NBA Free Agency( continued).
NBA Free Agency Continued
Warriors Forward Jonathan Kuminga Remains Unsigned To a New Deal After the Warriors Tendered His Contract For $7.9 Million, Making Him A Restricted Free Agent and Still On The Market. If The Former Lottery Pick Doesn’t Receive A New Deal, He’ll Play On That Tender For The Following Season. Kuminga’s name has come up in trade buzz, but “no obvious suitors” for his “role-specific” talent and Skillset have emerged. With Most Teams, Both Competitive and non-competitive, having their swing man role position filled, the situation remains unchanged. This is after Brooklyn secured Michael Porter Jr., and the Bulls plucked Isaac Okoro From The Cavaliers. As Free Agency Swings Into The Waning Days, The Likely Hood Of Kuminga Notching A Deal In The $20-30 Million Dollar Range Seems Less Of A Possibility and More Likely He Garners A One-Year Prove It Deal On The Market Value. Still Only 22Year Old, 23 In October, Kuminga Posses A Tantalizing Concoction Of Upside And Variability, with His 6’9 Frame, Top Shelf Athletic Ability and An Array Of Offensive Attack Prowess, Kuminga Always and Continued To Looks Like He’s One Step Away From Assuming The Role In The NBA as The Next Tracy McGardy: He’s That Good When Activated. He’s skilled but inconsistent and remains prone to disengagement, struggling to stay healthy. Having played only 47 Games Last Season, which didn’t help. Kuminga’s Per Game Stats Don’t Speak Of A Remarkable Player In The Wait, 15.3 Points, 45.4% Field Goal, With 0.2 Plus/Minus But Per 100 Possession A Stats Which Extrapolates A Players Production Had The Player Had More Possessions Or 100 Possessions Exactly Kuminga’s Numbers Explode To 30.2, While Still Rocking A 45% Field Goal Percentage While Remaining close To Just 30% From Three Point Line And Speaks More To The Player He’s Flashed Potential To Towards In The Past. Kuminga Earned Praise For His Play In The Minnesota Series, Ending The Warriors' second-round loss with 20.3 Points, 54.3% Field Goal, 42.1% three-point, and 60% Effective Field Goal, In A Stellar Performance. Kuminga Plays Better When He Dribbles Less Because He’s Not A Skilled Dribbler. Still, He Likes To Work In Isolation and possesses a Better Feel and Motion When The Offense Circles Him, and he Can Operate freely. The Warriors generally played better when Kuminga played. With The Departures Of Klay Thompson And Andrew Wiggins, More Room Has Opened For Kuminga To Secure More Time And Possessions To Create His Offense. A Team Like The Bulls Could Still Make A Play For Kuminga, I Like Isaac Okoro But He Doesn't Posses A Iota Of The Upside That Kuminga Presents and If The Chicago Remains Bullish On Bringing Josh Giddey Back Kuminga Could Easily Fit The Hole Or Maybe The Warriors Could Flip Talents In A Sign And Trade If The New CBA Allows For Any Transactions Between The Two Teams.
Josh Giddey, guard/Forward, Bulls—
Giddey Remains An Interesting Figure, Name Remaining After The Initial Dust Of Free Agency Cleared. Another One Of the Talented But Polarizing 2021 draft Like Kuminga, Giddey Turns 23 Years Old In October And Took Over The Bulls’ Offense During The Second Half Of The Season Increasing His Averages From 12.2 Points, 44.6% Field Goal, 34.5% From Three and 6.4 Assist Pre All-Star, Or Before The Zach Lavine Trade, To 21.2 Points, 50% Field Goal Percentage, 45.7% Three Point Line And 9.3 Assist Post All Star. He Demonstrated The offensive conductor Skills That Made Him A Household Name In Oklahoma City Before Controversy Kindled A Lead to A Trade To The Windy City. Giddey, Like Kuminga, Received His Qualifying Offer, And He’s Also Seeking $30 million per season For His Contribution. A Team Will Have To Trust That his Season Run Indicates His True Upside As A Player And A Potential Franchise Leader.
Cam Thomas, Also Of The 2021 Class, also turning 23 in October, Guard and Scoring Leader For The Brooklyn Nets, Also Remains A Restricted Free Agent Well Into Free Agency. Cam Thomas averaged 24 Points and 42.8% Field Goal percentage For His Second Season, Averaging Better than 20 Points Per Game. Thomas Has Earned The Reputation As A Bucket Getter And A Certified ‘Microwave’ For His Capacity To Eat Points In A Quick Order. Cam Remains Limited In Many Other Facets Of His Game. Thomas Playmaking Has A Ways To Go To Catch Up To Draining Buckets. He Averaged 2.5 Turnovers A Game, To Just 3.8 Assists. Defensively, His 120.6 Defensive Rating Represents One Of The Worst Numbers In The Sport and Results In Cam Carrying A -5.7 Net Rating, Just 0.6 Steals And 0.1 Blocks Per Game. If Cam Had Better Point Shooting numbers and Served As An off-ball threat, He’d possess greater Value On The Market, But The Glut Of His Points comes off pull-ups, Both Threes and Middies, and He Only Shot 32% of catch-and-shoot three-pointers last Season. Cam Can Create Value As A Contested Shot Maker, But He Needs To Dominate The Ball With 3+ Dribbles To Create Shot Opportunities, and This Playground Play-style Worked On A Derelict Team Like Brooklyn, Not Too Many Teams Covet His Ball-Dominant Scorers who Don’t Provide Much Value As A Floor Spacer, Playmaker, Or A Defender.
The Bradley Beal Saga Finally Ended On The 16th OF July As The Long-Rumored Buyout Between He And The Suns Ended As The Team Bought Beal Out Of His Contract(Two Years, 110 Million Dollars) And He Intends To Sign With The Clippers Once He Clears Waivers. The Clippers Will Pick Up A Guy Who Once Looked Like One Of The Best Shooting Guards Of His Generation, A 32-Year-Old With A Lot Of Basketball Left In The Tank. The Suns Picked Up Beal Two Year Ago From The Wizards As A Part Of Then New Owner Matt Ishbia’s Hubris Experiment. Ishbia Joined The Ranks Of League Owners in 2022 And Wanted To Flex Some New Money Muscle, Garnering Diminished But Sterling Assets Like Beal and Kevin Durant while Tossing Commodities Like Draft Picks and Role Players Into The Sea, So To speak. Beal had Star titles Under His Name And Came Off a Season Averaging 23.2 Points, 5.2 assists, and 50% Field Goal, But A Stark Drop Off From His 31.3 Points Two Seasons Earlier. In Two Years In Phoenix, Beal Would Never Or Could Never Demonstrate The Same Offensive Prowess that Made Him A Household Name and A Franchise Player In Washington, and that Big Pay Day That Ended When The Suns Shelled Nearly $100 Million To Get Beal Off The Roster; A Move I Wouldn't Make, But What Do I Know. Beal Played A Second Or Third Tier Player In an Undefined, Oblong Point-Scorer Role along Side Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. The Kevin Durant Trade Wouldn’t Convey More Opportunity To Beal as Phoenix Pick Shooting Guard Jalen Green, A Younger, More Talented scorer headed Towards His Peak Rather Than On A Downward Slope.
Beal’s Capricious Health Didn’t Make Matters In Phoenix Didn’t Make The Fit More Accommodating As He Never Played A Full Season In Suns’ Orange, Dealing With a Myriad Of Injuries, and Beal Hasn’t Played A Full Season Of Ball Since 2018-19. Beal’s Agent Cited His Client's Desire To Play In “Big Moments” As The Reason For The Move, and That Hinges On How Much Beal Plays At All.
His time in Phoenix afforded Beal To Develop Steadily as an off-ball threat, shooting 40.6% on catch-and-shoot threes at A 26.9% Frequency. The Clippers Don’t Need A Consistent Beal, Who’s Set To Earn An Extra $11 Million With His Latest Franchise, Though A Consistent Beal Would Prove Ravishing, No The Clips Needs A Motivated Beal One Seeking To Reestablish Himself As One Of The More Gifted Scorers In The League Alongside Of One The League’s Most Gifted Scorers Still Standing James Harden And The Bonafide Game Altering force In Kahwi. Beal’s Presence Replaces The Loss Of And Upgrades Over Norman Powell, But The Clippers Scuff At Youth, With Their New Triad All At Least Approaching The Cliffs Of Their Career, and Notorious For Struggling To Sustain Health Across An 82-Game Season.
The Bucks Continue Retooling Their backcourt in Free agency, picking Up Two Former Magic guards in Gary Harris and Cole Anthony, who were Recently Traded To The Grizzlies Before Getting Bought Out And Choosing To Join The Milwaukee. Harris, an 11-year veteran, Played Sparingly, Just Over 14 Minutes In 48 Appearances, But He Generated A Defensive Rating Of 103, One Of The Better Numbers For A Guard when He Did Play, While His Scoring Left Much to be desired. The Former Denver Nuggets Round Pick Harris Can Still Knock Down A Timely Bucket And Serve As A Solid Guard Off The Bench. Cole Anthony Could Prove A Sneaky “Steal” In Free Agency For The Bucks. The 25-year-old Old Can Knock Down Shots and Score In Bunches, And The Bucks Need A Lead Guard. Anthony Works Best When He Scores Off The Dribble, Especially In The Mid Range, Where He Sports A 60% Field Goal Percentage On Mid Range Pull Up, Which Includes Contested Twos, And He Shoots 35.3% From Three, and His Assist Percentage In A Bench Role Got As High As 28.4% With A Net Rating Of 2.4. The Bucks Will Get Solid Contribution From This Lot, and One Of Them Should Turn A True Season Difference and Integral Part To A Potential Championship Run.
The Bucks' Former Guard Dame Lillard Returns To Portland, The Franchise That Drafted Him, where, For All But Two Years Of His Career, Lillard Carved Out A Legacy As A Leader, An Offensive Maven, and a Clutch Performer On A One-Year Deal. The Pacific Northwest Most Likely Won't Witness Another Chapter Of Lillard’s Brilliance Until The 2026-27 Season As The Seven-Time All-Star Who Led The Franchise To Eight Playoff Appearances Recovers From An Achilles Tear He Suffered In May. The Trail Blazers May Stand As One Of The Few Teams Willing Or Even Able To Pay A Player, Even A Player Of Damian Lillard’s Caliber, Real Money, knowing Lillard can't contribute This Season and Worse Off When He Returns. Lillard’s 15th and The Season In Which He Hits Age 36-37 await him. Lillard Will Earn $42 Million From Portland and $113 Million From Milwaukee, Stretching Over Five Years, On A Deal He Originally Inked With Portland. All Of This Money Caps Out At $141 Million Over The First Two Years Of The Deal. The New Deal Includes A Trade Clause and A Player Option For Year Three. From a team-building standpoint, Point The Move Has Little Reasoning Empirically as Portland’s Roster Already Features One Overpriced, the Hill Guard in Jrue Holiday, And The Two Won't Share The Same Court For A Year And Maybe Mentor But Possibly Take Minutes From Developing Guards Like Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe. An Unlikely Return To Form From Either One Or Both Won't Necessarily Lift Portland Out Of The Western Conference Cellar, But Lillard’s Return Will Fill More Seats Than Last Season. Who Knows What Lillard Will Look Like When He Returns, But He’s A Welcome Face To A Franchise, Just Look For A Reason To Draw eyeballs.
