NBA Free Agency Winners And Losers

Free Agency. That glorious time of year of year where teams get the pick of the lot of the players that are on the market. You can change the fate forever of a franchise, either good or bad, by signing a guy to a contract. It could change the future of a franchise for the better and could really set back another who loses a player. Anything can happen during free agency, like being a kid in a candy store with a pick of the lot from players. So while there are still some players are sitting out there on the market, the period has slowed down enough for us to catch our breath and take a look at some of what was from free agency. So with that being said, here are some of the winners and losers so far in free agency.

Winners:
Golden State Warriors
The defending Western Conference Champions pulled off the biggest coo in free agency, signing Kevin Durant to a two year deal, with a player option after the first year. This is so huge for Golden State, because it makes a more potent lineup even that much better. You now have Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Kevin Durant and Andre Iguodala. Sure I know they lost Harrison Barnes and Andrew Bougat to the Dallas Mavericks, but still they Warriors are loaded and it may also be a sign of things for Golden State for the future. It may mean they can get talent to join in on the mix in the future.

Losers:
Oklahoma City Thunder
As the Warriors won this signing, the Thunder (as well as some other teams around the league who had an interest in him) are big losers. This is a sign of things to come because Russell Westbrook has said that he may not even sign an extension and could hit the free agent market next season. The Thunder’ roster as its currently formed stands no real chance in the Western Conference. Not only did Durant leave, he left for a conference rival that just defeated the Thunder in the playoffs. Oh and with the loss of Durant, it means that the Thunder now fall behind the Warriors, Spurs, Clippers and Trail Blazers as the top talent in the West.

Winners:
New York Knicks
Phil Jackson and Steve Mills are making moves with this Knicks team. It started with trading for Derrick Rose right before free agency started. Sure, Rose isn't the same kind of player he was when he won NBA MVP in 2011, but he can still be very productive. Same thing can be said about Jokim Noah, who's 31 years old and can be a productive center. Adding to the plethora of free-agent signings, New York also picked up guards Brandon Jennings and Courtney Lee. They’ll pack a scoring punch with Rose in the backcourt. Throw those guys on the floor with Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis already in the mix, New York now has a roster capable of competing for a top-six spot back east. It’s now all about these new additions remaining healthy. If that happens, the team’s summer will have proven to be a success.

Losers:
Dallas Mavericks
Seems like we go through this each and every summer. Dallas tries to clear some space in the cap to build around Dirk but they can't find any takers. It really seems like Dallas doesn't really seem to be an attractive place to be playing basketball. I mean both Hassan Whiteside and Mike Conley decided to take their talents elsewhere, as too did Chandler Parsons heading to Memphis. They did manage to acquiring Warriors’ castoffs such as Andrew Bogut and Harrison Barnes, but they aren't really going to be enough to help get the Mavs off the bottom rung of playoff contenders in the West.

Winners:
Boston Celtics
The biggest name on the free agent market, not named Kevin Durant and LeBron James (Who's going to re-sign in Cleveland), was Al Horford. He's a big man who can pretty much do it all on the hardwood. You kind of knew going in that he was going to get a max contract from somebody, and it turned out to be the Boston Celtics. The Celtics signed Horford to a four-year, $113 million deal, adding an All-Star in his prime without having to trade away assets. All of this is going on while still maintaining enough financial flexibility that Celtics fans were able to temporarily delude themselves into thinking they had a shot at landing Durant. Adding a guy like him will make Boston a lot better and maybe push them up into contender status against the Cavilers in the Eastern Conference.

Losers:
Atlanta Hawks
Still a good basketball team that may have just added a major headache. Sure the Hawks payed a somewhat cheap price for getting Dwight Howard, as they gave him a contract worth three years and $70.5 million. Its cheapish because he's a major talent who didn't get paid the high price like some of the other free agent players. Plus the move could be a good fit for Howard, who kind of had a personality clash with James Harden in Houston. But by signing him, they let Al Horford walk to Boston (signing Howard was trying to make up for losing Horford) and they traded away Jeff Teague. All of these moves are defensible on their own terms, but when put together they paint a picture of a team that has taken a decisive step backwards. It's been well documented how much of a locker room cancer Dwight Howard has been over his career so Atlanta now has to take him on as their headache.

Winners:
Free Agents Making Money
OK this is one of the years where we see players making big money over the course of a spending spree. Five guys got contracts over $100 million, with Mike Conley getting a massive deal from Memphis, a five year deal worth $153 million. Yeah that's a lot of cash being doled out. Sure the rise in the salary cap to $94 million had a lot to do with it. Still with the massive size of the contracts, we're starting to see the good teams keep them in tact for a long time.

Losers:
Kevin Durant's Likeability
A lot of people hated on LeBron James for the way he went about announcing his free agency a few years ago when he left Cleveland for Miami. Well now I think Kevin Durant may have just passed him on that scale. He ducked out for a good team to go to a super team. It made him look really bad.