Free Agency Day 0: Results of DNHQ's Free Agent Poll; On Ty Jerome; Plus open thread

Angst about all the day's news in the comments

You can find the master post here: GSW Free Agent Guide.

Free Agent Tracker with Live Updates

• Our Google Sheet tracking who’s still available.

If you want to help me keep this up to date, please email me at apricotan@gmail.com. Many thanks to Run_TMC for helping out.

DNHQ People’s Choice

Because of the new collective bargaining agreement, the Warriors no longer have average salary (mid-level) exceptions to sign free agents, which means GSW can only target players who will accept a minimum salary.

Here are the results of the DNHQ tricider.com poll of favorite free agent targets, listed in order, with the micro scouting reports from DNHQ commenters.

• Ty Jerome. Apparently, the Big 3 really like him. Good enough to be 3rd string PG for emergency cases. / Kerr likes and trusts him. Could move into 2nd PG role if Paul is moved.

• Dario Saric. good stretch big for spacing / Useful to soak reg season minutes and add 2nd unit scoring. Not much D as 16 game player though.

• Yuta Watanabe. Top choice. Hits the three, plays defense, fluid, what's not to like?

• Jay Huff. Reigning G League DPOY, first team all G-League. Great rim protector and can stretch floor. Age f... more / He shot 64.5% from the field and 40.4% from three (1.7 3PA) last season. / C an probably get him on a two way

• Kevin Love. If he doesn't resign with MIA, he can still rebound, pass, and shoot well for a 4/5.

• Damion Lee. he might actually be available on a vet min / Knows the system, and can flourish as well as mentor.

• Mike Muscala. Stretch big who could steal some minutes next to Draymond. Great on/off numbers in OKC last year

• Danilo Gallinari. A guy who can play 4, maybe small 5, but can definitely shoot. Played with and succeeded with CP3

• Dennis Smith Jr. Good defensive PG with a good A/TO and mid-20s. Might be helpful to have with Steph/CP3 durability / plus they could use a ballhandler with a good first step to help pressure rim

• Sandro Mamukelashvili.

• Juan Toscano-Anderson. Willing bench player that can bring the energy and ball movement to change games from off the bench. / If none of our other defensive center ideas pan out, he might fit. Good mentor, too.

• Cam Johnson. Good bench wing. Can shoot and defend and will probably be a bargain. / Restricted FA, will get way more than the vet min

• Frank Kaminsky. 7 footer whose a capable 3pt shooter whose also a good passer thats slightly below average on DEF

• Joe Ingles. Good from deep, good passer, good defense and only a 3.7 million difference from his last contrac... more / Good from deep, good passer, good defense and only a 3.7 million difference from his last contract w / doubt he will get a min

• Thomas Bryant. Good half year in LA. Pretty good looking PnR and high low passing. Seems more a 4 than 5. Car... more

• Terrence Davis. Great fit, ala Slater, but Kings extended a QO, and hoopsrumors has him seeking a $9M contract. ... more

• Justise Winslow. Ballhandling wing with size (can play with Curry or CP3, can pass, strong defender). Can't shoot/... more

• Alex Len.

• Omer Yurtseven. Big enough to pound inside, grab rebounds and foul Jokic/AD effectively six times a game. Old enough and experienced enough to have the BBIQ to fit into the Dubs, yet young enough to still have a lot of potential growth in his game.

• Mo Bamba.

• Keita Bates-Diop. Big wing who defends, rebounds, cuts, coached by Pop, can shoot a little bit

Brief Notes on Ty Jerome’s Qualifying Offer

• LQ surely got a two-way contract as a qualifying offer.

• Ty Jerome has played four years in the NBA is no longer eligible for a two-way contract. Therefore, the qualifying offer GSW offered Ty was a proper NBA minimum contract. Presumably his agent will beat the bushes to get a better offer, and then GSW will have the option to match it. (This is also true for LQ, but it’s less likely for him.)

• My understanding is that GSW only can re-sign Ty with the Non-Bird exception (in past years, they could have used the MidLevel Exception), which is 120% of the minimum salary. So it would be pretty easy for other teams to outbid GSW in a way that cannot be matched.

• Unfortunately, GSW has to be able to make the matching offer in accordance with cap rules. For instance, if someone offered Ty a max contract, GSW couldn’t magically match that. Thus the constraint I described above…

• LC says: For players coming off Two-Way contracts where the player is no longer eligible to sign another Two-Way contract, the qualifying offer is a standard NBA contract with the minimum salary based on years of service, with at least the Two-Way G-League amount guaranteed.

• I believe the only scenarios where Ty does not come back are:

  • 1. Ty gets an offer that GSW can’t match (this seems the most likely)

  • 2. Ty gets an offer that GSW refuses to match (unlikely)

  • 3. Ty signs the QO and GSW cuts him, paying him the guaranteed amount (G-League guarantee which is now $75K which is essentially $0 in the NBA). (Only if GSW desperately needs the roster spot.)

  • 4. Ty refuses to sign any NBA contract and leaves the league. (Never)

• Documentation from Larry C’s CBA FAQ

  • Q42. As with any contract offer, a team must have enough room -- either cap room or room provided by an exception -- for the offer sheet. It must maintain the necessary room from the time the offer sheet is signed until the time the new contract is in place or the player's prior team exercises its right of first refusal. Likewise, the player's prior team cannot match an offer sheet that is greater than its room -- again, either cap room or a satisfactory exception7 -- and must maintain the necessary room from the time it gives notice of first refusal to the time the new contract is in place. In order to match an offer sheet, the matching team must have room for both the regular salary and any unlikely bonuses.

  • Q43. There are several situations where a team still might be unable to match an offer sheet: If the player is a Non-Bird free agent, the team only has the Taxpayer Mid-Level exception, and the offer sheet is higher or for more years than allowed by the Taxpayer Mid-Level exception. If the player is a Non-Bird free agent and the team already used their Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level exception to sign another player. If the player is a Non-Bird or Early Bird free agent with three years in the league (this rule applies only to players with one or two years in the league). If a team has two Non-Bird free agents with one or two years in the league. They can use their Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level exception to keep one of them, but would lose the other

    • (Ty is Non-Bird with four years in the league and also GSW has no MLE.)