2026 NBA free agency news and notes

There is a lot going on in the NBA right now with free agency in full swing so let’s break down all that has happened.

76ers acquire Jaylen Brown

Usually this would get its own blog but I am not mentally prepared to do that right now and there is a lot of news going on. Jaylen Brown has been traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for Paul George, 2 first round picks and 2 second round picks so let’s break it down.

Let’s start with the Philly part. It’s a good risk for the 76ers, George was important to their team for sure but Brown is an upgrade. Brown is one of the top 20 players in the NBA and at this price, it is a good bet for the Sixers. The fit worries me, Brown seemingly was ready for his own team out of the shadow of Jayson Tatum but that isn’t what he is getting here. Teaming up with Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid could be clunky. The starting 5 will be Tyrese Maxey, V.J. Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown, Dean Wade and Joel Embiid. That lineup should be one of the better lineups in the NBA. Beyond that, what is on this roster? Kelly Oubre and Quinton Grimes are gone. Their bench is going to suffer. I like the Wade and Anfernee Simons additions but I think those guys are down grades from what they had. Labaron Philon Jr. was their first round pick at number 22 and he is a good player, who will help them (and will need to). It’s a really easy trade for the 76ers to make. Paul George has negative value with his contract and is hurt a lot while Brown is one of the best players in the league. They are significantly better. I just don’t think they have the depth to compete with the New York Knicks.

This is a shockingly low return for the Boston Celtics. Why was Brown’s value this low? Paul George is on a disastrous contract, Philly had to attach a pick just to get off of him. How does a player who was 2nd team All-NBA and 6th in MVP voting go for this little and why did Boston want to get rid of him so badly? One big reason is Brown’s big contract but another is I think Boston doesn’t think Brown is as good as the fans do. Which is a fascinating bet. Paul George is still a good player who will help the Celtics when he is on the floor and the picks they got are good. It just feels like they didn’t get enough for a guy who finished 6th in MVP voting this past season. Something clearly changed with the relationship between Brown and the Celtics which led to this trade. Mitchell Robinson will help the Celtics in a big way. They need another big who can rebound and protect the rim and Robinson is elite at both. They are leaning into analytics in a big way and are going to try and win by dominating possessions and the margins. Mike Conley is old and washed so I don’t think he can be their big answer for their need at guard but that seems to be the case. I do think the Celtics will still be very good and win a lot of regular season games but they are not a true title contender.

Lakers acquire Walker Kessler

The Los Angeles Lakers acquired restricted free agent Walker Kessler for unprotected first round picks in 2031 and 2033 and pick swaps in 2028 and 2030, they signed Kessler to a 4yr/$130 million deal. Kessler is a good player, he only played 5 games last year due to a torn rotator cuff but played 74, 64 and 58 games in the years prior. I don’t think injuries are too much of a concern. The Lakers needed a center and Kessler is a good player who will help them in the post-LeBron era. With that said, I really don’t like this move for Los Angeles. It is too rich of a price to pay in terms of draft picks and money for a player who is good but hasn’t shown he is elite. Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves will bring the best out of Kessler’s offense, he will walk into 18 and 10 as a lob threat alone. However, his short roll game just isn’t where it needs to be at this point. He isn’t a great passer and hasn’t perfected a floater or short mid-range. He takes threes but only makes 27% of them for his career. The defense is really good and could become elite but he isn’t Rudy Gobert and that is the price the Lakers are paying to get him. It just seems too rich, even if they desperately needed a center.

Losing Kessler is a big loss for Utah as they end their rebuild and try to compete next season. Jaren Jackson Jr. has shown that he needs to play with a big that can rebound to thrive and Kessler was supposed to be that big man. The team did re-sign Jusuf Nurkic and signed Jaxson Hayes but those guys are flawed players and Nurk is a bad defensive player. However, you can see why Utah balked at giving Kessler this contract. They offered him a deal at 5-years and about $27 million AAV last offseason and he passed on it. They also get draft picks that they can use in a trade. They could try to over pay the Bucks for Kal’el Ware or the Pelicans for Yves Missi if they so choose. Both players are probably a bit worse than Kessler but not that much worse. I like Kessler but this money is too rich for me. Pair that up with the picks and you can see why the Jazz decided to make this move, even if it leaves a big hole in the middle.

Other Laker signings

Kessler wasn’t the only player the Lakers added on Wednesday, they also agreed to terms with Quinton Grimes (4yrs/$60 million), Sandro Mamukelashvili (4yrs/$52 million) and Collin Sexton (2yrs/$19 million). I would have rather re-signed Rui Hachimura, Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard than made any of these deals but they aren’t bad moves. Grimes is a solid player who had an up and down year for the 76ers last year but he will give them another layer of ball handling and shooting (as will Sexton). Mamukelashvili is a solid back up big who can play in lineups with Kessler. He had a breakout year for the Raptors last season with 11.2 points and 4.9 rebounds while shooting 52% from the field and 39% from three. The Sexton move is weird. He will help as a backup point guard and you can never have too much ballhanding but Marcus Smart signed a 2yr/$13 million deal with the Rockets, why couldn’t the Lakers pay that? He was a huge help to the Lakers last year and will be very missed by them. I am really unsure why the Lakers decided to let him go. These aren’t bad moves and all three players would help the Lakers but I didn’t love any of them. Also, no one gives out a player option like Rob Pelinka so, of course, all four players they signed have player options.

Rockets re-sign Tari Eason, sign Marcus Smart and Bogdan Bogdanovic, trade Dorian Finney-Smith

The Eason deal is elite value for the Rockets, restricted free agency can be a nightmare and Eason got off the market quickly with this deal. It makes sense that he would want to just get a deal signed after seeing what the restricted free agents went through last summer. That benefitted the Rockets in this case to lock down one of their best defensive players (whose three point shot comes and goes) at $16.3 million a year. I think Eason is a really good player so the Rockets should be thrilled with this value. I still think Marcus Smart is good. Now, he is my favorite player (outside of Jayson Tatum) but even with that bias, he was great for the Lakers last year with his defense, shooting and secondary creation. He is a great pickup for the Rockets. Bogdanovic hasn’t stayed healthy over the past few years but for the minimum, it is a good deal. Lastly, Dorian Finney-Smith was a massive miss by Houston last year so they are hoping this Lakers free agent signing (Smart) goes better than that the last one did. He should help the Hornets, if he can find his three point shot again.

John Collins signs with Pistons, 3yrs/$51 million

I didn’t love this move for the Pistons. Collins is a good player, who will provide another lob threat for Cade Cunningham and can eat some minutes at the 5 but I would have rathered re-sign Tobias Harris (more on him later). The first season is the only guaranteed year on this contract so that is good but for a Pistons team that needs shooting and secondary creation, Collins doesn’t give them any of that. It would have been bad if they waived Duncan Robinson to do it but reports indicate that is not the case. I just don’t like this deal at all. Collins is a fine player but he just doesn’t fill a need for them.

Nets re-sign Josh Minott and Day’Ron Sharpe and sign Keon Ellis and Moe Wagner, all to 2 year deals.

I like Josh Minott, as a Celtics fan I watched a lot of him in the first half of last season and thought he showed signs of a real NBA player of which Brooklyn clearly agrees. Sharpe is another guy I like with Claxton headed out the door, Sharpe should be able to be the Nets opening night starting center. He is a good player who should probably stop shooting threes but he does take them. Keon Ellis is a bit overrated for my taste. I think he is a fine player but not anyone who is going to knock your socks off like some people think. Moe Wagner’s return from a torn ACL last season was up and down but another year off of it, Brooklyn is likely hoping he can return to pre-injury form, when he was playing well for Orlando.

Spurs sign Tobias Harris, 2yrs/$30 million

The Spurs badly needed a 4 who can shoot and put the ball on the floor and Harris fills that need like a glove. It’s a really good move that should help the Spurs a lot as they look to get back to the Finals. With that said, I would have been all-in on LeBron James. Are we really worried he is going to mess up the chemistry? He is LeBron, he remains one of the 25 best players in the league and would have fit in very well as a screener and ball handler. I would have gone all-in on that move but they did not.

Bulls sign Norman Powell, 2yrs/$45 million

The Bulls badly needed someone in the backcourt who is an elite three point shooter and can put the ball on the floor to get to the rim and Powell fills that role. I thought the Pistons were the best Powell destination but they clearly didn’t want to give out the 2nd year of the contract guaranteed, which Chicago did. Adding Nic Claxton and Norman Powell to the mix are solid additions to the Bulls after drafting Caleb Wilson 4th overall.

Warriors re-sign Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis

To me, the Porzingis move indicated that they do not feel as if the LeBron James and Anthony Davis dream is realistic. However, I also ask why not risk losing the player to try and make that dream happen no matter what. What about KP indicates a player that you needed to give $40 million too. I know he was healthy post trade but he hasn’t ever been healthy throughout his career. Also, who were you bidding against? The Horford deal is a good one, 2-years seems bizarre for a guy that old but they are only paying him $13 million so I don’t mind it. I am also interested to see if Golden State matches the 3yr/$30 million offer sheet to Quinton Post. I am not sure I would with Porzingis and Horford in the fold already but we will see. The Dubs remain old and out of contention and LeBron and AD could have pushed them closer to that goal.

Other Notes

I don’t mind Memphis’ bet on Quinton Post. He has shown he can be a solid stretch big who is young. I am not sure he is good and they have a lot of centers so it is a risk but I don’t hate the bet. The Kenrich Williams deal with OKC is weird. They need to remain under the second apron and spending $5 million on a guy who isn’t a set rotation player when you are so close to it seems counter intuitive. However, he is a great fit with their locker room so they clearly feel like they need him. I really like the Luke Kennard addition for the Suns. It is another strange guy that the Lakers let go because like Smart, he is probably better than Collin Sexton. Josh Okogie and Jaxson Hayes are good pick ups for Utah. I would have maybe looked to get one player but after losing Kessler the Jazz needed bigs and needed another veteran rotation guy. Jusuf Nurkic played well for them last season, I am just skeptical about his viability of being a starting center on a real contender. Deandre Ayton is a fine addition for Washington. Part of the reason I don’t mind trading 2 picks for him is it gets Jaden Hardy off of the team and he isn’t very good. We continue to wait for LeBron James’s decision but I don’t want him in Cleveland. The jerseys they wear are really bad and we can’t have his last season be in them. He also doesn’t like living in Cleveland! I do think that is where he ends up, though

One sentence takes

Kelly Oubre Jr. is a good pickup for the Pacers as they look to get right back into the Eastern Conference conversation for next year. The Knicks getting Landry Shamet at the price they did is great value and Andre Drummond will also help as the Mitchell Robinson replacement. Tim Hardaway Jr. is a good floor spacer for the Heat, who badly need shooters around Bam and Giannis. Why do teams keep signing Tyus Jones? Nikola Vucevic is a good backup big at this point in his career and will provide good help for Orlando in his homecoming. Let’s end with the most recent signing, Rui Hachimura is good and I don’t understand why the Lakers didn’t want him back. That is a good pick up for the Clippers.