Fischer’s Latest: Lillard, Harden, Saric, Christopher, N. Powell

After a busy first two days of free agency on Friday and Saturday, the pace has slowed on Sunday and Monday, with minimum wage agreements, rookie deals and cross signings dominating the headlines at Hoops Rumors.

While this shift is partly due to the fact that most of this year’s top free agents have stepped down from the board, it’s also related to the trade requests they submitted Damien Lillard And James Hardenaccording to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, who suggests that neither Trailblazer nor the sixers are in a hurry to close a deal. Some areas of the free agency market could be put on hold until those situations are resolved, Fischer explains.

For example the heat — who are Lillard’s top contenders — have told several free agents, including Malik Beasleythat they will not proceed with the minimum veteran commitments until they have more clarity on the Lillard situation. With Lillard on the roster, Miami would likely be a more attractive destination for veteran free agents — and have more roster spots to fill.

according to fisherman, Dario Saric And Josh Christopher are among the players who “could be involved in the Heat” depending on what happens to Lillard. Saric is a free agent while Christopher is reportedly being transferred from Houston to Memphis. So maybe there are scenarios where he would be diverted to Miami. Beasley apparently decided not to wait for the Heat after agreeing to sign with Milwaukee.

Here’s more from Fischer:

• Like Lillard with that heatHarden has expressed a strong preference that he end up with the hair clippers, according to Fisher. The fact that the two stars are each aligned with a single target is one reason for this Trailblazer And sixers They do this deliberately, Fischer notes, because they don’t want to be “cornered” and accept pennies on the dollar. It will be a challenge for Portland and Philadelphia to carve out the best possible package for their respective stars without opening the market to other teams, either as potential Lillard/Harden destinations or as third or fourth clubs in multi-team deals that they complete the Star Guardians to their desired landing sites.
• The hair clippers seem better able to negotiate a deal with them sixers for Harden as the Trail Blazers’ Heat for Lillard, in part because Philadelphia is prioritizing expiring contracts and Los Angeles has plenty of them, Fischer says. Still, he wonders if the Clippers are swingman Norman Powell — whose contract has three years left — could be attractive to the Sixers, of which they are the new head coach Nick Nurse Powell had on his 2019 title team in Toronto.
• The fact that Harden’s contract has only one year left — compared to Lillard’s four years — could make it easier for a dark suitor to roll the dice sixers The guard knows that if things don’t go well, he’ll be off the books in a year and it won’t be a problem in the long run, Fischer writes. On the other hand, team managers in the NBA aren’t necessarily convinced that Lillard, who has a reputation for being a consummate pro and won’t reach free agency until 2026, would play hardball and refuse to report to camp, sent to a non-heat team if he makes it, Fischer adds.