Free agency officially kicked off tonight. Here are the deals that were inked, plus some reaction/commentary. As usual with free agency, a large number of bags were secured 💰💰💰💰. The list is not in order at all, so if you’re looking for a specific team or player, just CTRL+F.

• Chris Paul, after opting out of the final year of his contract, signs a 4 year, $120 million deal with the Suns. This takes him through his age 39 season. He also revealed that he’d just undergone wrist surgery, confirming what many of us suspected–that he was playing with an injury during the Finals.
• Lonzo Ball to the Chicago Bulls: 4yrs, $85mil. This one was expected and it was announced almost immediately. It was a sign-and-trade deal that sent Tomas Satoransky and Garrett Temple, plus a 2nd round pick, to New Orleans.
• Kyle Lowry to the Miami Heat in a sign-and-trade deal, 3 years $90 million. Huuuuuge pickup for Miami, securing the point guard position with a great shooter who has plenty of playoff experience, plus a ring.
• Mike Conley Jr. re-signs with Utah Jazz: 3 years, $72 million. Big re-sign for Utah; Conley was an All Star this season.
• Tim Hardaway Jr. re-signs with Dallas Mavericks: 4 years, $72 million. A good keep for Dallas, but they’re going to have to do a lot more in order to become a true contender.
• Alex Caruso signs with the Bulls, 4 years $37 million. This one has to hurt for Laker fans 😢
• Boban Marjanovic re-signs with Dallas Mavericks: One of the most likable players in the league stays in Dallas. We know Luka and Bobi are close buddies, so you love to see this.
• Jimmy Butler signs max contract extension with Miami Heat, 4 years $184 million. Bag: secured.
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gets a massive contract extension from the Thunder: 5 years, $172 million with the potential to become $207 million if he makes an All NBA team. Nicely done.
• Trae Young got a 5 year, $207 million extension from Atlanta.
• Spencer Dinwiddie is signing with the Washington Wizards. He’s a great pickup for the Wizards to place alongside Bradley Beal, and as we know the Wizards also added Trezz, KCP and Kyle Kuzma. The Wizards now have depth, which is what they were lacking last season. When the had Russ and Beal, they were extremely top-heavy.
• Derrick Rose returns to the Knicks, 3 years $43 million. Good for D-Rose, he’s found a home in NYC.
• Duncan Robinson gets a 5 year, $90 million contract from Miami. It’s the richest contract ever signed by an undrafted player. Hats off to him.
• Evan Fournier signs a 4 year deal with the Knicks, a 4 year $78 million deal.
• Dwight Howard, after one season in Philadelphia, is returning to the Lakers for a THIRD stint in purple and gold.
• Reggie Bullock: 3 years, $30 million with the Mavericks. Big loss for the Knicks.
• PJ Tucker, in somewhat of a surprise, is leaving the NBA Champion Bucks to sign a 2 year $15 million deal with the Miami Heat.
• Devonte Graham signs with the Pelicans, 4 years $47 million. Nice addition.
• Richaun Holmes gets 4 years $55 million to re-up with the Kings.
• Nerlens Noel re-signs with the Knicks.
• Blake Griffin returning to Brooklyn for a one year deal.
• Alec Burks, 3 year deal with Knicks for $30 million.
• Jarrett Allen signs 5 year, $100 million extension with Cleveland Cavaliers.
• JaMychal Green re-signs with Denver Nuggets.
• Daniel Theis, 4 years $36 million to join the Rockets.
• Kelly Olynyk: 3 year, $37 million contract with Detroit Pistons.
• TJ McConnell re-signs with Indiana Pacers, 4 years $35 million.
• Will Barton re-signs with Denver Nuggets, 2 years $32 million.
• Doug McDermott: 3 years, $42 million with the Spurs.
• Nicolas Batum returns to the Clippers on a 2 year deal.
• Cameron Payne: 3 years, $19 million to return to the Suns
• Bobby Portis returns to Milwaukee on a 2 year deal worth $9 million.
• Norman Powell secures the bag: 5 years, $90 million from the Blazers.
• Otto Porter Jr. takes the vet minimium to join the Warriors, apparently, according to Chris Haynes, turning down the midlevel contract elsewhere. He really wanted to be in Golden State.
• Trevor Ariza, Kent Bazemore and Wayne Ellington all join the Lakers on one year vet minimum deals. Ariza, Bazemore and Ellington have all played with the Lakers in the past (Ariza was on the 2009 NBA Championship team). Ariza and Ellington were expected to sign with LA, but Bazemore’s return is somewhat of a surprise. He wasn’t on many people’s radar, but he’s a welcome addition for the Lakers: he shot 40.8% from three last season with Golden State. Apparently he turned down more money to play in LA.
• Austin Rivers back to Denver on a 1 year deal.
• Furkan Korkmaz re-ups with the 76ers, 3 years $15 million.
• Zach Collins to the Spurs, 3 years $22 million.
• Gary Trent Jr. re-signs with the Raptors, 3 years $54 million.
• Jeff Green signs with the Denver Nuggets on a 2 year $10 million deal. He was a target of the Lakers but from the details of his deal with Denver, he was out of their price range.
• JaVale McGee signs with the Suns, 1 year $5 million.
• Trey Lyles, 2 year $5 million deal with the Pistons
• Cody Zeller, 1 year deal with the Blazers.
• Cory Joseph, 2 years $10 million to join the Pistons.
• Alex Len, 2 year deal with Sacramento.
• Garrett Temple to the Pelicans
• Gorugi Dieng to the Hawks on a 1 year deal.
• Semi Ojeleye to the Bucks on a 1 year deal.
• Dewayne Dedmon, 1 year re-up deal with the Heat.

As for some of the other big names that remain unsigned: I expected to see Carmelo Anthony to the Lakers as one of the first deals announced once free agency opened up, but apparently he’s debating between offers from the Lakers and the Knicks. To me, it should be a no-brainer to go to LA and play with LeBron and try to win a ring, but New York has sentimental value to him–plus he’s obviously played for the Knicks before.

It was reported that Patty Mills was choosing between the Lakers and the Nets, but apparently the Nets are out of the running and the Warriors have begun courting him. Now Mills will choose between LA and Golden State.

DeMar DeRozan, one of the big names in free agency, is apparently torn between the Clippers, who need someone to fill in for Kawhi this upcoming season, and the Knicks. The Lakers are out.

The funny part is that so many of these deals were announced right at 5pm central/6pm eastern. The tampering is real:

Whatever. I don’t even know why they have a tampering rule at all–and not just in the NBA, but all sports. Literally nobody abides by it at all. It’s the biggest joke of a rule out there.

Also, the new cap figures for both this season and next:

And people took notice of which reporter was breaking the most stories in the first hour of free agency: it was Shams, not Woj.

Has Shams taken the crown from Woj? 👀

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So that’s it for me right now. It’s getting late, and I’ll update with more signings tomorrow.