Free Agency Day 6. Three-point sharpshooter Buddy Hield confirmed to Warriors; aggressive pursuit of Markkanen continues

Also, the sign and trades are being combined into a massive five-team trade

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.

• NBA.com’s Team Tracker — every transaction grouped by team

What has happened since free agency started?

First, catch up to Day 4 via this post

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

Then look at these updates since Day 4:

• GSW has agreed with PHI on getting Buddy Hield as a sign-and-trade for a 2031 DAL second round pick.

  • Contract guaranteed for two years and $21 million. Hield gets $18M in first two years, a $3M partial guarantee in 3rd year and player option on non-guaranteed 4th year.

    • For context, Hield’s last contract was 94m / 4y (23.5m / y).

  • 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. But by BPM, he rated quite similarly to 2023-24 Klay Thompson on both offense and defense.

• The Klay Thompson, Kyle Anderson, Buddy Hield sign and trades are all being rolled up into a single five-team trade.

  • Details not known. Here is my first guess at the five team trade.

    • GSW gets Hield, Anderson, two 2nds. Sends Klay to DAL. Sends cash and 2nd rd swap to MIN. Sends 2nd to PHI.

    • DAL gets Klay. Sends CHA Josh Green. Sends 2nd to GSW.

    • CHA gets Josh Green. Sends 2nd to GSW

    • MIN gets cash and 2nd rd swap.

    • PHI gets 2nd.

    • It could be that the same structure is kept but the picks are moved around a bit differently. For instance, the incoming GSW picks could be sent directly to MIN, PHI. The next most likely change is that PHI is merging some other trade into this.

  • By turning this into a multi-team trade, GSW can pay Hield more. Other teams get side benefits, like DAL not having to use their Hardaway trade exception, and possibly other benefits.

    • It turns out that the five team trade will solve that problem. GSW will no longer technically have to use a trade exception (which would have required Hield and Anderson’s salary to sum to less than Klay’s salary). It will just be a normal (if large) trade of Klay for Hield and Anderson where salaries don’t have to match exactly. (For trades of less than 29m for sub-first-apron teams, they can take back outgoing salary + 7.5m.)

• The Warriors will NOT have the legendary $16m trade exception in this restructured trade.

  • A trade exception only is created when you trade out more salary than you take in.

  • This happened in the alternate reality where Klay was traded to DAL for two 2nds.

  • But because this is the moratorium, no trades are official until Jul 6 9am Pacific. So this gave time for GSW and DAL to convince everyone to turn this into a five-way trade instead of (trading out Klay, getting a trade exception, and then using that on the Hield and Anderson deals).

• The Reese Beekman two-way contract has been finalized.

  • He will play summer league.

  • I rather dismissively called him too small in the DNHQ Draft Tourney Group C. But he’s definitely worth a shot to see if he can play bigger than his size. At least in college, his wingspan allowed him to be a plus defender (ACC Defensive Player of the Year, TWICE). The dream would be that he develops into a point of attack defender like GP2 but healthy and someone who can really run an offense well. His analytics (BPM #21 in the NCAA) are strong and his Assist Rate is off the charts (#1 in the NCAA).

• Lauri Markkanen remains the top target for GSW in the off season.

  • Apricot says:

    • I’ve turned it over in my mind, and I think I can accept overpaying for Lauri Markkanen. It would be an overpay because (1) there are multiple bidders, (2) Ainge only cares about ripping you off and not finding the good mutual trade, (3) Markkanen has built-in injury risk.

    • But in my limited imagination, this is the best chance GSW has of getting a star that is in their 20s.

    • It is also their best chance of getting a star of any age who fits really well with Steph.

    • This will be the best chance of winning a title with Steph, who probably only has at most 1-2 more years of playing consistently at an All-Star level.

    • The injury risk is the only reason to hesitate. But our guy Steph had really similar questions, and that ended up getting the team a big discount on his salary. Would it have been the right team move to NOT overpay if he demanded the max, and let him walk? In retrospect, that would have been a disaster. That’s where I’m at on the overpay. I know it’s a risk, but a worthwhile one.

    • As for what the asking prices and offers are: nobody knows. Do not pay attention to any supposed Twitter source, especially not TheMontyShow (this is not Monte Poole!) or TheDunkCentral. The only sources I pay attention to are: Slater, Woj, Shams, Marc Stein, Jake Fischer. Local beat reporters are important, but distinguish between them guessing and their reporting something with a source who would know.

    • My wild guess is asking price is at least Kuminga plus players, plus three 1sts and 2 draft swaps, and GSW is at 3 1sts plus any 2-3 young players not named Kuminga.

      • Keep in mind that practically every single trade in history was perceived as an overpay by fans, because we overvalue all our young players and draft picks and undervalue other team’s players and picks. So whatever you think is a good trade for Markkanen, add two picks to that price.

    • I’m also okay with it not happening.

    • If GSW doesn’t get Lauri, I am curious what they pivot to next. The lineup today seems like a bit of a jumble of good medium sized defenders with unreliable offense. It’s a little hard to see what the best 5 lineup would be and how they would play.

What does this mean for the Warriors?

Anthony Slater says:

They’ve remade the middle of their rotation with a trio of reliable veterans with varying skill sets. Melton, presuming health, gives them a defensive punch at the shooting guard spot next to Curry and someone able to handle the toughest perimeter defensive assignment while spacing the floor and not needing the ball in his hands. Anderson is a long-armed, smart wing who played 15 minutes per night in the Timberwolves’ playoff rotation. Hield provides the high-volume floor spacing that they just lost with Thompson walking out the door.

The Warriors are still a large move away from being considered any type of fringe contender, but they’ve sharpened up around the edges well. — Anthony Slater, Warriors beat writer

Apricot says:

• As of today, the depth chart sketch is

  • 1. Steph, Melton, Beekman (2w)

  • 2. Buddy, Podz, Moody, Spencer (2w)

  • 3. Kuminga, Wiggins, Waters

  • 4. Dray, Anderson, Gui, GP2

  • 5. TJD, Looney, Post (2w)

  • It’s a puzzle to find the best lineup but the pieces are good. It does feel a bit like last year, with Steph plus 13 B-tier players who are all playing slightly out of position.

  • Don’t take the position number seriously. If you think Moody is a 3, no problem, it doesn’t matter to me.

Free Agency 2024 comment threads, so far

• The melancholy(?) end of the Splash Bros era, by Duby

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

• 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