WE had all read and seen the news of someone taking his talents – again – to somewhere and that, in professional sports, no matter the millions, walang forever. Yes, he was the biggest news not only on the first day of the NBA Free Agent raffle but immediately after being swept by a ridiculously superior team in last June’s NBA Finals. The team’s back-to-back title run was overshadowed by this super athlete’s anticipated move.
All deals and transactions at the moment are agreements in principle between players and teams since nothing had been put on paper yet. Transactions become official on the midnight of July 7, Philippine time, when they formally affix their signatures on the dotted line.
LeBron James made the biggest splash when he jumped ship and chose the LA Lakers to showcase his talents. A four-year, $154-million deal was agreed with a player option on the last year, meaning by all means, he can again take his talents outside of LA if things don’t work out. LBJ will sure bring in shiploads of bandwagon fans to LA LA Land, with a good majority of GSW haters.
Joining him in the Laker exodus from different locations are Lance Stephenson (Indiana, one year $4.5 million), JaVale McGee (GSW, one year, $2.4 million) and Rajon Rondo (New Orleans, one year, $9 million). Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had his tour of duty with the Lakers extended by a year for the sweet tune of $12 million.
I’m particularly not happy of the LAL letting go of Julius Randle but it is management decision. He’s now with New Orleans on a two-year, $18 million deal. Reportedly, former Laker Dwight Howard, now with Brooklyn, wants to be back in LA and play with LeBron. The center position is what the team needs to strengthen and Howard just might fit in. Maybe they can swap places with Brook Lopez who came to LA from the Nets. Question is: Will LAL take him back? For Howard to be back in LA, he needs to complete a buyout agreement with the Nets.
Among the notables, for several million reasons, Rudy Gay (SAS, $10 million, one year), Paul George (OKC, $137 million, four years), Derrick Favors (UTA, $36 million, two years), Kevin Durant (GSW, $61.5 million, two years), Nikola Jokic (DEN $146.5 million, five years), Chris Paul (HOU $160 million, four years), and Aaron Gordon (ORL, $82 million, four years) decided to stay put with their respective teams.
DeAndre Jordan joins Dirk Nowitzki in Dallas for a year at $24 million. Trevor Ariza relocated to Phoenix on a one-year, $15-million deal. Marco Belinelli reunites with the Spurs for a two-year, $12-million contract. Golden State now has five All-Stars with the arrival of DeMarcus cousins. The Warriors got him for a bargain at $5.3 million for one season. Derrick Rose remains in Minnesota for another season with $2.4 million.
Reportedly Clint Capella as of this writing is having talks with the Lakers. It was also reported that another Laker target, Kawhi Leonard, had ran out of San Antonio’s favor and the team had ongoing negotiations with Philadelphia. The Spurs want three future first-round picks from the Sixers and two current players who were not specified. Leonard had not changed his mind with his strong desire to play with the Lakers.
With the current player migration, there is now a great disparity in the league. The West had become more loaded, Golden State specifically. And this early the Warriors are in for a three-peat. Hold your horses Laker Nation. We had become playoff contenders but having LeBron in is not a title guarantee. At least Magic Johnson won’t be stepping down as president of basketball operations for the next two years./PN
