With the NBA Draft in the rearview mirror, the league’s free agency period will officially begin Monday night.
Teams and players are allowed to negotiate deals beginning on June 30, and then those contracts can be officially signed on July 6.
Though the current NBA is not quite dominated by salary cap space compared to previous years, there is typically still a flurry of movement during the first week of July. With that in mind, here are five teams to keep an eye on as the free agency period begins.
Houston Rockets
The Rockets already made one of the biggest splashes of the offseason, trading for Kevin Durant on the same day as Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Expect Houston to still be a player in free agency despite the Durant move.
Thanks in large part to point guard Fred VanVleet signing a team-friendly two-year, roughly $50 million contract, the Rockets will have access to the $14.1 million mid-level exception this summer. With most contenders limited in their ability to sign players because of their books, Houston should have a leg up on teams looking to sign veterans who want to make a championship push — such as 3-and-D specialist Dorian Finney-Smith.
And beyond their signing ability, the Rockets still have plenty of picks and players to throw in a potential trade just in case another superstar hits the market.
Denver Nuggets
Nuggets vice president of basketball operations Ben Tenzer said after the draft the team would be focused on free agency more than trades as the negotiating window approaches. As a team approaching the salary cap’s dreaded second apron, Denver doesn’t have a lot of money to throw at potential signees.
Still, this summer is a critical one for a team that remade its front office after the playoffs. The Nuggets — with an already-thin roster that was also shorthanded — took the champion Oklahoma City Thunder to seven games in the playoffs, a sign Denver is not too far away from being a real title threat. With arguably the best player in the world in Nikola Jokić playing at an MVP-level, expect the Nuggets to aggressively look for upgrades to a roster that’s not far off from the league’s best.
Los Angeles Lakers
After trading for Luka Doncic midseason, the Lakers had a mismatched roster that promptly lost in the first round of the playoffs. Now, Los Angeles will have a proper offseason to orbit the team around Doncic as opposed to the aging (and yet, seemingly ageless) LeBron James.
But will James want to stick around for the Doncic era?
“LeBron wants to compete for a championship,” James’s agent Rich Paul told ESPN over the weekend. “He knows the Lakers are building for the future. He understands that, but he values a realistic chance of winning it all.”
Whether Paul is hinting as possible discontent or simply putting pressure on Los Angeles’s front office, the Lakers may be feeling a little extra heat this offseason. They especially need help on the frontline, where the newly-released center Deandre Ayton could be of service.
Detroit Pistons
The Pistons sent a little bit of a warning shot to the NBA with their first-round performance against the New York Knicks, pushing a veteran-laden team in a tough-fought series. Detroit (along with Brooklyn) is one of the precious few teams with actual cap space this offseason. Could the Pistons try to make a bold play for someone like Myles Turner, who could be coaxed away from the Indiana Pacers after the injury to Tyrese Haliburton?
Detroit’s space also gives them more options on the trade market, and the ability to take in more salary then it sends out in a potential move. With Eastern Conference teams smelling blood after a rash of injuries to stars, the Pistons could very well try to make a splash in the contender pool.
Minnesota Timberwolves
After losing in back-to-back Western Conference Finals series, the Timberwolves approach yet another pivotal summer. Last offseason, the team traded Karl-Anthony Towns in a move that was widely considered a cost-cutting measure. So far this summer, the Wolves have re-signed big man Naz Reid and forward Julius Randle, though guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker is more likely to depart.
Is bringing back the core enough for Minnesota to take the next step? Remember: This team was heavily involved in the Kevin Durant sweepstakes, indicating the front office is not against making a bold move. With players who will be coveted on the trade market, and an increasingly expensive roster that needs to compete, the Timberwolves are definitely still in position to make a splash.
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