The first official day of NBA free agency on June 30 was certainly busy, but it wasn’t quite as hectic as usual. There are a few factors believed to be playing a part in the slower pace, including:
- The new exclusive negotiating window open to team between the end of the NBA Finals and June 30 allowed several free agents to reach deals with their own teams ahead of the official start of free agency. Pascal Siakam (Pacers), OG Anunoby (Knicks), Immanuel Quickley (Raptors), and Nic Claxton (Nets) were among the notable players to line up massive paydays prior to June 30.
- The NBA has made cracking down on tampering a priority, threatening significant penalties not just to teams but to agents who make free agent deals too early. That may be why it took an hour after free agency opened on Sunday evening to get our first report of a player switching teams (Andre Drummond to Philadelphia).
- Teams are navigating a challenging new Collective Bargaining Agreement that has more ways than ever for a club to become hard-capped, ranging from sending out cash in a trade (hard-capped at the second apron) to using a trade exception generated before the offseason began (hard-capped at the first apron).
- As teams grapple with those CBA changes, the salary cap increase for 2024/25 was just 3.36%, giving high-salary teams less wiggle room following increases of 10% in both 2022 and 2023.
While we didn’t get quite as much action on day one as expected, there were still a good deal of notable headlines, including Paul George‘s decision to leave the Clippers for the Sixers. George’s move prompted L.A. to put out a lengthy statement explaining why the star forward wouldn’t be back, which is – if not an entirely unprecedented move – a rarity.
Besides agreeing to terms with George, Philadelphia also reached deals with Andre Drummond, Kelly Oubre, and Eric Gordon during the early part of free agency, taking advantage of the fact that it’s one of the few contending teams with cap room this offseason.
The other Eastern Conference playoff team with cap room, the Magic, made one of the day’s biggest moves by agreeing to terms on a three-year deal with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, adding a talented three-and-D wing with championship experience to a young roster that struggled to make outside shots last season.
While they lost George, the Clippers did reach a new two-year deal with James Harden and are bringing in at least two outside free agents, striking agreements with swingman Derrick Jones and guard Kevin Porter.
Jones’ free agency was a curious one, since he agreed to terms with the Clippers just a couple hours after the Mavericks agreed to sign Naji Marshall to a pretty similar deal. Dallas head of basketball operations Nico Harrison referred last month to re-signing Jones as the team’s “priority 1A and 1B,” and while his 11th-hour agent change complicated his free agency to some extent, it was still surprising to see him leave Dallas for a contract they seemingly could’ve afforded. We’ll see if more details on those negotiations surface in the coming days.
Elsewhere in free agency, the Celtics made deals to bring back a pair of reserve centers in Luke Kornet and Neemias Queta; the Heat reached a two-year agreement with Kevin Love; the Wizards lined up a new starting center by agreeing to a three-year contract with Jonas Valanciunas; and the Suns replaced outgoing reserve center Drew Eubanks by making a deal with veteran big man Mason Plumlee.
One of the day’s most interesting developments occurred on the Chris Paul front, where the Warriors decided to waive the veteran point guard after not finding a suitable trade for his expiring $30MM non-guaranteed contract. Paul had only been on waivers for a few hours when word broke that he had reached an agreement to sign with the Spurs upon reaching free agency. Within the last few years, Paul has helped young teams in both Oklahoma City and Phoenix exceed expectations. His impact on Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs will be a fun storyline to follow in 2024/25.
Restricted free agents Max Christie (Lakers) and Obi Toppin (Pacers) each reached four-year deals with their own teams on Sunday afternoon before free agency officially began, while the Pistons appear on track to keep Cade Cunningham out of 2025 restricted free agency by signing him to a lucrative new five-year extension. That deal’s not done yet, but it sounds like it’ll cross the finish line soon.
As our list of free agents shows, there are still plenty of intriguing names out there. While LeBron James is considered highly likely to return to the Lakers and Tyrese Maxey is a lock to stick with the Sixers, the futures of other top-15 free agents like DeMar DeRozan, Miles Bridges, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Klay Thompson remain less certain.