It was a good day to be an NBA free agent
NBA teams were able to start negotiating with free agents yesterday (they can’t officially sign them until July 9th) and there wasn’t much hanging about as the league unleashed an unprecedented torrent of cash on the available talent, with 26 players agreeing new deals worth in excess of $1.5billion.
The headline act was future MVP candidate Anthony Davis, who got in just before the clock struck midnight with a $145million, five-year extension with the New Orleans Pelicans, the highest total value of any contract in league history.
That wasn’t the only nine-figure deal, though, with Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damien Lillard inking a five-year $129million extension and, in something of a surprise given his unsettled first season in Cleveland with LeBron James, Kevin Love resigned for five years and $110million.
Other big deals include the Chicago Bulls giving shooting guard Jimmy Butler $95million and new champions Golden State rewarding Draymond Green with an $82million extension that will see him earn more over the next two seasons that reigning MVP Stephen Curry.
The huge surge in spending has been attributed to the massive increase in the salary cap that will come next year due to ballooning TV deals, with teams eager to perhaps overpay for talent now in the knowledge that even excessive contracts signed this summer won’t look nearly as bad then.
And the spending is far from over.
LeBron James has yet to resign with the Cavaliers (although that is little more than a formality and will likely only be for two years as James will want the opportunity to sign another bumper deal when the salary cap rises), while LeMarcus Aldridge, Marc Gasol and DeAndre Jordan should all receive maximum contracts in the coming days.
