2021 NBA Free Agency: 5 most surprising moves from opening day
Almost as soon as 2021 NBA free agency officially began, reports of teams signing players started coming in, with the LA Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans among the busiest ball clubs.
On Monday, the league opened the floodgates for teams to negotiate deals with players, including free agent signings, re-signings and sign-and-trades. And that’s just for starters as the NBA heads into its second day of free agency. Along the way, several surprise signings occurred on Day 1.
2021 NBA Free Agency: Teams didn’t waste time to sign players
As has been the case the past few years, NBA free agency kicked off with a bang, almost not giving fans time to process where players were headed this summer. Day 1 alone had many teams agree to terms with free agents they coveted this offseason.
Teams from both the Eastern and Western Conference scrambled to get the best available free agents for fear of opposing clubs snatching them up ahead of them.
Here are the 5 biggest surprises during the first day of 2021 NBA Free Agency:
5. Dwight Howard back with the L.A. Lakers
Who would’ve thought Dwight Howard would be back in a purple and gold uniform for the third time in his career? He came off the bench at center for the Philadelphia 76ers last season, but is now back in Tinseltown on a minimum deal.
After winning an NBA title with the LA Lakers in 2020, last year’s free agency discussion between Howard and the team ended awkwardly. The former Defensive Player of the Year tweeted then that he was re-signing with the Lakers, but had to delete it following a miscommunication.
According to Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes, the Lakers had a “deal concept” and not a formal offer to Howard. Howard then went with the Sixers, who aggressively sought him.
But Howard is back in L.A. and there is no miscommunication about how the Lakers truly wanted him, inking him on a veteran minimum deal from the first day alone.
4. Evan Fournier goes to New York Knicks, Boston Celtics lose him for nothing
Evan Fournier is still busy playing for France in the 2021 Olympics but that didn’t stop him from agreeing to play for the New York Knicks. According to reports, the Boston Celtics weren’t willing to pay him more than $15 million to re-sign with them.
The New York Knicks swooped in to give Fournier a deal, one that the Celtics didn’t want to match or surpass on the first day of NBA free agency. The nine-year vet agreed to a four-year deal worth $78 million which averages out to $19.5 million a year. Unfortunately, the Celtics weren’t willing to take that on even if they had his Bird rights.
The problem is, they let him go for nothing after acquiring him at the NBA trade deadline last March. Boston was expected to re-sign Fournier, but as it turned out, they wanted him at a lower price point in free agency.