There is an AC/DC song that says that it’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock n’ roll. And, it seems that some NBA teams got this mindset very well. Although basketball franchises are not rock n roll bands, they updated this context deeply to their reality. The rock n roll top is the championship and the long way is all what involves to reach it. The NBA 2019 Free Agency is by so far one of the greatest huge moments of the year and it looked almost a TV show drama full of plot twists.
The main character was Kawhi Leonard, the villain was the Lakers and the Clippers got to the climax with a huge plot twist making Paul George the outsider. However, besides all the frenzy that happened, we got a lot of winners to recognize and expect in 2019-20 one of the most amazing NBA seasons. You’ll got all of this and more right here below.
Kawhi Legacy
The “Kawhi Watch” generated one of the most hyped story lines in sports history. The 2019 Finals MVP took more time than other stars to announce his future. More than that, he was the main subject of the NBA 2019 Free Agency by just making literally anything. The 2x NBA champion used his low profile style to orchestrate one of the most fantastic moves of the off-season. He refused to re-sign to the Raptors, refused to sign with the Lakers and accepted the Clippers contract. More than that, he’s the main reason that the LA franchise got a trade to have Paul George. Kawhi Leonard conducted the negotiations very well and achieved what he wanted to. Now he plays at his hometown alongside a well structured team he can lead to more Finals.
Anthony Davis
He wanted it, he got it. Anthony Davis demanded a trade since the beginning os 2018-19 season and had the Lakers on his mind. He didn’t go to the purple and gold franchise, but his plans never faded away. However, now he’s exactly want to be. He’s living in LA being a Lakers player and will even wear the jersey number 23. AD is ready to settle his spot as one of the greatest Lakers of all time.
LeBron James
The King is one of the winners of the NBA 2019 Free Agency. Yes, he wasn’t a free agent this year, but with these Free Agency moves, he got just what it has to be a huge NBA contender. Now he’ll play with superstars, 3pt shooters and playmakers around him just like the Heat and Cavs titles. Not to mention the returning of important players that will contribute a lot like Rondo and JaVale McGee. Besides that, he’s part of one of the most powerful lineup of the NBA with AD, Danny Green, Kuzma and Boogie alongside him.
Lillard
Meritocracy in the NBA world is something very plausible to be. The proof of that is the supermax contract that Damian Lillard from the Trail Blazers just got. The well deserved contract consists in $196M million over four seasons. This means he’ll have an average of $49 million per year. To you have an idea, his first NBA contract was less than $15 million for four seasons. All of this amount of money that Lillard reached is due to the Trail Blazers accomplishments through his leadership. He never gave up to improve his game and always rather to stay in the franchise than leave for other team. All of this resulted on the first Western Conference Final appearance since 1999-00 season.
New York City
Almost all eyes started to New York about the 2019 Free Agency when the season started. At the beginning no one would imagine that two superstars would deny to play for the Knicks. The fans really believed that the glory days would come back and they could finally get back to the way of the rings. However, this didn’t happen. Like, at all. In one of the first plot twists of the NBA 2019 Free Agency, it was the Brooklyn Nets that found in Durant and Irving contracts the arise of New York basketball. With the addition of DeAndre Jordan, a well solid roster and a new management team, the Nets are more prepared than never to take over the spotlight of the NBA.
Heat
Pat Riley never gives up and always find a solution to overcome through struggles. And that’s how he did on this Free Agency. He just signed Jimmy Butler and now the Miami Heat has a superstar and a roster prepared to make a huge success in the Playoffs.
Clippers
It’s still incredible how no one in the NBA world could imagine the impact that The Logo man and the former Microsoft president would make in the league. Steve Ballmer and Jerry West just brought Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to the Clippers in a one play. This movement rocked all the sports world and put the LA franchise as the favorites to win an NBA title. Even because the Clippers roster is already well constructed and conducted by Doc Rivers and tough players that follows an incredible philosophy.
The West
Jazz, Nuggets, Trail Blazers, Spurs, Lakers, Warriors, Clippers, Mavericks and Pelicans. All of these West teams are improving their roster in this off season and are making clear that the West are stronger than never. It’s more than sensational how the Conference took back the balance of the competition that the league always intend to fulfill.
The Association
The NBA wins in all of possible aspects. The National Basketball Association had increasing its numbers season after season. Now it’s going to have even more outstanding spectacular games from coast to coast. If you can notice, it seems the super trio era is done. Or at least took a break. Mostly because we can see superstars duos in a lot of teams around the league. Kyrie and Durant in Brooklyn, LeBron and Davis in LA, Kawhi and PG13 in LA as well are just some of examples. This is something very similar with the 80’s and 90’s. On that time, the league had Magic and Kareem, Doctor J and Moses Malone, Bird and McHale, Jordan and Pippen. The all star players are more spread between the 30 franchises and this add up for a more fair competitiveness environment.
Nike
The picture above is a proof that Nike is one of the winners after this NBA 2019 Free Agency. All of these jerseys are from the last season, but none of the players will wear them the next season. That’s because each one of them are now in other teams by trade or new contract signing. Durant and Irving will play for the Nets. Davis dropped out the Pelicans to play for the Lakers. Whiteside got traded and now he’ll play alongside Lillard for the Trail Blazers. Not to mention that LeBron will change to number 6. All of these movements make the fans have one more reason to buy NBA jerseys made by Nike.
These jerseys that Nike manufactures are part of the main product that the company makes as an NBA sponsor. For that said, the sports wear company has now new models that are going to be top sellers.
