Is hunting for big NBA free agents obsolete? Plus, remembering the wildest Mavericks trades

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Hey, it’s Zach Harper! I’m off to Europe for the next two weeks! I’m searching for the next Luka Dončić — or maybe just the next Nikoloz Tskitishvili — but we’ll keep The Bounce going for you while I’m gone.

Hunters or Gatherers?

Is free-agent whale hunting dead forever?

Back in 2008, the Knicks decided to gut their roster, decrease bloated salaries and prepare for the 2010 summer. Why that summer? Well, wouldn’t you know it? LeBron James was to be a free agent in 2010. It’s a crazy coincidence. Oh, Amar’e Stoudemire, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Joe Johnson were also due to hit the market. The summer of 2010 was going to be one of spending. The Cavaliers, Knicks, Heat, Clippers, Nets and Bulls were all hoping to sign LeBron, and maybe even one of his friends. As we all know now, he went on TV, picked South Beach and melted the internet.

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Other seasons have also been defined by their subsequent free-agency classes. The Magic signed Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill in 2000 as some wondered if they’d also land Tim Duncan that summer. In 2019, the Knicks and Nets cleared space for Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. When the Lakers paired LeBron and Anthony Davis in 2019, they made room for Kawhi Leonard. This summer, we saw the 76ers create max cap space and then some to bring in a significant signing to put next to Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.

My fear is that this was the last summer we’ll see something like that occur. The Sixers weren’t chasing a specific free-agent superstar when Daryl Morey set up this summer to add the requisite help around Embiid. That was more about technicality. He had a bit of a cap-hold loophole due to Maxey’s low figure before his max deal. While some wondered if Leonard would be Philly’s target, the extension he signed earlier this year made this moot.

The new collective bargaining agreement has sucked the fun out of free agency. Is that my knee-jerk reaction after just one summer under this new CBA? Possibly! But if I end up being right, then it’s a justified dramatic reaction. Superstars aren’t really incentivized to let things play out in free agency anymore. We’re seeing more and more stars sign extensions before executing an exit strategy down the road if they want to move on. While the NBA can pretend things are set up to keep players in their incumbent markets, I don’t think that’s happening. The shift has been about hopefully getting traded to where you want to be, rather than having teams pursue you via unrestricted free agency.

The transaction is what makes the NBA a 12-month sports league now. But the new CBA’s penalties include the dreaded second apron. This new wrinkle will likely cause future salary shedding as teams seek to escape the tax/penalties instead of clearing space for a major signing.

R.I.P. to year-round free-agency hype for star chasing: 1988-2024 ⚰️💸

Maverick Trading

Dallas used to make some wild deals

There was a time when the Mavericks were moving players like someone in a video game. You just keep adding players to balance out salaries and entice the computer to complete the trade with you before your screen says “approved.” Becoming a video game trade genius is a million times more satisfying than just being lazy and forcing a trade through. Or maybe some of us are just built different. 😤

As I went through some old player transaction data from the ’90s, I was reminded of how big these Mavericks deals used to be. Brace yourself for the tidal wave of nostalgia these names are about to bring to your screen. It’s insane how routinely Dallas completed trades with seven or more players.

This came three days after Dallas moved Jamal Mashburn to the Heat for Kurt Thomas, Sasha Danilović and Martin Muursepp. That’s six players out and seven players in during a season.

This newsletter has a subtle rule: If I can find an angle that allows me to seamlessly use the name “Danny Fortson,” I will absolutely do it. This was a deal that brought Eisley to Dallas on one of those fabled seven-year contracts. Mark Cuban had purchased the team by this point, with wild transactions a result.

To this day, I still believe Alexander will be an All-Star, and I completely forgot Vaught played for eitherof these teams. I would have sworn up and down he played for the Clippers his entire career. I blocked out these years along with the Detroit years. Eight-plus players in a trade was just becoming the norm.

At this point, the Mavs were a lock to make a massive splash every calendar year. Cuban was the kid trying to be a maestro of the trade feature in any franchise mode in a video game. Extensive trades with a ton of players to completely overhaul half the roster.

They finally unloaded Eschmeyer’s contract (remember that from last Thursday?), reacquired Fortson and brought in a bona fide scorer in Jamison. Dallas would also flip Mills and Welsch with LaFrentz a couple months later in the trade for Antoine Walker. Toine and Tawn were one!

The Mavericks would make another big deal on draft night in 2004 by acquiring Erick Dampier and bringing Eschmeyer back into the mix while sending Laettner and Eduardo Najera to the Warriors. But that was the end of their big-deal madness. In 2008, Dallas made another eight-player deal with New Jersey to get Jason Kidd, but big swings were no longer a yearly occurrence. Thank you, Mark Cuban and the Mavericks, for testing the bottom-line ticker’s capacity for so many years.

Nickname Games

Elephant Drawers is only the beginning

Last week, when I was hosting SiriusXM NBA Radio, Dale Ellis’ name came up on the show. I was a big Dale Ellis guy. Every time I saw his highlights, I was a big fan. If I was lucky enough to see him in a live game, I was enthralled. He could flat-out shoot the ball, and I would often find myself using him in any basketball video game I played. In one of the NBA Live versions (it might have been ’95 or ’96), the game offered up a nickname for players who had them on their page.

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For Ellis, I always remembered they had his nickname as “Lamar Mundane.” This was how teenage me learned what the word “mundane” means. It’s stuck with me ever since. Whenever Ellis’ name comes up, I mention his nickname, but nobody ever believes me. I mentioned this on the radio to my co-host Amin Elhassan, who also refused to believe it. I checked Basketball Reference, which, sure enough, had it there. During the show, we also discovered a couple other nicknames for some nostalgic players …

You can see Lamar Mundane there for Ellis, along with Silent Assassin, which came from this incredible poster. Ellis was once traded for Ricky Pierce, and it prompted me to look up his nickname. I cackled at the idea of “Big Daddy Paper” being anybody’s moniker if they’re not running numbers for a Chicago mob boss in the ‘40s. We also discussed Mark Aguirre. Reading the five ridiculous nicknames for him on air prompted an investigation.

We reached out to Eddie Johnson, who grew up with Aguirre. He had never heard of most of these nicknames for Aguirre, but did confirm they used to call him “Drawers” or “Fat Boy,” which tracks for at least two of these nicknames. We also learned Drew Gooden’s nickname is “Recede Wallace,” which might be the funniest one of all. Stay tuned to this space in the future for random Basketball Reference nicknames.

Bounce Passes

Steph Curry agreed to a one-year, $62.6 million contract extension with the Warriors. Then, he talked to our Marcus Thompson about it.

Grant Hill, Richard Jefferson, Tim Legler and Jay Bilas are atop ABC/ESPN’s list to join the NBA Finals broadcasting crew, Andrew Marchand reports.

Most-clicked in Thursday’s newsletter: Cooper Flagg shocking HOKA by signing with New Balance.

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