The Free Agency 2022 had started off with a bang and for the past few days it has been flat calm in terms of signatures. So what’s going on in the land of Uncle Sam?
A one-year deal from Serge Ibaka yesterday (probably at least), Goran Dragic and Cody Martin the day before yesterday, that’s what we had to get our teeth into over the last two evenings… Where’s the slew of tweets? who should announce signatures by the dozen? Where have Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charania gone? It is true that a lot of hot issues have already been closed (find it here) but there is still work to really conclude this Free Agency 2022. How to explain that then? Well, we would be tempted to say that Kevin Durant has something to do with it. Announced on the departure of the Nets, the All-Star winger attracts all the desires and his file might well have taken precedence over the rest of the League. The reason is simple: KD is the domino that will drag the rest down. All franchises interested in his services cannot move their pawns on other players because they cannot afford to burn assets or lose flexibility in this prio folder. The teams at the bottom of the table also fit into this mold because, with often flexible finances, they are best able to play the role of the third franchise, the one who facilitates a deal. Who knows, we might even imagine a fourth or even a fifth team joining the exchange given the complexity of the assembly.
Finally, there are the other free agents and for them too the wait is in order. There are for example the ring chasers, who are waiting to see where it is interesting to sign to go and play for the title and some might obviously follow KD to his next home. One would be tempted to say: why do the small markets not take advantage of this to get their hands on the free players? Quite simply because the latter know that there will be disappointed in the Durant file and they will then act as priorities for the repressed leaders. We then come back to the image of the famous domino to talk regarding the current situation. If Kevin Durant is traded in the next few hours, we can have the rest of the signings in record time. If, on the other hand, Sean Marks decides to play for time as some people think, the free agents may well have to take their troubles patiently and so will we at the same time. We may be talking regarding the craziest trade in NBA history and it doesn’t happen in three minutes flat. Some prepare their finest packages, others play the competition, it’s the game and it takes time. So be patient.
The Free Agency has been idling for 48 hours and the Kevin Durant file might well be the key that releases everything. Come on Shams, come on Woj’, vibrate the phone, we want to know the end of the story.