Everything you need to know about the NBA's 2015 free agent 'frenzy'
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Pelicans sign Anthony Davis to 5-year, $145M extension
Giving the combination of Omer Asik and Alexis Ajinca $17 million per year over the next four seasons is another potentially troubling sign that general manager Dell Demps and Co. don't know how to manage their non-Davis assets, but a generational superstar remains the best building block for a perennial contender, and the Pelicans now have one locked up through 2021.
Grizzlies re-sign Marc Gasol to 5-year, $110M contract
The only plausible concern with this deal is Gasol will be 35 by its conclusion, but he's a durable star (41 games missed over seven seasons) whose game figures to age well. He's also quite possibly the best all-around center in the game, and is the pillar of one of the league's most consistent franchises over the last five years.
Between a bargain deal for Brandan Wright to fill out an elite rotation of bigs and the acquisition of Matt Barnes, you'll be hard-pressed to find teams that did as well as Memphis in the off-season's opening week.
Spurs re-sign Kawhi Leonard to 5-year, $90M contract, sign LaMarcus Aldridge to 4-year, $80M contract, re-sign Danny Green to 4-year, $45M contract
One such team that did well is the Spurs.
Sure, they temporarily lost some of their trademark depth in losing Tiago Splitter, Marco Belinelli, Cory Joseph, and Aron Baynes, but assuming Tim Duncan returns, San Antonio's starting frontcourt could essentially be three-fifths of an All-NBA team. They managed to keep Green around at one heck of a bargain, and they added David West on a veteran's minimum deal.
As Dirk Nowitzki would say, "Shut it down!"
As for Aldridge, his midrange-dependency skews his efficiency in the wrong direction and he's not a significant defensive presence. But his combination of size, skill, and range make him a walking 20-10 machine, and a worthy max-player.
Nets re-sign Thaddeus Young to 4-year, $60M contract, sign Brook Lopez to 3-year, $60M contract
Brooklyn's reckless cap and asset mismanagement has backed the team into a dangerous corner. It's nowhere near good enough to contend, but the team don't have much high-upside young talent, and don't own its own first-round pick until 2019, so it also doesn't make sense for the Nets to punt on the next couple seasons with the lottery in mind.
Given that harsh reality, the Nets' decision to avoid losing Lopez and Young for nothing is understandable, even if it's going to cost them $35 million per year between the two players.
Bucks re-sign Khris Middleton to 5-year, $70M contract, sign Greg Monroe to 3-year, $50M contract
From a team with few options to one with a bevy of them.
Given the market that was set over the last week, the coming salary cap surge, and Middleton's starry advanced metrics, locking the 23-year-old up for $14 million per season was a fine deal for the Bucks. As for Monroe, he has his flaws, but he's an incredibly talented offensive big man who can serve as the offensive focal point for a team bursting at the seams with defensive ability, length, and versatility.
Trail Blazers sign Damian Lillard to 5-year, $125M extension
It's tough to find any positives in Portland, where the Blazers have seen four-fifths of the starting lineup that put together back-to-back 50-plus win seasons move on. Ensuring Lillard is part of the team's future is one such positive, however.
Raptors sign DeMarre Carroll to 4-year, $60 million contract
The Raptors seem to have overpaid for Carroll at first glance, but a team in desperate need of a defensive force added one of the league's top perimeter defenders and overall 3-and-D threats, while also adding an underrated offensive option who moves intelligently off the ball - something else the team craved.
It's somewhat shocking Carroll will be the highest paid Raptor next season, but the team retains maximum flexibility for the following summer even with Carroll on the books, and the booming cap means he'll likely only account for about 15-16 percent of the cap by Year 3 of his deal.
Hawks re-sign Paul Millsap to 3-year, $59M contract
Losing Carroll is going to hurt, but in re-signing Millsap and adding Tiago Splitter to a frontcourt that already features All-Star Al Horford, the Hawks have put together one of the Association's most formidable rotations of big men.
That a 30-year-old Millsap is approaching an annual average value of $20 million might be concerning, but the Hawks got incredible value out of the two-time All-Star over the last two years ($19 million total) and owe it to the veteran, who has emerged as one of the premier two-way power forwards in the game.
An option after Year 2 also offers Millsap the opportunity to once again capitalize on free agency when the cap explodes.
Cavaliers re-sign Kevin Love to 5-year, $110M contract, re-sign Iman Shumpert to 4-year, $40M contract
Assuming LeBron James' and Tristan Thompson's returns are mere formalities, the Cavs will be bringing back the same team that finished the regular season on a 34-9 tear before coming within two wins of a championship, even without Love and Kyrie Irving.
Cleveland's postseason success in Love's absence, plus his decreased production as the third option, cast some doubt on his superstar value, but he's a top-10 player at his best and top-25 on an off night.
The Cavs may be looking at the most expensive team in NBA history, but when you're dealing with the delicate nature of James' prime and the money being spent on retaining your own core pieces, you do what needs to be done.
Suns re-sign Brandon Knight to 5-year, $70M contract, sign Tyson Chandler to 4-year, $52M contract
The Knight deal was an overpay for a solid yet unspectacular player at the deepest position in basketball, Chandler will be 36 by the time his lucrative deal expires, and the Suns moved Marcus Morris (in addition to Reggie Bullock and Danny Granger) to clear cap space.
That said, the Suns positioned themselves to land one of the biggest free-agent fish on the market in Aldridge, so while they ultimately struck out, it's tough to say it wasn't worth the gamble.
Big game hunting in the NBA occasionally means a swing and a miss. Phoenix still has flexibility, intriguing assets (including three extra 1st-round picks), and an attractive destination to offer.
Warriors re-sign Draymond Green to 5-year, $82M contract
Green's value to the Warriors - with his defensive versatility and vanguard status as a small-ball big man - is immeasurable.
If he simply remains the player he is today for the next five years, the deal will be well worth it for Golden State. If the 25-year-old continues his stunning all-around progression and has more to offer the defending champs going forward, even the max is a bargain in this new cap world.
Knicks sign Robin Lopez to 4-year, $54M contract, sign Arron Afflalo to 2-year, $16 M contract
It's easy to mock the Knicks for once again whiffing on the biggest names, but the fact of the matter is Phil Jackson and Co. had a pretty solid week. They turned Tim Hardaway, Jr. into an extra first-round pick (used on Jerian Grant), upgraded at the wing and at center with Afflalo and Lopez, found good value in the underrated Kyle O'Quinn, and took a low-risk gamble on Derrick Williams' upside - something teams with limited assets need to do.
The Knicks may very well be a lottery team again - albeit without an actual lottery pick to show for it - but given the circumstances, free agency hasn't been the failure some want to paint it as.
Bulls re-sign Jimmy Butler to 5-year, $95M contract
Amidst talk that Butler wanted a short-term deal to maintain his options, the Bulls did well to strike quickly with a five-year max deal.
Butler's 3-point shooting has been up and down in his four-year career, but the two-time All-Defensive Team member emerged as a legitimate offensive force last season, and the best all-around player on a 50-win team.
Pacers sign Monta Ellis to 4-year, $44M contract
Everyone knows Ellis can score, and he's an underrated playmaker out of the pick-and-roll, but he's also an inefficient, ball-dominant guard who will take the ball out of Paul George and George Hill's hands, and his moody ways reportedly returned in his second season with the Mavs.
The Pacers - who have long been starved for another scorer who can create his own offense - obviously think it's worth the gamble at roughly $11 million per year.
Clippers re-sign DeAndre Jordan to 4-year, $87.7M contract
The Clippers were able to convince Jordan to return to Los Angeles in one of the strangest days in NBA free agent history.
After Jordan had already made a verbal agreement to sign with the Mavericks, a group of Clippers including Paul Pierce, Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, J.J. Redick, coach Doc Rivers and owner Steve Ballmer, met with Jordan and stayed with him until he re-signed with the club moments after the NBA's free agency moratorium ended.
Mavericks sign Wesley Matthews to 4-year, $57M contract
Despite the about-face from Jordan, the Mavericks still managed to add a top-tier 3-and-D wing in Matthews.
There are plenty of questions to be answered in Dallas, but Matthews wasn't phased by Jordan's change of heart and will join a team hoping to make another title run during the twilight years of Dirk Nowitzki's career.
Kings sign Rajon Rondo to 1-year, $10M contract
Just when you think the level of dysfunction has reached a climax in Sacramento, the Vivek Ranadive-owned Kings find a way to out-Kings themselves.
The argument could be made that Rondo on a one-year deal is a low-risk, high-upside gamble, but the fact of the matter is he hasn't been an elite point guard in three years, will further congest an offense dominated by a low-post operator (DeMarcus Cousins) and a ball-stopper (Rudy Gay), and the Kings mortgaged part of their future to clear cap space for what turned out to be Rondo, Marco Belinelli, Kosta Koufos, and Omri Casspi.
Some of the players have their merits - Beli, Casspi, and Koufos especially -but you don't give up control of three first-rounders (and Nik Stauskas) for that kind of haul, or even the kind of haul the Kings envisioned (including Rondo and Matthews).
Magic re-sign Tobias Harris to 4-year, $64M contract
With the oft-mentioned rising cap limiting the risk on many deals signed this summer, it's hard to knock the Magic locking up Harris at $16 million per year.
His defense and jumper come and go, but he's a 22-year-old forward who's averaged roughly 16 points and seven rebounds on a True Shooting Percentage of 54.3 in a sizeable, 156-game sample with Orlando.
The Magic have an intriguing young core, with assets and flexibility. Securing Harris' place in that puzzle was a wise move.
Pistons re-sign Reggie Jackson to 5-year, $80M contract
Rising cap or not, this deal makes little sense for the Pistons. Keeping Jackson around is fine, but the NBA's current wealth of point guard talent is well documented, and few teams had any kind of need for Jackson.
In that regard, the Pistons appeared to be bidding against themselves for a restricted free agent, and put far too much stock in a 27-game sample size that saw Jackson excel to the tune of an inefficient 18, 9, and 5 at the conclusion of a lost season for Detroit.