Stay Or Leave? Predicting Which NBA Free Agents Could Sign Elsewhere
Free agency opens August 2
The NBA offseason is in full swing, with a handful of trades going down before and after the draft. And with the start of free agency fast approaching on Monday, the craziness can only continue.
There are players on the market who could be major difference-makers on a competitor should they decide to sign with new teams. And as the weekend continues, so will rumors about players getting signed and options getting declined. Even with Tweet alerts on, it’s difficult to keep up with every report from Adrian Wojnarowski or Shams Charania.
But based on what we’re hearing and seeing, here are a few predictions about who stays and who leaves.
1. Evan Fournier leaves the Boston Celtics.
Boston reportedly is losing ground in the race to re-sign Evan Fournier, in which the wing is looking for a deal in the four-year, $80 million range, per Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald.
2. Kyle Lowry leaves the Toronto Raptors.
The Dallas Mavericks appear to want to make a push for Lowry. After trading Josh Richardson to the Celtics to create more salary-cap flexibility, and a report from Marc Stein suggests its all to make sure Lowry gets paid.
3. John Collins stays with the Atlanta Hawks.
Plenty of teams probably inquired about Collins. According to Stein, though, clubs around the league aren’t feeling great about prying him from everything Atlanta has to offer. Especially if the Hawks are offering him a deal in the $120 million range, like Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer reported.
4. Lonzo Ball leaves the New Orleans Pelicans
The Pelicans didn’t extend him when they had the chance, and the Celtics, Toronto Raptors and Chicago Bulls all are interested now, according to Charania. Fischer pegs Chicago to have offered Ball a four-year deal worth over $80 million.
5. Mike Conley stays with the Utah Jazz
Teams like Utah can’t mess around while wooing free agents, and trading Derrick Favors to the Oklahoma City Thunder opened up some space for the Jazz to reportedly offer Conley an estimated three-year, $75 million deal, per Stein.
