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The 2022 NBA free agency period began Thursday at 6:00 p.m. ET, and as usual, there was a flood of signings that started pouring in immediately. Do you think these teams and players/representatives might have communicated a bit before they should? Haha. So dumb, those sticky little rules that can’t really be enforced.
In any case, nobody cares. On to the signatures. Here are the winners and losers from free agency opening day.
Winner: Jalen Brunson
Brunson was paid. The Knicks reportedly gave him a four-year, $104 million contract. For a man who was picked to the second round in 2018, it’s a stroke of luck. good for him He deserves it. We’ll see how Brunson fares without Luka Doncic to get all the defensive attention. But either way, the bag is secured. Brunson is set for life, and the icing on the cake is that he gets to play for his father, Rick Brunson, who recently accepted a position as an assistant coach with the Knicks.
Loser: New York Knicks
Listen, good for Brunson, but I just don’t think he’s a good enough player to invest that kind of money for the next four years. From my point of view, unless the Knicks, who are likely to toss Mitchell Robinson over $50 million in the coming days, somehow manage to swing the trade for a star they’ve slammed on for about the last decade or so they’ve gotten involved pretty much just signed up for mediocrity.
Brunson, who instantly becomes New York’s best player (yes, he’s better than RJ Barrett), in reality can’t be more than the third best player on a real championship team, and even that could be a stretch. The Knicks also signed Isaiah Hartenstein for $16 million over two years, which is fine. It will be a nice backup center. But nothing that moves the needle.
To go out at the end of the day and move all the pieces they moved to clear the space they did to end up with a non-All-Star as the award signing, that’s a loss.
Winner: Nikola Jokic
The guy signed the biggest contract in NBA history. Five years, $264 million. He will make a staggering $60 million in the final year of the deal. I don’t know what else to say. The man won. So do the nuggets. Jokic is great.
Loser: Brooklyn Nets
It wasn’t a free agency. Technically, that was a bit of Brooklyn, but on Thursday, Kevin Durant made a trade request. Once Durant leaves, Kyrie Irving will likely follow. The nets that were set to fight for championships for the foreseeable future have just been blown up.
Well, I will say that this might actually turn out well for Brooklyn. They’ll get a royal ransom for Durant, which will include at least a few players ready to win alongside future draft capital, as the Nets have no incentive to tank because they owe them a boatful of future picks from the Rockets for the James Harden deal . Durant wants to go to Phoenix. If they somehow get Devin Booker, it’ll be home game time. But I doubt that.
If the Nets persuade the Lakers to give up a few first-round picks, or even one if Russell Westbrook returns to Brooklyn for Irving, that’s even more capital they could pack up and switch to another All-Star. You still have Ben Simmons. This can’t end so badly.
But for now, the Nets are about to lose Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden in a span of six months. Brutally.
Winner: Philly 76ers
James Harden has yet to sign his new contract, but he has apparently agreed to give up enough annual salary for the Sixers to afford PJ Tucker, whom they signed for just over $33 million over three years. That’s a great score. Tucker will seriously improve Philly’s defense and will be a perfect fit as a corner shooter for Tyrese Maxey and Harden’s drive-and-kicks. Throw in De’Anthony Melton, who the Sixers landed on draft night from Memphis for the #23 pick, and Danny Green, and the Sixers have one very nice off-season.
Winner: Bradley Beal
Beal also signed a massive five-year, $251 million extension with the Wizards. I’m still betting he’ll trade before that deal expires, but by signing with Washington, who owns his Bird rights, he secured a fifth guaranteed year, which translates to about $57 million more in his bench. This applies to him even if he is traded. I’d bet good money that Beal ends up getting his cake and eating it too, eventually ending up on a contender while signing the biggest deal possible at the same time.
Losers: Washington Wizards
You should have acted on Beal a long time ago. There’s no way this team is fighting for anything but a bottom playoff spot when Beal is making that much money. He’s just not a 1A championship guy. He honestly might not even be an adequate No. 2 considering how deep the talent is right now across the league. Washington should now have a bundle of assets for Beal.
That’s what the Spurs did after Kawhi Leonard. They tried to win with DeMar DeRozan – a pretty good beal comp – as their best player rather than committing to a rebuild. They finally conceded reality and recently traded Dejounte Murray to the Hawks for a couple of first-round picks, signaling a fresh start. Perhaps Washington will eventually come to the same conclusion with Beal. They definitely should. But until then, they’ll pay Beal and Kristaps Porzingis close to $80 million next season. Good luck with it.
Winner: Portland Trail Blazers
I’m not sure I like Anfernee Simons more than Jalen Brunson. I think right now I would pick Brunson because he’s a playoff defenseman. But it’s close. So why do I think that the $100 million that Portland has given to Simons over four years is a win, but consider the $105 million that the Knicks has given to Brunson over the same period as a loss? It’s simple: Simons doesn’t have to be the best player in the Blazers. For that he has Damian Lillard.
Honestly, Simons doesn’t have to be the Blazers’ second-best player either. You just traded for Jerami Grant. Simons is a potential future star, but he doesn’t have to shoulder that burden right away.
Then late Thursday night or early Friday morning in the East, the Blazers stole Gary Payton II from the Warriors for $28 million over three years. Payton is great. Portland fans will fall in love with him. He is an elite defender and a special cutter and floorrunner. He can hit corner 3s. Portland has had to deal with its defense, and Grant and Payton are two big newcomers in that regard.
Winner: Lu Dort
They didn’t even move in there. He had to fight his way into the league on two-way contracts. Now he just signed with the Thunder for $87.5 million over five years. By morphing into a defender while greatly improving as a shooter, Dort never has to worry about money or his place in the NBA ever again.
Also credit to the thunder for rewarding them with that money a year before they had to. They could have exercised the $1.9 million team option they had for Dort that season. Instead, they let him sign off on a much larger deal that can go into effect immediately. Instead of $1.9 million, Dort is set to make over $15 million next season, with a lot more to come over the next half decade.
Winner: Gary Payton II
As there, Payton had not moved in. He hopped through the G-League playing on two-way contracts and was released from NBA rosters six times. He finally found a proper role with the Warriors last season. He killed it. He now has a $28 million contract with the Portland Trail Blazers. Things that make dreams come true.
Winner: Devin Booker
$224 million secured over four years. Again, not much more to say here. The man has a dirty load. I don’t think Booker will end up in a Kevin Durant trade. If he does, going to a Nets team that’s still going to be pretty good this year with everything they get back for Durant with a ton of tips to be even better in the years to come wouldn’t be the worst thing to become bookers to build on. Life is good.
Losers: Golden State Warriors
Golden State lost Gary Payton II to the Blazers. That hurts. Payton was so great in his role for the Warriors, who were already skinny in defense even when they had Payton. Golden State is deep in the repeat tax. It simply decided that it couldn’t justify paying Payton that much money given the massive tax implications for every dollar spent. They wonder if they will lose Kevon Looney for the same reason.
If Golden State decided it couldn’t afford both Looney and Payton and chose to focus on Looney, I’m not sure I’ll agree with that decision. Looney is fantastic for the Warriors. There’s no way they’ll win the title without him. But they designed James Wiseman. Looney is more replaceable than Payton on the list of warriors through this lens. I could have tracked myself down for Payton and counted on Wiseman to start earning his keep.
Reasonable minds may disagree with that stance, but either way, everyone agrees that losing Payton is a huge loss for Golden State.
Winner: Yes Morant, Karl-Anthony Towns
Morant signed a five-year Max rookie extension with Memphis, guaranteeing $193 million. Morant has the potential to earn up to $231 million over the life of this contract based on incentives. Towns received a four-year, $224 million extension beginning in 2024, meaning Wolves have him jailed for the next six years.
Incomplete: Lakers
I think the Lakers skipped the gun on some of their Thursday commitments. They used their MLE on Lonnie Walker, who isn’t as good as Malik Monk, who they lost to Sacramento. I like Juan Toscano Anderson. He will help. Troy Brown Jr. doesn’t move the needle straight. Damian Jones is a nice signing. I just think the Lakers could have waited to see if Donte Divincenzo, who remains unsigned after the Kings decided not to make him a qualifying offer, or an MLE-level TJ Warren would have become available.
The Lakers didn’t do badly on day one. I wouldn’t call it victory or defeat. They didn’t have much to do. What matters is whether the Lakers can find a way to land Kyrie Irving. If they do, the offseason is a win. If they don’t do that and go into next year with Russell Westbrook as their starting point guard, no one two will know about Lonnie Walker or Damian Jones. This off-season will have been a loss. So we’ll wait and see.
