Already hectic NBA off-season now poised for chaos of free agency

Chris Paul has already been traded twice this off-season, ending up in Golden State. Bradley Beal is now in Phoenix, John Collins was sent to Utah, and Kristaps Porzingis is about to start anew in Boston in a deal that sent Marcus Smart to Memphis.

They have new places to call home. It's time to see if Kyrie Irving, Draymond Green, James Harden, Fred VanVleet, Khris Middleton and dozens of other players will be on the move in the next few days as well.

As proven by the run of trades in recent weeks, NBA teams aren't waiting for free agency to make moves. But the real season of off-season player movement begins Friday at 6 p.m. ET, when teams are permitted to start talking to free agents — with the caveat that most deals cannot become official until July 6.

"Obviously, money's a thing. I mean, that's just for anybody," said Miami guard Max Strus, a free agent now in line for a big payday, going from $1.8 million US this season to potentially $12 million a year or more. "These are moments that you work for, and these are opportunities that could be life-changing — so you can't ever take that out of it. But I love playing basketball and that's always going to be the first thing for me."

That's part of the reason why some trades have been made in recent days. The Warriors gave up Jordan Poole to get Paul from Washington in part because Paul's contract expires in a year and Poole is on the books for four years (at more than $30 million annually on average), and Atlanta sent Collins to Utah for Rudy Gay for similar reasons.

"I think a lot can be made of all the challenges that are coming our way, whether it be aging roster, the new CBA with some of the limitations there, anything else you can bring up," Warriors general