Winner: Second-tier stars
Don’t let the headline fool you – I love both Tobias Harris and D’Angelo Russell as players. Both showed tremendous growth last season, and both will be high-impact players in the league for years.
There were legitimate questions entering free agency, though, about whether they would be worth a max-level contract. The uncertainties in their games – Harris’s around his ceiling and fit on a contending team, Russell’s with his defense and shooting sustainability – caused some to baulk at the idea of a team paying up big for their services.
Those doubts were unequivocally quashed on Sunday, as both players received big contracts without much negotiation. Both Harris ($180 million, five years) and Russell ($117 million, four years) will be paid like superstars in the coming years despite their potential limitations.
There’s no doubt that they’re at least a tier below the league’s absolute superstars, but there’s also no doubt they are extremely valuable players. Will their signings set the market for players in a similar boat in coming years, or will this be a one-off spending spree similar to the summer of 2016?
Either way, Harris and Russell can definitely be considered winners. Get that bag, boys.