NBA free agency round-up: Stephen Curry cashes in
By The Associated Press
Last Updated: 02/07/17 6:37pm
J.J. Redick is trusting the process. Gordon Hayward got his sales pitch from Miami. And David West, finally a champion, is coming back for one last season.
The first day of NBA free agency Saturday saw things starting to take shape, though there's still dozens of moves to come in the next few days. After an opening flurry that saw Stephen Curry get a record-breaking £152m ($201m) deal from the NBA champion Golden State Warriors and Blake Griffin take about £133m ($175m) to stay with the Los Angeles Clippers, most teams started to look at names more within their price range.
Redick agreed to a £17.4m ($23m), one-year deal with the Philadelphia 76ers. West is going back to the Warriors on a veteran's minimum, which is now worth £1.7m ($2.3m). And Detroit got some solid insurance at point guard, agreeing with Langston Galloway on a three-year deal.
But all that, of course, was overshadowed by Curry's deal the biggest contract in NBA history.
"Steph should be getting 400M this summer," Cleveland star LeBron James tweeted.
The rules, for now, only allow for Curry to get half of that.
With nearly £760m ($1 billion) in deals agreed to just in Day 1 of this year's free agency period, there is still obviously no shortage of money out there for teams to hand out.
And while Curry got the most, other point guards got plenty or will when contracts can start being signed Thursday.
Jrue Holiday agreed to return to New Orleans for £95m ($126m) over five years, with incentives potentially pushing that to £114m ($150m). Patty Mills is returning to San Antonio for the next four years at £38m ($50m), and Jeff Teague agreed with Minnesota on a three-year, £43m ($57m) deal.
Still out there is another massive offer: John Wall has a chance to sign a four-year extension worth £127.5m ($168m) with the Wizards, another deal under the so-called Supermax structure that allowed Curry to get his record payday.
In other major free agent news Saturday:
Redick made his intentions for next season clear with three simple words. "Trust the process," he tweeted, his way of saying he was heading to the 76ers, who have made that phrase their mantra during their long rebuilding process. Redick averaged 15.0 points and made 43 per cent of his 3-pointers last season for the Los Angeles Clippers, who will now need two new starting guards next season after point guard Chris Paul was traded to the Houston Rockets.
Hayward was greeted by Heat players for his free-agent visit, along with a banner strategically placed outside AmericanAirlines Arena showing him in a Heat uniform. The All-Star forward who is coming off the best season of his career spent several hours with Miami officials such as team President Pat Riley, and is still expected to visit with Boston and Utah - the incumbent team - before making a decision in the coming days.
After locking up Holiday to feed the ball to All-Star big men DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis, the Pelicans were talking with Nick Young and Ty Lawson about joining New Orleans as well.
Dion Waiters, who spent last season with the Heat, had a list of free-agency targets revealed that not only included Miami but also Chicago, New York and Sacramento.
Cleveland offered shooting guard Kyle Korver a new contract. The 36-year-old has expressed a desire to stay with Cleveland after making it to his first NBA Finals.
Serge Ibaka has gotten a three-year, $65m deal to stay with the Toronto Raptors, and Taj Gibson is reuniting with Tom Thibodeau in Minnesota after agreeing to a two-year, $28m deal with the Timberwolves.
