NBA Free Agency Tracker: Full July 4th Update

After a flurry of activity in the opening weekend of NBA Free Agency the holiday opened with a bang.

As top talent was snatched up quickly the Association was still awaiting news on the player considered the prize of 2016 NBA Free Agency: Kevin Durant.

Durant’s choice to join the Golden State Warriors for 2-years, $54.3M, sent shock waves through the NBA as most pundits expected him to give Oklahoma City another shot by signing a 2-year with an opt out. This move is stunning considering OKC was 3 points and 3 minutes away from beating the Warriors and were up 3-1 in the Western Conference Finals. Durant was said to be involved in trying to woo Al Horford to join OKC as well.

Ultimately, this move forms a super team in Oakland featuring a Big 4 of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, and Draymond Green with 2 strong bench players in Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston. Further, now ring seeking veterans will flock to Golden State and tick off fans of all other teams who watch players leave money on the table to compete for a title, much like David West did in San Antonio last season.

As for the Houston Rockets following their 2 free agent signings Saturday to add free agents Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon, both formerly of the Pelicans they were quiet on the holiday.

As for the rest of the League, Durant’s decision opened the door for teams and free agents awaiting his choice to reenter negotiations.

NBA Free Agency Tracker: Full Update By Team, Rev 1- July 4th

The following list represents the other free agents (and significant trade) who came off the board July 4th:

Durant Decision leads to more FA activity

First and foremost while not a free agent arguably the biggest action occurred via a trade that saw the Warriors move Andrew Bogut to the Mavericks in a trade. And with GSW no longer being able to match RFA Harrison Barnes offer sheet.

Let’s put this into perspective, the Mavericks who couldn’t get a mosquito bite in Free Agency now have 2/5ths of the Association’s best offense and solid defensive starting line-up headed to Dallas. Suffice to the Mavericks have become the secondary winners of the Durant decision.

Once Durant confirmed his choice San Antonio spent little time putting Plan B into action agreeing to terms with Pau Gasol who reported will sign a 2-year $30M with the Spurs. The other big news out of the Spurs camp on a day with tons of fireworks was the quiet tweet suggesting Tim Duncan is leaning heavily toward retirement. Leave it to Duncan to quietly put that out there on a day the NBA and it’s fans are blowing up social media discussing Durant and ‘Super Teams’.

San Antonio's Tim Duncan — one of the NBA's icons — leaning strongly toward retirement. @WojVerticalNBA report: https://t.co/k6uI4GzPKj

— The Vertical (@TheVertical) July 4, 2016

The other notable effect was Zaza Pachulia agreed to a bargain basement deal 1-year $2.9M deal to replace Bogut on the Warriors.

Though the Clippers had been in the Durant Sweepstakes running they had already moved on with negotiations to lock down agreements a sign they knew their pitch had been unsuccessful. On Monday they came to terms with another existing roster player: Luc Richard Mbah a Moute on a reported 2-year, $4.5M deal.

The Dr of Joyology @_sgennaro reunites with @TTOTambz to discuss #NBAFreeAgency Go #ALLIN with the duo: https://t.co/Dfboro5inL

— Tamberlyn's Tip-Off (@TTOTambz) July 4, 2016

Their LA arena cohort the Lakers also locked in an existing player in Tarik Black on a 2-year, $13M deal where he’ll presumably back-up new Laker Timofey Mozgov.

The Charlotte Hornets were busy negotiating 2 deals. Roy Hibbert rejoins the East in an effort to get his game back on track. His deal is reportedly for 1-year at a reported $5M. They also added back up point guard Ramon Sessions to a reported 2-years, $12.5M deal.

The Knicks continued to be arguably the busiest Free Agency team with two more moves on the fourth day. First they re-upped Lance Thomas to a 4-year $27M deal which is significant given several teams had interest in acquiring the forward. The second deal is with Brandon Jennings for 1 year at $5M. Jennings will look to showcase his abilities in the Mecca as he continues to recover from his post Achilles Heel tear.

If you recall on a recent podcast (and in my Free Agency Profiles piece on all 30 teams) I said fans could expect Bryan Colangelo to bring in overseas talent to fill out his 76ers roster depth and add veteran savvy. The move to add Sergio Rodriguez via a 1-year $2.9M deal (on room exception) is precisely that. It’s also somewhat unexpected given Rodriguez said he had no desire to return to the NBA.

I’ve updated the full NBA Team by Team Free Agency Report with these new deals. You can view that here:

Next: NBA Free Agency Tracker Rev 1 - July 4th

Key players remaining

Thought the list grows shorter, especially of top talent, the following is a list of some free agent the Rockets will be mulling over:

On the board, but barring a disaster will re-sign with existing team:

LeBron James and Dirk Nowitzki

Top talent remaining:

Dwyane Wade
J.R. Smith
Dion Waiters
Manu Ginobili

Next tier:

David Lee
Nene Hilario
Gerald Henderson
Derrick Williams
Kris Humphries
Jason Smith
Alan Anderson
Jordan Hill
Leandro Barbosa
James Johnson
Gerald Green
Brandon Rush
Marcus Thornton

Lower Tier:

Ty Lawson
Anderson Varejao
Jason Thompson
Greivis Vasquez
JJ Hickson
Troy Daniels
Willie Reed
Tim Frazier
Langston Galloway
Markel Brown
Eric Moreland
Marcelo Huertas
Bryce Cotton
Jorge Gutierrez
Jeff Ayres
Henry Sims
Dorell Wright
Jared Sullinger
Tony Wroten
Ryan Kelly
Lou Amundson
Ronnie Price
PJ Hairston
Tyler Hansbrough
Donald Sloan
James Anderson
Quincy Acy
Robert Sacre
Dewayne Dedmon

Youthful Tier:

Norris Cole
Meyers Leonard
Tyler Zeller
Terrence Jones
Donatas Motiejunas
Festus Ezeli
Shane Larkin
Ian Clark
Seth Curry
Isaiah Canaan
Cleanthony Early
James Michael McAdoo
Boban Marjanovic
Miles Plumlee
Thomas Robinson

Vets Tier:

Kevin Martin

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Maurice Harkless

Brian Roberts

Kevin Seraphin

Josh Smith

Chris Kaman

Chase Budinger

Chris Andersen

Raymond Felton

Marreese Speights

Steve Novak

Randy Foye

Luis Scola

Kirk Hinrich

Pablo Prigioni

Jordan Farmar

Mike Miller

Udonis Haslem

Nazr Mohammed

Steve Blake

Kendrick Perkins

Andre Miller

Jason Terry

Metta World Peace

Tayshaun Prince

Charlie Villanueva

Matt Bonner

Amar’e Stoudemire

Richard Jefferson

James Jones

David West

Sasha Vujacic

Aaron Brooks

Elton Brand

SCS will update as free agency news develops. For now if you’re a fan who wants to follow free agency closely consider checking out my Free Agency Profiles for all 30 teams:

Next: Free Agency Profiles for all 30 Teams

And early free agent signings:

Next: First 12 hours of Free Agency

Along with articles covering the draft:

Next: Reviewing the top 30 Draft Picks

Next: SCS Editor Mock Draft

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