The MADNESS Has Begun...

While KD and Kyrie leaving the Nets has been the main topic, we got a ton more interesting signings and players switching teams on the very first day of NBA free agency. So let’s go through the most interesting ones. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. Starting off with trying to figure out exactly what the Lakers did. They signed Juan Toscano Anderson, Lonnie Walker, Damian Jones and Troy Brown Jr. And while Anderson is a solid defender with length who will help out with the bad defense that the Lakers had last season, absolutely none of these is a good 3 point shooter, and somehow they got even worse in that aspect, despite being bad last season to begin with. 18th in makes per game and 22nd in percentage from downtown, and on top of that, they lost Malik Monk who was their best outside shooter, and will probably not have Carmelo back, who was another threat. So despite all of that talk about how they will try to make things work with Westbrook, the spacing at the moment looks absolutely horrific. 1 wild card however is of course the fact that we know that Kyrie Irving wants to play in LA, and with all the power that the players have, in my opinion he will somehow force his way there and Brooklyn will have to trade with the Lakers. So this is definitely not the final look of this team. But to me, they didn’t start free agency well at all. I like what the Sixers did, bringing P.J. Tucker to the team who will add a lot of fight on defense and stretch the floor from the corner. Although he didn’t shoot a lot of them, Tucker was automatic with 41.5% from downtown, so teams will be hesitant to help on Embiid or Harden off of P.J. That allows their main 2 stars more single coverage and more freedom on offense. Also as extra firepower from downtown, Philly got Danuel House who can be streaky. With that I feel like they covered and upgraded what they lost in the Danny Green trade. In return however they got another solid piece in De’Anthony Melton who’s both a good defender and can shoot the ball well from downtown. So overall, good start for the Sixers, but Daryl Morey seems to be going all out in trying to win the championship, and got in the Kevin Durant race as well. They are definitely not done. The Bucks probably just needed a healthy Khris Middleton to get to the finals this year, so they kept the team- re-signing Portis, Matthews and Carter, and even added a great piece in my opinion in Joe Ingles. A great shooter and terrific passer who can make a play for the team and be very dynamic. Of course he’s rehabbing from injury, but should start playing around All Star, just in time for the second half of the season and the important games. The Blazers snatched away Gary Payton from Golden State. A phenomenal defender who will be a much needed upgrade for the second worst defense in the NBA. This signing, along with Jerami Grant from a few days ago really upgrades the roster defensively. Grant is also a versatile player and a 19 point per game scorer last season. So with Lillard coming back healthy, Portland hopes that Simmons can take another step up and justify the 100 million dollar contract that they also gave him last night, and form a dynamic duo for this team. Dallas got Javale Mcgee who can give them some good minutes as a lob threat with Luka but that should be off the bench if the Mavs want to win a title. I was hoping to see them make a run for a more serious big man like Ayton for example who according to reports will probably not re-sign with Phoenix. Dallas will also need to find a replacement for Jalen Brunson who signed with the Knicks and I already made a video about that. I mentioned there that there are talks about forming a Slovenian connection in Dallas by bringing in Goran Dragic. But we’ll see if that becomes official. These are most of the signings from the first day of free agency and certainly the most interesting ones. But the madness is just beginning so this will be a very interesting off season. Did you team upgrade at the start? And also where do you expect KD and Kyrie to end up? Let me know in the comments. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.