Around the NBA: Where is everybody?

It seems the dust has finally settled on another wild NBA free agency season, so let’s make sure you know where everyone is.

The happenings around the NBA have been coming in hot since the Finals ended - the draft, trades, free agency, and so on. If we posted an “Around the NBA” article every time something happened, this would essentially just turn into an NBA page and nothing else. Now that the biggest pieces are in place, we are going to catch you up on where players will be suiting up next season.

We’ll start with NBA All-Stars; there have been a bunch on the move this summer. Kyrie Irving left the Boston Celtics to go to the Brooklyn Nets via free agency. The Celtics did not have a point guard vacancy for long though, because they signed another All-Star, Kemba Walker, formerly of the Charlotte Hornets.

Irving will be joined in Brooklyn by Kevin Durant. KD will likely miss at least the majority of the upcoming season with his achilles injury from the Finals. Making the opposite move of Durant, DeAngelo Russell is departing the Nets to join the Golden State Warriors. Russell will be a nice way to fill the scoring void left by the departed Durant and injured Klay Thompson.

The OKC Thunder loaded up on future draft picks this summer by trading Paul George to the LA Clippers and Russell Westbrook to the Houston Rockets. Oklahoma City received former All-Star Chris Paul in the deal as well, though they are officially in rebuilding mode. Joining George on the Clippers is reigning Finals MVP, free agent, Kawhi Leonard.

Anthony Davis is finally moving on from the Pelicans by joining LeBron James on the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers did have to trade away much of their young core to New Orleans, making an interesting crew around their prized number one draft pick, Zion Williamson.

A few former All-Stars: Jimmy Butler was traded by the 76ers to the Miami Heat. Free-agent, Al Horford left the Boston Celtics to go to Philly, where he will likely take Butler’s old starting role. DeMarcus Cousins didn’t get his ring in Golden State, so he is headed to the Lakers on his quest; he will look to have a bounce-back season after an injury-plagued year. Goran Dragic is leaving the Heat to join fellow Slovenian, Luka Doncic in Dallas.

There are many free agents still out there waiting, but the big names are off the board. Many of these moves bring parity to the league, loosening Golden State’s previous stranglehold on the odds of winning it all. It will be an exciting season with many old faces in new places.

To continue keeping up with what is happening around the NBA, make sure you are following us on Twitter and keep checking back here!

Around the NBA: Wild free agency weekend

Yesterday marked the beginning of official NBA free agency, and it didn’t take long until madness ensued.

Player movement in the NBA has become increasingly common over the past decade or so. Players are taking their careers into their own hands and deciding where they want to play. Conversely, owners see this and have no qualms about shipping players suddenly and often with little explanation. The result is what we experienced yesterday - madness on day one of NBA free agency with players moving around like wild.

The below tweet by SLAM Newswire is about as condensed a way for us to show you all player movement as is possible. The information is solid as of midnight or so, though there are now rumblings that something is holding up the Jimmy Butler sign-and-trade with Miami, though that will likely be cleared up soon.

To highlight some moves from the already long list - Kevin Durant has made a decision and Kawhi Leonard has not. Those are undeniably the top names on the list, though Durant’s achilles injury in game 5 of the Finals means he will miss next season and may not be 100% the same when he does return. Kawhi is showing interest in the two LA teams, though a return to Toronto is still a strong possibility.

Kevin Durant is heading to the Brooklyn Nets with another big free agent as his running mate. Kyrie Irving was expected to leave the Boston Celtics, but that became abundantly clear when it came out Saturday that Boston intended to sign Hornets All-Star Kemba Walker to a lucrative 4-year deal. The Irving-to-Brooklyn news was fairly simultaneous with the KD news this past weekend. We also learned later that both took less money so that DeAndre Jordan could come across town from the Knicks for a cool $10M/year for four seasons.

Jimmy Butler is another big one in the aforementioned sign-and-trade with the Heat that would send the less talented, but more versatile, Josh Richardson to Philly. The move is an interesting one for Butler, who came to the Sixers because he “only care(d) about winning.” He was fed up with a lackadaisical Karl Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, but now is heading to the so-so Heat and known lazy center, Hassan Whiteside. Alright, Jimmy.

Though the Celtics found a nice shoot-first point guard replacement for Irving in Kemba Walker, they will be hard-pressed to replace big man, Al Horford, who is now a Philadelphia 76er.

Perhaps the most underrated move this free agency is the Utah Jazz signing Bojan Bogdanovic, formerly an Indian Pacer. After a trade the prior week to acquire Mike Conely, the Utah Jazz are looking like a legitimate contender in the Western Conference.

A few other noteworthy deals: First-time All-Star, DeAngelo Russel is headed from Brooklyn to Golden State as the Warriors seek post-Durant scoring while Klay Thompson heals up. The Bucks had to watch Malcolm Brogdon depart, but retained Kris Middleton, Brook Lopez, and George Hill - they have also signed Brook’s twin brother, Robin Lopez. Harrison Barnes resigned for plenty of money with Sacramento. Kristaps Porzingis is locked in with the Mavericks long-term, who also acquired Goran Dragic to create a full Slovenian backcourt with ROY, Luke Doncic. Nik Vucevic and Terrance Ross resigned with Orlando. Rudy Gay is staying in San Antonio and Ricky Rubio is going from Utah to Phoenix.

The Player movement is not over, especially with Finals MVP, Kawhi Leonard still yet to make a decision. Follow us on Twitter and keep checking in on this blog as we strive to continue to bring you the top news from the NBA as well as the rest of the basketball world!

NBA free agency season

Basketball never sleeps - especially at the pro level. The Finals are over, the draft is done, but the business is still in full swing.

You may have heard that LeBron James has a new home. Well, technically he already had a home in L.A., but you know what I mean. The biggest deal of the Summer came and went with James signing a 4-year, $154M deal with the Lakers.

This is not the first time we have seen LeBron jump ship from Cleveland, though the circumstances are much different. Instead of leaving his hometown via hour-long TV special to create a super team, he quietly joined a young squad. He has also accomplished his goal of brining a championship to the city of Cleveland.

The pieces have likely yet to all fall into place in L.A. Look for DeMarcus Cousins or even Kawhi Leonard to head there to join James. Hilariously, Javale McGee and Lance Stephenson are headed to the Lakeshow as well, already being called the "Meme Team".

All-NBA center Deandre Jordan is headed for a new destination too. He has signed with his hometown Dallas Mavericks after verbally committing a few years back, only to stay put with the Clippers. No hard feelings, apparently.

The next biggest name to move on is Trevor Ariza taking a one-year deal with the Suns, leaving the contending Rockets. Beyond that, most of the other big names are staying put for now.

Players staying put

LeBron is on the move and Kawhi Leonard and DeMarcus Cousins are undecided. Likely the biggest star that is staying put so far is Paul George. Apparently all-in on OKC and Russell Westbrook, George somewhat surprisingly has turned down a chance to move to his hometown of L.A. to play with Bron.

Paul George made the announcement himself at Westbrook's party. (via @GabeIkard) pic.twitter.com/2sxXOK3epA

— SportsCenter(@SportsCenter) July 1, 2018

Kevin Durant and Chris Paul both signed deals to remain with their teams, though it was expected. Nikola Jokic will return to the Nuggets on a five-year, $146M contract.

Enes Kanter, Aaron Gordon, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, J.J. Redick, Jerami Grant, and others have already opted to stay put also.

The landscape of the NBA has changed dramatically already with more excitement coming. With top-five-player potential, Kawhi Leonard would elevate any squad instantly, as would Cousins. Better check in again soon to stay on top of the basketball movement!