Outside of the regular season, the playoffs, and the NBA Draft, there may not be a more intriguing time in the NBA than the annual Free Agency period during the offseason. Despite the current position that all 30 NBA teams are in, free agency provides an optimal chance for each team to improve its roster by adding a variety of players. With this said, it is important to know the clear distinction between an unrestricted and restricted free agent. As stated by the NBA, an unrestricted free agent (UFA) is able to sign with any NBA team without restriction. Similar to an unrestricted free agent, a restricted free agent (RFA) is able to sign an offer sheet with any NBA team, but the player’s original team can retain him by matching the terms of that offer, also known as an offer sheet. The original team is said to have the “right of first refusal.”
For teams rostering restricted free agents, the ability to match any other team’s offer for a select player is incredibly useful, and often helps the incumbent team. In spite of this, some teams with restricted free agents may decide that it’s in their best interest to not match another team’s offer. This decision may be due to a number of reasons, such as a rocky relationship between the player and the organization, or the player’s asking price pushing him out of town. Of the 79 restricted free agents in the 2022 offseason, there will be quite a few that will see the opportunity to sign elsewhere, due to these aforementioned reasons. For the Orlando Magic, they should monitor these three restricted free agents that may be available this offseason.
Miles Bridges, SF/PF, Charlotte Hornets
One of the true breakout stars from the 2021-2022 NBA season, Miles Bridges will look to earn a well-deserved payday from Charlotte or any other interested team in Free Agency. As a result of a larger role in Charlotte, Bridges’ production flourished, as he averaged 20.2 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 3.8 APG, 0.9 SPG, and 0.8 BPG in 80 games, all career-highs for Bridges. While Bridges’ shooting efficiency wasn’t as great as past seasons, Bridges was still a respectable shooter, going 49.1% from the field, 33.1% from three-point range, and 80.2% from the free-throw line. At 6’6″ and 225 pounds, Bridges played the Small Forward and Power Forward positions in Charlotte, and paired extremely well with the 2020-2021 Rookie of the Year LaMelo Ball.
As it currently stands, Bridges is searching for a max contract in free agency, whether that’s with Charlotte or not. If Bridges does resign with Charlotte, then he’s eligible to sign a five-year, $173 million max-contract extension. Unfortunately, Charlotte has very limited cap space to sign Bridges to a max deal, as they are projected to -$22.8 million in salary-cap space for the 2022 offseason. If Charlotte doesn’t make any cost-saving moves to retain Bridges, then a team with available cap space like Orlando could easily swoop in and sign Bridges.
In spite of this, there are ways for Charlotte to create cap space to resign Bridges. To begin, Charlotte can trade future draft capital to a team such as Oklahoma City in order to unload some of its major contracts. For example, trading Gordon Hayward (two years, $30 million) and Terry Rozier (four years, $21.4 million) would relieve about $50 million in cap space for the Hornets. In addition to this, Montrezl Harrell ($12.6 million), Kelly Oubre Jr. ($12.6 million), and Mason Plumlee ($9.0 million) will all enter unrestricted free agency this summer, freeing up an additional $34.2 million in salary-cap space.
If Bridges is available this offseason, then it would make too much sense for Orlando to go after Bridges. At 24 years old, Bridges fits right along the timeline of Orlando’s young core, consisting of Carter Jr. (23 years old), Markelle Fultz (23 years old), Cole Anthony (22 years old), Franz Wagner (20 years old), and Jalen Suggs (20 years old). With his aforementioned ability to play the Small Forward or Power Forward positions, Bridges’ positional versatility would give Head Coach Jamahl Mosley multiple ways to pair Bridges with Carter Jr. and restricted free agent Mo Bamba.
Anfernee Simons, PG/SG, Portland Trail Blazers
As soon as Portland found out that six-time All NBA Guard Damian Lillard wouldn’t return to the NBA floor after undergoing Abdominal Surgery, the Trail Blazers used their 2021-2022 season to give their young players more playing time. The best example of this is Simons, who enjoyed a career year in Lillard’s and C.J. McCollum’s absence. In 57 games this season, Simons averaged 29.5 MPG, 17.3 PPG, 2.6 RPG, and 3.9 APG, all career-highs. In addition to this, Simons was a much more efficient shooter this season, going 44.3% from the field and 40.5% from three-point range.
With the current construction of the Trail Blazers’ roster, it seems like Simons will be a key piece in the Blazers’ retooling plan around Lillard, assuming Simons doesn’t price himself out of Portland. In a very weak free-agency class, many teams will be interested in Simons’ services as a three-level scorer with good playmaking skills. In spite of this, Simons is reportedly looking for a four-year deal with annual pay of $20-25 million. While Simons is a very talented offensive player and is just 22 years old, Portland would be taking a risk in resigning the former No. 24th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.
For starters, Simons’ defense was a major liability in Portland this season, as he posted -0.1 defensive win shares (DWS) and -2.7 defensive box plus/minus (DBPM), both career-worsts. While this is a marginal improvement from Simons’ rookie season (-3.7 DBPM), pairing another ball-dominant guard with below-average defensive skills with Lillard wouldn’t produce the best results for the Trail Blazers. This is the main reason why Portland traded McCollum’s bloated contract to New Orleans at this season’s trade deadline. In opting to not resign Simons this offseason, then Portland would have close to $40 million to spend on free agents that could help improve their woeful 116.9 defensive rating (30th in NBA). Some possible targets for Portland include Brooklyn’s Bruce Brown, Oklahoma City’s Luguentz Dort (Team Option), and New York’s Mitchell Robinson.
If the risks of resigning Simons outweigh the benefits in Portland’s General Managers Neil Olshey’s and Joe Cronin’s opinions, then the Magic should be interested in adding Simons this summer. Despite having a slew of young and talented guards, very few of their guards have the ability to score of the ball and knock down perimeter shots. At 6’3″ and 181 pounds, Simons’ youth and scoring expertise would pair well with the playmaking abilities of Fultz, Anthony, and Jalen Suggs.
Nicolas Claxton, C, Brooklyn Nets
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Entering the 2022 offseason, ten of Brooklyn’s sixteen players are set to enter free agency, but are projected to have -$66 million in salary cap. Simply put, Brooklyn will be financially unable to resign all of their free agents this offseason, which may allow Claxton to join Orlando on a respectable contract. While with Brooklyn this past season, Claxton certainly provided much-needed interior defense with an above-average offensive skillset. In 47 games this season, Claxton averaged a career-high 8.7 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 0.9 APG, and 1.1 BPG. Although Claxton does lack the ability to score on the perimeter, he was quite efficient inside the arc, shooting 67.4% on two-point attempts.
At 6’11” and 215 pounds, Claxton’s prototypical size as a big man helped him endure his aforementioned breakout season, and he seems to have his best basketball ahead of him, at just 23 years old. It’s worth noting that Claxton may not even be available this offseason, as Brooklyn seems to be “comfortable” with matching another team’s free agency offer.
“He is not going to get more than a midlevel offer from a team like Charlotte or Chicago, and if that is the case, they’re comfortable matching it. [Claxton] is restricted, they can match anything another team gives him. He is looking at something like three years, $35 million,” one Eastern Conference General Manager told Heavy’s Sean Deveney.
As one of the NBA’s worst defensive teams, it wouldn’t make sense for Brooklyn to part ways with Claxton, especially with Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Andre Drummond all entering free agency as unrestricted free agents. If Brooklyn lets Claxton leave, then Orlando could pair Claxton’s defensive skills with Carter Jr’s all-around game, giving the Magic one of the better young frontcourt duos in the Eastern Conference.
Links
Check out Brett James’ YouTube Video- The Orlando Magic have a BRIGHT Future
Check out our Latest Orlando Magic Mock Draft– Official 2022 NBA Mock Draft 4.0 of the Orlando Magic: Magic Look to Improve League’s Worst Defense