The NBA offseason enters a period which is more exciting than the draft: the free-agent frenzy. It was in free agency last year that Kevin Durant agreed to join the Golden State Warriors, the moment the 2017 NBA championship leaned heavily in one team’s direction while destroying another team’s chances in Oklahoma City. Will something similar to that happen this year, or at least, will one contender gain a really good chance of being able to play Golden State or Cleveland on more equal terms?
Blake Griffin
The possibility of LeBron coming to the Clippers one year from now is looking bleaker and bleaker. While it looked like James could join Chris Paul, Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and J.J. Redick and form a super team, that has all gone by the waste side with Paul’s departure to the Houston Rockets. There’s no way around it: it’s a huge downgrade for the Clippers. More importantly, it increases the chance that Griffin will depart. The Clippers can obviously offer him a lot more money than any other team but if he wants to win, he’ll try to force a move to a team like the Boston Celtics.
Gordon Hayward
The Jazz are still hopeful to bring back Hayward, arguably the top shooting guard on the open market. While they can offer him one more year and lots more money, they can’t feel comfortable with the fact that he hasn’t signed to date. Hayward is entertaining offers already and will be meeting with the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics very shortly.
Hayward has long been linked to the Celtics because they feel that he’s one of the final missing pieces. Remember that they finished with the most wins in the Eastern Conference last year and made it to the conference finals. Adding a guy that scores nearly 22 points per game – along with the rumors that the Celtics are trying to add Paul George – could put them over the top. That could be enough to lure Hawyard away.
Derrick Rose
The New York Knicks might want to keep Rose to mentor new draft pick Frank Ntilikina at point guard, but the Minnesota Timberwolves might also want a backup to starting point guard Ricky Rubio while also reuniting Rose with former coach Tom Thibodeau. This is a very close call, but after the Timberwolves’ big trade for Jimmy Butler, which gave them a veteran piece, getting a player who is near the sunset of his career doesn’t seem to be the best move the Timberwolves can make. However, it’s hard to see him returning to the Knicks. He didn’t have a terrible season but he did disappear on the team mid-year and he’s tied to Phil Jackson, who is no longer with the team. It’s unlikely the Knicks will want to heavily invest in a player like Rose when they’re orchestrating a rebuild. He’ll also probably want more money than the Knicks will offer to pay him. Look for him to land elsewhere.
Nerlens Noel
Odds suggest that Noel will be retained by Dallas. The Mavericks know that Dirk Nowitzki’s career is coming to an end, and they really aren’t in a position to make a huge run at a championship. They can make small improvements around the edges, but they simply can’t attract top free-agent talent to Dallas. Everyone in the NBA respects Dirk, but top players want to pursue championships, and nothing about the Mavericks shows that the franchise has any remote chance at a title next year. The Mavs really aren’t in a good position to even contend for the eighth and final playoff spot in the loaded Western Conference. The Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets were not playoff teams last year, and they are both way ahead of where Dallas is.
The Mavericks can’t expect to land great players outside the organization, which means they will want to protect what they have and build for the future. Noel is still a relatively young big man with most of his career ahead of him. Mark Cuban will work hard to keep him in the fold.
The 2017 NBA futures are out. It’s been a wild offseason already, but keep an eye on the betting lines as they move around at Diamond Sportsbook! Get the latest NBA betting lines right here.
