NBA Free Agency Tracker: July 20th

NBA Free Agency has slowed to a crawl with the Houston Rockets idle this past week. That said, there are still players filling up rosters and prospects from NBA Summer League being added to rosters.

With all 3 NBA Summer League events in the books teams will start signing players to minimum deals so they have them through the summer and for training camps. At that point the players can be cut, make the roster or added to their D-League Affiliate.

Fred VanVleet was a stand-out for the Raptors in Vegas though he’ll have a hard time cracking the line-up given Toronto is 3-deep with quality point guards (Kyle Lowry, Cory Joseph and Delon Wright). His $50,000 guaranteed contract with the potential for a 3-year term is worth the price even if VanVleet ends up with the Raptors 905 D-League squad. Though GM Masai Ujiri could also end up swinging a trade so the presence of VanVleet offers added depth.

The Thunder signed Alex Abrines to a -year $18M deal. Abrines was drafted in 2013 by the Thunder in the second round.

Three moves occurred on July 20th from the existing free agent crop:

The Pacers signed Aaron Brooks to a 1-year, $2.5M deal.

Golden State continues to fill up their roster spots with vets resigning Anderson Varejao to a reported 1-year minimum deal. This move became essential given the departure of Andrew Bogut and Festus Ezeli. Though the Rockets added Zaza Pachulia and David West both at reasonable rates their depth up front has taken a step back.

And the Clippers signed Brandon Bass to a 1-year minimum deal.

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

LeBron James remains the only super star on the board.

Top talent remaining:

J.R. Smith
Dion Waiters

Next tier:

David Lee
Alan Anderson
Gerald Green

Lower Tier:

Ty Lawson
Jason Thompson
JJ Hickson
Markel Brown
Eric Moreland
Bryce Cotton
Jorge Gutierrez
Jeff Ayres
Henry Sims
Dorell Wright
Tony Wroten
Ryan Kelly
Lou Amundson
Ronnie Price
PJ Hairston
Tyler Hansbrough
Donald Sloan
James Anderson
Robert Sacre

Youthful Tier:

Norris Cole
Tyler Zeller
Donatas Motiejunas
Shane Larkin
Cleanthony Early
Thomas Robinson
Kevin Seraphin

Vets Tier:

Kevin Martin

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Tayshaun Prince

Charlie Villanueva

Matt Bonner

Amar’e Stoudemire

James Jones

Elton Brand

SCS will update as free agency news develops. For now if you’re a fan who wants to follow free agency closely check the NBA Free Agency Tracker (updated daily)

Next: NBA Free Agency Tracker

and the Free Agency Profiles for all 30 teams entering Free Agency:

Next: Free Agency Profiles for all 30 Teams

Along with articles covering the draft:

Next: Reviewing the top 30 Draft Picks

Next: SCS Editor Mock Draft

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