The NBA’s free agent period officially opened less than 40 hours ago, but the list of this year’s top available players has already been pretty picked clean, with 35 of the players from our list of 2025’s top 50 free agents having already agreed to terms with a team.
Here are the players from our list remain available:
- Josh Giddey, G, (Bulls RFA)
- Jonathan Kuminga, F, (Warriors RFA)
- Cam Thomas, G, (Nets RFA)
- Quentin Grimes, G, (Sixers RFA)
- Deandre Ayton, C (waivers)
- Chris Paul, G
- Russell Westbrook, G
- Al Horford, C
- Malcolm Brogdon, G
- Moritz Wagner, F/C
- Chris Boucher, F/C
- De’Anthony Melton, G
- Amir Coffey, G/F
- Precious Achiuwa, F/C
- Ryan Rollins, G
While four of our top 10 free agents are still on the board, all four are restricted, which means it may take some time for their situations to play out. Sign-and-trades are always a possibility, but few clubs are in position to make an aggressive play for any of these restricted free agents, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN pointed out during a TV appearance on Tuesday evening (Twitter video link).
“If this isn’t the worst market for restricted free agents in the last generation, I don’t want to see it,” Windhorst said. “There’s just no money out there for cap space, and sign-and-trades are very tough to pull off…with restricted free agents, because the team that has the rights isn’t motivated to play ball.”
There have essentially been no rumors linking Giddey, Thomas, or Grimes to any rival suitors since free agency began, so there’s still a widespread expectation that those three players will ultimately end up returning to their current teams.
That may happen with Kuminga too, but there has certainly been more chatter about alternative landing spots for the Warriors forward. Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link) checked in on Kuminga’s market late on Tuesday night, suggesting that the Heat, Bulls, Pelicans, and Kings are still being monitored as teams to watch for the 22-year-old, despite an apparent absence of traction on any of those fronts so far.
According to Fischer, Miami has also been linked to potential forward trade targets like DeMar DeRozan and John Collins; Chicago still has Giddey’s own restricted free agency to resolve, and Golden State appears to have “moved away” from past trade interest in Nikola Vucevic; New Orleans doesn’t have an obvious path to make a realistic offer for Kuminga; and while Sacramento would have interest in sending out Malik Monk as part of a sign-and-trade, no momentum has developed there.
With those top four RFAs in limbo for the time being, Ayton – who will clear waivers at 4:00 pm Central time on Wednesday – may be the most intriguing option on the board. According to Fischer, a number of front offices around the NBA expect the former No. 1 overall pick to end up with the Lakers, but the Pacers have also shown interest, as did the Bucks before they agreed to a surprising deal with Myles Turner. Indiana, notably, is the team that signed Ayton to a maximum-salary offer sheet in free agency three years ago, and the same decision-makers are still running that front office.
Paul and Westbrook are two of the most accomplished NBA point guards of the last two decades. Paul is known to want to play close to his home in Los Angeles, so while the Bucks are among the teams that have expressed interest in him, per Chris Haynes on NBA TV (Twitter video link), a team like the Clippers or Suns may be a more realistic landing spot. Haynes adds that he thought Westbrook would land with the Kings, but as long as Monk remains on Sacramento’s roster, that looks like a long shot.
It’s worth noting there’s one big name who was not on our pre-free-agency top 50 because he has only become available since then: Damian Lillard.
The Bucks haven’t officially waived Lillard yet, but he’s expected to reach the open market in the near future, and according to Eric Nehm, Sam Amick, and Joe Vardon of The Athletic, many teams – including the Lakers, Celtics, and Warriors – have reached out and registered interest in signing him even while he recovers from his Achilles tear.
Still, Jamal Collier of ESPN hears that there’s no guarantee that Lillard will sign anywhere for the 2025/26 season, which he’ll likely miss most or all of. He’s reportedly expected to remain based in Portland while doing his rehab work.
Among the other names in the back half of our top 50, Horford is the most intriguing. He has been linked to several teams, including – most consistently – Golden State. The Warriors are still a leading contender to land the veteran big man, per Fischer.
Finally, we should mention Malik Beasley, who ranked 15th on our initial top-50 list before word broke that he was under investigation for gambling allegations. Beasley was reportedly discussing a three-year, $42MM deal with Detroit prior to that news, but it’s hard to imagine any team signing him until that legal situation is resolved, which is why we took him off our list entirely. Since that investigation was reported, a pair of follow-up reports have detailed Beasley’s financial issues, though it’s crucial to note that he doesn’t currently face any charges.
All of the free agent deals agreed upon so far can be found within our 2025 free agent tracker. The full list of free agents still available can be found right here (or here, if you prefer to sort by team rather than by position/type).
Honestly
If you’re the Jazz maybe you do a sign and trade involving Kuminga and Ace Bradley
Last thing Jazz need is another developmental guy to compete for minutes esp one who doesn’t want to be there.
I’d ask for Kuminga and at least warriors unprotected 2031 or 2032 first rounder.
Warriors get a cheap rookie lottery pick contract around Curry and Butler to help fill out the roste financially.
Ace Bailey, not Bradley.
Damn autocorrect idk why it put Bradley instead of Bailey
Because we all thought he wasn’t talking about Ace Bailey, but the #6 pick Ace Bradley, what are the odds two guys with almost identical names are picked so close together!
Was that supposed to make sense? The #6 pick was Tre Johnson…
Why would the Jazz want to trade for a 22 year old developmental guy who’s had four years in the league and still hasn’t developed into anything special?
I know the rumors are that Ace doesn’t want to be there but in interviews since the draft he’s been all smiles. The kid just wants to play. He won’t be competing for minutes. He’ll most likely be starting at SG or SF from day one.
1. Kuminga will play more than 25 minutes a night in Utah
2. Still 22 as you said.
3. Coming off back to back solid seasons despite sporadic playing time in GSW
16, 4, 2
15, 4, 2
Kuminga isn’t developmental. Kid can average 20+ playing more time in the league if he actually had regular minutes. And all he’s wanted is playing time somewhere. GSW screamed for years about how the organization and Kerr used guys like Kuminga and Moody wasting their talents.
Why would you trade for a 20+ ppg young franchise corner stone who wants to play and be given opportunities over a kid who doesn’t want to play for you and has openly stated such in public no less? And you get an unprotected first down the line? No brainer
Dame falling into the lap of the Lakers is so Lakers – not only do they luck into Luka but they luck into a cheap 2026 replacement for LeBron? C’mon, this isn’t fair!
Dame is in a great position, and as an Oakland/ bay area guy his ending up a Laker is far from guaranteed.
Oh of course. But the Lakers always seem to have someone great fall into their laps. Getting Dame at the minimum (leaving basketball fit next to Luka aside) is the logical next step after getting Luka for Day-to-day AD.
If he comes back to the level he was from the Achilles injury at his age it will be surprising. His shooting might help them but his lack of defense wouldn’t.
He’s got a lot of options, so I doubt he chooses the Lakers.
Dame isn’t playing this season. Bring in Al this and Dame next off season would be quite the gathering of soon to be grandfathers. Best 40yr old plus team ever assembled in world history.
Dame isn’t a replacement for LeBron. Dame is a ball-dominant PG like Luka.
Can’t see Dame and Luka on the floor together. No defense.
Dame at a minimum salary would open up a lot of team building options for any team, Lakers or otherwise. An elite shooter at the minimum salary could probably work on just about every roster in the NBA.
And I’m not too worried about the fit yet. The Spurs are trying to find backcourt playing time for Fox, Castle, Harper, Vassell, etc. The Rockets are trying to find front court playing time for Adams, Sengun, Capela, Durant, Jabari, etc.
Dame is a no defense guard that is one of the best shooters and clutch shooters of the last decade… however, he’s in his mid 30s coming off an Achilles injury. So expect even worse defense, and probably less shift/separation ability. He’s only 6’3 with shoes right? So…
Not sure that a 36 y/0 coming off the hardest injury to recover from that will have just missed an entire season be considered falling into a team’s lap. Also, coming off the bench to backup the worst defensive player in the league when Lillard might be the 2nd worst defensive player in the league probably isn’t the best situation for him.
Trae, Harden cough cough.
Luka is much worse than those 2 and a 36 y/o Lillard off an Achilles probably worse than them too.
I don’t mean anything malicious but, do where glasses. Trae is the worse defender in the league. Not even close.
I would think he wants to wait and see where teams are next summer, unless he has his mind set to return home to the Bay Area. Miami has always been a team he’s mentioned and he would have a slightly larger role with the Heat, better fit too.
Dame time would have always fit with heat culture I wished he got traded there 2 years ago
Dame was never great on defense but teams really target him now and there isn’t much he can do. He’ll still get buckets when he returns, but that injury will make his already shaky defense even worse. He’ll give up as many pts as he scores. Sadly he spent his entire prime with a team that wasn’t a true contender
Maybe he is the reason they were never a true contender.
Curry is great because he can shoot and played great defense in his prime. Same for Klay.
I’m not trying to be critical of Curry—I’ve always thought he was underrated defensively. During his prime, he was surrounded by defenders like Shaun Livingston, Andre Iguodala, and Draymond Green, so opposing teams had to choose someone to target. Plus, he carried a massive offensive load.
At his best, Curry played passable defense. If anything, he’s probably a better defender now than he was in his prime. He’s added muscle, making him harder to push around, and his understanding of team defense has improved. He stays in front of his man, relies on positioning rather than gambling for steals, and uses his veteran experience and deep knowledge of the system to his advantage.
Would it be better for some of these guys to sign the tender and play on that versus basically all of these teams could say – well give you 15M but that’s it unless you find a S&T that we’d agree to.
Like the whole base salary rule screws this up too for a S&T.
Kuminga should have taken the 5/150 if it was on the table.
Grimes probably is looking at 4/60 which is above fair imo…
Cam Thomas chucking has earned him at least 4/60.
Giddey… Bulls are bidding against themselves for no reason. 5/125 is all id go… but I think 5/150 is what’s out there?
I actually think CP3 to Denver would be a logical piece for both sides. Denver needs a veteran PG who is hungry and desperate for a title, while leading the 2nd unit. CP3 is past his prime but he was still efficient on P&R last year (9th among qualifying PG’s) and what does Denver love to run? Patent P&R with Jokic. They already are deep at every other position
Denver/OKC might be the game for ring night.
Brogdon is also still there – more size than CP3, better defence.
Good call, but I think in terms of scheme (see P&R usage) and “better health”, I believe CP3 would be an excellent addition to this team.
Brogdon if he had better health history, would be a no brainer here though. I think he will sign a 1 year minimum vet elsewhere (perhaps Cleveland now that Ty Jerome is gone)?
Cleveland just traded for Lonzo Ball to replace Jerome.
Indiana would be a good spot for Brogdon or a return to the Bucks.
Giddey, he’s scared off by the min. age of consent being higher in Chi than OKC.
If I’m Nets. I rather have Kuminga or Giddey instead of Cam. Or both really. Nets do have the cap space to sign both. Nets have such a young team. That it’s a good idea to sign Giddey to run team. Give him a three year deal ……
Horford is not going to command a big contract. Even if he leaves Celtics. I don’t see him leaving the East conference. Stay close to home. ….
Beasley situation is looking worse by the day. He definitely has trouble in his life. I don’t see this ending well …….
link to google.com
Ayton is the biggest prize out there. We all know he’s going to Lakers. Hopefully he can resurrect his career. We still don’t know why Portland gave up on him. It can’t be just about not wanting to pay him. Almost like NBA helping Lakers ……. we know they don’t do that riiiiiight.
Al come to Knickerbockers. Help your homey KAT win one ……
Portland gave up on Ayton because he is more trouble than he is worth. article yesterday said he was late to team flights, threw tantrums in the locker room and thought he was the face of the franchise.
Yeah there were rumors in Phoenix too. New money lol. Gotta research this more. I know someone is picking him up.
Horford is s good fit for the Nix.
Is there a sign and trade option for the warriors to sign and trade kuminga for ayton straight up? I don’t know anything about the cap math, but ayton would give us the true center we’ve needed for a decade
There’s a large void of talent coming out of college your number two and your number five pick played on Rutgers together and didn’t even have a winning record
I know it’s early and more moves are probably going to happen, but the way this Roster is right now is so out of Balance, it’s not even funny !!
1 – PG on the Roster
1 – SF on the Roster
2 – PF on the Roster
4 – C on the Roster
7 – SG on the Roster
I’m not even counting McDermots or Crowder
I’ve included the DP and reported going to sign FA
Dubs should sign Horford.