Sports
The Most Interesting Deals of 2023 NBA Free Agency So Far – The Ringer
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The Most Lucrative Contract Ever Given to a Nanny? The Most Soul-Crushingly Static Move? We break down the first night of free agency with some superlatives.
For all the talk of this being a weak NBA free agent class, nothing quite prepares you for the deluge of reports that come flooding in mere minutes after the bell is rung. It’s proof of the shadow dealings and games of Agent Telephone that echo for days, if not weeks, before the formalities of a Woj or Shams tweet. While plenty of players decided to stay put (with almost embarrassing quickness), Day 1 did not leave those gorging at the slop trough completely hungry.
With that said, let’s hand out some superlatives for the first night of free agency.
I felt a strange pang of pride for Fred VanVleet when the deal was announced. This was his moment—though I doubt even he could have imagined signing a deal like this when he made his iconic “Bet on Myself” speech at his draft party after going undrafted in 2016. He made the league wait on him—and then shocked it completely with the first (and maybe only?) max contract of this free agency period. After persistent rumors of the Rockets luring VanVleet away from Toronto with a two-year deal, VanVleet walked away with an extra year of max-level money on his contract. It’s damn near impossible to turn that down. The question is: Is he prepared for what awaits?
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From the very onset of Scottie Barnes’s Rookie of the Year campaign back in 2021-22, VanVleet—a generous and thoughtful, but famously stoic athlete—struggled with the task of curbing his young teammate’s enthusiasm. “I have a nephew that’s 12 or 13 and they’re identical,” VanVleet told CBS Sports writer James Herbert. “So I just keep going back to that in my head. ‘Cause when he first came, I didn’t really know how to take it.”
One disappointing season in Toronto later, Mr. Bet-on-Yourself has agreed to terms with Houston to deal with not one unbridled youngster, but an entire roster of them – though he may be able to sleep soundly knowing he’ll be doubling his annual salary for the trouble. A perfect storm led to the Rockets’ massive offer, a contract that eclipses the $85 million total he made in his previous contract. New head coach Ime Udoka stressed the importance of adding a stable leadership presence in the locker room; and the Rockets, completely devoid of large contracts, had roughly $66 million to find one this offseason.
Did VanVleet, who has spent the past four post-championship seasons tirelessly molding himself into an All-Star caliber player, anticipate spending the twilight of his 20s mentoring a chaotic bunch of young mega-athletes on how to be pros? Probably not! But a player of his stature and pedigree are rarely offered max deals. Perhaps better to take the money – here is your obligatory no state income tax in Texas reminder – and run while you’re still on this side of 30.
Upon closer inspection, Draymond did not want to be out here. Green signed the very first deal of free agency, reportedly agreeing to a new four-year, $100 million contract with the Warriors. The fourth year is reportedly a player option … let’s just go ahead and make that four years fully guaranteed.
I’ve been thinking about the 2011-12 Oklahoma City Thunder, as one does. Kevin Durant. Russell Westbrook. James Harden. How lucky were we to have seen three unique, prodigious, future MVPs find balance within each other’s games at such a young age? More than a decade later, all three have become itinerant mercenaries. Durant’s wayfaring ways extend far beyond the hardwood; it’s easier to trace the fault lines of the other two on Basketball-Reference. Westbrook could potentially find himself playing for his fifth different team across five seasons, while we now know Harden will soon be playing on his fourth in the past four. For a star whose whole career’s built on deception, sidesteps, and foul-baiting drudgery on the court, Harden sure knows what fans want off the court: We want slop.
Will Portland finally give in and trade Dame Lillard? We’re keeping a close watch on all of the biggest free agents, trade targets, retirement bluffers, and more in our new offseason tracker.
But it also feels like Harden is chasing a sense of stability that just doesn’t exist for a superstar who is eyeing the precipice. As the marginal advantages he once had over much of the league continue to wither with age, so too does his control—arguably the defining characteristic of Harden’s offensive onslaught on the league in his prime. Harden is one of the most possessive players in NBA history; over the past five seasons, an average game featured no less than eight and half minutes of Harden dribbling the ball. As with every other post-Rockets dalliance that Harden’s had, the question is how many games he’ll be afforded with the team’s other main stars—and whether he will assume a more complementary role both on and off the ball, not can.
(And if not, well, let’s circle back here this time next year.)
Before fully committing to basketball, Bruce Brown had reps playing quarterback, wide receiver, and strong safety at Wakefield High in Boston. You can see the faint outlines of each position when he’s on the basketball court: in the unique way he navigates the pick-and-roll from both perspectives, in his downhill burst as he slips a screen, in the dogged physicality of his defensive pressure. Over the past three seasons, he has found his calling as an anti-positional player, with a blend of skills that slide him up and down 1 through 4 on a possession’s notice. (It doesn’t hurt that he’s been above league average from 3-point range over the past two seasons, either.)
His noteworthy postseason with the champion Nuggets was the ultimate proof of concept. Brown’s skill set is no gimmick. And while it’s a shame he won’t continue building upon the synchronicity he had with Nikola Jokic, Brown’s league-wide appeal, culminating in a huge payday with the Pacers, is a glowing endorsement for the state of positionless basketball as a whole.
Indiana’s two-year, $45 million contract (with a team option in the second year) is sizable, nearly double the annual value of the mid-level exception that most of Brown’s suitors would have been able to offer. But his presence on the Pacers will be felt on both ends of the floor, with a spaced-out offense led by Tyrese Haliburton giving him all the room to rumble down the lane, and as another versatile piece to fortify what was one of the worst defenses in the league last season.
For all the smoke of Kyrie supposedly looking elsewhere, there was no way he was going anywhere; not when the Mavericks risked mutilating their future to acquire his talents at the trade deadline last season, not when they’ve been shamed by history for letting Jalen Brunson go for nothing just one offseason ago. The Rockets were an empty threat, the Lakers a pipe dream, the Suns an impossibility. And yet, it feels like the Mavericks had to give Irving the three-year $126 million he agreed upon; they might not have had any actual competition in bidding, but their desperation driven by past errors—and a potential Luka-less timeline—formed the bullet they had to bite.
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A full training camp for two of the most talented offensive players in the game could do a whole lot of good, as could the infusion of young talent the Mavericks added in the draft. Only a year removed from the Western Conference finals, there are plenty of timelines in which this could work out for Dallas—but it all revolves around Luka. Irving’s three-year deal has a player option in the final season, aligning with the player option Doncic has in 2026-27. The Mavericks are going all in on this duo; it’s the only move they had anyways.
I feel compelled to call Chicago Bulls fandom dystopian, but it doesn’t quite land. True dystopias tend to operate on a sinister dual reality: the truth, and what is being peddled as the truth. But under the stewardship of Arturas Karnisovas, VP of basketball ops, and the long shadow of owner Jerry Reinsdorf, it seems the Bulls have given up on propaganda or creating any kind of mollifying soma for the masses. News that Lonzo Ball would likely miss his second consecutive full season due to ongoing knee issues was delivered almost dispassionately in the aftermath of the draft. Fans can’t be disillusioned when there is no illusion to begin with.
On the heels of barely making the play-in, the Bulls trudge forward along the darkest timeline, with no discernable future and a depressing present. It’s a gloom so impenetrable, even the Bulls making the best available decision at center feels soul-crushing. Vooch has been a paragon of consistency during his two full seasons in Chicago, with per-game averages that nearly mirror his rock-solid career numbers. But that final year of his new contract will bring Vucevic into his age-36 season; and given how often he was attacked in the pick-and-roll at age 32, it’s not a contract that is designed to age particularly well. Just as dispiriting is the Chicago Tribune report claiming that part of the negotiations involved Vucevic lobbying for more touches on offense, which has certainly been a winning formula for the teams he’s played on: Vucevic has played in four playoff series across his 12-year career—he has never made it past the first round.
Still, re-signing Vucevic to a three-year extension is a fair price to pay to maintain the services of a starting center in the NBA, and he might just set the market for other skilled-but-flawed bigs like Jakob Poeltl and Christian Wood. It’s not inspiring in the slightest, but it’s fair. Unfortunately, in this dystopia devoid of positive spin, fairness is no virtue to fandom. Fairness is infuriating.
With Jordan Poole already in tow and Kyle Kuzma agreeing to terms on a four-year, $102 million contract to stay with the Wizards, Washington’s rebuild has its primary shotmakers, for better and worse. Kuzma and Poole both averaged at least 7.5 3-point attempts per game last season: Only five teams last season (Utah, Portland, Golden State, Charlotte, Dallas) had multiple players average that many. Shots will be fired, and some might even go in!
The figures seem fair on both sides. Kuzma’s value as a tall wing with legitimate shot creation and playmaking chops is apparent; his archetype is among the rarest in the league. But by retaining Kuzma at a $25.5 million annual valuation, Wizards president Michael Winger preserves some flexibility for any future swings for a bona fide star.
Undrafted. Undersized. A tough-as-nails 3-and-D point guard. After rumors of the Lakers showing interest in Fred VanVleet, the Lakers get Fred VanVleet at Home in Vincent, at roughly a third of the cost (three years, $33 million, fully guaranteed). For the past decade—whether on the Heat, the Cavs, or the Lakers—LeBron James has begged for release valves on the perimeter who can put the ball on the floor. Bruce Brown may have been priced out of their spending range, but the Lakers still managed to address a need at value. Vincent was a revelation as a postseason starter for the Heat, most notably hitting 3s at volume and at an above-average clip.
Combined with fellow signees Taurean Prince, Cam Reddish, and Rui Hachimura—and the eventual re-signing of Austin Reaves—the Lakers have constructed a deep rotation that fits around LeBron and Anthony Davis, continuing the trend of good moves dating back to the trade deadline.
So, Joe Cronin wasn’t lying? You don’t hand a five-year contract to a 29-year-old if you have machinations of rebuilding a team. Paying Grant $32 million per year is a bit steep, but as is the case with Kuzma, it’s awfully hard to find wings with size who are plus shooters and capable defenders, and the Blazers had to pay a slight premium to secure, long term, the productive 3-and-D athlete they’ve chased for more than half a decade. The contract is hard to judge in a silo; it clarifies Portland’s direction, sure, but tells us nothing of what’s to come. Because there has to be more to appease Damian Lillard—running this team back without a clear runway for Scoot Henderson doesn’t exactly scream contender.
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