J.J. Redick is trusting the process. Gordon Hayward got his sales pitch from Miami. And David West, finally a champion, is coming back for one last season.
The first day of NBA free agency Saturday saw things starting to take shape, though there’s still dozens more moves to come in the next few days. After an opening flurry that saw Stephen Curry get a $201 million deal from the NBA champion Golden State Warriors and Blake Griffin take about $175 million to stay with the Los Angeles Clippers, most teams started to look at names more within their price range.
Redick agreed to a $23 million, one-year deal with the Philadelphia 76ers. West is going back to the Warriors on a veteran’s minimum, which is now worth $2.3 million. And Detroit got some solid insurance at point guard, agreeing with Langston Galloway on a three-year deal.
But all that, of course, was overshadowed by Curry’s deal - the biggest contract in NBA history.
“Steph should be getting 400M this summer,” Cleveland star LeBron James tweeted.
The rules, for now, only allow for Curry to get half of that.
With nearly $1 billion in deals agreed to just in Day 1 of this year’s free agency period, there is still obviously no shortage of money out there for teams to hand out.
And while Curry got the most, other point guards got plenty - or will when contracts can start being signed Thursday.
Jrue Holiday agreed to return to New Orleans for $126 million over five years, with incentives potentially pushing that to $150 million. Patty Mills is returning to San Antonio for the next four years at $50 million, and Jeff Teague agreed with Minnesota on a three-year, $57 million deal.
Still out there is another massive offer: John Wall has a chance to sign a four-year extension worth $168 million with the Wizards, another deal under the so-called Supermax structure that allowed Curry to get his record payday.
In other major free agent news Saturday:
- Redick made his intentions for next season clear with three simple words. “Trust the process,” he tweeted, his way of saying he was heading to the 76ers, who have made that phrase their mantra during their long rebuilding process. Redick averaged 15.0 points and made 43 percent of his 3-pointers last season for the Los Angeles Clippers, who will now need two new starting guards next season after point guard Chris Paul was traded to the Houston Rockets. Philadelphia also got veteran forward Amir Johnson on an $11 million, one-year deal.
- Hayward was greeted by Heat players for his free-agent visit, along with a banner strategically placed outside AmericanAirlines Arena showing him in a Heat uniform. The All-Star forward who is coming off the best season of his career spent several hours with Miami officials such as team President Pat Riley, and is still expected to visit with Boston and Utah - the incumbent team - before making a decision in the coming days.
- The Jazz still aren’t sure about Hayward, but are keeping Joe Ingles on a four-year, $52 million deal.
- After locking up Holiday to feed the ball to All-Star big men DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis, the Pelicans were talking with Nick Young and Ty Lawson about joining New Orleans as well.
- Dion Waiters, who spent last season with the Heat, had a list of free-agency targets revealed that not only included Miami but also Chicago, New York and Sacramento. Waiters is expected to continue taking meetings in Los Angeles in the coming days.
- Former Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams agreed to a one-year, $2.7 million contract with the Charlotte Hornets.
- Cleveland offered shooting guard Kyle Korver a new contract. The 36-year-old has expressed a desire to stay with Cleveland after making it to his first NBA Finals. The Cavaliers also added point guard Jose Calderon on a one-year, $2.3 million deal.
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AP Basketball Writers Jon Krawczynski and Brian Mahoney, and AP Sports Writer Tom Withers contributed to this report.
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