NBA Nightwatch 2018

So tonight begins NBA free agency. The Association has come a long way from tape delay Finals. Tonight the top flight reporters on the sport, Twitter commandos of greater and lesser credibility and bloggers and commenters of various degree await the job change decisions of their favorite players, not-favorite-players and players just looking for a job elsewhere.

Last year brought the Rockets a Chris Paul trade that was amazingly complete shortly after the deadline. Will such a thing happen again tonight? It seems unlikely. Will the Rockets be making elaborate pitches? Knocking on the door at the turn of the new day? Will they be chasing anyone new, or simply trying to find room to get their own budget and players back under contract?

The Rockets have several free agents, the biggest being Chris Paul, and then restricted free agent Clint Capela, but also Trevor Ariza, Luc Mbah a Moute, Gerald Green, and Tarik Black. I suppose Joe Johnson would also count, but I hope he will choose to retire gracefully.

Who will re-sign? Who won’t? Will there be anyone new? Updates as the night progresses. Let the fun begin. No seriously, let it begin, because this opt-in stuff has been tedious at best.

UPDATE - It appears Chris Paul will sign a gargantuan max deal with Houston.

UPDATE 2 - It appears Trevor Ariza has signed a one-year, $15 million deal with Phoenix. Knock me over with a feather.

UPDATE 3 - Gerald Green is back with a one-year, $2.4 million deal.

Thanks to Jeremy Brener for the great coverage on the free agency deals!