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NBA Free Agency: 4 Reasons Teams Should Stop Spending

By Jared Mueller

Jul 7, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Kevin Durant poses for a photo with his jersey during a press conference after signing with the Golden State Warriors at the Warriors Practice Facility. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 7, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Kevin Durant poses for a photo with his jersey during a press conference after signing with the Golden State Warriors at the Warriors Practice Facility. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /
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Apr 13, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers center Timofey Mozgov (20) dribbles against Detroit Pistons center Aron Baynes (12) in the first quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 13, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers center Timofey Mozgov (20) dribbles against Detroit Pistons center Aron Baynes (12) in the first quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /

Will NBA Free Agency Spending Stop?

Given everything we have laid out, it would make sense if NBA free agency spending quickly stopped. At this point, one-year deals make sense, but very little else does.

We could see Harkless, Waiters, Zeller and the rest of the restricted free agent crop sign their one-year qualifying tenders and prepare for unrestricted free agency next year.

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The restricted class is where the few young, upside players are still available but none show with any certainty they are worth the kind of contracts being thrown around this off-season.

The Cleveland Cavaliers will still shell out a chunk of change. LeBron is going to get his maximum contract while J.R. Smith is likely to get a big deal relative to a seemingly small, quiet market for his services.

So while logic says that spending should slow to a trickle, history tells us teams can’t help but spend money, are afraid of not spending to the salary floor and will be tempted by the grass on the other side of the fence.

The big contract to Timofey Mozgov (pictured above) is a prime example of this.

Expect a big offer for Waiters from the Nets or his hometown Sixers. Expect to see GMs try to get creative to pull Harkless away from Portland. Expect one of Luis Scola, Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole or Jordan Hill to get surprisingly big one-year offers.

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NBA free agency has already led to over $2 billion in contracts handed out. With more than $100 million left in salary cap space burning a hole in teams’ pockets, don’t expect the spending to stop … even though it should.

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