All is fair in love, war and especially free agency.
So the Celtics, in making their pitch to the most sought-after, desirable and perceived-as-gettable free agent, Oklahoma City superstar Kevin Durant, brought a star of stars, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, to their meeting in the Hamptons on Saturday.
But even if Brady’s presence still leaves them deflated in their quest of Durant, the Celtics came up big winners as Atlanta power forward Al Horford agreed to a four-year, $113 million contract as first reported by The Vertical. Durant had sought Horford for the Thunder.
Comcast Sportsnet New England tweeted a picture that showed Brady and Celtics GM/president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, presumably on their way to the meeting with Durant, if not stopping for a bowl of chowdah. The Celtics contingent reportedly also included players Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Smart, Jae Crowder and Kelly Olynyk. The Celtics have depth and talent but seek the first-tier superstar Durant represents.
It is safe to assume Ainge was not asking Brady, a four-time Super Bowl champ and three-time Super Bowl MVP, for the secrets of the shotgun offense. Earlier in the week, Ainge wore a pair of Durant’s sneakers to the engagement party for his son, Cooper.
“I wonder what my dad was thinking about during my engagement party,” Cooper Ainge tweeted with a picture of the KD 8 sneakers.
He probably was thinking about how to get Brady through Jets territory unscathed. And wouldn’t it sting if Durant ended up signing as a wide receiver with the Patriots?
Another big-name Boston star, the Red Sox’s David Ortiz, was not at the meeting but contributed his recruiting of Durant to social media.
“Yo @KDTrey5 sorry I couldn’t make the meeting today but Brady will tell u they don’t call Boston the City of Champions for nothing,” Ortiz tweeted Saturday afternoon.
Durant met Friday in the Hamptons with contingents from both the Warriors and the Clippers, meetings that reportedly went well as both teams brought owners, players, coaches, execs and likely chips and dip.
Yeah, it is safe to say NBA owners will resort to anything, including spending some serious dollars. Roughly $1.743 billion was agreed to on the first day of free agency Friday.
There certainly is more money than ever to spend. The NBA announced Saturday the salary cap for 2016-17 officially is set at $94.143 million. So teams must spend a 90 percent minimum, or $84.729 million. The league also noted the three mid-level exceptions based on a team’s salary picture ($5.628M for non-tax paying teams; $3.477M for tax-paying teams; $2.898M for teams under the cap).
There were more deals reported on numerous sites Saturday, including small forward Luol Deng going from Miami to the Lakers for four years and $72 million and shooting guard Arron Afflalo leaving the Knicks for two years and $25 million with Sacramento. Toronto center Bismack Biyombo agreed to a four-year, $70 million pact in Orlando. Ex-Net Ryan Anderson will leave New Orleans for Houston and four years, $80 million. The Pistons, who had fingers crossed for Horford, wound up agreeing with Suns power forward Jon Leuer (four years, $41 million). Forward Marvin Williams will return to Charlotte for four years and $54.5 million.
The Mavericks also reportedly plan to sign Warriors restricted free agent Harrison Barnes to an offer sheet for the max of four years, $95 million.
No one can sign until the NBA moratorium ends on July 7. Golden State will have three days to match, if Barnes signs an offer sheet.
So what could you do for $1.743 billion, which is the rough value of the first day’s 29 agreements and offer sheets?
Other than buy 1.743 billion items at a dollar store, that is.
According to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud website, for that kind of money, you can buy more than 16 million Thanksgiving dinners for a group of 10 persons every year — for the next 200 years.
Or if you don’t want to wait until November, you could treat 7.6 million families of four to 10 Major League Baseball games — or 3.8 million families to 20 games, but they might get bored. Oh, it’s not just the games. The guests would get tickets, caps, programs — with pencils — sodas, hot dogs, beer (for the adults) and parking.
Yup, the players did all right, including Mike Conley who Friday agreed to stay in Memphis for five years and $153 million, which would be the richest contract in NBA history.
