Some news, notes and rumblings as we move toward Friday’s official start of NBA free agency …
- There certainly were a few eyebrows raised this week when Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin publicly doubled down on Portland’s desire to build a team around Damian Lillard. Still, there is a belief among rival execs that the Blazers will not be able to do enough in the coming days to satisfy Lillard’s stated desire to play for a winner, and the two sides will eventually decide its best for both to move on.
So where will Portland look? While any trade will be a collaborative effort between the team and Lillard, the Blazers will, understandably, want the best possible return. Portland is lukewarm on Tyler Herro, sources told Sports Illustrated. He is entering the first year of a four-year, $130 million contract. Brooklyn, armed with a collection of Suns picks that stretch deep into the decade, can offer the most draft capital. And the Blazers could take a flyer on Ben Simmons, whose contract ($77 million over the next two seasons) isn’t as onerous as it used to be. Several other Eastern Conference contenders, including Boston, New York and Philadelphia, could jump into the mix.
Don’t expect a quick resolution. Lillard doesn’t want to request a trade, and the Blazers don’t love the optics of trading away their franchise player. But Portland, correctly, pushed ahead with its youth movement when it used the third pick on Scoot Henderson last week. When the dust settles on free agency, they may have to double down on it. Lillard averaged a career-best 32.2 points last season but at 32 and with $216 million left on his contract over the next four seasons, he’s an injury away from his value bottoming out. The risk of not trading Lillard before next season is enormous.
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- All signs continue to point to Draymond Green returning to Golden State on a new deal shortly after free agency begins. Green has been linked to other teams in recent days, some with the cap room to offer him a significant contract (Sacramento, Detroit), some without (Portland, Dallas). Still, Green’s desire when he opted out of the final year of his deal with the Warriors was to be back on a new one, and Golden State, which created some long-term flexibility when it moved Jordan Poole last week, is on the same page.
- In the coming few days we will finally get the answer to one of the more interesting questions: Is James Harden’s interest in a Rockets reunion real? Or was Houston Harden’s leverage to extract a bigger contract from Philadelphia? The Rockets had several internal discussions about Harden last season, sources told SI, with its front office—from owner Tilman Fertitta; his son, Patrick Fertitta; and GM Rafael Stone—in agreement that the team should pursue him. It’s unclear whether Houston’s draft, specifically the selection of 20-year-old playmaker Amen Thompson, altered that thinking, but the Rockets, with $61 million in salary cap space, intend to aggressively pursue veterans when free agency opens. Among the names rival execs expect Houston to pursue is Fred VanVleet, who will command a $25 million to $30 million salary per season on the open market.
And Philadelphia? The 76ers want Harden back, but the threat of an offer from Houston could force Philly to make a difficult call on just how long an investment they want to make in the soon-to-be-34-year-old Harden.
- The Lakers have been signaling that they intend to match any offer for restricted free agents Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura, with GM Rob Pelinka firm in the belief that continuity offers L.A. its best chance to improve. Whether that extends to D’Angelo Russell is unclear. The Lakers could clear as much as $17 million in cap room by cutting ties with Russell, Malik Beasley (who has a $16.5 million team option) and Mo Bamba (a $10.3 million nonguaranteed deal). That’s not enough to pursue, say, Kyrie Irving, but it would allow L.A. to make a run at one of the many mid-level free agents.
- Will Deandre Ayton be in the Suns’ opening night lineup? Phoenix has discussed Ayton with several teams over the last week and reportedly nearly had a deal done with Dallas around draft night. The Suns have been seeking multiple rotation players in exchange for Ayton as Phoenix tries to flesh out a top-heavy roster built around Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. While Ayton talks have cooled in the last few days, don’t be surprised if they pick up again over the next few weeks.
- Boston still has some roster decisions to make after acquiring Kristaps Porziņģis last week. Chief among them: Grant Williams, a restricted free agent. Williams scuffled in the second half of last season and was in and out of Joe Mazzulla’s rotation in the playoffs. But given the age (Al Horford) and injury history (Porziņģis, Robert Williams III) of its frontcourt, the Celtics need another reliable rotation player, and Williams, who shot 41.4% from three-point range before the All-Star break, has shown he can fit.
At a charity event in the Boston area Monday, Williams left the door open for a Boston return.
“Brad [Stevens] and those guys, if they decide to keep me and bring me back, of course I’m going to come back and be excited and happy and ready to play for the Celtics,” Williams said. “If something else happens, then I’ll have to transition, but for me, my outlook has always been that I want to make sure, wherever I am, to impact success and winning and make sure I’m just there for my players around me and focus on the team first. Whatever happens this free agency, we’ll do that.”
