NBA Free Agency: Boris Diaw returns to Spurs; Jordan Farmar signs with the Clippers
It was a very quiet weekend in the NBA with only a couple of signings being reported as compared to well over 15 in the first four days of free agency. There is no news on Carmelo Anthony, but he is expected to announce his next move on Monday.
There are no updates on LeBron James as well. However, sources report that he is planning to meet Miami Heat president Pat Riley in the next couple of days. His agent did meet close to 5 teams on Thursday and Friday, but there has been no news or report of anything moving forward there.
Here is the free agency news over the weekend:
Boris Diaw returns to San Antonio
Veteran French national Boris Diaw agreed to return to his former team, the San Antonio Spurs with a chance to defend their title. Diaw, who became the second free agent after Patty Mills to resign with the team, agreed with the franchise on a three year deal worth $22 million.
Manu Ginobili postponed his retirement plans by another year. With his extraordinary passing ability and close to consistent three point shooting, Diaw became an integral part of Coach Greg Popovich’s system. He had a few stellar games for the Spurs in these Playoffs picking up the slack when it was most needed.
He scored a career-high 26 points in the close out game 6 of the Western Conference Finals against Oklahoma City Thunder, when Tony Parker had walked off the court early in the third quarter. He had an incredible final three games of the Finals after he was inserted into the starting line-up to replace Brazilian Tiago Splitter. Diaw averaging 7.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 6 assists played a handy part in the blowout wins of Games 3,4 and 5.
He will receive a guaranteed sum of $18.5 million over the first two years of his contract.
Jordan moves to Clippers
Jordan Farmar stays in Los Angeles (LA), but now plays for the Clippers
In his 7 year playing career in the NBA, Jordan Farmar has played for the Los Angeles Lakers in 6 seasons and he also won two championship rings with them in 2009 and 2010. The only other team he played for was in 2011 for the New Jersey Nets. After being signed for a year, Farmar shifted his residence to LA. He stays there as he will be seen with the Clippers this season.
"[The Clippers] came the hardest basketball-wise; it's probably the best situation out there for me. I turned down more money elsewhere. I get to stay home in L.A. and play for a contender, which is important to me."-Farmar
Farmar and the Clippers have agreed on a $4.2 million 2 year deal with the second year being a player option. The 6’2” guard would primarily be playing back-up to Chris Paul after Darren Collison signed a three-year deal with the Sacramento Kings.
In 41 games for the purple and gold, Farmar averaged 10.1 points and 4.9 assists while shooting 43.8 from beyond the three-point line. Farmar was eager to stay with the Lakers. However,the franchise was reluctant to commit to anything which urged Farmar to become a free agent.