NBA Playoff Teams That Will Be the Biggest Players in Free Agency
If an NBA team is in the playoffs, it's usually in pretty good shape.
There are exceptions, of course. The Chicago Bulls snuck into the field but could soon blow up their core, knowing how limited the ceiling is and how much they benefited from the overall weakness of the Eastern Conference's middle-tier teams. But for the most part, postseason participants have accrued enough talent to win plenty of games.
And yet, some of them can still make noise in free agency. Through various mechanisms, they can create enough cap space to go after prominent targets, thus increasing their future hopes and adding more talent to an already competitive roster.
It's those we're concerned with here, whether they're still competing for the Larry O'Brien Trophy or already eliminated from the playoff field.
Boston Celtics
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The Boston Celtics are already a squad on the fringes of title contention, and they have a distinct chance to work their way through the Eastern Conference for the franchise's first NBA Finals appearance since 2010.
Isaiah Thomas and Al Horford are both flat-out rolling, and no team in this half of the Association has emerged as a truly dominant force.
But they could be better in 2017-18.
Kelly Olynyk has been a solid two-way player during the 2017 playoffs, and his floor spacing always makes him valuable to the green-clad troops.
Renounce his rights anyway to clear his $7,735,034 free-agency hold. Cut Demetrius Jackson, Jordan Mickey and Tyler Zeller, all of whom have non-guaranteed salaries. Let Amir Johnson, Jonas Jerebko, James Young and Gerald Green walk, and the C's are down to $61,733,926 in guaranteed salary.
That's enough to bring aboard a rookie stud, which could come as high as No. 1 in the 2017 NBA draft after swapping picks with the Brooklyn Nets, and still have max money. Boston could go after anyone on the open market, whether they're targeting Blake Griffin, Gordon Hayward or someone else entirely. And even after doing that, they'd still have cap room to fill out the roster with more than fillers.
It's entirely feasible that the Celtics could trot out Thomas, Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder, Hayward and Horford in the starting lineup, with Jaylen Brown, Markelle Fultz, Marcus Smart and someone like Taj Gibson or JaMychal Green coming off the pine. Frankly, that may still sell their spending power short.
Plus, Boston won't just be active in free agency. It could also package its assets and space in a deal for another superstar, throwing potential godfather offers at the Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers for Jimmy Butler and Paul George, respectively.
This organization can travel down plenty of routes during the summer. All that's certain is they won't stand pat, as they did at the 2017 trade deadline.
Chicago Bulls
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Dwyane Wade could opt out of his contract, which would clear $23.8 million from the Chicago Bulls' books. They could also waive the rights to Cristiano Felicio ($1,471,382), Joffrey Lauvergne ($3,248,466) and Nikola Mirotic ($8,673,675), clearing up more cap holds and increasing the organization's spending power. Finally, they could cut Rajon Rondo, since only $3 million of his $13.4 million salary is guaranteed for the 2016-17 campaign.
Doing all that leaves Chicago with only $44,618,029 in guaranteed payouts, giving it as much money to spend in free agency as anyone. It's unlikely Gar Forman and John Paxson are truly willing to let all those players walk—here's looking at you, Rondo and Mirotic—but even cutting ties with a few enables the Bulls to go after the targets of their choosing.
Wade could throw a significant wrench in the plans if he chooses to return, but that's not even the team's primary concern.
Figuring out what to do with Jimmy Butler should take center stage, since it could send him to a squad like the Denver Nuggets, who would presumably be willing to offer plenty of young talent and draft picks while absorbing him into their cap room.
As Sean Highkin of The Athletic reported during the team's end-of-season press conference: "Pax [John Paxson] says they plan to sit down with Jimmy Butler again to discuss his future. Says everything's on the table. 'That's not for today.'"
Remember, the Bulls really could just run it back.
Re-signing all their players, guaranteeing the non-guaranteed salaries, convincing Wade to opt in and refusing to trade Butler would likely leave Chicago pressed up against the cap and without the flexibility necessary to make significant changes.
But if they play it smart and realize this roster needs major work, which would presumably involve giving head coach Fred Hoiberg the shooting his system so desperately needs, it could also become a serious offseason player.
Indiana Pacers
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So much depends on how much the Indiana Pacers are willing to spend.
"I have a budget," Larry Bird explained, per ESPN.com's Zach Lowe. "Whatever that budget is, I'll spend it. Sometimes, we can't go after max guys, or players we really think could help us, because of our budget."
Was an inability to spend big a factor in his decision to step down as team president? Potentially, but the brain trust replacing him will inevitably be held to the same restrictions. The Pacers have sometimes proved willing to exceed the salary cap, but never by much, and it's unlikely they're willing to flirt with the luxury tax.
Nevertheless, this summer is one of those times in which they should spend whatever's necessary.
Rest assured Paul George is paying close attention to the team's plans, seeing if it'll be willing to surround him with a winning roster before he's eligible for free agency and starts flirting with other organizations—cough, Los Angeles Lakers, cough. Even if he makes an All-NBA team and is eligible for a five-year extension, it'll need to appease him rather than promising the status quo.
Right now, the Pacers don't have too many avenues with which they can create cap space, especially since they should be hoping C.J. Miles doesn't turn down his $4,772,675 player option for 2017-18. His floor-spacing prowess made him a bargain during his second season wearing yellow, and replacing him would be rather difficult.
Letting Jeff Teague walk is also an ill-advised idea, though the Pacers could potentially replace him through the draft (point guard is pretty deep in this year's class) or with a cheaper option in free agency. Re-signing the fringe All-Star contender to return as the starting floor general would leave them brushing up against the salary cap, even if they decline a $4 million team option for Lavoy Allen and allow Aaron Brooks an escape.
Still, Indiana would become a major player in a few different scenarios. If it attempts to replace Teague, shops George instead of pursuing an extension or decides to add depth on the lower tiers of the free-agent market, it could soon be linked to quite a few different contributors, like wing stud Danilo Gallinari or replacement 1-guard George Hill.
Los Angeles Clippers
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If the Los Angeles Clippers elect to run it back, they'll come in well over the luxury-tax threshold.
J.J. Redick (unrestricted free agent) will likely command around $15 million per year, while Blake Griffin (early termination option) and Chris Paul (early termination option) are both locks for max contracts. Throw in Marreese Speights (player option), Luc Mbah a Moute (player option) and Raymond Felton (unrestricted free agent) and the expenditures could grow rather unwieldy before Doc Rivers and the rest of the front office even start looking at fresh blood.
But that might not be the route du jour, especially after yet another injury to Griffin let Paul experience yet another early postseason exit, this time at the hands of the Utah Jazz.
"The problems in L.A. are not new; the past few years have only deepened the cracks in the facade," Andrew Sharp recently wrote for Sports Illustrated. "Every Clippers star would be more enjoyable on his own than this team has been together. Send CP3 to San Antonio. Let Blake go spread his wings in South Beach. Let J.J. Redick go get a long overdue raise. Let Doc go play golf and give great interviews. Get DeAndre back to the Team USA Bench."
That may be the case, though it would also be justifiable if the Clippers realized they couldn't otherwise assemble this much talent and kept trying with the same basic roster construction. It's not quite the definition of insanity, because at least Rivers could keep acquiring new bench talents—I use that word lightly, given the yearly struggles of LAC's second unit—and hope for that often elusive concept known as health.
The Clippers certainly won't be one of the biggest players for other teams' marquee free agents; all their energies will be focused on figuring out what to do with their incumbent contributors.
But so much of this summer's festivities will revolve around their stars, which makes them an automatic qualifier as one of the offseason's most interesting franchises. Even if they do re-sign everyone and foot an enormous luxury-tax bill, that will have far-reaching repercussions throughout the rest of the market, likely forcing other teams into overpays to counteract the lack of available stars.
San Antonio Spurs
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"Pau Gasol has the power to alter the complexion of San Antonio's free agency," Dan Favale penned for Bleacher Report. "He creates more than $14 million worth of room by opting out. But he's not Tim Duncan or Manu Ginobili. He isn't taking pennies on the dollar for a team with which he's played only one year. If he opts out, it's because he's leaving. But he's not leaving. He has 16.2 million reasons to stay."
Let's pretend that's wrong. It's probably not. But sometimes, it's instructive to think about unlikely hypotheticals.
If Gasol's salary is cleared from the books, the San Antonio Spurs renounce the rights to Patty Mills and Jonathon Simmons, David Lee turns down a $2,328,652 player option and the team waives Bryn Forbes and his non-guaranteed salary, they could start thinking about making a max-contract offer. It's the best way for them to go about acquiring a star on the level of Chris Paul or Blake Griffin.
Yes, it's possible Kawhi Leonard and Paul could work together next year. And that's downright terrifying, especially since it would be easier to replace Mills by shifting Tony Parker to a role off the pine.
But even if the Spurs don't create quite that much space, they'll still be an interesting team to monitor. Dewayne Dedmon's price tag will inevitably rise rather high after he opts out, and Mills has been such an integral piece for the second unit. Losing either would be problematic, though San Antonio always seems capable of finding either aged veterans ready to chase rings or hidden talents prepared to break out in a favorable situation.
This team will probably look rather similar in 2017-18, regardless of when (or if) it exits from title contention during the current playoff run. But there are a few methods to usher in drastic changes or more subtle strides, and the Spurs always seem to improve their fortunes during the offseason.
They'll be players in the hottest months of the year. They might not do anything more than feign playing, but they'll keep everyone on edge either way.
Adam Fromal covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @fromal09.
Unless otherwise indicated, all stats from Basketball Reference, NBA.com, ESPN.com or NBA Math and accurate heading into games Wednesday, May 3. Salary information comes from whatsthecap.com and Basketball Insiders.
