NBA Rumors: Latest Trade and Free-Agent Buzz After Opening of 2017 Free Agency

The 2017 edition of NBA free agency is underway. While teams cannot officially sign free agents until Thursday, they're allowed to reach verbal agreements with players. In addition, trade activity is ramping up.

We've already seen some significant moves this offseason. The Oklahoma City Thunder made a trade to acquire Paul George from the Indiana Pacers. The Golden State Warriors appear to have locked up star Stephen Curry with the biggest contract in league history. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Curry's new deal will pay him $201 million over five seasons.

You can bet we're about to see more significant trades take place and tons more cash handed out as we approach the official signing day. We're here to examine some of the latest storylines and rumors as that day nears.

Iguodala Done Taking Meetings, May Re-Sign with Warriors

The Warriors managed to re-sign Curry early in free agency, and they may be close to getting a new deal done with forward Andre Iguodala.

Iguodala met with the San Antonio Spurs and the Houston Rockets shortly after the start of free agency. According to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, the meeting with Houston was "excellent" and ended with a contract offer.

Shortly after the meeting with Houston, Iguodala decided he was done making free-agent visits for a while, choosing instead to go back and talk to the Warriors. As Sam Amick of USA Today pointed out, Iguodala may be looking to see whether Golden State will match Houston's offer:

Marcus Thompson II of the Mercury News reported that the Warriors are prepared to offer Iguodala a new three-year contract:

"General manager Bob Myers will be armed with an offer in the range of $13 to $15 million a year. The deal will also include a third year, which is a big deal since the Warriors will have to sign Klay Thompson to an extension that year. Iguodala, who wanted more than the Warriors’ initial overtures, hit the free agency market with hopes of getting a lucrative offer. The goal is to put pressure on the Warriors to give him more."

If the Warriors do offer Iguodala something in the $13 million-$15 million range, it should be enough to keep his services for the long haul. Teams like Houston and San Antonio can offer Iguodala winning opportunities, but those chances won't be better than what he can find with the defending NBA champs.

Many teams with the available cash to offer Iguodala more than the Warriors can won't be able to offer any winning opportunities at all.

Update (1:00 p.m. ET, 7/2): Chris Haynes and Wojnarowski of ESPN have reported that Iguodala has re-signed with the Warriors for three years and $48 million.

Pacers Tried to Deal George to Celtics

The Pacers ended up sending George to the Thunder, but Oklahoma City wasn't the team's first option. Indiana reportedly tried to deal him to the Boston Celtics first.

The problem is the Celtics never came back with a concrete offer, according to Wojnarowski (h/t Celtics Blog's Jared Weiss):

Per Wojnarowski, the Celtics didn't believe the Pacers would send George to OKC.

Boston had shown strong interest in George leading up to the start of free agency, but he was reportedly the second part of a two-phase plan. According to Wojnarowski, then with The Vertical, the Celtics only wanted to commit to a George trade after acquiring Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward in free agency.

This came after the Celtics made an offer on the night of the NBA draft. According to ESPN.com's Jeff Goodman, Boston's draft-night proposal included future first-round picks and players.

That deal obviously didn't get done, and the Celtics' decision to wait on Hayward before moving on George ended up costing the team a final crack at acquiring him.

Boston Still Gunning for Hayward

It doesn't appear that losing out on George is going to prevent the Celtics from trying to still land Hayward. According to Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com, the Celtics will host Hayward on a free-agent visit on Sunday.

Per Forsberg, Boston plans to sell Hayward on the team's ability to develop his basketball skills:

"Celtics coach Brad Stevens, who coached Hayward for two seasons at Butler University, is expected to lead a film session in which he'll spotlight the ways Boston can utilize Hayward's talents. Boston brass are expecting key members of their core, including All-Star point guard Isaiah Thomas, to be in attendance for the pitch as well."

Even without George as part of the deal, adding Hayward would be a major win for the Celtics. The team made it to the Eastern Conference Finals last season and just added Jayson Tatum to the mix with the third overall pick in the draft. This is a young team with a lot of pieces who can grow together.

While Boston might not be able to overrun the Cleveland Cavaliers in the East this season, the Celtics could be the conference's dominant team in the next couple years and for the foreseeable future.

This makes Boston an enticing landing spot for Hayward, even if he doesn't buy into the sales pitch.

Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer, however, believes the Miami Heat are the favorites to land Hayward based on a "better lifestyle" and a "feature scoring role."

Boston is a fine sports market, but Miami offers beaches, sun and a lack of state income tax.