With many quality names appearing in the transfer market and many teams with deep pockets thanks to large salary budget gaps, NBA Free Agency 2023 has started explosively.
ESPN reports that in the first hour since the market officially opened, the total amount of money teams paid for free players reached 1 billion USD.
Most of the stars have landed their destinations with big contracts, enjoying an average salary from 20 to more than 40 million US dollars per year. Below is a summary of some major contracts that appeared in the first hour:
– Jerami Grant and Portland Trail Blazers: 5 years, $160 million
– Kyrie Irving and Dallas Mavericks: 3 years, $126 million
– Kyle Kuzma and Washington Wizards: 4 years, $102 million
– Khris Middleton and Milwaukee Bucks: 3 years, $102 million
– Draymond Green and Golden State Warriors: 4 years, $100 million
– Kristaps Porziņģis and Boston Celtics: Extension for 2 more years, 60 million USD
Not long after the milestone of 1 billion USD in 1 hour, NBA Free Agency witnessed 2 extremely valuable contracts being signed, including:
Tyrese Haliburton and Indiana Pacers: 5-year extension, $260 million
Desmond Bane and Memphis Grizzlies: 5 years, $207 million
Indiana Pacers is the biggest spending team with more than 300 million USD on the opening day of NBA Free Agency 2023. Besides 260 million USD to renew with Haliburton, they also spent 45 million USD on NBA champion Bruce Brown .
Memphis Grizzlies and Portland Trail Blazers are the next two names accepting to spend large amounts of money on this July 1st. They spent $210 million and $160 million respectively, with the aim of retaining important players.
Not spending the most money but being the most active today is the Los Angeles Lakers. The yellow and purple shirt team has 4 signed contracts including Rui Hachimura ($51 million), Gabe Vincent ($33 million), Cam Reddish and Taurean Prince (total $9.1 million).
