NBA Free Agents 2017: Top Rumors and Predictions Before NBA Draft
While most of the NBA offseason talk has involved players under contract who might get shipped off to other teams, the NBA's 2017 free agent class is bound to steal the headlines soon enough.
This year's crew is stacked with All-Star talent and depth, and teams are clamoring to add those missing pieces and form super teams to take down the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors, who look like a budding dynasty.
Below you'll find news and rumors surrounding three teams looking to make a splash.
Los Angeles Lakers
Per Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, the Los Angeles Lakers traded D'Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for center Brook Lopez and the No. 27 pick in this year's draft.
However, there is more to this deal under the surface, per Wojnarowski:
One can almost put Paul George's name in pen on the 2018-19 Lakers roster at this point. He is originally from Southern California, and per Wojnarowski, he has already expressed interest in landing in L.A.
The question is whether the Lakers can land LeBron James as well in a year. The guess here is that James won't want to go to a non-competitive team with a bunch of players whose ages range from the late teens to early 20s. He's one of the best and most competitive athletes in sports history, and James probably wants to vie for a title every single year until he retires.
Therefore, the Lakers need to build a playoff-ready team without James in the mix and then try to convince LBJ that he's the missing piece to a championship-caliber squad. Of course, adding George goes a long way toward making that happen. If the Lakers can assemble some pieces and further develop their young core, then maybe James will consider it.
Until that happens, it's hard to fathom James leaving his home state, and the prediction is that he stays in Cleveland for the duration of his career.
San Antonio Spurs
Wojnarowski, who may be working 24-hour days at this point in the NBA offseason, also broke news about Spurs center Pau Gasol:
"San Antonio Spurs center Pau Gasol will decline the $16.2 million option on his 2017-18 contract, but intends to work with the franchise on a new, longer-term deal to remain with the team, league sources told The Vertical. Gasol’s opt-out delivers San Antonio salary cap relief for next season, which could ultimately assist in maneuvering to become involved in free agency."
The speculation on Twitter has been that this is a play to try to acquire Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul, who can decline his 2017-18 player option and become a free agent.
Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk and Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders are in that crowd:
It makes a lot of sense for the nine-time All-Star to head to the Spurs. Paul is a pass-first point guard who would fit in seamlessly with San Antonio, an unselfish team that basically turns passing into an art form.
Furthermore, the Spurs are coming off a 61-win season that ended in the Western Conference Finals against Golden State. Paul, who hasn't made the conference finals in his career, could join the team and immediately help the Spurs go toe to toe with Golden State in a deep playoff series. An NBA Finals championship certainly wouldn't be out of the question for a Spurs team led by Paul and forward Kawhi Leonard.
Incumbent San Antonio point guard Tony Parker has had an outstanding career in San Antonio, but he is 35 years old and entering his 17th NBA season. He also just played a career-low 25.2 minutes per game.
Backup Patty Mills is solid as a spot starter and reserve, but if the Spurs can convince Paul to head to San Antonio, then this is a no-brainer move.
The prediction here is that Paul heads to Texas.
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics look poised to add another All-Star (or maybe even two) to its crew in hopes of stopping LeBron James of winning an eighth straight Eastern Conference title next year. It's just a matter of who that All-Star will be.
Utah Jazz All-Star forward Gordon Hayward seems like an obvious fit, especially because he used to play under Celtics head coach Brad Stevens while the two were at Butler University.
However, per Marc Stein of ESPN, the Miami Heat are also in play for his services.
Wojnarowski also noted on a podcast (h/t Ryan Snellings of FanSided) that Clippers power forward Blake Griffin is also in the mix: "Boston is really the danger for Blake Griffin. I think Boston's two primary free-agent targets, right now, are Gordon Hayward and Blake Griffin. Now, they're not going to get both of them, but they're both players that would potentially have interest there. I think Boston looks at in different ways with their future."
Hayward would be a great pickup for Boston. The chemistry with Stevens is a huge boost, especially because they had so much success together at Butler, including a national championship game appearance.
Furthermore, the C's need another scorer to take the load off of point guard Isaiah Thomas. Hayward led the Utah Jazz to a Western Conference semifinals appearance thanks to an average of 21.9 points per game on 47.1 percent shooting (39.8 percent from three-point range). With Boston, he could be a perfect complement to Thomas as the No. 2 option in the offense.
Griffin would be a great pickup as well if Boston can swing it, but Boston needs more help with scoring from the outside. Hayward would certainly help in that regard. The guess here is that Hayward reunites with Stevens and signs a long-term deal with the C's.
