Free Agency Day 4. Summarizing all the offseason reports so far: Lauri Markkanen and Buddy Hield targeted; Kyle Anderson and De'Anthony Melton signed

and of course Klay forced a sign-and-trade with DAL

The index for all DNHQ Free Agency Coverage is here.

Are you tracking Free Agent announcements again?

Yes, indeed. I’ll try to keep this Google Doc up to date. The status of every free agent in the Perks Free Agency guide is listed.

• Our live Google Sheet tracking who’s still available.

What has happened since free agency started?

• Klay Thompson left GSW and forced a sign-and-trade with DAL.

  • GSW gets two late second round picks and around a $16m trade exception.

• De'Anthony Melton signs for $12.8 m / 1y.

  • He’s one of the best defending guards in the league and has some streaky good offense too.

  • He had back issues last season, but he says he is resting it over the summer and it will heal without surgery.

  • This probably will use up GSW’s Non-Taxpayer Midlevel Exception, and also force the team salary to stay below the First Apron Level for this whole season.

• Kyle Anderson will be sent to the Warriors on a three-year, $27 million contract via a sign-and-trade with MIN.

  • The Warriors gave up cash and a future second-round swap.

  • Nicknamed Slo-Mo, he has a curiously unrushed attacking technique on the court.

    • An all-time tweet: Kyle Anderson shoot like his jumper need two step verification

  • He’s statistically one of the best defenders in the NBA.

  • He had eye issues last year which caused his 3P% to plummet.

  • The last year is a team option.

  • This will probably eat about $8.6m of the team’s Trade Exception.

• GSW is in “serious talks” with PHI about getting Buddy Hield as a sign-and-trade.

  • Hield is an excellent volume three-point shooter. In 2022-23, he was #2 in the league in 3PM, and in 2023-24 he was #15.

  • His defense and playmaking is statistically shakier.

  • Trade details are unknown. It would either have to fit into the rest of the Trade Exception ($7m-ish) or would be a separate trade for players with salary no less than Hield’s signed salary.

    • For context, Hield’s last contract was 94m / 4y, but I really doubt he would be offered that today.

• Rumors continue to swirl that GSW is “aggressively pursuing” Lauri Markkanen.

  • Lauri Markkanen is an elite 7-0 offensive force. He’s an All-Star (2023) and Most Improved Player (2023). By EPM he was in the 97th percentile on offense and 94th in overall impact. He could slot into almost any lineup and provide spacing for non-shooters.

    • Context: Steph Curry is in the 98th percentile for offense and 97th percentile overall, by EPM.

  • Markkanen is only 27 years old, so he could be the foundation of the post-Steph era.

  • However, he’s also had some injuries, playing in each season (from most recent to least): 55, 66, 61, 51, 50, 52, 68 games.

  • Danny Ainge is known as a difficult GM to negotiate with and UTA can wait to trade Lauri at the February trade deadline, so don’t be surprised if the price is too high.

  • A deal would certainly mean some or even most of the young talent being traded away as multiple draft picks.

• GSW hired Terry Stotts as lead assistant coach and Jerry Stackhouse as an assistant.

  • Monte Poole wrote: Per sources: Warriors new assistants, former HCs Terry Stotts and Jerry Stackhouse, will join Steve Kerr and Kris Weems on the front bench. Longtime asst Bruce 'Q' Fraser returns to the back bench. New look for GSW staff

  • Terry Stotts has many years of head coach experience, including at POR 2012-2021, when POR consistently made the playoffs and scared teams, topping out in 2019 where they made the Conference Finals and had the fortune of playing GSW without KD, but unfortunately, Steph was still on the team.

  • Jerry Stackhouse was an All-Star player who has a couple of years of experience as an NBA assistant coach, and spent 2019-2024 as the head coach of Vanderbilt. He was SEC Coach of the Year in 2023, but ended up fired after a disappointing 2024.

  • Previous lead assistant coach Kenny Atkinson was hired away by CLE.

• The Quinten Post draft pick trade has become official and he will join GSW.

  • Dunleavy said he will either be on a two-way or a minimum depending on how the off-season shakes out.

  • He will also play summer league, but probably in Las Vegas, unlikely to play in Chase.

• The Warriors had aggressively pursued a sign-and-trade for Paul George, but that required the cooperation of the LA Clippers, who refused. So Paul George left LAC for nothing to go to PHI.

Free Agency 2024 comment threads, so far

• Explaining the Warriors new Traded Player Exception and players to target, by Perks

• Klay Thompson leaves in sign-and-trade with DAL; GSW gets two late draft picks and $16m trade exception for more moves; also, De'Anthony Melton signs for $12.8 m / 1y

• Free Agency Day 2. Warriors exploring sign-and-trades to get departing Klay a raise and get players back; Chris Paul waived; Paul George pursued but joins PHI

• Free Agency Day 1. FAQs about Klay Thompson, Paul George, Nico Mannion, when will we hear news.

• 2024 Perks Guide to Free Agency

• 2024 Perks Warriors Off-Season Primer. This epic survey has everything you need