On the first night of free agency, De’Aaron Fox was the first huge winner.
Huge, as in $163 million – or even more.
Fox and the Sacramento Kings agreed on a max deal Friday night, agent Chris Gaston said. It’s a five-year pact that will pay Fox $163 million, and that figure could rise to nearly $200 million if Fox makes an All-NBA team or receives other league honors.
Fox’s numbers have improved in each of his three NBA seasons. He averaged 11.6 points as a rookie, then 17.3 points two seasons ago and finally 21.1 points last season for the Kings. His field goal percentage has also risen in each of the last two seasons.
Fox’s extension will kick in for the 2021-22 season and start at $28.1 million.
Free agency opened in the NBA on Friday at 6 p.m. EST. No deals can be signed until 12:01 p.m. Sunday, and many of the biggest available names – such as the Lakers’ Anthony Davis and Fred VanVleet, who has seen his star rise meteorically with the Toronto Raptors – did not make immediate decisions.
Davis is expected to remain with the Lakers; the question there is how the new deal will be structured. VanVleet is expected to command at least $80 million over the next four seasons, if not more, and Toronto has made clear that they would like to keep the undrafted guard who became a huge part of the Raptors’ run to the 2019 NBA championship.
A breakdown of moves Friday:
ATLANTA
Danilo Gallinari – one of the top wings on the free-agent market – agreed to a three-year contract worth $61.5 million, a person with knowledge told AP. ESPN and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution first reported the agreement.
Gallinari averaged 18.7 points for Oklahoma City last season and is a 38% career shooter from 3-point range.
The Hawks were one of the teams who entered free agency with considerable cap space, and have been looking for veteran talent to add to the group that includes Trae Young and Kevin Huerter.
Gallinari, a 32-year-old Italian, has also played with the Knicks, Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers. He was originally the sixth overall pick in the 2008 draft by New York.
BROOKLYN
Joe Harris has agreed to re-sign with the Nets, keeping one of the NBA’s best shooters in Brooklyn.
The Nets checked off what general manager Sean Marks called their biggest priority in free agency on Friday night by agreeing to a deal with the swingman.
Priority Sports, which represents Harris, announced the deal on Twitter. ESPN reported that Harris would get $75 million over four years.
Harris finished his fourth season in Brooklyn by averaging a career-best 14.5 points in 69 games in 2019-20.
DALLAS
The Mavericks and Trey Burke have agreed on a $10 million, three-year contract to bring the guard back after he played well in the NBA bubble.
Burke originally joined Dallas in the trade with New York headlined by Kristaps Porzingis in early 2019. The Mavericks didn’t re-sign Burke before last season, and he ended up in Philadelphia.
The 76ers waived Burke in February before the coronavirus shutdown, and Dallas signed him before the restart after center Willie Cauley-Stein opted out of the finish to the season.
DENVER
The last time Facundo Campazzo and Nikola Jokic shared a court in a real game together was during last year’s Basketball World Cup in China. Campazzo was dazzling and Argentina prevailed, ending the championship hopes for Jokic and Serbia.
Soon, they’ll be teammates in another title quest.
Campazzo agreed to a two-year deal with the Denver Nuggets on Friday’s opening day of free agency, according to a person with direct knowledge of the deal. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the contract remains unfinished until at least Sunday, when the NBA moratorium on new signings will be lifted.
The New York Times first reported the agreement between Campazzo and the Nuggets.
The 5-foot-10 Campazzo has played in the Olympics twice, the Basketball World Cup twice, has a pair of EuroLeague championships and is known for passes that are spectacular. And now, he’s decided it’s time to try the NBA with a Denver team that rallied from 3-1 playoff deficits twice last season to make it to the Western Conference finals – where they fell to the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers.
DETROIT
Jerami Grant is headed to Detroit on a three-year, $60 million deal, player representative Mike Kneisley of The Neustadt Group said.
Grant is coming off a season where he averaged 12.0 points for Denver, which wanted him back.
The Pistons received commitments Friday night from centers Mason Plumlee and Jahlil Okafor, people familiar with those deals told AP. ESPN, which first reported the Plumlee agreement, said he would sign a three-year deal for $25 million.
Plumlee later posted a thank-you letter to Denver fans on his Twitter account, saying he ”has no doubt” that big things await the Nuggets. He also said he’s excited to join the Pistons, calling them ”one of the league’s most storied franchises.”
L.A. CLIPPERS
Marcus Morris is staying with the Clippers on a four-year deal, a person with knowledge told AP. ESPN, which first reported the agreement, said it was a $64 million contract.
Morris averaged 16.7 points last season, starting the season in New York before getting traded to the Clippers.
”Run it back!” Morris tweeted.
Also Friday, Patrick Patterson will return on a one-year contract, AP was told. Patterson averaged 4.9 points last season for the Clippers. ESPN first reported the Clippers’ agreement with Patterson.
L.A. LAKERS
The defending NBA champions are adding Montrezl Harrell as a free agent from the Clippers, a person with knowledge of the deal told AP.
That move, when finalized, will give the Lakers the top two finishers in last season’s Sixth Man of the Year voting. Harrell won the award; Dennis Schroder, who was acquired by the Lakers in a trade with Oklahoma City earlier this week, was second.
MIAMI
The Heat got quick agreements from point guard Goran Dragic and center Meyers Leonard on two-year deals, the second year in both cases being team options. Dragic will make about $18 million next season, Leonard about $9 million.
”I simply appreciate that they care about the little things,” Leonard said.
Dragic flew back to Miami from his native Slovenia on Friday and intends to sign his new contract quickly. He said the fact that the Heat will have much of its roster back from a year ago, when the team won the Eastern Conference title, was particularly important to him.
”This is a family here,” Dragic said. ”We know we have a good team. We know we have chemistry. We have unfinished business.”
MINNESOTA
The Timberwolves reached a $60 million agreement with restricted free agent shooting guard Malik Beasley that’s for three years plus a team option for a fourth year, a person with knowledge of the deal confirmed to AP.
Beasley, who was acquired from the Denver Nuggets in a four-team trade in February, was charged last month with drug possession and threats of violence in Hennepin County District Court, after allegedly aiming a rifle at a family in their vehicle outside his Minnesota home where a large amount of marijuana and other guns were seized during a police search.
Beasley averaged 20.7 points in 14 games after arriving in Minnesota.
The Timberwolves also finalized and confirmed three draft-night trades, including the deal with Oklahoma City reuniting them with point guard Ricky Rubio.
NEW YORK
Alec Burks is the first free agent addition under Knicks President Leon Rose.
The swingman agreed to a $6 million, one-year deal, first reported by ESPN and confirmed by his agent.
Burks split last season between Golden State and Philadelphia, averaging a career-best 15 points.
The Knicks went into free agency with about $35 million to spend after waiving a number of veterans Thursday.
ORLANDO
A person with knowledge of the negotiations said the Magic and guard Dwayne Bacon agreed on a one-year deal for about $2.5 million this coming season. The Magic hold a team option for 2021-22, the person who spoke to AP said.
Bacon is a Central Florida native, born in Lakeland, not far from Orlando. He played college ball at Florida State and spent his first three pro seasons in Charlotte. Steve Clifford, now the Magic coach, was his coach there in his rookie year.
PHILADELPHIA
Veteran center Dwight Howard is going to join the 76ers on a one-year deal worth the veteran’s minimum of $2.6 million, agent Charles Briscoe told AP.
Howard heads to Philadelphia after helping the Los Angeles Lakers win this past season’s NBA title.
PORTLAND
Derrick Jones Jr., the league’s reigning Slam Dunk champion, agreed to a two-year deal with the Trail Blazers. The Athletic first reported the agreement, which a person with knowledge later confirmed to AP.
Jones Jr. was a major part of Miami’s rotation for the last two seasons, and averaged a career-best 8.5 points per game for the Heat this past year.
UTAH
Jordan Clarkson is staying and Derrick Favors is coming back, according to people with direct knowledge of the transactions.
Clarkson agreed to a four-year, $52 million deal; he averaged 15.6 points in 42 games after getting traded to Utah last December. And Favors – a post player who spent most of his NBA career in Utah before playing with New Orleans last season – returned on a deal that will pay him nearly $30 million for three seasons.
WASHINGTON
Davis Bertans is staying with the Wizards on a five-year deal worth $80 million, a person with knowledge of the details told AP.
Bertans picked a good time for his best season, averaging 15.4 points in 54 games. He skipped the restart at Walt Disney World rather than risk injury before free agency.
The 6-foot-10 forward from Latvia has shot better than 42% from 3-point range each of the last two seasons.
The fifth year of his deal, first reported by ESPN, is an early termination option.
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AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney in New York and AP Sports Writers Schuyler Dixon in Dallas and Paul Newberry in Atlanta contributed to this report.
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More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports
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