NBA 2K17: The Winners and Losers from Free Agency

Feature Article

Submitted on: 07/06/2016 by Kevin Groves

Baseball has the "Hot Stove League." Soccer has the "Silly Season." The NFL is year-round, and now, the NBA's offseason is nearly as good as their regular season. From the moment the NBA Finals end, we as fans go straight into offseason mode starting with the NBA Draft. Once the dust settles and the Celtics make the last of their seemingly infinite picks, we dive straight into free agency. Last year gave us the DeAndre Jordan saga, and this year it's all about KD and that new TV money.

Teams are just about to be able to officially sign all these players agreeing to deals, so let's look at early returns.

WINNERS

Golden State Warriors

Key Addition: Kevin Durant (2yrs/$54 million with a player option), Zaza Pachulia (1yr/$2.9mil), David West (1yr/vet minimum)

Key Losses: Harrison Barnes, Andrew Bogut, Festus Ezeli

Easily the most coveted free agent in this year’s class, KD had his choice of attractive suitors. The Thunder, Spurs, Heat, Clippers, Celtics and Warriors all made strong pushes for KD, with the scoring phenom inking with last year’s runners-up. Much of the blame for this year’s Finals loss fell on swingman Harrison Barnes as he continuously chucked up brick after brick from long range. Insert KD into a lineup of a team that won a record 73 regular season games and the Warriors immediately become the front runner next year.

NBA 2K Impact: Pain for all who enter

Indiana Pacers

Key Additions: Jeff Teague (via trade from Atlanta), Al Jefferson (3yrs/~$30 million), Thad Young (via trade from Brooklyn)

Key Losses: Ian Mahinmi (Wizards), George Hill (Utah via trade), Solomon Hill

After bouncing back from a horrific injury, Paul George returned to his all-star form, but GM Larry Bird quickly realized if he wanted to make a run at Cleveland, he would need to surround PG13 with better talent. Insert Jeff Teague in place of the more off-ball George Hill, and the Pacers look to have a suitable running mate who can break defenders down off the dribble, something Hill struggled to do at times. Where Teague brings quickness, Al Jefferson brings power and low-post moves. He's not the force he once was during his early days in Charlotte, but Big Al can still give you a double-double if he fights off the injuries that have plagued his career thus far. If anything, he will be a good mentor to youngster Myles Turner who showed flashes last year of becoming a quality big.

NBA 2K Impact: I'm not sure how much better this team becomes in real life because the pieces are sort of a weird fit, but in 2K they should be more fun as Thad Young is always really solid. Teague has a tricky shot, but he's super dangerous off the bounce.

NBA Players in General

It's a great time to be an NBA free agent as teams are splashing some serious cash. With the salary cap increasing due to the lucrative new TV deal, NBA players are reaping the benefits and cashing in. Players like Jeremy Lin and Matthew Dellavedova are now being paid like high-end starters used to get paid, and this trend should only continue next season (please let's not have a lockout!).

LOSERS

Atlanta Hawks

Key Additions: Dwight Howard (3yrs/~$70mil), re-signed Kent Bazemore (4yrs/$70mil)

Key Losses: Al Horford (Celtics), Jeff Teague (Pacers-trade)

Two years ago the Hawks won an Eastern Conference-best 62 games with a balanced squad led by Teague, Al Hoford and Paul Milsap. The Hawks took a step backwards last year and in turn, handed the keys to the ship over to Dennis Schroder and signed the once likable and charismatic Dwight Howard. After reaching the Finals back in 2011, Howard has since helped get Stan Van Gundy fired, cried his way to and from LA, and clashed with James Harden ultimately helping to get Kevin McHale fired in Houston (although McHale and the Rockets organization should be at fault too). In the meantime, he’s picked up serious injury issues robbing him of his explosion. All this seems to be forgotten as the hometown kid returns in what may be his last shot at redeeming his career. While Horford was no stranger to injuries, his reputation and hard working demeanor will be missed.

NBA 2K Impact: The Hawks also have two first-round wings and Malcom Delaney to welcome into the fold, but this team either get better or worse depending on how you play 2K. If you like pick and pop with Horford, this team got worse. If you like pick and roll/oop with Dwight, then the team got more enjoyable.

LA Lakers

Key Additions: Timofey Mozgov (4yrs/$64mil), Luol Deng (4yrs/$72mil), re-signed Jordan Clarkson (4yrs/$50 mil)

Key Losses: Kobe Bryant (retirement)

The post-Kobe era in Lakerland isn’t off to the best start. After selecting Brandon Ingram second overall in this year’s draft, the Lakers once again missed out on every high-profile free agent. Hometown kid DeMar Derozan stayed in the North (although both sides reportedly had limited interest), Hassan Whiteside stayed in South Beach, while KD visited the Clippers even if they would have had to move a lot around to sign him. This seems to be the trend as past attempts at players like Melo, Kevin Love, LaMarcus Aldridge, LeBron, etc. have all ended in failure. So what did the Buss family do? Went out and gave $16 million to Mozgov and $18 million a year to the veteran Deng -- all while using up enough cap space to essentially halt their chances of signing two players to max deals next season if their recruiting did end up working out. While Deng will be a good mentor to Ingram, and there are still some giants out West (Aldridge, Cousins, etc.), the Lakers haven’t done much to improve upon last year’s 17 wins. Perhaps with KD gone in OKC they will make a run at Russell Westbrook via trade (or wait until free agency), but given the recent track record the Lakers might screw that up as well.

NBA 2K Impact: Another tough one to judge because it's up to Brandon Ingram and how he plays in the game. Either way, Deng is easy to get comfortable with so he's a win for the video game Lakers.

Washington Wizards

Key Additions: Ian Mahinmi (4yrs/$64 mil), Andrew Nicholson (4yrs/$26mil), Trey Burke (trade w/Utah), re-signed Bradley Beal (5yrs/$128 mil)

Key Losses: Nene (Unsigned), Jared Dudley (Suns), All Hope for KD2DC

The Wizards went all-in on KD to DC. From clearing cap space and signing his former coach Scotty Brooks to hearing fans chant KD2DC in the Verizon Center, the Washington Wizards didn’t even get a meeting with the Seat Pleasant, MD native. After re-signing often injured shooting guard Bradley Beal to a max contract, the Wizards scrambled and wound up giving Ian Mahinmi $16 million a year after the center posted a career-best 9 points, 7 rebounds and 1 block a game averages. Hardly the splash Wizards fans like myself hoped for as the team took a major step backwards missing the playoffs and ultimately firing Randy Wittman.

NBA 2K Impact: All things considered, I don't think much changes here for 2K players. Mahinmi or Gortat are sort of interchangeable in terms of what they bring on the court. The team maybe even drops back just a bit because Nene and Dudley leave the team with less shooting.

JURY'S STILL OUT

New York Knicks

Key Additions: Derrick Rose (via trade w/ Bulls), Joakim Noah (4yrs/$72mil), Brandon Jennings (1yr/$5mil), Courtney Lee (4 yrs/$50mil), re-signed Lance Thomas (4yrs/~$5.1mil per year)

Key Losses: Arron Afflalo (Sacramento), Langston Galloway

Perhaps the most important person on the Knicks roster this year will be their athletic trainer. Rose, Noah and Jennings all arrive in The Big Apple with serious injury baggage. Derrick Rose, a former MVP, returned to a semblance of himself in the second half of last season once the double-vision (stemming from a training camp elbow by Noah) wore off. Considering what the Knicks had to give up for him, this move is a win-win, especially with Rose in a contract year and hungry to prove his naysayers wrong (the lure of a huge contract is extra motivation). Noah, the 2014 Defensive Player of the Year, has been a shell of himself the last two seasons due to age and injury concerns as well. At $18 mil a year, I have to question how much he has left in the tank. Effort and passion won't be lacking, but can he improve upon his putrid shooting last season? Lastly, adding the mercurial Jennings, coming off a torn Achilles himself, gives the Knicks depth at PG in case Rose should succumb to the injury bug again. At $5 million, Jennings is another well-calculated risk by Phil Jackson who is starting to gain the trust of Knicks fans as he guts the roster from top to bottom.

NBA 2K Impact: This team will be used by a ton of people next season. It's a wonderful video game team, no question. So while this version of the Knicks may really only be "good" for one season in real life before those Noah and Lee contracts start to look onerous, the Knicks will probably be the definition of "video game good" in NBA 2K17.

Member Comments

# 1 jcas007 @ 07/06/16 10:15 AM

Let's go DUBS

# 2 twebb5896 @ 07/06/16 11:54 AM

I've decided to root for every team the Warriors play, Lakers included. I don't think I've ever hated a team more than I do this team right now.

# 3 Mauer4MVP @ 07/06/16 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twebb5896


	I've decided to root for every team the Warriors play, Lakers included. I don't think I've ever hated a team more than I do this team right now.

Clippers still top them. The difference is at least the Warriors have accomplished a ton.

# 4 WaddupCouzin @ 07/06/16 01:24 PM

You completely whiffed on your Laker Take!

# 5 coolcras7 @ 07/06/16 01:57 PM

I Think you meant to say Injury still out

# 6 twebb5896 @ 07/06/16 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mauer4MVP


	Clippers still top them. The difference is at least the Warriors have accomplished a ton.

I carry a little remorse from Doc ditching us, but yeah you're right the Warriors success makes it much easier to dislike them. Draymond erks me the most.

# 7 extremeskins04 @ 07/06/16 03:08 PM

Yup. As if the Warriors weren't already disliked by anyone not in "dubnation", they're pretty much hated now.

Chalk me up to rooting for every team that plays against them.

I won't lie, I would love to see them fail this year.

# 8 DBMcGee3 @ 07/06/16 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WaddupCouzin


	You completely whiffed on your Laker Take!

How so? You stoked on that Mozgov deal? I love Deng, but he's got more miles on those knees than Forrest Gump. You think he'll be giving them anything 2 years from now? I don't.

That being said, finally getting rid of Kobe was great for them, and Ingram is an excellent player, he'll really help them when he bulks up a little.

# 9 ParisB @ 07/06/16 07:00 PM

Personally I think your Lakers take is way off and just following the over reactionary masses.

They replaced a brutally bad and ineffective Kobe and Hibbert with quality NBA players while not blocking any of the promising core. Deng can start and be adequate until Ingram is ready in 1-2 years. He will still be a quality reserve in years 3-4 playing limited minutes. Mozgov got some flak last year because of his injury but don't forget he played a critical role as a counter to small ball two years ago. He fills a need for an elite PnR finisher and screen setter. He's only 29 and can hold the fort until Zubac is ready.

People overreacted with the salaries but that's just new economics. It doesn't look bad anymore and certainly won't in 2018 when the cap goes up even more.

4 years is kind of a lot but that's just the price to pay to get some players. Why use Max slot on role players? Build the young guys. Ingram and Russell will be stars.

People act like Lakers were missing all these free agents but in reality so are the 28 other teams. We don't even know if any of these guys were ever really interested anyways. Most stayed with their teams while the few that did chose contenders.

Having cap space for top tier free agent is overrated until your next is built and you are more attractive. Last two years they held on hope and by the time the big fish signed, they had to pick scraps. This year they went after their biggest needs (SF and C) right away.

Need to field a better product and develop the youth. Mission accomplished

# 10 The_Gaming_Disciple @ 07/06/16 09:11 PM

The Orlando Magic will RISE!!!

- You heard it here folks!

# 11 ChaseB @ 07/06/16 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coolcras7


	I Think you meant to say Injury still out

Ha, high five for that one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ParisB


	Personally I think your Lakers take is way off and just following the over reactionary masses. They replaced a brutally bad and ineffective Kobe and Hibbert with quality NBA players while not blocking any of the promising core. Deng can start and be adequate until Ingram is ready in 1-2 years. He will still be a quality reserve in years 3-4 playing limited minutes. Mozgov got some flak last year because of his injury but don't forget he played a critical role as a counter to small ball two years ago. He fills a need for an elite PnR finisher and screen setter. He's only 29 and can hold the fort until Zubac is ready. People overreacted with the salaries but that's just new economics. It doesn't look bad anymore and certainly won't in 2018 when the cap goes up even more. 4 years is kind of a lot but that's just the price to pay to get some players. Why use Max slot on role players? Build the young guys. Ingram and Russell will be stars. People act like Lakers were missing all these free agents but in reality so are the 28 other teams. We don't even know if any of these guys were ever really interested anyways. Most stayed with their teams while the few that did chose contenders. Having cap space for top tier free agent is overrated until your next is built and you are more attractive. Last two years they held on hope and by the time the big fish signed, they had to pick scraps. This year they went after their biggest needs (SF and C) right away. Need to field a better product and develop the youth. Mission accomplished

Cap levels off after the 2017-18 season, and those contracts look bad even today because it's easy to convert thew "new-age" salaries into what they look like under the old terms of the salary cap. Paying 15+ million each to those two players (Deng with a million miles on his legs, and Mozzy who is already a 30-year-old center who was objectively bad last season) are just not good bets to look good then for their 3rd and 4th seasons. Better centers (and better fits) were out there, and shorter-term deals were out there for swing men.

It's not being part of the reactionary masses to point these things out. Deng had a solid season and found himself again at the 4 (like Joe Johnson did), but it doesn't change the age and miles and risk. Mozgov was never healthy and plain bad.

Beyond that, Mozgov is a bad fit (better pick and roll player than Hibbert, but also doesn't have the spacing or LeBron around him to make it so easy -- and he's not remotely in the same universe as Bogut as a passer to fit the Walton/GSW system), and if you were concerned about Hibbert, then Mozgov is on that same timeline right now it appears, with a scary injury on top of it. Deng is like Noah in that maybe next year the deal doesn't look so awful, but it's bad news long term simply based on the history of similar players and minutes played.

Beyond that, I'm simply never going to get down with the "well no one else would take their money angle." Even if that's the case, couldn't they look outside the box and don't go to 3 and 4 years for players you know by default will be overpaid by then? Every team out there got players to come and sign this offseason, the Lakers could get some guys to sign.

That being said, yes, it does come down to the Lakers young talent either way. If there aren't enough keepers among Russell and Randle and Ingram and Clarkson, then none of this stuff matters anyway (they were going to be a bottom 5 team by default either way this upcoming season, which is fine), and those first 3 are still on rookie deals (thus cheap by default).

# 12 WaddupCouzin @ 07/06/16 11:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChaseB


	Ha, high five for that one. Cap levels off after the 2017-18 season, and those contracts look bad even today because it's easy to convert thew "new-age" salaries into what they look like under the old terms of the salary cap. Paying 15+ million each to those two players (Deng with a million miles on his legs, and Mozzy who is already a 30-year-old center who was objectively bad last season) are just not good bets to look good then for their 3rd and 4th seasons. Better centers (and better fits) were out there, and shorter-term deals were out there for swing men. It's not being part of the reactionary masses to point these things out. Deng had a solid season and found himself again at the 4 (like Joe Johnson did), but it doesn't change the age and miles and risk. Mozgov was never healthy and plain bad. Beyond that, Mozgov is a bad fit (better pick and roll player than Hibbert, but also doesn't have the spacing or LeBron around him to make it so easy -- and he's not remotely in the same universe as Bogut as a passer to fit the Walton/GSW system), and if you were concerned about Hibbert, then Mozgov is on that same timeline right now it appears, with a scary injury on top of it. Deng is like Noah in that maybe next year the deal doesn't look so awful, but it's bad news long term simply based on the history of similar players and minutes played. Beyond that, I'm simply never going to get down with the "well no one else would take their money angle." Even if that's the case, couldn't they look outside the box and don't go to 3 and 4 years for players you know by default will be overpaid by then? Every team out there got players to come and sign this offseason, the Lakers could get some guys to sign. That being said, yes, it does come down to the Lakers young talent either way. If there aren't enough keepers among Russell and Randle and Ingram and Clarkson, then none of this stuff matters anyway (they were going to be a bottom 5 team by default either way this upcoming season, which is fine), and those first 3 are still on rookie deals (thus cheap by default).

By all accounts, Mozgov was hurt last year, so you can statistically throw that out. To say he was never healthy and plain bad, is not accurate, if that's the case Cleveland would not have sent 2 First round draft picks for him in the first place. I think your take is looking at this from a strictly X's and O's standpoint, but the Lakers had a bad locker room last year, so I think they were also looking for Veterans to have a more potentially positive impact on their young team. In your 4th paragraph, I would usually agree with this, but in a year where the Salary Floor means you have to spend money at least $81 million, the players had the leverage, If you didn't spend, someone else would. It what Universe is Mike Conley supposed to make $30 million dollars, that's a joke unto itself.

# 13 ChaseB @ 07/07/16 05:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WaddupCouzin


	By all accounts, Mozgov was hurt last year, so you can statistically throw that out. To say he was never healthy and plain bad, is not accurate, if that's the case Cleveland would not have sent 2 First round draft picks for him in the first place. I think your take is looking at this from a strictly X's and O's standpoint, but the Lakers had a bad locker room last year, so I think they were also looking for Veterans to have a more potentially positive impact on their young team. In your 4th paragraph, I would usually agree with this, but in a year where the Salary Floor means you have to spend money at least $81 million, the players had the leverage, If you didn't spend, someone else would. It what Universe is Mike Conley supposed to make $30 million dollars, that's a joke unto itself.

He was plain bad last year, that's what I was referring to. And considering the rehab for his injury was apparently botched, and again, he's a large human entering his age 30 season, four-year deals for those kinds of players is a scary proposition. What he was traded for in the past also would have nothing to do with his present and future as paying for old production is not why you hand out deals. You hand out deals based on future projection.

All the Salary Floor means is that money gets spent on your own guys if you don't reach the floor, and you have until after the trade deadline to reach the floor anyway before it's even a thing. It's a non-issue.

If you want to bring in veterans, you don't need to bring in ones that demand four-year deals. I can look around the league and see plenty of veterans who signed 1 or 2-year deals (even the LOLtastic Kings didn't get sucked into doing lots of long-term deals for veterans except for Temple -- though that one was baffling as well). Again, spending just to spend when there's still opportunity cost tied to it is as wasteful as giving Swaggy P a four-year contract. It closes down options in the present and future unnecessarily is basically the general point.

# 14 KG @ 07/07/16 07:58 AM

The Lakers were a 17 win roadshow last year. IMO the acquisition of these 2 guys given their milage and injury history isn't worth ~$140 mil. All indications (from Walton's comments) are that he prefers a faster pace and wrapping up $60+ mil in an aging/injury prone center doesn't seem like a good fit. For that price they could have gone after Ian Mahimi whose around the same #'s production-wise, is a better P&R defender, and doesn't have the injury history. Now, whether or not they pursued him or if he was even interested is beyond me. Hindsight is 20/20 but even Ezeli (battling his own injury issues this year) would have been money better spent IMO.

In regards to Deng, my only issue is the years. $18 mil for a player whose going to be stop-gap and can give you some minutes as a stretch 4 isn't that bad but in years 3 & 4 when Ingram should be starting to physically fill-out you're going to be paying an awful lot to a backup whose averaged a little under 60 games per year over the last 7. Again, to me that's just a lot for a stop-gap.

If the Lakers are going to be committed to their youth (which they should be IMO) then they need to patient. These 2 moves, agreed upon in principle early in the FA period, looked like panic moves to me.

# 15 Izzy Snow @ 07/07/16 07:32 PM

The Wizards also added Tomas Satoransky. I may be biased but the Wiz didn't do too bad after missing out on KD and Al Horford. They should be good enough for 7th or 8th seed as long as they can stay healthy.

# 16 Jakeness23 @ 07/12/16 12:28 AM

Howard went to the Finals in 2009, not 2011. Sorry for the nitpick, kind of a perfectionist over here.

# 17 Rell7thirty @ 07/12/16 12:47 AM

Playing MyLeague with the Warriors and Greg Anthony and Kevin were talking about KD making the move to the Warriors during gameplay.

Pretty cool they updated the game even though the move is for next season. Awesome

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