Big Men And Big Movement In NBA Free Agency

Right until the moment that Kevin Durant turned it into a footnote, the biggest story to come out of the busy early days of NBA free agency was the league-spanning game of Big Man Musical Chairs. During the first four days of free agency, nine centers signed contracts that carried an average annual value of at least $15 million. Only Andre Drummond and Hassan Whiteside re-upped with the teams they played for last season.

While the league's young bigs are changing the idea of what a center can and should be, this free agency period showed that the league still values its old guard, or older bigs. All but one of the aforementioned group of seven well-compensated centers that changed teams—that is, everyone but Bismack Biyombo—will be at least 30 years old by the second week of the 2016-17 season. Here's who went where, how they fit, and what it all means, in order of when the deals were announced.

Joakim Noah: Chicago Bulls → New York Knicks

Noah getting $18 million a year doesn't seem all that surprising now that we've seen how the big man market has shaken out, but the fact that he got four years fully guaranteed represented quite a shock, and still does. Noah's skills—he's low-usage ball-mover on offense, and a plus defender on the interior and against pick and rolls—makes him an excellent fit next to Kristaps Porzingis in the frontcourt, if he's healthy. That's assuming you're set on having an actual center next to him, as it appears the Knicks are. But Noah's myriad injuries and declining play over the last few seasons make him a risk. His contract makes him an expensive one.

If he holds up and stays on the court, though, Noah could be worth it, at least over the first couple of seasons. But as he pushes into his age-34 and 35 campaigns on the tail end of the deal, it will likely begin to look worse. The Knicks can ease him into a backup role as Porzingis becomes stronger and more able to handle center full-time, but then you're looking at an $18 million backup center. Either way, it was both encouraging and surprising to see the Knicks prioritizing defense for a change, even if they had to pay more in both years and dollars than this particular defensive-minded player was probably worth.

Timofey Mozgov: Cleveland Cavaliers → Los Angeles Lakers

This time last year, it looked like Mozgov might be headed for a max contract this summer. This time last week, it looked like he might be headed for a one-year deal at less than $10 million per year. And then along came the Lakers.

The Lakers had the worst interior defense in the league last season—opponents shot a staggering 64.9 percent in the restricted area—and Mozgov certainly brings that to the table, along with the much-sought-after "veteran presence." Mozzy's a bit of a lumberer, though, and it's unclear that he has a definitive heavy-minute place in the modern, pace-and-space, switch-everything NBA. With the Lakers bringing in Luke Walton and presumably trying to push the pace and run endless cascading series of pick and rolls with D'Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson, and Brandon Ingram, it's tough to see how Mozgov fits this year, let alone on a four-year, $64 million pact.

Dwight Howard: Houston Rockets → Atlanta Hawks

*Raises eyebrow*

*Cocks head to the side*

*Lowers voice*

Finally, Dwight has come back to Atlanta!

Dwight, of course, is famously from the A, and has been rumored to be interested in joining the Hawks in free agency basically nine billion times. Shout out to Dwight's former AAU teammate Josh Smith, who will likely miss out in this reunion.

Atlanta signed Howard prior to losing Al Horford to the Celtics (more on that in a bit), then frantically tried to move Paul Millsap (if you believe certain reports) ahead of his own free agency next year, before retaining Al to play next to Dwight. Only the Dwight part worked, and now Atlanta's got a Millsap-Howard frontline that makes more sense than Horford-Howard but still probably less sense than Millsap-Horford, all things considered. Still, there are worse ways to rebound from losing your franchise's best player over a decade than by signing Dwight, who gets a much worse rap than he deserves.

Howard's signing will change the Hawks' Spurs-lite offensive system into something much different, but if he's healthy he should keep their defense humming along at the same level it did for much of last season. When he's on the court, Howard can still defend at a pretty high level. The Hawks had to pay handsomely (three years, $70.5 million) for the privilege of seeing if he can do that, and the transition to doing things differently might be a bit awkward at times, but a Millsap-Howard frontcourt should still be able to do some damage.

Bismack Biyombo: Toronto Raptors → Orlando Magic

This is simultaneously one of the strangest fits on the board and one that makes a great deal of sense if the Magic want to cultivate a certain identity. After trading for Serge Ibaka on draft night, it seemed like the Magic had their frontcourt of the future set with him and incumbent No. 1 scorer Nikola Vucevic. Throwing Biyombo into that mix complicates things a bit. The Magic say they want to keep all three of their bigs and rotate them through, which means either Biyombo signed up to be a very well-compensated backup or Vucevic is about to become an overqualified bench scorer. And there are only 96 frontcourt minutes in a game—playing Biyombo, Ibaka, and Vucci Mane 32 minutes a night each doesn't leave any room for Aaron Gordon to play at the 4. HOWEVER.

However, Biyombo is a plus presence on the interior defensively, and one of the best shot-blockers and rebounders in the NBA. Pair him with Ibaka and it's going to be very tough to score on the Magic around the rim. That makes a good deal of sense for a team that just hired Frank Vogel as its new head coach. There's still a lot to figure out, but starting with those two pieces on defense is a good problem to have.

Al Horford: Atlanta Hawks → Boston Celtics

Undoubtedly the biggest coup of big man free agency was Horford shipping up to Boston. (Yep, I went there.) The conventional wisdom on the Hawks over the last few years was that they were a great team that didn't have any stars. But Horford was finally rightly recognized as a star after signing with the Celtics. And it's about damn time.

The Celtics have spent a good amount of their history fleecing other teams in trades for stars or acquiring them via the draft, but Horford is the first true star the Celtics have ever really signed away from another team in free agency, which should go some way towards eliminating a stubborn stigma. Al should fit very easily into Brad Stevens' egalitarian offense, working pick and pops with Isaiah Thomas, posting up, moving the ball from the elbows, and setting killer screens off the ball while Jae Crowder, Avery Bradley, and Marcus Smart knife their way into the holes in the defense. Boston built a top-notch defense last season even without much in the way of an interior presence. Horford should take things to another level for them.

He can cover a ton of space while also providing a deterrent near the rim. His signing pushes the Celtics into another tier within the Eastern Conference, making them one of maybe two or three teams that can reasonably expect to take a game or more off the Cavaliers in a playoff series. That's a start. Still armed with a ton of assets and a versatile, young roster, the Celtics are moving in the right direction.

Ian Mahinmi: Indiana Pacers → Washington Wizards

Much like Biyombo, it was a bit of a surprise to see Mahinmi sign with a team that already has a starting center. That said, the Wizards got him on a deal that should prove a very nice value even if he just winds up playing in support of incumbent Marcin Gortat. Washington didn't get the guy they planned for in free agency, which was Kevin Durant, but they got one who should help them get back to the playoffs after a year away.

No, seriously. Mahinmi was one of the most improved players in the entire league last season, flashing skills—like dribbling, or passing out of the pick and roll—that nobody knew he had before. He's also an ace rim-protector and moves his feet pretty well. You can do a whole lot worse for $16 million a year. Some teams did. If he's not a perfect fit next to Gortat, well, the Wizards can find ways to use them both. There are bigger tragedies than having two good centers at your disposal.

Pau Gasol: Chicago Bulls → San Antonio Spurs

Pau was probably the Spursiest player left that had never actually played for the Spurs, so it's fitting that he'll probably end his career there. Pop and RC Buford got him on a two-year, $30 million deal, and if Woj is correct (which he usually is) he'll likely be replacing the legendary Tim Duncan in the starting lineup. Pau can replicate and even improve upon a lot of the things Duncan brought to the table offensively last season, and he should fit seamlessly into a post-up and ball/player movement-heavy offense given his posting and passing abilities. Still, he's no match for Timmy's defensive prowess. Pau was once a more than capable defender, but he's slipped on that end over the last few years. If anyone can get him back to defending at a high level, though, it's Gregg Popovich.

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