Chicago Bulls release Rajon Rondo, Isaiah Canaan
The Chicago Bulls could have rallied behind the "undefeated with Rondo" theme and rolled into next season with a reasonable amount of optimism.
Instead, they chose to dismantle the "Three Alphas" roster.
The roster shake-up continued Friday when the Bulls officially released veteran point guard Rajon Rondo. Guard Isaiah Canaan also was waived.
The Bulls had to choose between taking on the second year of Rondo's contract at $13.4 million or letting him go and paying him $3 million.
When the regular season ended, vice president of basketball operations John Paxson suggested it was very likely Rondo would return to the Bulls. But trading Jimmy Butler to Minnesota signaled the start of a rebuilding project.
Rondo might have been valuable as a veteran mentor for the younger players, a role he enjoyed and thrived in last season. Now there are two young point guards on the roster with Kris Dunn and Cameron Payne, making playing time an issue with Rondo.
There was a wide variety of outcomes in Rondo's only season with the Bulls. He played well in some big games but was demoted to second string on Dec. 30. Eventually, Rondo regained his starting job and was brilliant in the first-round playoff series against Boston, when the Bulls won Games 1 and 2 on the road.
The good news ended, though, when Rondo broke his thumb late in Game 2 and sat out the rest of the series, which the Bulls lost 4-2.
During the regular season, Rondo averaged 7.8 points, 6.7 assists and 5.1 rebounds.
The Bulls have nine players under contract for next season, starting with the lone remaining Alpha, Dwyane Wade. The others are Dunn, Payne, Jerian Grant, Zach LaVine, Denzel Valentine, Paul Zipser, Bobby Portis, Robin Lopez and rookie Lauri Markkanen.
The Bulls have three restricted free agents: Nikola Mirotic, Cristiano Felicio and Joffrey Lauvergne. There were late reports that Felicio has agreed to a four-year, $32 million deal to stay with the Bulls.
The Bulls will be open to making moves during free agency. They likely will have the cap room to absorb contracts and might consider trading Lopez, 29, who has value and is older than their primary rebuilding pieces.
By launching the rebuild, the Bulls want to be a bad enough team to get a top-10 draft pick next year. They may be on the lookout for potential veteran leaders, since it seems unlikely Wade will stick around all season, but don't expect any major moves.
For the rest of the league, free agency could be eventful. There already were a couple of pre-emptive trades, with Chris Paul heading to Houston and Minnesota sending point guard Ricky Rubio to Utah for a first-round pick. Paul was expected to become a free agent on July 1 but instead he decided to opt in for the final year of his contract to enable the trade.
There was another surprise late Friday with reports of Indiana's Paul George being traded to Oklahoma City for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis.
Here are the biggest questions for this round of NBA free agency:
Waiting on Hayward: Will Utah star Gordon Hayward re-sign with Utah, or will he jump to Boston and play for Brad Stevens, his college coach at Butler?
The desire to sign Hayward is believed to be a reason the Celtics didn't pursue a Jimmy Butler trade.
Why would Hayward leave? Well, he may have no chance to ever play in the NBA Finals by staying in the Western Conference.
Warriors need work: Golden State has four key free agents: Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston. It will be expensive to keep all four, but no one wants to leave a legendary team.
Expect Curry and Durant to save some money for the other two, though there are rumors Iguodala will meet with San Antonio.
Clippers collapse: With Chris Paul leaving, the Clippers might be another team looking to rebuild. Blake Griffin did decide to stay with the Clippers, agreeing to terms late Friday on a five-year deal worth approximately $175 million.
Minnesota missing a piece: After trading Rubio, the Timberwolves need a point guard. Indiana's Jeff Teague is considered the heavy favorite, but if that falls through, maybe Toronto's Kyle Lowry or even Derrick Rose could become possibilities.
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List of top NBA free agents
Top 2017 NBA free agents
Top of the line
Kevin Durant, Warriors
Steph Curry, Warriors
Gordon Hayward, Jazz
Blake Griffin, Clippers
Paul Millsap, Hawks
Kyle Lowry, Raptors
Second tier
Danilo Gallinari, Nuggets
Andre Iguodala, Warriors
Jrue Holiday, Pelicans
Serge Ibaka, Raptors
George Hill, Jazz
Jeff Teague, Pacers
Derrick Rose, Knicks
Taj Gibson, Thunder
J.J. Redick, Clippers
Restricted
Nikola Mirotic, Bulls
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Pistons
Otto Porter Jr., Wizards
Tim Hardaway Jr., Hawks
Cristiano Felicio, Bulls
Nerlens Noel, Mavs
Kelly Olynyk, Celtics
Alex Len, Suns
Tony Snell, Bucks