Everything You Need to Know from Day 6 of 2015 NBA Free Agency

NBA free agency raged on unchecked Monday, maintaining the tweet-fueled, scoop-hungry frenzy that began July 1 and still refuses to quit nearly a week later.

The biggest name on the market (which was never really on the market to begin with, if we're honest) picked a familiar destination, a ring-chasing veteran put his money where his mouth was like few ever have and an iconic southpaw basketball savant blessed us with news of his return.

It was a big day.

Gasol Ends the Suspense

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Kidding. No marquee signing was a bigger foregone conclusion than Marc Gasol's.

ESPN.com's Marc Stein reported, "Gasol shunned the opportunity to let interested teams court him in free agency, signaling to the rest of the league ‎that the 30-year-old essentially was unavailable to everyone except Memphis."

To no one's surprise, Big Spain, the top free agent on the market, stayed put.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, Gasol agreed to re-sign with the Memphis Grizzlies on a five-year deal. RealGM reported the contract will pay Gasol $110 million and that the 30-year-old big man can opt out after the fourth season.

Former NBA executive and current analyst Bobby Marks noted that Memphis' decision to max out Gasol, while a complete no-brainer, leaves it with limited resources to fill out the rest of the roster:

The Grizzlies core remains intact, and Brandan Wright will function nicely as Kosta Koufos' replacement. Unfortunately, Memphis hasn't done anything to address the weakness that got it bounced from the playoffs last season: perimeter shooting.

Having Gasol officially under contract should be attractive to the remaining marksmen on the market, but the Grizzlies will have to get creative (and a little lucky) to find shooters who can contribute.

David West Was Very, Very Serious

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Plenty of players talk about wanting to win, but not many give up eight figures of guaranteed money to do it.

"At this point in my career, it's all about winning, and again, I don't want to be in a position where we're just fighting to make the playoffs, I want to be in a spot where we can legitimately taste the Finals," David West told Bob Kravitz of WTHR.

Just days after opting out of the final year of his deal with the Indiana Pacers—which would have paid him $12 million—West inked a one-year contract with the San Antonio Spurs worth just $1.4 million.

NBA.com's David Aldridge reported it first.

West joins LaMarcus Aldridge in San Antonio's revamped frontcourt rotation, adding to a roster that should, much to West's delight, be a serious contender.

Ginobili Spares Us All

After taking some time to think it over, 37-year-old Manu Ginobili will give us all one more season of left-handed, hyper-creative, inimitably aggressive basketball joy:

Our long international nightmare is over. Manu's coming back.

Thank goodness.

Tristan Thompson and the Cavs Can't Close the Deal

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If you're prepared to believe LeBron James would let something as ultimately inconsequential as Tristan Thompson's contract shake his commitment to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Chris Haynes' report on Cleveland.com should concern you: "Five days have passed during this free-agency period, and yet no agreement has been reached between the Cleveland Cavaliers and restricted free agent Tristan Thompson."

James and Thompson share Rich Paul as an agent, and according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com, LBJ won't talk about re-signing until Thompson's deal is done.

Realistically, James doesn't have much leverage here. He can't walk away from Cleveland again—not over something as silly as a disagreement about Thompson's value. Still, it would behoove the Cavs to sort this out quickly, as an angry James could make things difficult this season.

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Having already invested so much to keep last year's team together, the Cavs probably won't keep quibbling over a few million dollars for long. Thompson's deal will get done, and if it's for slightly more than the $80 million Cleveland reportedly offered at the start of free agency, according to Stein, so be it.

There's nothing to see here, folks—except for a completely ridiculous hat, of course.

Rounding Up Rumors and Signings

• In a move that could signal the end of J.R. Smith's time with the Cavaliers, Mo Williams agreed to a two-year, $4.3 million deal to shore up Cleveland's backcourt rotation, per Wojnarowski. Matthew Dellavedova is still a priority for the Cavs, though, according to Stein.
• J.J. Barea told El Nuevo Dia he was re-signing with the Dallas Mavericks (via Ken Berger of CBS Sports), and David Aldridge later reported the agreement was for the mini mid-level exception of two years and $5.6 million.
•  The Cavs are interested in using Brendan Haywood's nonguaranteed contract in a trade for Los Angeles Clippers guard Jamal Crawford, according to Stein. Such a move would be less costly than one that would bring Joe Johnson and his $24.9 million salary to Cleveland, which Windhorst reported as a possibility July 5. However, Haynes reported that the Cavs aren't the only team looking at Crawford; the Miami Heat are in that group as well.
• Carlos Boozer has some suitors, ESPN's Chris Broussard reported. The Clippers, Spurs, Mavericks and Toronto Raptors are all talking to Boozer's representatives.
• Joe Ingles agreed to a two-year, $4.5 million deal to stay with the Utah Jazz, per Wojnarowski.
• The Golden State Warriors retained Leandro Barbosa on a one-year, $2.5 million agreement, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com.
• Shelburne also reported that the Clippers are interested in Josh Smith.