We’re now into the second week of the NBA’s 2025/26 league year, and while free agency has been resolved for many top players, there are still a number of intriguing names who don’t yet have new contract agreements in place.
Let’s check in on where things stand for some of those players…
The restricted free agents
While they’re not the only four restricted free agents still on the board, there are four names who make up the top tier of notable unsigned RFAs, with each of them ranking among our top 10 free agents as of June 30. Those four players are Josh Giddey (Bulls), Jonathan Kuminga (Warriors), Quentin Grimes (Sixers), and Cam Thomas (Nets).
The restricted free agent market will likely play out very slowly this summer, given that there are essentially no teams (with the possible exception of Brooklyn) in position to sign any one of those players to the kind of offer sheet that would give the player’s current team pause. Here’s what we know about each of those four RFAs:
Josh Giddey (Bulls)
The expectation is that Giddey will remain in Chicago, so it’ll just be a matter of figuring out exactly what his next contract looks like. His camp is reportedly hoping to match (or, presumably, exceed) the five-year, $150MM extension that Jalen Suggs signed with Orlando last fall. Whether the Bulls are willing to go that high in terms of annual salary and/or years remains to be seen.
Jonathan Kuminga (Warriors)
The Kings, Wizards, Heat, Bulls, Bucks, and Nets were among the teams said last week to have expressed varying level of interest in a sign-and-trade deal for Kuminga. However, some of those teams have since made moves that will make Kuminga a less appealing – or practical – fit.
Sacramento has reportedly been the most aggressive suitor for Kuminga so far, having “floated” the idea a package that included 2024 first-rounder Devin Carter and two second-round picks.
But with no deal imminent, the expectation is that the 22-year-old and his camp will meet at the Las Vegas Summer League with interested teams, including the Warriors. A return to Golden State remains very much in play despite Kuminga’s up-and-down tenure in Golden State so far.
Quentin Grimes (Sixers)
The Sixers remain very confident that they’ll re-sign Grimes sooner or later and have “splashed cold water” on possible sign-and-trade scenarios, league sources tell Tony Jones of The Athletic. As with Giddey, it seems like the main question with Grimes isn’t where he’ll end up, but what his new contract with his current team will look like.
Cam Thomas (Nets)
We’ve heard very little since free agency opened about Thomas. In a Bleacher Report stream last Thursday (YouTube link), NBA insider Jake Fischer said the Nets guard “does not really have a market, to my understanding.”
Brooklyn is the only team in the league operating below the minimum salary floor, so it’s not as if the Nets are going to be outbid by a rival suitor — it certainly seems as if the only way Thomas ends up on a new team this offseason is if Brooklyn doesn’t want to bring him back.
The veteran unrestricted free agents
The next four highest-ranked unsigned players from our top-50 list after those four restricted free agents are long-tenured veterans. Here’s what we know about those players:
Chris Paul
The Clippers, Suns, and Bucks have been the teams most frequently linked to Paul in recent days. Milwaukee probably offers the best path to a starting role, which is something that’s reportedly important to the longtime NBA point guard, but he also wants to be close to his family in Los Angeles, which could give an edge to those two Western Conference teams.
Russell Westbrook
Another L.A. native who would reportedly like to play closer to home, Westbrook was said to be drawing legitimate interest from the Kings, but that was when it looked like Sacramento was going to trade Malik Monk. If that doesn’t happen, there may not be a spot on the Kings’ backcourt (or on the team’s cap) for Westbrook.
Al Horford
While Horford has been linked to several teams in the last week or two, the one constant has been the Warriors, who continue to look like the frontrunner to land the big man if he doesn’t retire. Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter link) reported on Monday that Horford continued to mull his options, with no deal imminent.
I suspect Golden State wants to resolve its Kuminga situation before officially committing its taxpayer mid-level exception to Horford, since doing so would hard-cap the team at the second tax apron and potentially complicate its ability to match an aggressive offer sheet for Kuminga.
Malcolm Brogdon
Reporting on Monday indicated that the Clippers, Suns, Lakers, Warriors, Timberwolves, Bucks, Pelicans, and Kings have all conveyed at least some level of interest in Brogdon. With some other higher-profile guards still out there, Brogdon may be the Plan B for some teams, which would mean he’d have to wait for some of those other players to commit before his options really crystalize.
The two veteran guards who aren’t yet free agents
Damian Lillard is currently on waivers and Bradley Beal is still working on a buyout with the Suns, but the expectation is that both players will reach unrestricted free agency pretty soon.
Lillard is a bit of a wild card, since he’s likely to miss the 2025/26 season due to an Achilles tear. He hasn’t ruled out the possibility of signing with a team sooner rather than later, and there will certainly be no shortage of clubs who would welcome the opportunity to help him with his rehab process and get a leg up on retaining him for ’26/27. But he’s not the type of player who will help a team win in the short term.
Beal, on the other hand, is coming off a pretty solid offensive season and would become a much more valuable investment if he’s on a contract that’s closer to his minimum salary than his maximum. The Clippers, Lakers, Bucks, Timberwolves, and Warriors are among the teams believed to have interest in signing Beal.
With many of those clubs also eyeing Paul, Brogdon, or other guards, Beal may be the first domino to fall — if and when he finds a new team, the ones that miss out can shift their focus elsewhere in earnest. The Clippers are rumored to the favorites for Beal, per Kurt Helin of NBC Sports.
The trades that aren’t yet official
As our full breakdown of this offseason’s trades shows, there are only two agreed-upon deals that aren’t yet official: Denver’s acquisition of Cameron Johnson from the Nets, plus the Jonas Valanciunas/Dario Saric swap between the Nuggets and Kings.
There has been speculation that the Nuggets will combine both of those agreements into a single transaction to avoid creating a hard cap at the first tax apron. At the very least, as NBA insider Marc Stein tweets, Denver needs to get the Johnson/Michael Porter Jr. trade done before the deal with the Kings in order to be able to get below the first apron. That will allow the Nuggets to take back more salary than they send out for Saric.
The Nets may be thoroughly exploring scenarios for how to take full advantage of their current cap room before they finalize that trade with the Nuggets, since it will cut into their space significantly — swapping Johnson for Porter will use up $17MM+ of their room.
The delay on these deals is not an indication that the Valanciunas/Saric deal won’t eventually be finalized. Multiple reports have indicated it remains on track, despite Valanciunas’ reported desire to get out of his NBA contract and sign with the Greek team Panathinaikos. Multiple reports, including another one from Stein on Monday night (Twitter link), have also indicated that the Nuggets have told the veteran center they intend to keep him and want him to honor his contract.
For what it’s worth, a report from SDNA in Greece indicates that Panathinaikos was assured by Valanciunas’ representation that the Nuggets would let him out of his NBA deal and was surprised to find out that Denver hadn’t signed off on that plan at all.
Although those two Denver deals are the only ones we know about that aren’t official, that doesn’t mean there won’t be more trades still to come — the Clippers, Heat, and Jazz, for instance, agreed to a three-team trade on Monday and finalized it later in the day. It’s possible that more deals could be around the corner as teams and executives congregate for Summer League action.
Is there any deadline for how long Giddey/Thomas/Kuminga/Grimes can stay in restricted free agency?
Is there a point where they just become unrestricted if they dont agree an extension?
they were offered a deal is why they are restricted. So they can take the offer or just sit out. Its up to them to decide what to do. If they take the QO then they are unrestricted next year
I think there is a date during the season by which a player is supposed to sign a QO tender but it can be pushed off. It happened a few years ago with the Hornets and Miles Bridges.
If the player doesn’t sign any offer sheet or their original team doesn’t matc the asking price, the player will have 2 options:
1. sign the original qualifying offer and become an unrestricted free agent the following year. (IMO, a fool)
2. play oversea and become restricted FA again and again. (forever RFA). IMO, a fool
There’s no point where they’d become unrestricted, as long as the team keeps the qualifying offer on the table.
Key dates:
July 13: Deadline for teams to unilaterally withdraw qualifying offer (it can still be withdrawn after that with the player’s consent).
October 1: Deadline for RFA to accept qualifying offer (this deadline can be pushed back by the team).
March 1: Deadline for RFA to sign offer sheet with another team.
End of season: Deadline for RFA to re-sign with current team.
If nothing were to happen by the end of the season, the current team could just issue the QO again next summer and go through the process again.
For what it’s worth, it’s not uncommon for this process to take a while for certain guys — I recall PJ Washington taking until the end of August to sign as an RFA with the Hornets a couple years ago.
It would be a bit out of the ordinary if it takes a month or two for four of the top RFAs, but I’d be surprised if all of these situations aren’t resolved well in advance of training camp.
I am so tired of hearing about the Kings offer to the warriors. They do not want Carter and Saric because they don’t fit the team. Kings need to attach a 1st round pick not a 2nd rounder to make it appealing. crter problem is he can’t shoot the 3s. He had 1 good year in college hitting 3s but every other year his shooting is poor.
I think with the way RFA has shifted and has become a huge liability for players, there will be a move by the player’s union to remove it. Outside teams don’t even make offers anymore.
there will be changes coming to the next CBA. Players are not happy with so many teams not having money to bring in free agents.
I would expect there to be other changes. The whole nba economics needs to be reviewed. The minute that a veteran extension is signed it becomes an albatross. Something will have to give.
There will be changes. Draymond Green went on a rant about how teh CBA is not helping free agent players and Since Iggy his buddy is the new union rep green has his ear on the complaints.
One would think they would try to change this. But the union also agreed to the de-facto hard cap so who knows.
I’m so sick & tired of the Kings doing ZERO, to improve this Roster, ZERO !! No Meaningful Trades or FA Signings !! So, Obviously they don’t want a winning team here. Hope they sell the Team and it just goes away !! i rather have Nothing than pay and watch this over and over again !!
purgatory
There are also still unrestricted free agents on the board that should hold appeal to teams: Ben Simmons, Cameron Payne, Alec Burks, Seth Curry, Caleb Houstan, Gary Payton II, Doug McDermott, Lonnie Walker, Precious Achiuwa, Bol Bol, Cody Martin and Thomas Bryant (among others).
Unfortunately most if not all those guys want way more than the veterans minimum.
Spotrac trade machine approves
Lakers receive: Draymond Green
Outgoing Cap
$32,196,833
Allowable Incoming Cap
$40,723,833
Incoming Cap
$25,892,857
Cap Difference
$6,303,976
Warriors receive: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Rui Hachimura & Tyler Smith
Outgoing Cap
$80,019,307
Allowable Incoming Cap
$100,274,134
Incoming Cap
$74,341,086
Cap Difference
$5,678,221
Bucks receive: Jimmy Butler, Austin Reaves
Outgoing Cap
$56,081,827
Allowable Incoming Cap
$70,352,284
Incoming Cap
$68,064,024
Cap Difference
$-11,982,197
Then trade Moses Moody and Gui Santos for Herb Jones. Sign Melton, Simmons. Top 4 team, easy.
😂😂😂😂😂😂
What’s funny? This trade works! Spotrac says so! It’s facutally a better idea than like 90% of trades on here!!
Nincompoop-ish cuz you really ‘dream’ Milwaukee’s settling for Jimmy / Austin for Giannis ?? Never
Do you honestly believe the Bucks are setting the market on Giannis and not the other way around? Uhh it’s 2025, its a players’ world.
The only good thing is he stop claiming KD is coming to the warriors. He is good for a laugh
Arc, notice no picks were in that offer. Lmao
i know raz but think of all the time he spent trying to figure out the money part. he is teh guy in a fantasy league that is always making offers for your best players wanting to trade you his cast offs.
Moses Moody for Herb Jones lmao…guess that 3/39 wasn’t really of equal value with Fox’s 1/27M lmao
Nets sign both Kuminga and Giddey. With Claxton and Clowney they have a solid core. And can start adding pieces to it. Any of rookies could end up being starters. Nets are loaded with young talent. So they should be able to find 3-4 players to add to these 4. Kuminga and Giddey should flourish. Knowing they are the main guys there. 22 yr olds
Ike to see Horford in NY. He would give us more options with Mitch. Same with Westbrooks gives us options with McBride. As far Knicks go Horford and Shamet is who they should sign …..
Warriors is a good place for Horford. I can see him going there. But if it’s same money. Staying close to home should mean something.
Brogdon will probably take less money to play. Since no team has cap space. At the vet minimum, Brogdon is a steal.
Before we see any FA signings. First we will have to wait and see where Beal signs . Then all the chips will start to fall .. Beal will be HUGE for whoever signs him. ……
The Nets should tender Giddey a giant offer sheet and sign him. That’s easily the best move they can make to jumpstart their rebuild.
I like Cam Johnson over Porter Jr and Nets don’t need to make that trade with Giddey on the books.
MPJ won’t be in Brooklyn long. Rearranging deck chairs rather than building up.
Chicago will match any offer sheet Giddey gets, GS will match any offer sheet Kuminga gets. It’s just a waste of effort for anyone.
Isn’t Chris Boucher still available? Or did I miss something? He’s a guy who could help a few teams.