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The NBA’s moratorium period ends at 12:01 a.m. EST Thursday morning. That means all the agreements we’ve seen over the last six days will finally be finalized. It also means it’s time to start evaluating what’s transpired on a more granular level.
Because there’s so much to sift through, we’re breaking down all the player movement into handy subcategories, the first of which looks at big-name free agents. You know the guys we’re talking about. This isn’t the sneaky good Cole Aldrich deal with the Timberwolves, this is the splashing signing — or agreement, the moratorium hasn’t ended yet — that may severely transform franchises for the better or worse.
Best Big-Name Signing: Kevin Durant, Warriors
Back in February when rumors of Kevin Durant’s interest in joining the Golden State Warriors first surfaced, a vocal contingent of league followers were convinced the defending champions should simply stay the course come free agency. Why break up a group that seemed destined to not only win a second-consecutive title, but win more games than any other team in league history while doing it?
Well, mostly because basketball is a fickle game and the margin between winning and losing a championship can be razor thin. Then there’s this, too: It’s Kevin f*cking Durant, arguably the most gifted scorer this game has ever seen. Adding a player of his wholly unique caliber to a core of Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson with a couple contributing pieces left over could make for the most explosive team of all time.
Would depth be an issue if the Warriors – over halfway to 73 wins when this topic was first broached, remember – if they let the likes of Harrison Barnes, Andrew Bogut, and Festus Ezeli walk? More than it was the past two seasons for Steve Kerr’s team, perhaps, but that’s nothing the addition of two or three ring-chasing veterans on cheap contracts wouldn’t fix. Could Golden State’s enviable sense of chemistry and culture survive the departure of multiple title-winning incumbents? That was something to consider, sure, but nothing the leadership qualities of Kerr and Green and an increased likelihood for multiple Larry O’Brien trophies couldn’t fix.
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Regardless, there was initially no consensus on the prospect of the Warriors adding Durant this July. It simply didn’t exist, and definitely wouldn’t develop over the next few months – unless, of course, Golden State somehow managed to miss out on winning the second championship of its budding dynasty.
The Warriors’ collapse against the Cleveland Cavaliers shouldn’t have changed anything with respect to adding Durant. Luck is among the most influential factors a team must face on its road to becoming the last one standing. That was clear before Curry sprained his MCL in the first round of the playoffs, and became even more obvious after the two-time MVP’s struggles led to Golden State’s shocking downfall three rounds later.
There’s just no telling what might derail a team’s title hopes – even one as good as last season’s Warriors. The only thing a front office can do is try to mitigate the effect of looming misfortune by trying to maximize both talent and synergy every offseason. That’s what Bob Myers and company did by winning the Durant sweepstakes.
Does Golden State lose to Cleveland if Durant is on the roster instead of Barnes? No way, but the team didn’t trade an inconsistent role player for the 2014 MVP straight up, either. Is Durant alone enough to make up for the sacrifices of dealing Bogut to the Dallas Mavericks and renouncing Ezeli? Probably, but the Warriors have already accounted for that brief frontcourt deficiency by bringing in Zaza Pachulia and David West for pennies on the open-market dollar.
Of course Durant is the league’s best big-name signing. It isn’t even close. But it’s also worth remembering how different the perception of summer’s biggest move might be if things broke just a bit differently for Golden State a few weeks ago.
Worst Big-Name Signing: Joakim Noah, Knicks
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In 2013, Joakim Noah led a Bulls team without Derrick Rose to a 45-win season in the East. He followed that up by winning a first-round playoff series against a Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett-led Brooklyn Nets team with home-court advantage. He was 27 years old and had reached his prime.
The next season, Derrick Rose finally returned from the ACL tear he suffered in the first game of the 2012 Playoffs more than a year prior, but after just 10 games, he was again out for the season with another knee injury. That same season, Noah won the Defensive Player of the Year award and finished fourth in MVP voting. The Bulls still won 48 games and got home-court in the first round. But John Wall and company overwhelmed Tom Thibodeau’s exhausted Bulls team to easily beat them in the first round. He turned 28 in February that year.
In May, after all the wear and tear of the previous seasons holding down the paint for a Bulls coach who routinely ran his starters longer than other playoff squads, Noah had surgery on his knee. He only played 67 games in 2014-15 as a result, and recorded his lowest player efficiency rating and true shooting percentage since his rookie year. He also had his fewest defensive win shares and lowest usage percentage since his second season. He turned 30 in February.
This past autumn, he lost his starting job to sweet-shooting Nikola Mirotic in training camp under new coach Fred Hoiberg.
When Hoiberg told the media Noah had come to him with the offer to act in a reserve role, the rookie Bulls coach shattered any chance at a relationship with the two-time All-Star. But Joakim still played and, aside from briefly disputing his coach’s comments, it wasn’t clear he was upset until this summer. Noah had shoulder surgery in January and was lost for the rest of the season. He turned 31 while recuperating.
Now, after it became clear Noah wasn’t going to return to Chicago, after the Knicks dealt for Noah’s old running mate in Chicago who had also fallen out of favor, and after an overt Instagram post, the Knicks and Noah have agreed to a four-year, $72 million deal that’s fully guaranteed.
We get that Noah wanted to return to the city that raised him. We get that the Knicks needed more rim protection after dealing Robin Lopez in the deal for Rose. We even get signing him early in the process after purportedly hashing out his deal on the first night. We do not get the full guarantee or the length. That’s inexcusable. That bio is easy enough even for Phil Jackson to piece together after a little googling. Noah is a seven footer who played three years of college ball and another five seasons under the reserve-averse Thibodeau, and he’s got a history of lower-body aches and pains that comes with eight plus seasons in the trenches of a grown man’s game.
This is just a bad deal, straight up. Why do it for four years and guarantee it? Joakim Noah definitely owes whatever percentage he’s paying his agent. Sorry, Knicks fans.