Paul George to New York Knicks and 5 Other NBA Free-Agent Moves That Should Happen
Let's imagine some impactful 2024 NBA free-agency scenarios, shall we?
Almost everyone who follows and covers this league is harping on how disappointing the landscape will be this year, and I'm not here to argue with them. The latest crop of free agents lacks both star power and consequential flight risks.
However, there are still meaningful moves to be made. And I should know, because I'm about to argue in favor of some.
Every suggestion (plea?) here seeks to juggle feasibility with difference-making. Basically, we're on the hunt for player-team scenarios worth a damn that jibe with all the potential variables involved (on-court fit, cap space, organizational directions and assets, etc.).
Let's head to your favorite general manager's armchair.
Buddy Hield to Orlando
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Adding a floor general is more urgent for the Orlando Magic than bagging snipers and running back the same playmaker ranks. But the pickings are slim in that department.
Names like Immanuel Quickley (restricted) and Tyrese Maxey (restricted) make sense, but they're not realistically gettable. Tyus Jones or Monte Morris would be fine, but the Magic should aim for better than fine—a mission better carried out on the trade market.
Juicing the outside volume and accuracy is more doable and equally essential. Orlando's half-court shot balance is actually OK, but it needs guys who can shoot from beyond the arc.
Buddy Hield more than qualifies. His stint with the Philadelphia 76ers post-trade deadline was weird, but he came alive (and graduated to essential) by the end of their first-round series with the New York Knicks.
The pressure he puts on defenses with both his outside volume and motion would be a boon for the Magic offense. Since entering the league, he's downing 40 percent of his triples on more than 7.5 attempts per game. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are the only players matching or exceeding those benchmarks over the same span.
Speaking of Thompson, some want Orlando to take a look at him. That's cool, but he's older (34) than Hield (31), and it's tough to imagine him actually leaving the Golden State Warriors.
Nostalgia won't factor into Hield's free agency. The Sixers have grander plans for their cap space and no real obligation to him.
Bringing back the Oklahoma product is on the table if glitzier pursuits fall flat, but the Magic have the tools to act early. They can bring back Jonathan Isaac (non-guaranteed) and Mo Wagner (team option), earmark identical money for Gary Harris and still have over $25 million in spending power.
Kyle Lowry to Denver or Minnesota
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Kyle Lowry's homecoming with the Sixers was fun. And it's not necessarily over.
Philly will need to shell out placeholder salaries if its cap space doesn't turn into a splashy acquisition or three, and he became way more important than expected to its defensive livelihood as injuries piled up.
Neither the Denver Nuggets nor Minnesota Timberwolves can compete with the Sixers' homegrown ties or their capacity to pay Lowry above the minimum. Both squads profile as second-apron teams without significant cost-cutting maneuvers, so they won't have any version of the mid-level exception available.
Still, Lowry is 38 years old. If the Sixers aren't ponying up to keep him on a one-year deal and/or aspire to reorient their backcourt depth, he is exactly the type of player who could play for the minimum on a contender promising him real minutes.
To what end Denver and Minnesota can guarantee his role is debatable. Both could use upgrades at the backup point guard spot. The Nuggets have Reggie Jackson (player option) and the Timberwolves landed Monte Morris at the deadline, but Lowry is the steadier defender and off-ball mover and can still run things and fire off pull-up jumpers in a pinch.
Forced to choose one or the other, Minnesota is the better fit. The Nuggets won't want to burn roster spots on both Lowry and Jackson—though they could look to use the latter's salary in a trade that nets a second-line big—and the Wolves will have more minutes available if they don't retain Morris and don't want to run Mike Conley into the ground during his age-37 season.
Caleb Martin to Philadelphia
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Assuming the Sixers guarantee Ricky Council IV and keep their first-round pick, they're looking at a hair over $62 million in cap space if they renounce all of their own free agents (and non-guarantees) other than Tyrese Maxey.
Parlaying that money into Caleb Martin (player option) is not Plan A, B, C or beyond. Philly has prioritized its flexibility with flashier intentions.
And yet, there's a chance the free-agent and trade markets don't yield big-time additions. Even if they do, the Sixers need to fill out an actual roster.
Martin is an ideal complement to a larger ecosystem. His offensive efficiency dipped this past season (53.1 true shooting), but by and large, he can knock down standstill treys, attack downhill, keep the rock moving and ping around the half-court without the ball.
His defense, meanwhile, has degrees of ferocity. He maneuvers through traffic swiftlyl, contests shots from all angles, delivers timely and effective double teams and uses a fluid lateral gait to keep pace with downhill attackers.
At 6'5", he is best deployed against guards, but he's frequently held his own tussling with bigger wings and forwards.
Two-way complements are an important part of any contending roster. The Sixers need them, especially if they can't convince Nicolas Batum to postpone retirement. And definitely if De'Anthony Melton leaves in free agency (or his back issues linger).
Getting Martin could prove challenging. He's due for a raise from the $7.1 million he's slated to make next season. That likely rules out the Sixers landing him for the $8 million room exception.
This isn't the end of the world, though, and Philly has cap space to spare. The Miami Heat's interest in re-signing him looms as the bigger obstacle. Then again, when they're already into the tax without factoring in his next deal, maybe not.
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Patrick Williams Signs Offer Sheet with Utah
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Consider this my plea for teams with cap space muck up the books of rival teams.
The Utah Jazz should enter this summer with over $30 million in cap space and have a line to $35 million-plus depending on how they handle their own free agents and end-of-the-bench non-guarantees.
Much of that money should be earmarked for a Lauri Markkanen renegotiate-and-extend. Elevating his salary to the projected max for next year ($42.3 million) would eat up more than $24 million, effectively removing Utah from the cap-space clique.
In the event he puts pen to paper for less than the max, signs a basic extension (140 percent raise) or the parties agree to wait until next summer, Utah has more than enough scratch to inflate the cost of other teams' free agents—not unlike it did with Paul Reed last year.
Team CEO Danny Ainge and general manager Justin Zanik should consider doing the same with Patrick Williams.
Granted, there's more risk involved here. Even with injuries galore in his rear view—including season-ending surgery on his left foot this year—Williams will require a hefty offer sheet to really put pressure on the Chicago Bulls.
And there's no guarantee the folks in the Windy City match. They are the biggest wild cards this offseason, and Williams has yet to establish himself as a higher-volume offensive threat.
Utah doesn't need to care. The 22-year-old is a heady defender and capable of rumbling with bigger wings and forwards. If Chicago doesn't match an offer sheet, the Jazz would meaningfully beef up their perimeter stopping power while unlocking some ultra-huge lineups featuring Williams, Markkanen, Taylor Hendricks, John Collins or Walker Kessler and a guard.
Tyus Jones to San Antonio
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Pretty much everyone is calling for the San Antonio Spurs to do something that's more substantive than signing Tyus Jones over the summer. Victor Wembanyama is that good.
Hitting the warp-speed button isn't the Spurs' style, though. Wemby is about to be a sophomore, and they have two top-eight picks in this year's lottery. They're less likely to aggressively go after Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell etc. than they are to stay the more gradual course.
That doesn't mean they can't still cater to the here and now. They can.
Bringing in a game manager like Tyus Jones, the brother of Tre Jones, is a modest move that would go a long way. Turnovers are a foreign concept to him, he knows how to bob and weave in and out of the lane, and he's a good enough shooter to stretch defenses away from the ball. (He hit over 42 percent of his spot-up triples last year.)
San Antonio can chisel out close to $20 million in cap space, so giving chase to Tyus isn't an issue and neither is prying him from the Wizards. They're in the infancy of a rebuild, and Tyus is an unrestricted free agent. His leaving for what profiles as a more competitive situation is hardly farfetched unless Washington is throwing gobs of money his way.
None of this is to say Tyus plus two inbound lottery picks and some moves on the margins will transform the Spurs into an immediate playoff threat. But they did just decidedly win the minutes Wemby and Tre logged together.
Upgrading and expanding that dynamic by signing Tyus renders them a more immediate menace in the Western Conference without crashing into their long-term plans or assets.
Paul George to New York (Opt-In-and-Trade)
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Paul George's absence of an extension with the Los Angeles Clippers is speaking volumes. At the very least, it implies a complicated negotiation process; at the very worst, it suggests he's a real, if not likely, flight risk.
Philadelphia is often painted as the biggest threat to poach George if he bolts Tinseltown. That makes sense. The Sixers have the cap space to sign him outright and two other stars in Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, and his arrival solidifies their spot among the league's contenders.
You know what, though? The Knicks work, too.
And not only do they work, but they're the better fit.
New York's roster at full strength is deeper than that of Philadelphia, which needs to gut its own ranks to sign or trade for George (player option). The Knicks, meanwhile, have Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby (unrestricted), Donte DiVincenzo, Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson, Isaiah Hartenstein (Early Bird free agent), Deuce McBride and Bojan Bogdanović.
To be sure, a chunk of New York's depth would be sent out to acquire George, who must agree to an opt-in-and-trade and then sign an extension later. But the Knicks shouldn't have to give up much to get him.
George has leverage over the Clippers, since he can threaten to leave for nothing if they don't facilitate his relocation to a preferred destination. I previously wrote about what a package from the Knicks could look like, and in retrospect, it was too aggressive. New York could feasibly exit this scenario sending out Randle, Bogdanović and maybe a pick or two.
That's a deal the Knicks have to do. George is 34, but the (assumed) opportunity cost would leave most of their draft stash intact. They'd have another big move up their sleeve if they need one.
Not that they would. A core of PG, Brunson, OG, Hart, DiVincenzo, Robinson, McBride and (probably) Hartenstein isn't just a contender. It forecasts as a potential superpower.
Footing the bill for George beyond next season may give the Knicks pause, but it shouldn't. Having other assets and actual depth should allow him to age gracefully. He can settle into a second option role on offense, and OG limits his responsibilities on defense.
Whether New York wants to give up on Randle when it could be an Eastern Conference finalist remains to be seen. It should be open to the idea.
Randle has made strides to become more plug and play, but George's offense is even more complementary and he keeps more in theme with the hyper-versatile lineups head coach Tom Thibodeau is currently leaning on.
Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.
Unless otherwise cited, stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference, Stathead or Cleaning the Glass. Salary information via Spotrac. Draft-pick obligations via RealGM.
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