ESPN NBA Free Agency Update: Al Horford is going to Warriors; Are Kuminga & Chris Paul on the move?

ESPN NBA Free Agency Update: Al Horford is going to Warriors; Are Kuminga & Chris Paul on the move?

Hey, how about this as a way to start speculation? Here’s a photo of LeBron James at the Cavaliers practice facility posted on X on Friday. Now look, he’s reup with the Lakers. But still, he responded to the speculation, tweeting, “And every summer since it was built, I live here still and train every summer. Y’all bored, man. Go get a plate of food somewhere and enjoy the 4th of July.” Uh, you know what? Thanks, LeBron. I I am hungry for more speculation. Ah, that was cheesy. But Bobby Marx is in our ESPN NBA front office insider to help sort through all of this. So, Bobby, look, there’s a lot of talk about LeBron’s future with the Lakers after Rich Paul’s cryptic statement about James wanting to compete for championships, but knowing the Lakers are looking to the future. So, what are the chances that he could be on the move this summer? Well, I I think that depends on what LeBron James wants, right? He’s one of two players to have a no trade clause in his contract. Bradley Beal is the other one. And LeBron James dictates as far as what his future is going to hold as far as in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform. Brian, it’s complicated though. He’s got $53 million. He’s on an expiring contract. I talked to a couple teams during the week when that cryptic message came out and they said although he is a great player, it’s bad business breaking up your roster when you’re looking at trading three or four players for LeBron James for just one year here. So, I do think he will be in a Laker uniform when we get to training camp. You never say never here, but certainly things are not looking as promising as they once did in Los Angeles.
And here’s the thing, by the way, I mean, he’s playing for the Lakers and there are still a lot of free agents out there, some difference makers out there who could maybe help LeBron and the Lakers. So, who are your top guys available of the free agent class? Yeah, the first two are certainly the uh I don’t want to call them senior citizens, but they’re certainly o the older of the free agents here. I think it starts with Chris Paul, the 40-year-old just finished a year in with San Antonio, played all 82 games. That is a and also started 82 games, averaged north of seven assists per game here. I think he would be a perfect fit for a team like the Milwaukee Bucks who are in a dire need of a point guard. The next is certainly Al Horford, the 39year-old former NBA world champion. Here’s a player that’s averaged at least six rebounds per game in his career. Keep an eye on a team like possibly the Golden State Warriors. They need front court depth. Horford would be a perfect fit in Golden State. And then of course the group of four I call them. This is the restricted free agent group. Josh Giddy, Jonathan Kaminga, Quinton Grimes, Cam Thomas, those players should be off the board, but they are restricted free agents. Their team has the right to match on any offer sheet. The market has dried up with cap space. There is no money out there for a team to give an offer sheet. So, we’ll see what happens with the future of those four players. Every single one of those guys on that list could help a contender. We’ll see if any of them are on the move, but those restricted guys, they’re tough to move. So, we’ll see what happens with all this. Bobby, thank you so much for joining us on this 4th of July. Happy 4th to you. So, when I asked Brian for a word to describe this free agency, he said expensive. I’ll say so. Look at this. Over two billion dollars has been agreed to since free agency opened about 26 hours ago. And one of the most active teams has been the Milwaukee Bucks. Brian, how would you grade their free agency so far?
I got a new word. It’s buyout. Because this buyout for Dame Lillard took the entire league by surprise. certainly took the Indiana Pacers by surprise. It’s given the Bucks an entire new outlook on their off seasonason. They’ve been able to resign a majority of their free agents, their key players that they’ve had to be supporting players. The one guy that they’ve lost has been Brook Lopez, who they’ve replaced with an excellent option in Miles Turner, an upgrade at that position, and they still have uh some money left to do maneuvering. And what they’re hoping for is an engaged John Tennaco who very well could win his third MVP award next year. Are they a team that I would consider the favorite? No. Are they a contender? Yes. And let’s remember, a team that was in the middle of the pack this last year in the Eastern Conference, they had depth and had great play at the top of their lineup, ended up in the finals. That’s what the Bucks are dreaming of right now.
Any team that has Giannis on it, you cannot count out. But the same could be said for a couple of other select stars in the league, including someone like, I don’t know, Nicola Joic. So, let’s go from the 2021 champs, the 2023 champions, the Denver Nuggets. They made the splash first. They traded away Michael Porter Jr. to Ca for Cam Johnson. You can see their numbers compared here. But Tim Leggler on the floor. How is this going to look?
Here’s how it fits and here’s how it helps Denver and this is why I think it was an upgrade. Talk about first of all some of the action you’re going to see right here. And Malik, let me ask you a question. Do you know any other teams in the Western Conference that like to run a twoman game? A couple. What about maybe the Denver and maybe the Denver Nuggets? Right. So this is that action right here. You’re going to turn the corner. You’re going to get a dive. What I want you to focus on is here. This is Cam Johnson in weak side of the floor. He’s got great instincts for this. And he is a very good off the movement shooter. As you see the defense right here collapse on the paint. Watch Cam Johnson circle back behind the basketball to create that space. Very good off the move. And then watch this little pump fake. Freezes him. Side step. Knocks it down. Does that a high level perfect release. He also does this. You can run pin downs for him at a higher level than what you could Michael Porter. And you’re going to see right here, couple of screens are going to be set. Now, this is going to be a read. You got a double screen coming off the corner. They’re going to read their teammate in the corner and see what he wants to do. As you see right here, when this cut is made along the baseline, that tells now Cam Johnson he is going to circle back off this down screen. And watch how quickly he gets to the three-point line. Even against an all league defender like Lou Dort, he doesn’t need much time. It’s a great read. Watch how quick those feet get together. How quickly that ball is out of his hands off the down screen. Now, how does it fit with Nicola Joic? He’s also an excellent weak side cutter. How does that play in? Well, pretty much anytime Joic has the ball in the post, he is surveying everything on the weak side of the floor. As you can see right here, he’s looking at all these eyes on the weak side and he’s also looking at his teammate. Any sort of weak side cut, Nikolic is going to find you. Cam Johnson is a very good weak side cutter when their space said it yesterday. I’m going to say it again. Cam Johnson is about to get the highest quality of shot he’s ever gotten in his career because he’s playing with Nicola Yoko.
He’s pulling a Beyonce. You’re going to get an upgrade you type of situation. Thank you for painting that picture for us here, Legs. Really appreciate it. As we take a look here at the still available free agent, some notable free agent names that are still available here on the market. Of course, DeAndre Aton at the top of this list as we’re keeping monitoring that. But as we also look at some restricted free agents here, Jonathan Kaminga, Quinton Grimes come to mind. So now let’s welcome in our reporter who spent a whole lot of time covering the Golden State Warriors last season. I mentioned Jonathan Kaminga here. What is the the plan for him for the Golden State Warriors? Malikica, it almost feels like we’re in a little bit of a holding pattern because we have to wait and see what kind of market Jonathan Kamika can get outside of Golden State. Can he find another team that will want him and then pay him and then also perhaps work out a sign and trade with Golden State or does he want to remain in Golden State? Does he want to take the qualifying offer and then maybe become a free agent next season and bet on himself? Those are all things we’re going to see. Now, look, the Warriors GM Mike Dunle Jr. I said hopefully we get this done sooner than later, but it looks like they’re going to have to wait. All league sources around the league com are telling me they still hear Al Horford’s name with the Warriors. They can do that before Kaminga. But as far as filling out the rest of the roster and what else Golden State can do, they’re going to have to probably wait and see what Jonathan Kaminga does.
All right. What should Kaminga want here?
He should want to go be his best version. And I don’t think that’s going to happen in Golden State. And it’s nothing against Golden State is nothing against Kaminga. It’s just not a good fit. And especially when you bring in a guy like Jimmy Butler. Jimmy Butler is a a damn good basketball player. He needs the ball in his hands. He’s going to make other guys better. He’s going to defend on the other end. His basketball IQ is out of the roof. And I think that’s where he gets the edge with Kaminga where you put him in the game and you put him with Steph. You put him with those other guys and you don’t miss a beat. You put Kaminga in and it’s a little bit of a it’s a little bit of a standstill offensively. He gets the ball in his hands, he wants to do his thing. So Jonath Jonathan Kaminga should look for a situation or opportunity to be his best version. It is his time and he should not feel bad about that at all. Oftent times we make guys feel bad about wanting to step into their light and be their best version. I don’t think he should feel bad about this. He’s played the game. He’s been at Golden State long enough. This is a guy who’s 15 points per game, 45% from the field. He’s a damn good basketball player. It’s his time to shine and he wants his opportunity and I don’t blame him.
What I’m hearing from different people is like where is he getting his money from? Um what is he proving? We’ve seen splashes. Yeah, we saw it in when Steph went out in the playoffs last year
and but not something consistent. Uh, one GM said I think he needs to worry more about the fit than the money right now and take care of the money later with his play. So, what I I’m hearing the Warriors are still optimistic that they’re going to resign him, but if they resign him, maybe that’s for a signing trade. Uh, another thing I’m hearing of the many teams that reached out to Damon Lillard,
uh, the Warriors were one of those teams.
This is this is a guy that grew up
going to games at Oracle Arena, uh, sneaking in the media room, getting sodas, grew up a Warriors fan. That’s interesting. I I know Kaminga’s big, but you know, hearing that the Warriors do have interest in Dame, uh, that’s I know that’s very interesting to Bay Area people.
Well, it wouldn’t necessarily be an either or, although that is interesting. Spears, um, if this isn’t the worst market for restricted free agents in the last generation, I don’t want to see it. There’s just no money out there for cap space and sign and trades are very tough to pull out. I know that they happen routinely. We just saw one with Duncan Robinson as a matter of fact, but they’re very hard with with restricted free agents because the team that has the rights isn’t motivated to play ball. And so Kaminga is in a tough spot. Josh Giddy is in a tough spot. Quinton Grimes is in a tough spot. In these situations, what you tend to get is stalemates. And so what ends up might end up happening is the best thing for the Warriors is to retain Jonathan Kaminga to use him as an asset later on in trade. The best thing for Jonathan Kaminga might be to do to do something similar even if these two sides probably are primed for a breakup.
Okay, so play this out for me, Lex.
Yeah, listen. I think personally at this point, I think that the Warriors need Jonathan Kaminga more than he needs them. And here’s what I mean by that.
Where are the athletes on this team?
He does represent an athletic wing. The guy does have something from a skill standpoint and just a physical standpoint they don’t have on their roster. I understand he’s got warts. I know that they wish he was a little bit more locked in like defensively with his concentration. They wish that he was more consistent with his rebounding effort. I get all of that. The guy has played almost 6,000 minutes for the Golden State Warriors and he’s still auditioning. I think at some point you’ve got to come to the realization it’s not going to happen for him in Golden State where he’s going to break through. And guess what? It might not happen somewhere else either. But I think go Jonathan Kaminga to find out. I think he needs to go somewhere where he doesn’t have such cynicism looking at him all the time waiting for the bad habits to crop themselves so he can go back to the bench. That’s what I mean by that. They need him. They need the physical specimen that he is. He needs a fresh start somewhere else to see what this guy can actually become in this game.
And that’s so well put when you’re constantly saying, you know, this is who I am. This is who I am. This is who I am. If people don’t want to believe you, then that at some point ends up on the team. Can we just Real quick, Damen Lillard potentially getting calls for him from the Golden State Warriors. Udonis, does that does that address a need?
As he should. You talking to a hometown kid that took multiple pay cuts just to stay at the crib as he should. Is he has the opportunity to play at home? That’s a lifelong dream for a lot of people. And at his point in his career, you want to have an opportunity to win a championship. You get a chance to play against Steph. I don’t know if you win it, but you you got a damn good opportunity when you play against Steph. I ain’t never betting against the chef over there. So if he has the opportunity to start over and go play with chef,
two of the best shooters of all time,
at least take a look at it.
Greatest range of any back court in history. I think I can tell you that they would put on a show.
They going to be a lot of switching on pick and roll. I don’t want to be the one called up. You go. Don’t call me up. You go.
Not me. But you did say there were a dozen or so teams who were making these calls about Damian time.
Yep.
Uh but that has to
But that’s interesting to think about.
I mean, you know, but
that’s home. I have I have one point and to piggy back off you said it makes all the world to a basketball player when you feel wanted. I know we big, we got tattoos, we athletic, we sensitive, you want to feel wanted in the locker room and by the coaches and by that organization and once you don’t feel wanted as a basketball player, it’s hard to go back. It’s hard to go back mentally as much as you might want to. It is hard to go back mentally when you don’t feel wanted somewhere.
His fan his his cousins are still Warriors fans.
Oh yeah. When you when you’re from Oklahoma, that’s how it is. your cousin going to be worse than our our former NBA players over here. Just so you guys know, you’re always wanted here. Really truly still to come. Jenny Dell here on this Thursday afternoon. Welcome to CBS Sports HQ. We are one day away from the fireworks of the 4th of July, but the fireworks, they’ve been going on nonstop when it comes to the NBA free agency. It’s been crazy. There’s still so much more work that needs to be done. Checking out the top available free agents right now. Now, restricted free agent Jonathan Kaminga. He tops our list at cbsports.com. You can check out that whole list online. If you take a look at number three, you see Malik Beasley. Well, he is currently the subject of a federal gambling probe. So any deals with him currently are on pause and restricted free agent Cam Thomas rounds out our top six. Lucky enough to be joined by Ashley Nicole Moss now on the desk. We’re going to talk about some of the best landing spots for these remaining free agents. You’re busy away on that laptop. It has been non-stop for you girl. I don’t know how you’re still standing right now, but let’s start at number one with Kaminga. Where do you see him fitting in best?
Yeah, so Kaminga is going to be interesting, right? I think that more than likely he’s sticking with the Golden State Warriors for a multitude of reasons. I think the biggest reason for me is that obviously the Warriors have a qualifying offer to Kaminga, making him a restricted free agent. They could still resign him. We all know how that works. But here’s the thing. Kaminga wants to be in a situation where he’s going to have a bigger role. That’s been the contention between him and this organization, Steve Kerr specifically, is that he’s never really found his footing. And as somebody who is a Knicks fan, I know once upon a time we had the same issue with Obie Toppin and Obie wasn’t really able to flourish into his own as a player until he got where the Indiana Pacers. So it’s going to really rely on Kaminga’s desire for a larger role, consistent minutes, and a lucrative contract. Now, the Warriors, on the other hand, though, they need to weigh the potential asking price and fit within uh their current roster. So, they have to weigh what Kaminga is going to want against what they’re able to provide. And as we know, these aprons have drastically changed the way these teams are doing business. But it seems now on July 3rd, this could change. Obviously, that what Kaminga is looking for. There’s not a lot of teams who can pay him that. The Warriors are the only team that has the dibs on him right now. It’s just a matter if they can come to an agreement with what his role is going to be. I will say this, the Golden State Warriors should start preparing for life after Draymond Green and Steph Curry and Jonathan Kaminga may be the piece that they can start doing with that doing that with. They just have to find a middle ground between what he wants and what they can provide.
Still so young, too. He will be just 23 years old at the start of next season. Next up on our list, I want to ask about Josh Giddy. Traded from the Thunder to the Bulls in June of 2024 for Alex Caruso. He had career highs in many categories last season. What do you think’s going to happen?
This one’s hard because the Bulls are in the best position to give him what he wants moneywise, right? But when you talk about what Josh Giddy is looking for, obviously the paycheck, let’s be very clear about that. But I think also there are teams out in the league that necessarily aren’t going to be contenders. They may not even be playoff teams, but neither the Chicago Bulls, but they are looking to kind of rebuild and and go younger. and the team on my list for him, if it’s not Chicago, the Washington Wizards. We see the moves that they have made so far. They’re not making these catastrophic lifechanging franchise changing moves, but they are trying to get younger and trying to figure it out as they go. So, if it’s not Chicago for me, I think the Wizards would be a good spot for him.
That would be a nice landing spot for sure. Up next, we have Al Horford, an unrestricted free agent. The other two were restricted. Entering his 19th season, 39 years old.
You know him well, Jenny Dell. You know him well.
So, so what happens with Horford?
Horford’s interesting. I I think the unfortunate reality of the situation is the Jason Tatum injury has kind of just thrown the Boston Celtics in complete disarray. This was a team that was in prime position to run it back. this devastating injury to their star has kind of forced this new ownership to really start looking at life, the next iteration of the Boston Celtics. And we already saw the movement with Porzingis. We already saw the movement with Drew Holiday. And Al Horford’s an interesting piece, veteran guy, phenomenal at his position. Uh in Boston last season, averaged nine points, six and a half rebounds, two assists, 42% shooting from the field, and almost 37% from the three. I think his shooting would be ideal for the Golden State Warriors front court with Butler and Green. And he’s also a guy that’s not going to cost you a lot of money. You could pay him the vet vet minimum, maybe a little bit above that. It’s not going to put the Warriors over the edge. We already know the Lakers are probably out of this conversation after signing DeAndre Aton. I think if it’s not Boston, it’s probably the Golden State Warriors that would be the bet fit best fit for him. Any concern with his age getting up there a little bit? No, I mean Al Horford’s not a guy who’s going to log a lot of minutes. He’s not a starter. He’s the guy that comes off the bench. He’s the guy that kind of gets that movement with that second unit. But the best thing about Al Horford is yes, he is a particular age, but he is so reliable that he is a guy you want in your locker room. And also, if we’re going to be realistic, it could also come down to the fact that Al Horford just maybe retires. You mentioned his age. He’s won a championship. He’s had a lucrative career. Obviously, I believe he’s going into the Hall of Fame. That’s a big debate in the NBA world whether or not he will or he won’t. Um, but we always forget when we talk about guys uh in this stage of their career, there’s always a chance that they don’t want to go elsewhere. They just will hang it up before that happens. But I think the Warriors are a good fit if he ultimately decides not to do that.
Yeah. A 2024 NBA champ with the Boston Celtics. Had to throw that one out there. Five time allstar. Yeah, he he’s done his part. That’s for sure. What about a player like Quinton Grimes? So, you look at his numbers last year, 21.9 points per game, five rebounds, four assists, and 28 games with the Sixers. Uh, dealing with multiple injuries though last season. Where do you see him ending up?
I would have loved to bring him back to the Knicks. Uh, that would have been an ideal situation for me. I just don’t see that’s feasible because Quinton Grimes is looking to get paid and obviously as we know the 76ers acquired him from the Dallas Mavericks via a trade and his performance with the 76ers especially because of how injured this team was. Um when you talk about Joel Embiid and Paul George and those guys really put him in a different light. He put him kind of in the center and increased his scoring average. He has raised his profile. He’s gotten more attractive to other teams. I think again when we talk about a landing spot, if it’s not the 76ers who more than likely will try to retain him, I think the Wizards are another team to look at. They are a team that’s trying to build young talented players and or trying to bring in young talented players to kind of revamp this just disastrous tenure of the Washington Wizards for I don’t even know how many years. It feels like most of my existence. um and he’s 25 years old, so he fits that profile, but they’re going to have to weigh his potential against their financial limitations, and that’s where things get sticky. So, again, if it’s not the 76ers who can retain him, and more than likely will, it’s for me, the Washington Wizards would be a nice fit.
You’re talking about the Wizards needing needing to get a little bit of help. Is there a team before we move on that you feel like that’s still out there that needs a lot of work still at this point? Um, I mean it depends. Like, are we talking teams that are trying to do something or are we talking teams that just need to rebuild? Because the Brooklyn Nets are a disaster. And I just realized, I know Bon’s probably yelling at me in the control room right now. Josh Giddy was to the Nets if he didn’t go back to Chicago. So, I’m sorry, Bony, don’t yell at me. Um, it’s a lot to remember off the top of my head here. Um, but I think the Nets are interesting. I think the Wizards, the Bulls, but these are all teams that, for lack of a better term, are in a black hole when it comes to their future. It’s going to take them a very long time to be back in the conversation. I think these aprons and the lack of money going around the league has made it very difficult for a lot of these other teams that are in contention to do other things. The Timberwolves are a perfect example of that. I think they should have made a move, but they have financial limitations, especially since reigning Nas Reed and Julius Randall that have prevented them from making their team a next level better.
We’re going to be talking about some of those teams in our next segment. Uh you mentioned the Nets there. That brings us to Cam Thomas careerh highs and points uh per game, rebounds, assists, played 25 games there for the Nets before he lost uh the remainder of the season with that left hamstring strain. What happens with a guy like Cam?
Cam Thomas is more than likely coming back to Brooklyn. I mean, he has made it clear he wants to return to Brooklyn and Brooklyn’s really the only team that has the cap space to afford him. He’s probably looking for anywhere between 80 to$100 million over four years. And like I said, the Nets have ample cap space or and are likely to offer Cam Thomas a competitive deal. Now, they obviously, I believe, view him as a cornerstone player and are motivated to retain him. And I just don’t see a market where Cam Thomas is going to get a the playing time that he gets in Brooklyn, b kind of the centerpiece option that he gets in Brooklyn, and more importantly, the money that he gets in Brooklyn because everyone’s broke. Nobody has any cash to spend, and if they do, they are trying to retain it and maintain themselves under the second apron. So, Brooklyn’s in a very nice situation. Like I started off by saying, they’re essentially bidding against themselves for Cam Thomas. I would be very surprised if he landed anywhere else but Brooklyn. Brooklyn must be happy about that. Listen, you got to you got to get some some goodness over there, Ash.
Yeah, I mean, I’m a Knicks fan, so I’m fine.
Of course you are. We got more coming

ESPN NBA Free Agency Update: Al Horford is going to Warriors; Are Kuminga & Chris Paul on the move?