As the calendar shifts to the month of July, the NBA’s free agent period came and made quite the splash. The biggest question of the free agent class is where LeBron James will call home next year. We did not have to wait too long as we went to press, James made a huge decision and announced he’s taking his talents to L.A. and will be joining the Lakers. It’s a 4-year deal worth $153 million dollars. As we know all too well, there are many teams who are trying to get better in attempts to dethrone the 2-time defending Champion Golden State Warriors. With James now in the Western Conference, the Warriors felt the need to retaliate and did they ever by coming to terms with All-Star big man DeMarcus Cousins. Those, along with Paul George re-signing with Oklahoma City were a few of the big moves made this past week. With all that said, yes, unfortunately, our beloved Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks were not active in free agency or trade talks due to lack of attributes, draft picks and salary cap. Next year, for both local teams, that may very well change.

For the Brooklyn Nets, it has been well-documented that back in 2012, the team’s then-general manager rolled the dice of the future of the franchise when he decided to trade several future draft picks to the Boston Celtics in hopes the team would be championship contenders upon their arrival to Brooklyn. Few years later, the Nets lack of draft picks have not only brought a few losing seasons for Brooklyn fans but has put the team’s rebuilding structure on hold. Next year, the team’s draft drought will finally come to an end and with the current roster expecting to go through another long season, which will ultimately mean that the Nets could land a lottery draft pick and perhaps land one of the top players in next year’s draft.

The same could perhaps be said for the cross-river rival New York Knicks when it comes to finances. Since taking over last year, Knicks team President Steve Mills and General Manager Scott Perry have made it quite clear about creating a window in clearing cap space. It will start with the team coming to terms with big man Joakim Noah and finding a taker for Courtney Lee, who’s owed around $25 million over the next 2 years. The Knicks also have to observe the status of their star player Kristaps Porzingis. The “Unicorn” is coming off a torn ACL and appears to be the guy the franchise will build around. To set the record straight, both the Knicks and Nets could very well have enough cap space to sign 2 max-contract players. Players such as Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving and Jimmy Butler could potentially become free agents next year. We shall see what the status for both teams will be as they prepare for what could be an “active” free agent period for both teams.

Sports Notes: (Baseball) The Major League Home Run Derby and All-Star game will take place next week in Washington, DC. See your favorite Yankees and Mets All-Stars compete against the very best players in the world.  What does the Our Time Press universe think about LeBron James deciding to join the L.A. Lakers? With the Oklahoma City Thunder coming to terms or releasing Red Hook native and former Knick Carmelo Anthony, where will Melo play next year? Miami, Houston? E-mail me at Castroeddie714@gmail.com and tell me your thoughts.