NBA free agency 2024: These 7 under-the-radar deals could be sneaky good

We’re a couple of weeks into NBA free agency, and if you’re reading this, chances are you’re aware that most of the biggest names on the market have already concluded their business. But while the eyes of the league understandably gravitate toward the biggest names and the biggest paydays — Paul George joining Joel Embiid and a newly maxed-out Tyrese Maxey in Philadelphia, LeBron James staying in Los Angeles, OG Anunoby staying in New York, DeMar DeRozan landing with the Kings, etc. — there are a host of comparatively smaller moves that also merit our time and attention. At this level, the line between winning and losing can be vanishingly thin; so often, which side you land on comes down to just how much magic you can make in the margins.

As the market settles down and we begin getting our arms around the league’s revamped rosters, let’s take a look at some not-quite-household-name players whose deals could wind up paying major dividends for the teams that scooped them up, starting with a useful utensil in Dallas …

Naji Marshall, Mavericks

Contract: 3 years, $27 million

Every time I think about Marshall, I think about the way Pelicans head coach Willie Green once described him:

Oleh @OlehKosel: “Larry is your swiss army knife, what label would you give Naji?

Willie Green: “Naji is just a knife”

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) December 11, 2022

Naji’s just a knife. It fits: After all, you can’t carve the path Marshall has — from undrafted out of Xavier to a two-way deal in New Orleans, G-League stints with the Erie Bayhawks and Birmingham Squadron, spot starts and rotation minutes for a playoff team, and now a multi-year, multi-million-dollar deal — without being pretty damn sharp.

In Dallas’ roster reimagining, Marshall effectively takes the place of Derrick Jones Jr., the defend-’em-all swingman who helped kickstart the Mavericks’ transformation into an elite defensive team with the goods to make a run to the Finals. It might not work out quite that cleanly in practice; for one thing, Jones’ starting spot will likely go to Klay Thompson, who’s coming in to play Pop-a-Shot off of…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba-free-agency-2024-these-7-under-the-radar-deals-could-be-sneaky-good-140605352.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-07-12 14:06:05

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