NBA players cash in as big free agency opens

Published 1:28 pm Saturday, July 2, 2016

Mike Conley and All-Stars Andre Drummond and DeMar DeRozan are staying put. So are Hassan Whiteside and Nicolas Batum.

Dwight Howard, Joakim Noah and many more players are on the move — and some are getting paid like they never could have imagined.

Howard and Noah both returned to their hometowns Friday, with the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks hoping the former Defensive Players of the Year have plenty left to offer.

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Howard agreed to a three-year deal worth $70.5 million with the Hawks, with the Knicks gave Noah $72 million over four years.

Kent Bazemore also re-signed with the Hawks for $70 million over four years, joining players such as Chandler Parsons, Evan Turner and Timofey Mozgov in cashing in during the first day of free agency — and really, of a new era — in the NBA.