National Basketball Association

2021 NBA Free Agency: Welcome to the golden age

Published Aug. 3, 2021 6:20 p.m. ET

By Martin Rogers
FOX Sports Columnist

A few weeks ago, one of the NBA’s younger superstars won a title, beating a Finals opponent themed mostly around youth. On Thursday, one 22-year-old will try to take his nation to a surprise spot in the Olympic gold medal game, while another just got paid to the tune of $207 million over five years.

Good to be young? In the NBA, absolutely. If you’re Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Phoenix Suns, Luka Doncic or Trae Young, certainly. Except that in the mysterious world of this year’s free agency sweepstakes, it is also good to be old.

Really good, in fact, and in a few cases, really profitable.

Gentlemen of, ahem, advancing years have historically been treated with an abundance of caution when it comes to doling out big contracts. The human body, prior reason dictated, can withstand only so many years of the kind of physical pounding caused by 82 games of pro basketball and must naturally slow over time. The league even implemented rules expressly designed to prevent old dudes from earning too much.

All of which is why the level of deferential respect being granted to a series of players deep into their 30s as free agency kicked into gear this week has been more than a little surprising.

On Monday, Chris Paul – 36 years spry – inked a four-year, $120 million contract with the Suns, the team with whom he defied expectations this past season by guiding the squad to the verge of a championship.

It was the furthest Paul had advanced in the postseason in his entire surefire Hall of Fame career, and the monetary reward is partly a thank you and partly recognition that the franchise believes he can contribute just as strongly for years to come.

Never before has such a deal been made, nor anything remotely close to it. According to The Ringer, the biggest point guard contract awarded to a player Paul’s age or older was when the Lakers gave Steve Nash $28 million over three years in 2012.

That was rapidly followed by news of Kyle Lowry, 35, being handed $90 million over three years to leave Toronto and join the Miami Heat in a sign-and-trade. The Utah Jazz and Mike Conley (33) joined the party, too, wrapping up a deal worth $72 million over three years.

The NBA is a young league, sure, but it's also one that’s coming to realize that experience is worth its weight in wins. Lowry knows what it feels like to capture a title, with the Heat perhaps seeing that knowledge as even more vital than his point guarding aptitude.

Paul’s smarts and support for emerging superstars Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton is regarded as critical to the long-term strength of the Suns organization. Having veterans who can still play at their peak, or close to it, while adding so many intangibles creates a product of immense value.

"I’ve never known a guy who cares so much about basketball and competing at everything," Ayton said of Paul recently. "It’s contagious, and that’s what he built in me as well, and just having him as a teammate and the experience that he’s went through and teaching me the little things has helped me, and it’s working."

In Utah, Conley is seen as an anchor for a franchise that hopes to turn regular-season excellence into more productivity once elimination basketball rolls around.

All of a sudden, age isn’t just a number. It is a valued proposition.

"The best teams in basketball right now are old teams," FS1’s Nick Wright said on "First Things First." "The Nets are old, the Lakers are old, the Warriors are old, the Heat are old-ish. Then there are the Suns, with a 36-year-old point guard, and the Bucks, who have the best of everything."

Nick Wright: 'Age is not the concern for LeBron's Lakers' I FIRST THINGS FIRST

Brandon Marshall doesn't believe a team as "old" as the Lakers can cut it in a Finals run, but Nick Wright disagrees.

While Phoenix, Miami and Utah paid generously for their veteran leadership, the Lakers tried to snatch some experience at a bargain price. With a roster looking painfully thin on numbers after trading for Russell Westbrook, Los Angeles added Dwight Howard (35), Trevor Ariza (36), Wayne Ellington (33) and Kent Bazemore (32), all on veteran minimum agreements.

ESPN Senior NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski also reported Monday that Carmelo Anthony has agreed to a one-year agreement with the Lakers, linking up with his good friend LeBron James. In addition, Wojnarowski reported that L.A. has signed Malik Monk. Signing those players to short-term, low-cost deals will allow for the significant flexibility needed to accommodate LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook on the same court.

Part of it all is a realization that improved nutrition and conditioning knowledge, plus medical advances in treating injuries, have allowed players to perform better, for longer, and that puts the NBA in a fascinating spot.

Every team that doesn’t have its young superstar of the future is still looking for one, though there is a simultaneous appreciation that casting aside veterans simply on account of their age has the potential to come back and make you look silly.

It’s a young man’s league and an old man’s league all at the same time, and it is in the balance between the two that the key to success truly lies.

Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports and the author of the FOX Sports Insider Newsletter. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.