NBA Free Agency Tracker: July 19th
By Tamberlyn Richardson
NBA Free Agency continues to roll along though fewer free agents are moving daily. The Houston Rockets were idle, but the movement of big stars continues to have far reaching effects.
As NBA Free Agency draws near to 3 weeks of activity there are less than a handful of big name free agents unsigned and two are from the NBA Championship squad. Another has been cut loose due to a lack of early response and several lower tier players remain.
July 19th provided just 2 moves but one may have major repercussions as it may point to actions of what a certain team is planning to do
The Oklahoma City Thunder rescinded their initial qualifying offer to Dion Waiters of $6.8M making him an unrestricted free agent. Though Waiters could have accepted the offer he chose to hold out presumably awaiting bigger deals. Now that OKC have back tracked it does tend to point to an earlier assessment this writer thought could happen which is the potential for GM Sam Presti to lock in Russell Westbrook to an extension similar to what the Houston Rockets did with James Harden. Obviously the Thunder can’t afford to lose 2 top 5 talents (Durant and Westbrook) without gaining anything in return, so this move makes logical sense.
Many pundits have assumed Westbrook would be traded with the Boston Celtics seemingly the leading candidate. I on the other hand felt Westbrook is more the type of player who take Durant’s departure personally and it would mean he would be more likely to stay in Oklahoma City. Taking the available salary left on the table with Durant’s departure and the money from the Waiters initial deal OKC could extend Westbrook with a solid contract. Let’s also not forget Blake Griffin is a free agent this coming summer and is from Oklahoma. Locking in Westbrook could enhance the lure for Griffin to want to return home.
The only other deal occurring on July 19th was Mike Miller re-upped with the Denver Nuggets to a 2-year $6M deal. Given he’ll be utilized to offer veteran leadership to the youngsters his deal seems extremely efficient. He might not be able to offer the same on court services as Luol Deng but then again Miller’s deal is a far cry from Deng’s 4-year $80M 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
More from Space City Scoop
- Rockets: Time to return the slander towards Rachel Nichols
- What the Rockets must do with the second overall pick
- Houston Rockets: The case for, and against, trading Christian Wood
- NBA Rumors: Why the Houston Rockets shouldn’t trade up to no. 1 in NBA Draft
- 3 players that would be a perfect fit for the Houston Rockets at 23 or 24
Maurice Harkless
Josh Smith
Chris Kaman
Chase Budinger
Steve Novak
Kirk Hinrich
Jordan Farmar
Nazr Mohammed
Steve Blake
Kendrick Perkins
Andre Miller
Jason Terry
Metta World Peace
Tayshaun Prince
Charlie Villanueva
Matt Bonner
Amar’e Stoudemire
James Jones
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 check the NBA Free Agency Tracker (updated daily)
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
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