From James Harden and Damian Lillard looking for trades to veterans such as Draymond Green and Khris Middleton being locked down, and biggest contracts signed so far – follow all of the NBA free agency and trades in offseason on Sky Sports
Tuesday 4 July 2023 15:13, UK
There is nothing like the rush of the NBA offseason.
Right on the back of the draft it's a race between all 30 teams to try and lock down their existing stars and recruit some new faces which could bring success in the season ahead.
It can be difficult to try and keep up with everything that's going on so here are all the key moves so far – in terms of trades, potential trades and contracts which have been signed – over $3bn – since free agency opened on Friday.
The two highest-profile moves of the offseason were Bradley Beal's move to the Phoenix Suns and Kristaps Porzingis heading to the Boston Celtics, a move which saw Marcus Smart, the team's longest-serving player, depart the franchise to the join the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Wizards were involved in both of those trades and Chris Paul landed there before he was dealt to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for Jordan Poole.
More recently the Miami Heat traded Victor Oladipo back to the Oklahoma City Thunder last Friday night in exchange for future draft compensation, creating a $9.45m trade exception for the Heat.
The Brooklyn Nets dealt Joe Harris, who twice led the NBA in three-point shooting percentage, to the Detroit Pistons, for two second round picks.
Elsewhere, the Atlanta Hawks cleared significant salary cap space by agreeing to trade forward John Collins to the Utah Jazz for veteran forward Rudy Gay and a future second-round draft pick.
The New York Knicks are shipping out Obi Toppin to the Indiana Pacers, dealing away a former lottery pick who was loved by fans but never as much by coach Tom Thibodeau. The Knicks will get back two second-round picks in return.
James Harden picked up his $35.6m contract option for next season with the Philadelphia 76ers but the franchise are now exploring trades to move the veteran scorer.
The 33-year-old could have declined the option and decided to try for free agency, but instead he will now look to find a trade scenario which works.
The other name available is Damian Lillard, who has decided after 11 years in Portland he needs to move elsewhere to contend for a championship.
Lillard asked the Trail Blazers for a trade, a move that will end the seven-time All-Star's tenure with that team, and although multiple teams are interested, Dame wants to go to Miami. Blazers GM Joe Cronin, though, says the franchise is focused on securing the best possible return for Lillard – and that they are looking for a star-level package.
On an opening night of NBA free agency where most big names - Kyrie Irving, Draymond Green, Khris Middleton, Kyle Kuzma and more - stayed put, Fred VanVleet headed to a new home with Houston Rockets.
VanFleet agreed to a three-year deal Friday with the Rockets that will pay him a reported $130m.
Irving and Luka Doncic are going to try again together in Dallas. Green is going to chase more championships with Stephen Curry in Golden State, just like Middleton is alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee.
Jerami Grant is staying put in Portland, for serious money. All those decisions came quickly Friday night as free agency in the NBA got off to its traditional fast and free-spending start - with roughly $1.5bn in deals getting struck in about the first three hours alone.
Kyrie Irving agreed to a three-year, $126m deal to remain with the Mavericks, who acquired him in February but sputtered down the stretch and missed the playoffs, the deal taking quite possibly the biggest name in free agency off the board.
Draymond Green staying put keeps him alongside Curry and Klay Thompson with the Warriors, where they have won four titles over the last decade. He opted out of a $27.6m contract for this coming season and now is under contract for four more years after a $100m deal was struck.
Khris Middleton also traded bigger salary in the short term for more years. He could have made $40m this coming season; instead, he agreed to $102m over three years to stay with Antetokounmpo and a Bucks team that's only two years removed from an NBA championship.
The Indiana Pacers filled their need at the wing spot as Bruce Brown Jr agreed on a two-year contract worth $45m. Notably for Indiana as well, All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton will remain in Indiana for the foreseeable after agreeing to a five-year, $260m maximum contract extension with the Pacers.
Kyle Kuzma essentially doubled his annual salary, agreeing to a $102m, four-year deal with the Washington Wizards.
Harrison Barnes is staying with the Sacramento Kings, agreeing to a three-year, $54m contract, according to a person with knowledge of the negotiations.
Cleveland agreed to deals with forwards Caris LeVert and Georges Niang in the first hour on Friday. LeVert, who bounced back and forth between starter and reserve last season, agreed to a two-year $32m contract, Niang signed a three-year $26m deal.
The Chicago Bulls kept guard Coby White ($40m, three years) and added perimeter help by agreeing to a deal with Milwaukee Bucks guard Jevon Carter ($20m, three years) on Friday.
White opted to stay in Chicago rather than test the market as a restricted free agent and agreed to a $40m, three-year contract, agent Ty Sullivan said. Carter is due $20m over three years, agent Mark Bartelstein said.
Cam Johnson is staying with the Brooklyn Nets on a four-year deal worth about $108m after quickly becoming one of their top players following his arrival in the trade for Kevin Durant.
The Phoenix Suns are moving quickly to fill in the roster around Durant, Devon Booker and Bradley Beal.
The Suns agreed to terms with sharpshooter Yuta Watanabe, big men Chimezie Metu and Drew Eubanks, and wing Keita Bates-Diop on Friday and Phoenix also agreed on deals to re-sign wings Damion Lee and Josh Okogie.
The Los Angeles Lakers kept two of their best guards. The Milwaukee Bucks retained their big man, as the early trend in free agency of most players staying put continued Saturday.
Dillon Brooks, though, is off to a new beginning in Houston after agreeing to a four-year deal worth nearly $80m. The outspoken star moves on after a successful six years with the Memphis Grizzlies.
Austin Reaves agreed to a four-year deal that could be worth $56m with the Lakers, and D'Angelo Russell returned to the Lakers as well on a $37m, two-year deal. Reaves and Russell were both starters in the postseason for the Lakers, who made the Western Conference finals before falling to the eventual NBA champions, the Denver Nuggets.
Also Saturday, Milwaukee - which had already retained Khris Middleton - kept center Brook Lopez on a two-year deal, worth $48m for the 35-year-old, who averaged 15.9 points in 78 games this past season for the Bucks.
Russell Westbrook is also staying where he ended last season, agreeing to a two-year deal with the Los Angeles Clippers - after starting the last 21 games for them in the regular season and their five playoff games. The second year is at Westbrook's option, ESPN reported the deal was worth $8m.
While Reaves, Russell, Lopez and Westbrook stayed put, Max Strus found a new home.
Strus - who helped Miami get to the NBA Finals - is headed to the Cleveland Cavaliers, agreeing to a $63m, four-year deal that was finalised on Saturday by making the transaction part of a three-team trade. Strus goes to the Cavaliers, who will send Cedi Osman and Lamar Stevens to San Antonio while Miami gets future second-round draft compensation.
The Knicks, who beat the Cavaliers in the first round for their first postseason victory in a decade, added another former NCAA champion from Villanova by agreeing to a deal with Donte DiVincenzo. The swingman joins college team-mates Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart with a four-year, $50m deal, a person with knowledge of the details said.
Also on Saturday, Orlando retained Moritz Wagner ($16m, two years) and the Heat added Thomas Bryant ($5.4m, two years, second at his option) to give them some extra size. Bryant was with the Nuggets for their title run although hardly featured.
Dwight Powell agreed to return to the Mavericks on a three-year contract, which could push the Dallas tenure past 10 years for a secondary piece in the trade that brought Rajon Rondo from Boston in 2015.
To kick off day three, All-NBA center Domantas Sabonis agreed to a four-year contract extension with the Sacramento Kings - one that will keep him signed through the 2027-28 season.
The extension includes a raise on his salary for this coming season to nearly $31m, a relative rarity in the NBA, and his salary for the four subsequent years will average about $47m, with the total value of the deal thought to be about $217m.
It was part of a big-spending start to free agency this summer: Counting free agent deals that have been struck, signings of this year's rookie class and extensions, NBA teams have combined to hand out more than $3bn in contract value since Friday night.
Utah was finalising an extension for guard Jordan Clarkson on Sunday as well, which will have a total value of $55m over the next three years. Clarkson had opted into a contract that would have paid him $14.3m this coming season and now will average about $18.3m over three years.
Clarkson averaged a career-high 20.8 points for the Jazz this past season, and the extension will push his on-court earnings well past $100m for his career.
Miles Bridges signed his $7.9m qualifying offer from Charlotte for this coming season. Bridges missed all of this past season after he was charged with domestic violence in the summer of 2022. He eventually pleaded no contest and is serving three years of probation. The NBA gave Bridges a 30-game suspension earlier this offseason, but added that because Bridges missed the entirety of 2022-23, 20 of those games are considered already served.
Eric Gordon agreed to a contract with the Phoenix Suns, to give them another scoring option alongside their incredible offensive bounty. Gordon is a career 37 per cent shooter from three-point range, and is entering his 16th NBA season - ideal veteran help for a team hoping to contend.
Finally, you have Anthony Edwards who became the fourth member of his draft class to agree on a max contract extension, joining Indiana's Tyrese Haliburton, Charlotte's LaMelo Ball and Memphis' Desmond Bane. Edwards, Haliburton and Ball have the All-NBA escalator clauses that could take the guaranteed $207m up to $260m over five years.
All that and surely plenty more to come over what is a busy offseason spend for NBA teams...
To continue following deals as they happen, you can do so on our live NBA blog – and stay across all of the action on Sky Sports
