Here’s how I’m once again handling free agency this year. I’ll use this space to provide quick thoughts on most (if not necessarily all) of the signings that get reported this week, as they come. This post will be free and unlocked for all to read.
Before we get started, keep in mind that I am once again offering a 25% discount on the first year of all paid subscriptions between now and then end of free agency. I'm an independent grinding on my own, and that's not easy, so I'd really appreciate your support if you enjoy reading my work.
Update: June 30, 3:34 p.m.
Jock Landale: 1 year, $14M (Hawks)
Landale is a solid backup center who played quite well for both the Grizzlies and Hawks this past season. He dramatically increased his three-point volume and hit at a 38.3% clip while averaging essentially 17-9-3-1-1 per 36 minutes. He's also always been a solid offensive rebounder. His rim-protection numbers, though, leave something to be desired. Still, his absence in that first-round series against the Knicks ended up mattering quite a bit, because the Hawks had absolutely nobody else behind Onyeka Okongwu. This one-year balloon payment sure seems like Atlanta intends to use him as both the primary backup and potentially a walking trade exception if it can find an upgrade around the deadline. This deal coming shortly after Robert Williams re-signed in Portland makes me think the Hawks probably wanted to be in on him, and it also makes me think Mitchell Robinson's market is somewhere above the mid-level exception.
Update: June 30, 12:09 p.m.
Robert Williams III: 3 years, $44M (Trail Blazers)
This is a risk because Williams is always a health risk, but on the surface it's very good value for the Time Lord, who when healthy is one of the league's better backup centers. The Blazers should have 48 minutes of plus rim protection and offensive rebounding with Williams playing behind Donovan Clingan, and they're going to especially need that rim protection with Ja Morant apparently starting next to Damian Lillard and Deni Avdija. Yikes. Anyway, Williams is also a great finisher at the rim and even experimented with taking a few threes last year and looked pretty good doing it. (Granted, on only 23 attempts. But he did make 9 of those 23, and then 3 of 9 in the playoffs.) It's probably not a coincidence that this deal comes in right around (and just south of) the value of the mid-level exception, and it likely sets the lower-end baseline for what someone like Mitchell Robinson will get once he hits the market later today.
Simone Fontecchio: 1 year, Minimum (Heat)
The Heat need guys to sign for the minimum and they need shooters, and Fontecchio qualifies on both of those fronts, even if he's more of an above-average shooter than a good one. They still desperately need to figure out a way to add guards, but they at least have someone here who can credibly loft the ball into the basket from outside the arc.
Update: June 29, 9:18 p.m.
Kevin Huerter: 3 years, $27M (Pistons)
Huerter was referred to as a sharpshooter in the reporting of this deal, but he hasn't been one of those for a few seasons now. That's the reason I wasn't particularly enthused about this pickup at the trade deadline, and it's (part of) the reason I'm not particularly enthused about this re-signing. The third year of the deal is reportedly a team option, at least, which makes things slightly more palatable. But if Landry Shamet is only getting $6M per year from the Knicks (see below), I'm not sure why it's taking 50% more than that to get Huerter to stick around in Detroit — especially after he didn't exactly shower himself in glory during his post-deadline stint with the Pistons. He had an injury during the playoffs but he was already kind of getting phased out of the rotation before that. (He only played 39 combined minutes in the first three games of the Magic series, and got just 6 minutes in the one of those games that Detroit won.) Combined with the reporting around the Jalen Duren situation, I'm not loving the vibes in Detroit right now.
Kristaps Porzingis: 2 years, $40M (Warriors)
This is interesting for several reasons, the most prominent of which is that it potentially prevents the Warriors from using the full mid-level exception, which complicates any pursuit of LeBron James unless he's going to take even less money than that. Porzingis at his best is well worth this type of deal, but he hasn't been at his best since that 2023-24 championship season in Boston, with a mysterious illness keeping him off the court and sapping his effectiveness when he's been out there. Why it's taking this much money to retain him when both of those things are the case is almost as mysterious as the illness itself. I'm fascinated to see what, exactly, is going on in Golden State. This morning, it seemed like The Expendables was happening. With this deal, it seems like all bets are off.
Harrison Barnes: 1 year, $8M (Spurs)
Barnes is a great leader and locker room guy, and bringing him back doesn't necessarily preclude the Spurs from doing anything else on the market this offseason. They have around $33M in space below the first apron, according to Spotrac. Plenty of room to use the mid-level exception, should they want to do that.
Andrew Wiggins: 3 years, $64M (Heat)
Wiggins' extension has an unusual structure in that he's opting into his $30.2M player option for next season and then extending at a much smaller number for the following two years. That structure actually works against the Heat, because they are right up against the first apron and need all the help they can get when it comes to filling out their roster around Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo. I like the two years and $34M much better for Miami than the one year and $30.2M, but obviously you can't control whether or not a player accepts his option. If he was determined to do that no matter what, there's really nothing the Heat could have done. Maybe he would have been willing to turn it down and sign for less if the Heat gave him a larger average annual value or more years than they did on this deal, but we obviously don't know. Whatever the case, Wiggins' defense and recently-improved shooting (41.4% from deep last season and 38.7% over the last six after he shot just 33.2% through his first six years in the league) will be important, especially if the Heat lose Norm Powell, which it seems like they will.
Update: June 29, 5:53 p.m.
Landry Shamet: 4 years, $24M (Knicks)
I don't love going out to four years for 7-9th man types, but this is otherwise a very nice piece of business for New York, value-wise, so if that's what it took to get Shamet to apparently turn down more money on a per-year basis elsewhere, then so be it. Shamet's deal likely starts at around $5.5M and gives the Knicks some maneuverability to sign minimum guys and try to stay under the second apron, but presumably means they will be saying goodbye to Mitchell Robinson. I'm not sure where their backup center minutes are coming from in that case unless they do something like trade Pacome Dadiet (or Deuce McBride, if they're not going to extend him) and second-round picks for a big man, but this is about Shamet, who emerged as a valuable shooter and defender and clearly earned Mike Brown's trust during the playoffs. The Knicks needed him back, and now he is back.
Julian Champagnie: 3 years, $45M (Spurs)
This is tremendous for both Champagnie and the Spurs. Champagnie himself goes from a scrap-heap pickup to making $15M per year. And San Antonio retains a player who became an extraordinarily valuable shooter on a team that really needs shooting surrounding Victor Wembanyama and its powerful-but-shot-challenged guards. Champagnie also showed during both the regular season and the playoffs that he can survive defensively in high-leverage moments, even if some of the best guards can take advantage of him in switches when they generate a ton of space. It remains to be seen how the Spurs will fill out their roster and whether they find a bigger player to start in place of Champagnie (or Devin Vassell, I guess), but either way, bringing him back is an excellent move.
Jusuf Nurkic: 2 years, $22M (Jazz)
I don't know who else was clamoring to give Nurkic $11M per year. I honestly thought he might be one of those guys who was available for the minimum as a ring chaser. (Even if he's not exactly a guy who is suited for playoff situations.) Nurk put up numbers starting in place of Walker Kessler and then was a good soldier sitting out games down the stretch with a nose injury, though, so I suppose this is a nice make-good payment. I wouldn't be surprised if the second year of this deal is either partially or non-guaranteed and he was actually being used as a walking trade exception, but I suppose we'll find out soon enough.
Thomas Bryant: 1 year, Minimum (Cavaliers)
Bryant is a cromulent third center.
Update: June 29, 12:11 p.m.
Trae Young: 4 years, $212.9M (Wizards)
Austin Reaves: 4 years, $184.8M (Lakers)
Ayo Dosunmu: 5 years, $112M (Timberwolves)
Check out last week's episode of the Double Dribble podcast for my (and Mo's) thoughts on these three contracts. (Spoiler alert: We are... not kind to the Trae Young deal.)
Isaiah Hartenstein: 3 years, $75M (Thunder)
The Thunder declined Hartenstein's $28.5M team option to sign him to a three-year deal that starts at a lower salary than he would have drawn for the 2026-27 season, giving them more room to operate under the second apron after they traded Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe to shed salary. Shams reported that there is a "unique mutual option" for the final season of this deal, which I don't believe is actually legal under the CBA, so I'm thinking it's actually something like a partially or wholly non-guaranteed player option with interestingly-timed trigger dates.
Either way, this makes for an excellent deal for both sides, with Hartenstein locking in additional years and guaranteed money beyond what he would have gotten this year and the Thunder keeping an important player for probably less than he's actually worth on the open market. Hartenstein gets $48-50M over the next two years, depending on the structure of the deal, with the ability to opt out and get back into the market at 30 years old in 2028; while the Thunder get him for only $25M per year when, for example, John Hollinger's BORD$ formula had him valued at over $32M per year and Steph Noh's DARKO-based model has him around $29M. It's the type of mutually-beneficial arrangement that championship-contending teams can make with high-quality role players who are in the best possible situation for individual and team success.
Coby White: 3 years, $74M (Hornets)
White is presumably going to start in place of the departed LaMelo Ball. He's obviously a much different player than his predecessor; he won't bring nearly the same type of playmaking to the table, obviously, so the Hornets will have to pretty dramatically change their style of play unless he, Kon Knueppel, and/or Brandon Miller makes a rather significant ball-handling/playmaking leap. But White is a good player, and especially a good shooter off the catch (40.3% last year), and he seems to fit with what the Hornets are trying to build in the post-LaMelo world, where they're apparently just all in on shooting at every spot except center (and maybe even at center when they play Naz Reid there in five-out looks). I think a contract that pays White just shy of $25M annually is probably a bit of an overpay on a per-year basis, but the Hornets still have plenty of cap maneuverability over the next few years thanks to the relatively low salaries of their other core players and the mountain of draft-pick assets they've accumulated over the last few years.
Collin Gillespie: 4 years, $48M (Suns)
Mark Williams: 3 years, $38M (Suns)
Jordan Goodwin: 3 years, $19M (Suns)
Gillespie was one of the most pleasant surprises in the league last season. He's a good starting point guard who can really shoot it. Going four years for a player like him — with only a one-year track record of quality play — is risky, but the annual salary is low enough that I'm fine with the risk because if it doesn't work out, it's pretty easy to use him as matching salary in a deal down the line. And that's before considering the fact that $12M per year could end up being a dramatic underpay. If he plays anything like he did this past season, that's exactly what it'll be.
Williams in a vacuum is probably worth more than $12.67 million per year, but last year was the first time he ever stayed on the court — and he still missed 22 games. In his first three seasons, he played only 43, 19, and 44 games. He's only played 166 of 328 possible games in his career. Williams is a really good rebounder and finisher, though, and the Suns desperately rebounding and finishing inside. They probably still need more size even after re-signing Williams, honestly. But they have some room to play with to get it.
I've always liked Goodwin as a defense and energy guy. I'm glad to see finally get a real, long-term contract. He's a good rotation player.
I'm not sure I like the version of the team the Suns are going in on moving forward, but these three deals themselves are solid in a vacuum. And after executing the (gross for several reasons) Miles Bridges trade, they have plenty of room under the aprons to fill out their team for next season despite the fact that they're still carrying a $19.3M dead cap hit for Bradley Beal.
Jose Alvarado: 3 years, $14M (Knicks)
Mohamed Diawara: ? years, $10M (Knicks)
Getting Alvarado back for three years and $14M is a great bit of business for the Knicks. He had a $4.5M player option for next season that he declined, and he apparently took a smaller starting salary here, which gives New York more room to operate under the second apron, which James Dolan apparently will not cross. (Which is its own can of worms, but whatever.) Alvarado is a solid backup point guard who can orchestrate the offense and bother everybody on defense, and as we saw in Game 4 of the Finals, he can also play alongside Jalen Brunson, which has value as well. Good deal.
Diawara is back on a "multi-year" contract that pays "around $10M," according to several reports. We don't yet know if this means he's being re-signed with non-Bird rights on a four-year deal (which would be great value for the Knicks) or a two-year deal using part of the taxpayer mid-level exception (which would be great value for Diawara), but I suppose we'll find out soon enough. Either way, he showed during his rookie season that he has some interesting two-way potential, and the Knicks need to fill out their roster with cheap young guys who can get better over the course of their contracts, given the constraints set by New York's highly-paid, in-their-prime starters. Depending on how things shake out with the likes of Landry Shamet and Jordan Clarkson, among others, Diawara could be a consistent rotation guy as soon as this season.
Al Horford: 2 years, $14M (Warriors)
I unabashedly love Al Horford. I'm not sure how much he has left in the tank for what will be his age-40 and 41 seasons and I'm not sure what the Warriors' plan is for their center spot in the wake of reports that they want to bring Kristaps Porzingis back and that they have issued a qualifying offer to Quinten Post, but I'm happy to see Horford remain in the league.
Jaylen Clark: 3 years, $10M (Timberwolves)
Minnesota declined Clark's team option for next season and signed him to a longer-term deal here. He's shown that he can shoot a little bit and defend a little bit, though he shot much better in a smaller sample last year (43.1% on 51 attempts) than he did this year (32.7% on 101 attempts). But Minnesota needs bodies and espeically needs guys who can play on the wing and potentially in the frontcourt. Clark is a little too small (6-5, 205) to play the four but he can be a three in some smaller lineups.
Ron Harper Jr.: 3 years, $9M (Celtics)
Harper showed during his short stint with the Celtics that he has something to bring to the table on both ends of the floor. (Especially in a 20-game stint post-All-Star break, where he shot 38% from deep.) It was a mistake to start him in Game 7 of that series against the Sixers, but that's not his fault. Getting him on a cheap, three-year deal covering his ages-26 through 28 seasons is a nice bit of business by the Celtics.
Day'Ron Sharpe: 2 years, $20M (Nets)
Josh Minott: 2 years, $9M (Nets)
Sharpe has been a really good backup center who is one of the best (specifically offensive) rebounders in the league. He could get a chance to start now that Nic Claxton has been traded. He gets a raise here off the $6.25 million team option the Nets had on him for the 2026-27 season. (He's likely getting the room exception after the Nets use all their cap space.) If the Nets want, he'll also likely be eminently tradable on this deal, and could fetch some real assets from a team that needs center help.
Minott can defend multiple spots and shot it really well last year, both in Boston and in Brooklyn. He didn't have much of a track record prior to last year so it's hard to know how much to buy into what we saw, but this deal will cover his age-24 and 25 seasons and seems like a worthy flier on the cheap.
