© John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
The news on Sunday has not stopped from the moment the clock hit 6 p.m. ET and free agency officially began (and it came before that too). At that time, it was made official that Kevin Durant would sign with the Brooklyn Nets on a four-year, $164 million max contract. Later in the day, however, that changed, as both Durant and his signing partner with the Brooklyn Nets, Kyrie Irving (four years, $141 million), agreed to reportedly take less than the max in order to allow their third signing partner, DeAndre Jordan, to sign with the Nets for a four years, $40 million.
After all that happened, even more shocking news came through. It was reported earlier in the day that the Warriors were exploring sign-and-trade options with the Nets for Kevin Durant, but according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Warriors have agreed a sign-and-trade deal for D’Angelo Russell, Treveon Graham and Shabazz Napier (the other two players were identified by The Athletic’s Shams Charania), and will sign Russell to a four-year, $117 million max contract.
Golden State and Brooklyn have agreed on a sign-and-trade, sending D’Angelo Russell to the Warriors on a four-year, $117M maximum contract, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2019
The casualty of all this is veteran wing Andre Iguodala, who will head to the Memphis Grizzlies in a trade, along with a first-round draft pick, in order to clear the necessary cap space for the Warriors to make the deal work.
Golden State is trading Andre Iguodala to the Memphis Grizzlies, league source tells ESPN. Warriors are sending a 2024 protected first-round pick in the 2024 (protected 1-4), 2025 (protected 1) and 2026 unprotected.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2019
While the tweet above makes it appear that the team is trading three first-round draft picks, that is not the case, according to The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami, who stated that the second two years are the protections, if for some reason the pick in 2024 does not convey (meaning the Warriors secured a top-four draft selection).
Let me clarify I think I misread something. The Warriors are sending ONE first-round pick that has descending protections year to year.
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) July 1, 2019