Transactions of note from Night 1 of free agency via The Athletic‘s Shams Charania:
» Lonzo Ball has agreed to a four-year, $85 million deal with the Chicago Bulls, CEO of Klutch Sports Rich Paul told Charania. The Bulls are sending Tomas Satoransky, Garrett Temple and a second-round pick to New Orleans for Ball.
» Free agent Tim Hardaway Jr. has agreed to a four-year, $72 million deal to return to the Dallas Mavericks.
» Free agent Mike Conley Jr. has agreed to a three-year, $68 million deal to return to the Utah Jazz.
» Free-agent forward JaMychal Green has agreed to a two-year, $17 million deal to return to the Denver Nuggets. Deal includes a player option in Year 2.
» Five-time NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler is expected to agree to a maximum contract extension with the Miami Heat when the league year opens on Aug. 6, sources tell Charania and Jon Krawczynski.
» Restricted free agent Jarrett Allen has agreed to a five-year, $100 million deal to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
» T.J. McConnell has agreed to a four-year, $35 million deal to return to Indiana.
ADDITIONAL INSIGHT
David Aldridge: Temple is going to the New Orleans Pelicans on a three-year deal, per a league source. The first two years are guaranteed at $5 million per year. The 35-year-old Temple has been one of the best locker room guys and respected leaders among his peers throughout his 11-year NBA career, which has included stops in San Antonio, Sacramento, Washington, Houston, Milwaukee, Charlotte, Memphis, Brooklyn and the Clippers.
Will Guillory: Going from Lonzo Ball to Tomas Satoransky is …. not exactly the way you want to start one of the most important seasons in franchise history. I still think there’s more to come from New Orleans. The Pels have a ton of cap space and draft capital. I would expect David Griffin to make some more noise in the market at some point. The Pels are in desperate need of a big splash.
Tim Cato: The Mavericks had become certain they wanted to retain Tim Hardaway Jr. in the days leading up to free agency, something influenced by the team’s reading of the free-agency market and the potential for more lucrative offers coming his way from Detroit or Miami. As Charania reports, he’ll return to the Mavericks on a four-year, $74 million deal, indicating his desire to continue playing next to Luka Doncic — a pretty good business decision, if you ask me — rather than pursue $80-plus million offers elsewhere.
While the move cuts into the team’s cap space, Dallas can still open up $10 to $15 million in cap space depending on which roster maneuvers the front office makes. The Mavs have also explored cap-clearing trades involving Dwight Powell, as first reported by Bleacher Report, but any such deal would hinge on finding the right suitor and whether they even need more space to sign offseason targets. (As it stands right now, the Mavericks could end up operating as an over-the-cap team to unlock a larger midlevel exception.)
Kelsey Russo: The Cavs check another box in their offseason to-do list and re-sign Jarrett Allen to a five-year, $100 million contract, according to our Shams Charania. When the Cavs first traded for Allen in January, the front office was aware that he was up for a large contract. They watched throughout the second half of the season how he fit with their young core and saw potential as their center for the future. That’s why they extended a qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent, so they could match any qualifying offer that came in. Then, when Isaiah Hartenstein declined his player option and the Cavs did not extend him a qualifying offer, it seemed as though this was the route the Cavs were heading. Even after they drafted Evan Mobley last week, there is belief that they can play off each other where necessary because of Mobley’s passing ability, and now they have a 7-foot center to play the full 48 minutes of a game.
James L. Edwards: The Pistons continue to address 3-point shooting with the addition of Kelly Olynyk. Deal feels a little long (three years, $37 million), but he certainly fits the roster.
Seth Partnow: One takeaway from the first barrage of deals is those which have seen a player change teams have been, to my eyes, better value than those for players being re-signed, generally speaking. Perhaps an example of what John Hollinger has dubbed “The Bird rights trap” in action.