Fred VanVleet to Houston; many big names stay put early in NBA free agency

Fred VanVleet bet on himself, and the Houston Rockets are thebeneficiaries.

On an opening night of free agency where most big names — KyrieIrving, Draymond Green, Khris Middleton, Kyle Kuzma and more —stayed put, VanVleet is headed to a new home. He agreed to athree-year deal Friday with the Rockets that’ll pay him about $130million, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told TheAssociated Press.

ESPN first reported the agreement between VanVleet and theRockets.

VanVleet — who famously uses the phrase “bet on yourself” todescribe his career trajectory from undrafted player to NBAchampion with the Toronto Raptors — will make about $525,000 pergame over the next three seasons.

That nearly matches what he made as a rookie in Toronto, total —about $550,000.

“Love seeing guys getting paid,” Boston star Jayson Tatumtweeted.

And a whole bunch of them did on Friday night — with more tocome.

Irving and Luka Doncic are going to try again together inDallas. Green is going to chase more championships with StephenCurry in Golden State, just like Middleton is alongside GiannisAntetokounmpo in Milwaukee.

And Jerami Grant is staying put in Portland, for serious money.All those decisions came quickly Friday night as free agency in theNBA got off to its traditional fast and free-spending start — withroughly $1.5 billion in deals getting struck in about the firstthree hours alone.

Irving agreed to a three-year, $126 million deal to remain withthe Mavericks, who acquired him in a splashy move in February butsputtered down the stretch and missed the playoffs. A person withknowledge of the negotiations confirmed the agreement to TheAssociated Press, the deal taking quite possibly the biggest namein free agency off the board.

The Mavs had made clear that keeping Irving was their toppriority — and got it done in the first hour of the NBA’s freeagency window that opened at 6 p.m. EDT.

“DA11AS,” Irving tweeted, using his traditional jersey number inthere.

Grant is getting $160 million over the next five years, part ofa plan that Portland hopes keeps Damian Lillard happy enough to notask for a trade. Grant is staying put, as is Kuzma in Washingtonand Cam Johnson in Brooklyn.

Kuzma essentially doubled his annual salary, agreeing to a $102million, four-year deal with the Wizards. Green got a new contractthat’ll pay him $100 million over four seasons with the Warriors.Both of those deals — first reported by ESPN and subsequentlyconfirmed to AP by people with knowledge of the negotiations — gotdone very quickly once the offseason player movement windowopened.

Kuzma had opted out of a contract that would have paid him $13million in Washington this coming season; he’ll now average $25.5million over the next four years after scoring 21.2 points per gamethis past season.

Green staying put keeps him alongside Curry and Klay Thompsonwith the Warriors, where they have won four titles over the lastdecade. He opted out of a $27.6 million contract for this comingseason, and now is under contract for more years.

Middleton also traded bigger salary in the short term for moreyears. He could have made $40 million this coming season; instead,he agreed to $102 million over three years to stay withAntetokounmpo and a Bucks team that’s only two years removed froman NBA championship.

Johnson — who flourished and averaged 16.6 points in 25 gameswith Brooklyn after getting traded there this past season — isgetting a four-year, $108 million deal from the Nets, agent SteveHeumann of CAA confirmed to AP. New Orleans also saw one of its keyplayers stay put; defensive standout Herb Jones agreed to afour-year, $54 million contract.

The reigning NBA champion Denver Nuggets lost a free agent theywanted to keep, with Bruce Brown agreeing to sign with Indiana, aperson with knowledge told AP, on a two-year deal that could beworth $45 million. There is an option affecting the secondyear.

There was simply nothing the Nuggets could do to compete withthat offer — they could only offer Brown $7.8 million for thisseason. Brown will average nearly three times that much over thenext two years.

The team that Denver beat for that title, the Miami Heat, alsolost a key player from their club. Gabe Vincent agreed to athree-year, $33 million deal to join LeBron James and the LosAngeles Lakers — who went to the Western Conference finals beforefalling to the Nuggets. The Lakers also kept Rui Hachimura on athree-year deal worth about $50 million.

The Eastern Conference champion Heat are retaining Kevin Love —who quickly became a locker room leader after arriving in Miami —and brought back former Miami guard Josh Richardson. Love isgetting $3.7 million this season; both he and Richardson have anoption for 2024-25 as well.

Meanwhile, Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero has a new veteranwith him in Orlando; Joe Ingles agreed to a two-year, $22 milliondeal to join the Magic. And Tre Jones will sign a two-year, $20million deal with the San Antonio Spurs to play alongside No. 1pick Victor Wembanyama, agent Kevin Bradbury said.

And once VanVleet picked Houston, the Raptors moved quickly tofill their point guard opening and agreed with Dennis Schroder on atwo-year, $26 million deal, according to his representation atPriority Sports. Another point guard was on the move not longafterward; 2011 NBA MVP Derrick Rose agreed to a deal with Memphis— the city where he played his one season of college basketball —in a deal first reported by SNY.