Players eligible for restricted free agency don’t become restricted free agents by default. In order for a team to make a player a restricted free agent, it must extend a qualifying offer to him. The qualifying offer, which is essentially just a one-year contract offer, varies in amount depending on a player’s previous contract status.
A qualifying offer is designed to give a player’s current team the right of first refusal. Because the qualifying offer acts as the first formal contract offer a free agent receives, his team then has the option to match any offer sheet the player signs with another club. If a player doesn’t receive a qualifying offer, he becomes an unrestricted free agent and is free to sign with any team — his previous club is given no formal opportunity to match.
You can read more about qualifying offers here.
Listed below are the details on which players did and didn’t receive qualifying offers this summer. Our list is based on various reports and team announcements leading up to the June 29 deadline, along with confirmation from RealGM’s official NBA transactions log.
It’s possible that one or two qualifying offers slipped through the cracks and will be reported later today before free agency officially gets underway — if so, we’ll update this list.
For now though, this is what the qualifying offer landscape looks like. The players who received QOs will be restricted free agents, while the players who didn’t will be unrestricted. We’ve updated our free agents lists by position and by team to reflect the changes.
Received qualifying offers:
Players on standard contracts:
Note: Qualifying offers marked with an asterisk (*) are based on a projected $154,647,000 salary cap and would increase or decrease if the cap comes in higher or lower than that.
Josh Giddey, Bulls ($11,142,058)- Quentin Grimes, Sixers ($8,741,210)
- Davion Mitchell, Heat ($8,741,209)
- Note: Mitchell reportedly has a two-year, $24MM contract agreement in place with the Heat.
- Jonathan Kuminga, Warriors ($7,976,830)
- Isaiah Jackson, Pacers ($6,422,432)
- Cam Thomas, Nets ($5,993,172)
- Santi Aldama, Grizzlies ($5,940,797)
- Ajay Mitchell, Thunder ($4,050,000)
- Note: Mitchell reportedly has a three-year, $9MM contract agreement in place with the Thunder.
- Ryan Rollins, Bucks ($2,578,870) *
- Justin Edwards, Sixers ($2,248,494) *
- Note: Edwards reportedly has a three-year contract agreement in place with the Sixers.
Players on two-way contracts:
Note: Qualifying offers for two-way players are one-year, two-way contracts with a guarantee of approximately $85K unless otherwise indicated.
- Taran Armstrong, Warriors
- Branden Carlson, Thunder
- Isaiah Crawford, Kings
- N’Faly Dante, Rockets
- Jesse Edwards, Timberwolves
- Tyson Etienne, Nets
- Trentyn Flowers, Clippers
- Enrique Freeman, Pacers
- Collin Gillespie, Suns
- Harrison Ingram, Spurs
- Quenton Jackson, Pacers
- Note: Jackson’s qualifying offer is a one-year, minimum-salary contract with a partial guarantee of approximately $102K.
- Daniss Jenkins, Pistons
- Spencer Jones, Nuggets
- Christian Koloko, Lakers
- Nico Mannion, Warriors
- Note: Mannion hasn’t played in the NBA since 2021, but the Warriors issued him a qualifying offer in order to retain his RFA rights in case he returns to the league.
- Mac McClung, Magic
- Kevin McCullar, Knicks
- Emanuel Miller, Bulls
- Riley Minix, Spurs
- Tristen Newton, Timberwolves
- Dru Smith, Heat
- Cam Spencer, Grizzlies
- Jacob Toppin, Hawks
- Luke Travers, Cavaliers
- Oscar Tshiebwe, Jazz
- Tristan Vukcevic, Wizards
- Keaton Wallace, Hawks
Did not receive qualifying offers:
Players on standard contracts:
Dominick Barlow, Hawks- Caleb Houstan, Magic
- Tre Mann, Hornets
- Josh Minott, Timberwolves
- Day’Ron Sharpe, Nets
- Pat Spencer, Warriors
- Jabari Walker, Trail Blazers
- Ziaire Williams, Nets
- Note: Williams reportedly has a two-year, $12MM contract agreement in place with the Nets.
Players on two-way contracts:
- Trey Alexander, Nuggets
- Emoni Bates, Cavaliers
- Reece Beekman, Nets
- Jalen Bridges, Suns
- Keion Brooks, Pelicans
- Jamal Cain, Pelicans
- Jeff Dowtin, Sixers
- Alex Ducas, Thunder
- David Duke, Spurs
- Kessler Edwards, Mavericks
- Adam Flagler, Thunder
- PJ Hall, Nuggets
- Bones Hyland, Timberwolves
- Mason Jones, Kings
- Yuki Kawamura, Grizzlies
- E.J. Liddell, Bulls
- Bryce McGowens, Trail Blazers
- Jack McVeigh, Rockets
- Justin Minaya, Trail Blazers
- Drew Peterson, Celtics
- Micah Potter, Jazz
- Trevelin Queen, Magic
- Isaiah Stevens, Heat
- JT Thor, Wizards
- Stanley Umude, Bucks
- Anton Watson, Knicks
Need a cap space recap.. Brooklyn has 35, Detroit maybe 17, everyone else is 14.1 MLE or worse right?
So you’re maybe only bidding against the Nets. If the Nets offer him anything above 15M, best of luck my man.
Otherwise why not just offer him 3/45 or 3/50. Worse that happens, be plays on the 9M tender and you probably lose him in a year.
Grimes, take a pay cut and come back to New York. Hart and you on the bench would be amazing
He declined like 4/40 from the Mavs. I doubt he takes a pay cut but who knows.
I think he declined*