НБА-гийн чөлөөт зах зээлийн эргэн тойронд

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NBA free agency begins at 6 p.m. ET today. We’ve already seen a handful of major trades, and even more are coming in the next couple of days. Let the chaos take us down the rapids of the 2026 offseason.

Olden State?

Could LeBron and AD join up with Steph?

Yesterday, Draymond Green declined his $27 million player option with the Warriors to become a free agent later today. And immediately, the messaging was that this allows Golden State to be super aggressive this offseason. So aggressive that the plan is to sign LeBron James, bring back Green and then trade for Anthony Davis. That’s right, the Warriors would be putting Steph Curry, LeBron, AD and Draymond together like it’s another installment of “The Expendables” franchise.

How would that even work? Well … it takes some finagling! John Hollinger laid it out pretty perfectly, and I’ll give you the CliffsLivingstonNotes of such an offseason:

• Warriors sign LeBron to the non-taxpayer mid-level exception. That’s just over $15 million.
• They trade Jimmy Butler and draft capital to the Wizards for Davis.
• They re-sign Draymond, maybe even on a three-year deal for around $52 million.
• They re-sign Al Horford to a two-year, $14 million deal.

Something that changed since that initial breakdown by John was that the Warriors agreed to a two-year, $40 million deal with Kristaps Porziņģis. That means Draymond would need to take a bigger discount than that hypothetical three-year, $52 million contract. Now, bringing in LeBron and AD likely means Moses Moody has to go somewhere else. And you probably need LeBron to take an even bigger discount.

By the way, Curry turns 39 in March, Horford turns 40 in June, LeBron turns 42 in December, Draymond turns 37 in March and Davis is the young guy turning 34, also in March. That would be a big month for this hypothetical Warriors squad.

There would be one little hurdle with this whole thing. And no, it has nothing to do with LeBron taking such a massive pay cut (yet). Why would the Wizards want to trade Davis to the Warriors for Butler, who is recovering from ACL surgery?

There would have to be some serious draft capital involved for Washington. The Wizards have been selling us on the turnaround of this franchise behind Trae Young, AD and No. 1 pick AJ Dybantsa. That trio, coupled with the fun, young core the Wizards already put together, is supposed to be a playoff team. Behind the scenes, though, there have been some pretty loud whispers about Davis trying to find his way off the Wizards before he even plays a game for them.

Immediately after the deadline deal that brought Davis to D.C., it sounded like Rich Paul, his agent, was trying to get him rerouted elsewhere. It didn’t work. Then Davis sat out the rest of the season with a hand injury. While he eventually said some of the right stuff regarding playing in Washington, there have still been plenty of people questioning whether he’ll ever don a Wizards uniform.

Even with that knowledge, I’m not sure why I’d do that Butler deal if I were the Wizards. Simply to help the Warriors and Davis out? Other than the 2030 first-rounder the Warriors owe to the Mavericks (moved to Washington in the Jordan Poole trade and then to the Mavericks in the Davis trade), the Warriors have all their firsts available to deal between now and the 2033 draft. They only have two second-round picks to move.

Washington should be aggressive in demanding picks if it engages in trade talks with the Warriors to take Butler for Davis. Especially since this appears to be a package deal. You want LeBron? Better get AD.

Would this collection of aging stars work for Golden State? Maybe not, but we’d all like to see it, Marcus Thompson II writes.

Oh and one more thing … there is no guarantee Draymond re-signs with the Warriors if this whole dream falls apart. He’s expected to explore his options.

The last 24

🤦 More indictments. Remember those Malik Beasley gambling allegations? He was indicted by the feds, along with Ed Davis.

💡 Good idea? Should the Celtics trade Jaylen Brown? And if so, for what? Our writers debate the merits and possibilities.

🏀 Not forgotten. The Timberwolves traded Naz Reid to the Hornets. But his legacy will live on in Minneapolis and on fans’ skin, Jon Krawczynski writes.

🚀 He’s back. Fred VanVleet isn’t going anywhere. He’s staying in Houston on a $25 million option.

Stream the NBA on Fubo (try it for free!)and catch out-of-market games onLeague Pass.

Free-agency primer

Eight things to watch on Day 1

When free agency officially begins today, we should expect a flood of news we know about already. These will be players re-signing with their incumbent teams. We should also expect a flood of signings we haven’t heard about yet.

There’s a lot of stuff to look for, but these are the things I’m checking out on the first day of free agency.

Ja Morant was just traded! OK, this happened yesterday, but I wanted to mention it off the top. This was an incredibly low haul for the Grizzlies, with Ja going to the Trail Blazers for Jerami Grant and Kris Murray. Maybe they can flip Grant into something down the road, but no picks were involved. What does that mean for Portland? Will it move Jrue Holiday? Will it actually start Morant next to Damian Lillard? Shouldn’t the Blazers go sign or trade for some outside shooting?

Restricted free-agency blues: Walker Kessler is frustrated by negotiations with the Jazz, so he’s going to talk to other teams. Jalen Duren is coming off an All-NBA season and can’t get the money from the Pistons he expects. So now he’s going to talk to the Kings and the Lakers about potential landing spots. Unfortunately, the players don’t have any control over finding a new home unless they take the qualifying offer. Is that going to be the case for Bennedict Mathurin and Tari Eason too? We’ll find out.

Maybe the Kings can work with Detroit? Duren apparently wants to play for the Kings and work on a sign-and-trade offer. That would likely involve Domantas Sabonis being moved to Detroit. Duren loves the idea. Sabonis is open to the idea. One little problem … Detroit doesn’t seem to be interested. Maybe involving three-time All-Star Sabonis will change that, but it would greatly change the makeup and toughness of the Pistons. Probably not in the way they’re hoping.

Kuminga is a free agent: The Hawks declined the team option for Jonathan Kuminga, and now he’s an unrestricted free agent one year after his restricted free-agency nightmare. So far, the Kings are not expected to pursue him, like they did a year ago. What will the market be for Kuminga? He showed some good stuff in Atlanta, but we still don’t totally know what he can do.

Is Oklahoma City done cutting? The Thunder picked up the $17.7 million team option on Lu Dort. It cost them Kenrich Williams, as they declined his option and sent him into free agency. Maybe they could sign him back? They’ve already traded away Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins to try to get under the second apron. They’ll probably need to trade Dort for not much in return and create a trade exception. Don’t forget they have two rookies (Aday Mara and Bennett Stirtz) to sign.

Is Norman Powell the best unrestricted free agent after LeBron? That can’t be right, can it? Powell is probably too expensive for the Heat to keep, even though they desperately need someone like him next to Bam Adebayo and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Detroit has been rumored to be interested. The Bulls are expected to pursue him. He could have a nice market for himself.

How does Cleveland navigate this summer? The Cavaliers are expected to sign James Harden on a two-year deal below what he was making last season ($39.1 million). This should help them get under the second apron. Unfortunately, they’d really like to retain free agent Dean Wade, and he’s probably going to be expensive enough to put them right back over that second apron. They’re also losing Keon Ellis in free agency in this scenario. Will they have to trade away Max Strus or Dennis Schröder to make all of this happen?

Who can the Knicks get at the backup big man spot? With Landry Shamet re-signing for four years and $24 million, the defending champions can throw about $6 million at a backup center to replace Mitchell Robinson. He’s going to be way more expensive than that, and the Knicks don’t want to be in the second apron, according to James Dolan. Maybe that gets them someone like Kevon Looney? That wouldn’t be terrible!

Remember to follow our live blog all day for the latest news and analysis!

Forever a Nugget?

Jokić isn’t leaving, but Denver has issues

No part of me believes the Denver Nuggets are in danger of losing Nikola Jokić anytime soon. At least not to another team.

Yes, he may retire earlier than we expect someday. Maybe his interest in horses and horse racing will take his time and attention away from basketball permanently at some point. But I believe Jokić when he consistently tells everybody he wants to be a Nugget forever.

That’s not the precarious situation Denver faces. The roster is. Last summer, the Nuggets had a stellar offseason. They traded Michael Porter Jr. (and a first) for Cameron Johnson. They traded Dario Šarić for Jonas Valanciunas. They brought in Tim Hardaway Jr. and brought back Bruce Brown. Their depth issues were supposed to be solved in pursuit of another title.

Unfortunately, things didn’t work out for them. Aaron Gordon battled more injuries. Christian Braun, Peyton Watson and Johnson missed a combined 94 games. Jokić hyperextended his knee and missed 17 games. It led to a 54-win season, but it was disjointed. And Jamal Murray had his best season before getting shut down completely by the Timberwolves in a first-round loss.

Now the Nuggets enter this offseason with some tough situations. Brown and Hardaway are free agents. Watson is a restricted free agent. And the Nuggets are just $2.5 million below the second apron.

• Murray is entering Year 2 of his extension and is still owed over $161 million in the next three seasons.
• Gordon has had hamstring issues in consecutive postseasons and is owed $103.6 million over the next three seasons (last year is a player option).
• Braun is just starting a five-year, $125 million extension that people around the league now assume Denver regrets.

The Nuggets have to move someone and get some relief if they’re going to give themselves enough room to retain Watson. Maybe that doesn’t cost them Murray, Gordon or Braun. Maybe it’s just the expiring deal of Johnson. They can shave $8 million off their number by waiving the non-guaranteed deal of Valanciunas, but then they’re back to not having a backup big man.