NBA Free Agency Mailbag: Dame Waived, SGA's Supermax, Knicks Add Bench Depth.

Milwaukee Bucks' Damian Lillard grimaces as he falls to the floor against the Indiana Pacers during the first half of Game 4 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series Sunday, April 27, 2025, in Milwaukee.

Jeffrey Phelps/AP

The summer has officially begun, and you know what that means… It's officially NBA Free Agency time! Every summer, we see drastic shifts in the NBA landscape that completely alter the balance of power. This offseason has already seen massive trades, from Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets and Desmond Bane to Orlando. We’ve also seen jaw-dropping franchise decisions, such as the Milwaukee Bucks waiving star guard Damian Lillard, that left many shocked.

Let’s dive into some of the latest big news in this NBA Free Agency mailbag.

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Shai’s Signs Supermax

After leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to their first franchise title, reigning league MVP and Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander agreed to a four-year, $285 million supermax contract extension with the Thunder on Tuesday. This contract will keep Gilgeous-Alexander with the team through the 2030-31 season with the richest annual salary in NBA history.

The contract will kick in at the start of the 2027-28 season. 

The Thunder’s young superstar is fresh off a historic season, averaging a career-best 32.7 points per game in the regular season and 30.3 in the NBA Finals. He joined a legendary list of players to win MVPs and Finals MVPs in the same season. The others include Michael Jordan (four times), LeBron James (twice), Larry Bird (twice), Magic Johnson, Tim Duncan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, Moses Malone, and Willis Reed.

Gilgeous-Alexander also finished the season as the first scoring champion and MVP to win the title since O’Neal did in 2000. He joined Jordan (three times) and Kareem (1971) as the only players to average 30+ points per game, win MVP, and take home the NBA title.

He was acquired by the Thunder from the Los Angeles Clippers in the Paul George trade in 2019, which included a haul of draft picks that ended up becoming his running mate in Jalen Williams. His 32.7 points were the most ever in a season to win a title. This achievement surpassed Jordan’s 1992-93 season by a tenth of a point. Gilgeous-Alexander combined for 3,172 points in the regular season and playoffs, the most since Jordan that same season.

Dame Waived by Milwaukee

In a shocking turn of events, the Milwaukee Bucks decided to waive star guard Damian Lillard on Tuesday morning after two seasons with the team. The Bucks have now cleared up $113 million and will stretch out Lillard’s contract to sign Myles Turner, whom they signed to a four-year, $107 million deal that includes a player option and 15% trade kicker.

 The former seven-time All-NBA guard is rehabilitating a torn Achilles tendon he suffered against the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Lillard's injuries in back-to-back seasons with Milwaukee brought an end to his two-year stint. 

Lillard will now look to rehab back home in Portland, where he had his best years as an NBA player, making nine All-Star selections with averages of 25.7 points, 6.7 assists, and 4.3 rebounds in 900 regular-season games. He ranks first all-time in franchise career points and triples and second in assists.

Knicks add Bench Depth

One of the biggest concerns last season was the taxing amount of minutes Tom Thibodeau put on the starting five, led by All-Stars Jalen Brunson and Karl Anthony-Towns. They led the NBA in starter minutes with 14,674 per StatMuse and playoff minutes with 335 per NBA.com. The Knicks now add former Sixth Man of the Year Jordan Clarkson from Utah as a veteran minimum. Clarkson has averaged over 15+ points per game since the 2018-19 season.

He provides the Knicks with a dynamic player who can score quickly and has a knack for scoring the ball. Clarkson averaged 20.8 points per game in 2022–23 in 61 games as a starter, and he is someone who can space the floor with his shooting. Clarkson wasn’t the only signing, as the Knicks added Guershon Yabusele from Philadelphia on a two-year, $12 million deal. 

Yabusele gives the Knicks some girth on the interior off the bench and provides scoring and another rebounder when Towns needs a breather. The former Paris Olympics breakout star is an efficient scorer and floor spacer who shot 50% from the field and 38% from three last season for an injury-riddled Sixers team.