The conventional wisdom around the NBA is that by the time free agency officially starts it’s mostly over. As much as Adam Silver may want to say he’s working to change this, the NBA is a tampering league and by the time the opening bell of free agency rings most of the key deals have been agreed to, most of the trades just need to be made public and formalized. The opening nine hours (or so) of 2023 NBA free agency saw 39 free agent signings, three rookie contract extensions, five trades, and by the time the sun came up on Day 2 of free agency the best players still left on the board were Brook Lopez, D’Angelo Russell and Dillon Brooks.
Who were the big winners on the opening day of free agency? Let’s take a look. (For the record, these deals are all agreements, they can’t be signed until July 6; also, we’re not doing losers of free agency yet because it’s still a little too early, there are moves still coming and big trades out there.)
1. Jerami Grant, five-year, $160 million with Portland
While fans (and front offices) in Miami, Brooklyn and plenty of other cities are waiting for the other Dame 8 to drop, in Portland the goal is to keep Damian Lillard happy and in the Pacific Northwest. Step one of that plan was to re-sign power forward Jerami Grant.
The Trail Blazers may have had to overpay a little, but they got their man, with Grant agreeing to a five-year, $160 million extension, a story broken by Shams Charania of The Athletic. We don’t know the details of this contract yet (guarantees and incentives may mean Grant is taking home a little less than a straight $160 million), but it’s a big payday.
Grant proved a solid fit next to Lillard last season averaging 20.5 points a game and shooting 40% from 3. The Trail Blazers had a +1.2 net rating when Grant and Lillard shared the court last season, which is not a terribly impressive number, but it’s five points per 100 possessions better than the -3.8 net rating the Trail Blazers had as a team for the season. Portland’s front office still has work to do to make Lillard happy, but this is a start — and a very good start for Grant.
2. Fred VanVleet, three years, $130 max deal with Houston
There was a bidding war for VanVleet’s services — the Raptors wanted to keep him and the Rockets needed a floor general and had the money to spend on the best one on the market. The Rockets won out going three years at the max, $130 million. That would be the largest contract ever for an undrafted NBA player. If that’s not a win for VanVleet, I don’t know what is.
Free agent G Fred VanVleet has agreed on a three-year, $130 million contract with the Houston Rockets, @KlutchSports CEO Rich Paul and agent Erika Ruiz tell ESPN. Rockets land ex-Raptors All-Star in his prime at 29 years old. pic.twitter.com/B6WwPmLYq1
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2023
3. Rich Paul and Klutch Sports
Do you know what No. 1 and 2 on our list — Grant and VanVleet have in common? They are both clients of Rich Paul’s Klutch Sports. So is Draymond Green, who got an unexpectedly long four-year, $100 million contract to stay with the Golden State Warriors.
That had LeBron James — another Klutch client and a good friend of Rich Paul’s — hyping up his man. (This Tweet was also a dig at OG Anunoby and Anthony Edwards, who left Klutch when agent Omar Wilkes did the same to join Fanatics.)
And y'all still wanna question is Rich Paul is the H.I.M. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣. It says a lot about you if you not feeling us. I told him less is more it's plenty of us
— LeBron James (@KingJames) July 1, 2023
4. Tyrese Haliburton, five-year max extension with Pacers
Haliburton getting this bag was a given. He averaged 20.7 points and 10.4 assists a game and was an All-Star in just his third NBA season, he is the future of the Pacers and they had to lock him down with a contract worth at least $207 million (if he makes All-NBA teams in the coming years that could climb as high as $260 million). Haliburton is unquestionably a winner for getting that contract, but he’s mostly a winner on this list for having the best social media response of the day to getting his bag.
— Tyrese Haliburton (@TyHaliburton22) July 1, 2023
5. Bruce Brown, two years, $45 million to join Pacers
Bruce Brown — the role player star of the Denver Nuggets’ run to their first NBA title — had earned $15.1 million total over his first five NBA seasons. Thanks in part to that playoff performance, this was the summer where Brown could cash in and earn some generational wealth — but nobody expected this. Two years, $45 million, from the Pacers. The Nuggets wanted to keep him but the most they could offer thanks to the CBA was $7.8 million. The Lakers and others offered the mid-level exception of $12.4 million. The Pacers were using their cap space to come in over the top, but Brown is a big winner who will make just shy of $22 million next season. The second year of this contract is a team option.
This one slid under the radar a little, but it’s a win for both sides. The Pelicans had a $1.8 million non-guaranteed team option for next season, they could have kept him on the cheap and spent their money elsewhere, but chose to take care of their elite wing defender. The Pelicans didn’t pick up the option then gave Jones the early Bird max with this $53.8 million offer, and he took it. (He could have theoretically tried to court another team for an offer, which the Pelicans could have matched, but both sides stuck to the plan.)
Bonus winner: Herbert Jones, four-year, $53.8 million agreement with Pelicans
Jones plays a critical role for the Pelicans when they are all healthy. Which is another topic we’re not getting into today.
