Grading the notable moves from the first day of NBA Free Agency.
NBA free agency is officially up and running and teams didn’t waste any time in getting the ball rolling. Through day 1, there have been multiple signings, trades, and a few surprises.
Multiple teams got offers done on day 1, as we have seen in previous years. While the deals can’t be finalized yet, they can be agreed upon in principle.
This year, we have seen a large number of sign-and-trades. With many teams being over the salary cap, a sign-and-trade allows a team to immediately deal the player they just signed to another team for a player currently on their roster, or a free agent, as long as the player agrees.
A team might do this to maintain flexibility. Teams can go over the cap to sign players using “Bird Rights” as long as they have played three or more years for that given team. In a sign and trade, the team also trades those Bird Rights, which usually enables the team to sign a player for more money.
Even though teams are operating with less cap space, there has been more acton than ever. I will be going through every big move in free agency and grading that move for each team.