This has been a wild week in the NBA as free agency took full swing. There have been a few blockbuster deals and a few that may leave fans with a knot in their stomach.
It's only been a week but it may be time to highlight some of the winners and losers of free agency 2012.
Winners
Brooklyn Nets-So far the Nets have been doing everything right in making themselves contenders of the East. They added All-Star shooting guard, Joe Johnson, re-signed veteran small forward, Gerald Wallace, and to cap everything off re-signed point guard, Deron Williams, to a five-year, $98 million, contract. Even with all that, the Nets still may end up with Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard when it's all said and done.
Los Angeles Lakers-On the fourth of July, the Lakers went and signed two-time NBA MVP, Steve Nash, in a sign-and-trade deal with the Phoenix Suns. In this scenario, all parties walked away on good terms. The Suns picked up future draft picks, Nash was able to still contend for a title and be close to his family, and the Lakers received one of the all-time greats at the point guard position. There's no telling how Nash and Kobe will mesh, but at the end of the day, they got Steve Nash.
Jeremy Lin-The Knicks bit the bullet letting their young point guard and money-making machine test the free agency waters, consequently letting other NBA teams bid for the chance of "Linsanity". Now, the Houston Rockets have made Lin a back-loaded three-year, $30 million offer that the Knicks will be forced to match if they want to keep their young star. The dilemma for the Knicks would be, if they match, they will be crippled long term when it comes to salary cap and luxury tax restrictions.
Losers
Dallas Mavericks-After winning the title two seasons ago, things have gotten increasingly worst for the Mavericks. After losing J.J. Barea last offseason, it looks like the Mavericks are set to lose guards Jason Terry, to the Boston Celtics, and Jason Kidd, to the New York Knicks. To make matters worse for the Mavs, as of now they have no one to replace these guards at any position. All of this occured because the Mavs put all hopes in getting Deron Williams, who made the difficult decision to stay a Net.
New York Knicks-Perhaps the biggest blow to the Knicks, may have been to their ego. In one week the Knicks have managed to lose Landry Fields, and subsequently because they lost Fields, they've lost Nash as well, and now possibly lose Jeremy Lin to free agency. And the biggest slap in the face of them all may be that they've witnessed the Brooklyn Nets, quite possibly become the most exciting NBA team in New York City. This has been a terrible headache for Knick fans without a doubt.
