Mass Hysteria Expected as NBA Free Agency Kicks Off at Midnight (EST)
UPDATE: Track the latest Free Agent signings here @ Yahoo
In what is expected to be the most insane, frenzied and outright over-hyped free agent period the NBA has ever seen, the key question is still “where will LeBron James end up?”. Despite all the news coverage, rumors and theories on where James and the other fellow elite free agents might go, no one really knows and we likely won’t until at least July 8th – the first date that players are allowed to sign their offers.
Teams have been showing their hand leading up to the draft, during and even post-draft, maneuvering themselves to be in a position to sign one or more free agents. Up until midnight tonight (EST), the teams have been prevented from speaking to OR about these free agents, but that all changes when the clock strikes 12′ tonight.
I can only anticipate that many of these teams that have postured themselves to rebuild and/or sign a group of top free agents, will come up empty handed. There are only 6-7 max-level free agents available in total and several are expected to re-sign w/ their current teams (e.g. Dirk Nowitzki).
Could the Knicks get shafted? Don’t rule it out.
Do the New York Knicks really think they have a shot at 2 max-players w/ a gutted roster? Who is going to want to go there, only to find that there is no one else to help them… no chance at winning, let alone a shot at an NBA ring. Granted, the Knicks will get someone (or a few someones), but they might get shut out from the top tier of players. The good news for you NY fans… Donnie Walsh has you out of salary cap hell for the foreseeable future. You can start small this year, add on some talent next year and perhaps in 2-3 years have some semblance of a good team once again; just don’t count on it this year.
Dark Horse entering the picture? Sign & trade potential?
What I would really love to see when free agency starts tonight and over the next couple weeks, is for a dark horse to enter the picture. A team that no one thought was making moves, a team that appeared to be stuck w/ their existing salary cap woes, a team that simply has been ignored to-date. While I do not have a list of these teams to share, I would be very pleased to see additional trades and/or discussions to get more teams involved. If this is the summer of LeBron, why not shake up the whole thing a little bit more.
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