It is certainly the time of the season for absurd speculation and even more absurd decisions as the July 1 opening of NBA Free Agency is upon us. Gosh, I love NBA Free Agency, but then again, who doesn't? Ever since LeBron's first go round in 2010 when he went to Miami, the free agency spectacle has grown to such heights that allow for Woj to have 2.4 million followers on Twitter, and for Stephen A. to still be employed.
But you're hearing enough about this year's free agency already, aren't you? I don't need to sit here and blow more smoke about Kawhi being traded or LeBron going to LA. No, what you're interested in is the 2022 free agency cycle, or else you would not have clicked on the link. So let's chat about what the most absurd event for us sports fans to care so much will look like in four years.
So first, lets recap the 2021-22 NBA season. The Golden State Warriors just beat the Los Angeles Lakers 4-1 to win their sixth title in eight years.
Let's take another quick step back, the Lakers big three of PG13, Kawhi, and LeBron defeated the Dubs in the WCF in 2019, and proceeded top the Celtics in 7 in the Finals. Adam Silver then did away with the current playoff formatting following that season, and the teams were then seeded 1-16, regardless of conference. Allowing for the Lakers and Warriors to meet in the finals for the following three seasons. However the Lakers were not the same anymore. PG got hurt in the conference finals in '20, and was never the same after that. Also, in a strange turn of events, Kawhi actually missed Pop and signed with the Spurs in the Summer of 2019. So that left LeBron trying to carry a Lakers team that had Lonzo, LaMelo, Kent Bazemore, and Marc Gasol as the other four starters.
After winning the title in '19, the Lakers got swept in '20 and '21, and lost in 5 in '22 (In their one win, LeBron scored all 117 of the Lakers points, but still didn't win Finals MVP). Bron is obviously frustrated seeing how he has made twelve consecutive Finals appearances and only won four of those.
So here we have our main free agency headline of summer 2022. LeBron wants out of LA, but where will he go? Well the obvious answer is Cleveland, but that just seems to be the natural progression of things. Of course Miami is in the mix even though the dynamic there is a little different. Pat Riley retired, so Erik Spoelstra became team President and GM, with Juwan Howard being named head coach. Pop is still alive, so he is still coaching the Spurs, and there are rumors that LeBron and Kawhi may team up again.
Perhaps the most interesting possibility for LeBron is the Akron LeBrons. (When the league expanded two years prior, Ohio billionaire Lex Wexner put up a ton of money to build the most grand basketball stadium in history in Lebron's hometown of Akron. Then in a brilliant move of foresight, he named the team after Akron's chosen one, in an effort to get him to sign with the team in '22). The LeBrons are a young team with intrigue, and seem like a potential contender if LeBron came to play for the team that bear his name.
Of course LeBron is not the only free agent of interest. Veteran Klay Thompson chose not to exercise his option after signing a super max deal with the Utah Jazz in 2019. There are of course the rumors that he and LeBron will team up somewhere, but the likelihood of that seems slim considering cap situations with LeBron's most desirable landing spots. There are also rumors that he would consider taking less money and returning to the Warriors after KD and Steph restructured their contracts to allow for such a move the summer before.
Blake Griffin is probably the next most noteworthy free agent, but after suffering two concussions the season before (one from hitting his head on the backboard while dunking and another from being pushed into the scorer's table by Draymond Green) there are concerns about his health, plus he's lost some of his explosiveness.
Jrue Holiday is now 32, but just continues to get better as he ages, and is now considered a top five point guard in the league, who somehow still has not peaked. Sources say though that he is likely to resign with the Pelicans after he and AD made the semifinals (remember, there aren't conference finals now) the last two seasons. But there is a possibility that he would hear a pitch from the Sixers who originally drafted him. This seems an unlikely destination, though. Joel Embiid walked away from basketball right before the 2020-21 season was supposed to begin, and took over for Conan O'Brien as the host of TBS' late night comedy guy.
Last but not least, the player with the most upside and perhaps the most likely to team up with LeBron: Michael Porter Jr. After missing the first ten games of his rookie season, MPJ went on to win ROY, and make two all star appearances in his first four seasons, even winning All-NBA third team honors in '22. However, his Nuggets teams are just terrible. They've been one of the bottom ten teams each of the last four years. His stock is high, and it sounds that LeBron is waiting to see what MPJ does before he makes a decision.
Like usual, Woj is busy as ever, Stephen A. is saying absurd things, and we are all eating it up. This is shaping up to be a very interesting summer, and it's hard telling how the league will look when games start in October.