Free agency thread: Day 3 (July 2)
Follow along here for Spurs-related updates as the NBA officially enters a new league year.
11:48 a.m. (July 2) — Matthew Tynan sends out podcast, free agency is dead
Do something, Shams.
10:10 a.m. (July 1) — Guerschon Yabusele signs two-year, $12-million contract with the New York Knicks
Another potential piece off the board for San Antonio, who had some interest in Yabusele. This might’ve just been Yabu’s preference, as the Spurs could’ve essentially matched the Knicks’ offer.
6:25 p.m. (June 30) — Spurs sign Luke Kornet to four-year, $41-million deal
More in-depth analysis to come, but Kornet adds much-needed help on both sides of the glass, on the defensive end, and as a solid passer from the center spot. Dependable player on a very reasonable contract going forward.
5:15 p.m. (June 30) — Grizzlies, Jaren Jackson Jr. agree to five-year, $240M max renegotiation-and-extension; Santi Aldama to return on three-year, $52.5M deal
The Aldama piece is now off the table for San Antonio.
4:15 p.m. (June 30) — Day’Ron Sharpe re-signs with Brooklyn Nets
One of the more interesting dominos on the board fell relatively soon after it appeared. Over the weekend, the Nets declined to tender Sharpe a qualifying offer that would’ve made him a restricted free agent and gave them first right of refusal over any team that might pursue him, and sources told Corporate Knowledge the big man and his camp had significant interest in San Antonio. But alas, Brooklyn managed to keep him on board before free agency even started.
I’ll be honest, I’m nostalgic for the days of midnight free agency.
It was the Hour of the Sicko, an exclusive late-night party for NBA Twitter. While the rest of the country slept, we stayed up through the wee hours of the morning staring blearily at our phones or laptops as sleep-deprived newsbreakers kept the dopamine hits coming until the basketball world decided to call it a night. So what if everyone was a zombie the next day? At least we were the up-to-date walking dead.
These days free agency begins at a normal hour — 6 p.m. ET today (Monday, June 30), to be exact. The club may not be as exclusive anymore, but it’s no doubt healthier and more well-rested. And now that it’s more inclusive, I thought I’d experiment with a new format which, if all goes well, I may use for future events on the NBA calendar like the trade deadline and the draft.
Welcome to our first LIVE post here at Corporate Knowledge. I’ll have this article pinned to the home page and will update it with news relevant to the Spurs as free agency moves along, whether it’s their own signings or trades, or other teams’ transactions that may have a direct impact on San Antonio’s offseason and beyond. My hope is that people will be able to return to this post and more easily sift through the news than they otherwise would with the chat, where things can sometimes go off the rails (in a good way!). The comment section will be open to all, and hopefully there will be topical threads that pop up within that section.
For those of you who read this newsletter exclusively via email, you’ll have to visit the landing page at matthewtynan.substack.com to interact, as this will be the last email from this post.
So, a quick primer: While it’s not necessarily their only focus, the Spurs’ priority during this free agency period will be to upgrade depth in the frontcourt behind Victor Wembanyama. Names to watch include unrestricted free agents Brook Lopez, Clint Capela, Luke Kornet and Guerschon Yabusele (Wemby’s French National Team teammate), as well as restricted free agent Santi Aldama, whose Memphis team may be conservative with its spending should the price get to steep.
It should also be noted San Antonio has some decisions to make in its own house with Sandro Mamukelashvili, Charles Bassey and Bismack Biyombo, who are all now unrestricted free agents. The Spurs will be operating over the cap but below the luxury-tax line, which means they’ll have access to the full mid-level exception worth just north of $14.1 million, as well as the bi-annual exception at a little more than $5.1 million. (Note: These exceptions cannot be combined to sign free agents, but each can be split to sign multiple players. For example, San Antonio can sign two players using the mid-level exception by splitting that $14.1 million between them should that possibility arise.)
So let’s try this out, shall we?
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How we feeling?
So do we just, like post comments here as the day goes?