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NBA Free Agency: Day 1 wrapping up, with over $750M in deals

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) is guarded by Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James during the second half of Game 1 of basketball's NBA Finals in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, June 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) Photo: Associated Press


The Associated Press

 

The Latest on NBA free agency (all times Eastern):

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10:45 p.m.

Day 1 is wrapping up, with many more decisions looming.

Stephen Curry and Blake Griffin are off the board, and Kevin Durant is known to be going back to Golden State — even though in his case, no deal is in place quite yet. Jrue Holiday got a massive five-year deal, J.J. Redick got the biggest salary by far of his career to go to Philadelphia and Joe Ingles is staying in Utah.

At least $769 million worth of new deals have been struck, and most of that money has gone to guards. The run on small forwards and power forwards, for the most part, hasn’t even started yet.

With Curry sealed up back to Golden State (and with Durant presumably not looking anywhere else), the top player left on the market may be Gordon Hayward — who heard the sales pitch from Miami on Saturday, and will get to hear Boston’s offer on Sunday.

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2:30 p.m.

Indiana center Myles Turner was in Orlando on Friday night, awoke from a nap and saw the news.

His reaction: “Wow,” Turner said.

Seeing Paul George get traded by the Pacers didn’t surprise Turner, the talented youngster who essentially now becomes the face of the franchise. But seeing him get traded to Oklahoma City did catch the 21-year-old Turner by surprise.

“The Thunder, of all people,” Turner said on NBA TV during the broadcast of Saturday’s Indiana-Orlando summer league game. “You hear the rumors of the Celtics, the Lakers, Cavs … it was surprising.”

The entire league expected George to be on the move after he informed the Pacers of his plans to leave as a free agent next summer. That forced Kevin Pritchard, who was recently elevated to take over basketball operations after Larry Bird’s abrupt resignation, to find a trade before losing him for nothing.

“The future’s here,” the 6-foot-11 Turner said.

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12:30 p.m.

Gordon Hayward is saying hello to Miami.

Ricky Rubio is saying farewell to Minnesota.

Hayward’s meeting with the Heat started Saturday morning at the team’s arena — where signage showing Hayward in a Miami uniform was displayed outside the arena and caught the attention of many fans.

A number of Heat players and staff were involved in the welcome to Hayward, including Hassan Whiteside and captain Udonis Haslem. Assistant coaches Chris Quinn and Juwan Howard were not with the Heat summer league team in Orlando for the start of play there, remaining back in Miami to be part of the Hayward pitch.

Rubio, meanwhile, posted a message on his social media accounts thanking Minnesota for his time there. The Timberwolves traded him to the Utah Jazz on Friday, a move that could have some effect on Hayward’s looming free-agent decision.

Rubio paid tribute to late Wolves coach Flip Saunders, and added “I didn’t know much about Minnesota, and now I’m proud to call it home.”

Stephen Curry got $201 million from Golden State, Jrue (droo) Holiday got $126 million from New Orleans, Jeff Teague $57 million from Minnesota, Patty Mills $50 million from San Antonio and Shaun Livingston $24 million from the Warriors on Saturday.

In other free agency news:

— A person with knowledge of the negotiations says J.J. Redick has agreed to a $23 million, one-year deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, Redick heads to Philadelphia from the Los Angeles Clippers, and gives the 76ers’ young core some experience the team desperately wanted.

— A person familiar with the situation says the Chicago Bulls have agreed to a four-year, $32 million contract with reserve forward Cristiano Felicio. The 6-foot-9 Felicio signed with the Bulls two years ago after playing in Brazil the previous season. He developed into a consistent backup last season, averaging 4.8 points and 4.7 rebounds in 66 games.

— A person with knowledge of the situation says free agent point guard Langston Galloway has agreed to a three-year deal with the Detroit Pistons. Detroit would be Galloway’s fourth team in four NBA seasons, after stints with New York, New Orleans and Sacramento.

— A person familiar with the decision says the Cleveland Cavaliers have offered free agent Kyle Korver a new contract. He joined the Cavs midway through last season in a trade from Atlanta. He led the league in 3-point percentage (45) and averaged 10.8 points in 35 games for the Cavs.

— Gordon Hayward has started his NBA free agency tour in Miami. The Utah Jazz forward was greeted today at the Heat’s arena by several players and staff members. He is also expected to meet with other teams in the coming days, including Boston and Utah.

— Forward John Collins, the 19th overall pick in the NBA draft, has signed a rookie contract with the Atlanta Hawks. Collins last season averaged 19.2 points and 9.8 rebounds in his sophomore year at Wake Forest.

— The Memphis Grizzlies have signed forward Wayne Selden Jr. to a multi-year contract and also signed undrafted guard Kobi Simmons. Selden averaged 5.1 points, 1.1 rebounds and 16.9 minutes in a combined 14 games for the Grizzlies and New Orleans Pelicans this past season. Selden appeared in all six of the Grizzlies’ playoff games and averaged 3.8 points, 1.5 rebounds and 17.7 minutes. Simmons averaged 8.7 points, 1.6 rebounds and 2 assists in 37 games as a freshman at Arizona this past season.

— Fresh off his first career championship, David West is returning to the Golden State Warriors for what is expected to be his final NBA season, with the team saying it intends to sign him to a new deal next week upon the conclusion of the free agency moratorium period.

 

 

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