NBA Free Agency begins officially at 6 PM ET on Monday, which is why you’ve been reading headlines about all the free agents that have re-signed with their teams for the past five days.
Let’s get you caught up as quickly as possible with all the weekend’s craziness along with predictable re-signings, and rumors.
LeBron opts in, calls out Lakers
The King elected to opt in to the final year of his contract with the Lakers at $52.6 million. It came with a curious quote from Klutch Sports, provided to ESPN:
"LeBron wants to compete for a championship," Paul told ESPN. "He knows the Lakers are building for the future. He understands that, but he values a realistic chance of winning it all. We are very appreciative of the partnership that we've had for eight years with Jeanie [Buss] and Rob [Pelinka] and consider the Lakers as a critical part of his career.
"We understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future. We do want to evaluate what's best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career. He wants to make every season he has left count, and the Lakers understand that, are supportive and want what's best for him."
That sure sounds awfully "past-tense-y" without actually using past-tense for a contract that is current tense.
What’s next for LeBron? Might he really finish his career somewhere other than LA? (Probably not.)
Reviewing early free agency deals
Elsewhere, many players re-signed with their current teams. Here’s a rundown with five-star reviews for each.
* Bobby Portis re-upped on a three-year, $44 million deal that keeps the Bucks with a frontcourt pending the departure of Brook Lopez while not throwing huge money at Portis after Naz Reid’s big deal. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
* James Harden declines his player-option so that he can re-sign with LA on a two-year, $81.5 million deal. Harden was good last year, but strapping yourself to the slow decline is uninspired. ⭐️⭐️
* Julius Randle elected to stay with the Wolves on a new three-year, $100 million deal with a player option. Randle had a great playoff run before fizzling against OKC. Will he fit in as well as last year? ⭐️⭐️
* Not only that, but the Wolves also kept Naz Reid home on a new five-year, $125 million deal that, while good in the short term, they will almost certainly come to regret. ⭐️⭐️
* OKC kept big man Jaylin Williams (Arkansas) for three years, $24 million. Williams is a regular-season innings eater who gave OKC both locker room leadership and good playoff minutes when called upon. Cheap deal. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
* Thunder sign Ajay Mitchell to a three-year, $9 million deal. Mitchell showed real flashes last year and helps them with their depth as costs increase. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
* Sam Merrill returns to Cleveland on a four-year, $38 million deal, which is a bit pricey for a one-way shooter, but it means the Cavs won’t be totally without depth, either, even after trading for Lonzo Ball. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
* Miami kept Davion Mitchell on two years, $12 million, which is a steal given how well he played on both ends, making a huge leap in playmaking to go along with his defense for the man they call “Off Night.” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
* The Bulls traded Lonzo Ball for Isaac Okoro without getting a pick back, because, of course, they did. The Cavs get their fifth guy to pair with the core four… if they keep it together. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for Cleveland and ⭐️⭐️for Bulls.
Moving forward, free agency is tight with few teams with cap space, but there are two big names to look out for. Nickeil Alexander-Walker may not be the sexiest name on the ledger, but he’s an elite defender who can shoot, and those guys decide titles more often than not.
Then the shocker, the Blazers waived Deandre Ayton with two years left on the deal, giving him a chance to test the market with over $40 million already guaranteed to him.