Warriors to earn the seventh seed. They were eliminated in the first round by the Phoenix Suns, but are back to being among the title favorites heading into this season. James is also perhaps the most popular player across the world; with the revenue and number of fans he brings to the league, he’s arguably wildly underpaid .

Giannis Antetokounmpo , Milwaukee Bucks — $39.3 million

The reigning Finals MVP has been living the good life in Milwaukee. He helped end the city’s 50-year championship drought and re-upped to stay in town for the long run. With an extremely likable personality off the court, Antetokounmpo will likely add on quite a bit to next year’s salary with new sponsorship and endorsement opportunities.

Paul George , Los Angeles Clippers — $39.3 million

Though George may not have fully shaken off the “Pandemic P” nickname during this year’s playoffs, he did help lead the Clippers to the franchise’s first Western Conference Finals while his teammate Kawhi Leonard sat out with a knee injury. George and Leonard joined the Clippers together back in 2019. The former signed an extension before the start of last season while the latter just agreed to a four-year deal this summer. Both of the Southern California players are set on one thing: winning a championship in front of their hometown fans.

Kawhi Leonard , Los Angeles Clippers — $39.3 million

Leonard is probably the best two-way player in the league, though he comes with the caveat that he’s going to miss several games every year. Whether through load management or an injury, Leonard has sat out 73, 22, 15, and 20 games during the past four seasons. He’ll likely miss most or all of this upcoming season while recovering from his latest knee injury, but he offers enough when healthy that the Clippers were comfortable signing him to a massive deal.

Damian Lillard , Portland Trail Blazers — $39.3 million

We know Damian Lillard will make $39.3 million this season. We don’t know if he’ll still be on the Blazers when all is said and done. The team’s star player has expressed frustration with the franchise as they made offseason personnel moves, including bringing in Chauncey Billups as head coach. There have been rumblings of a potential trade request, though it’s unclear how much validity there is to those rumors. Regardless of where Lillard plays, you can bet he’ll have at least one clutch shot that we’re all celebrating at some point this season.

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