Jonathan Kuminga, Josh Giddey, Quentin Grimes and Cam Thomas have generated most of the free agency headlines this offseason. While Giddey (four years, $100MM) and Cam Thomas (one year, $6MM) re-signed with their respective teams earlier this month, Kuminga and Grimes remain restricted free agents ahead of the October 1 deadline to accept their qualifying offers.
There haven’t been many updates on Grimes’ situation with the Sixers of late, but there has been movement on the Kuminga front. The Warriors reportedly made a new three-year offer to the young forward, but his agent said signing the $8MM QO remains a viable option unless the team’s offers improve.
The prolonged Kuminga stalemate has prevented the Warriors from completing other roster moves, with unrestricted free agents Al Horford, De’Anthony Melton and Gary Payton II among the veterans expected to sign with Golden State. The team also has been linked to Seth Curry and Cody Martin.
The Warriors also have the NBA’s two remaining unsigned 2025 draft picks (Alex Toohey and Will Richard) as well as the lone two-way RFA (Taran Armstrong). As of now, Golden State technically only has 10 players under contract — five fewer than any other team.
Russell Westbrook is the most accomplished UFA left on the board. However, he has really only been linked to the Kings, who reportedly covet Kuminga and have been wary of making other trades until his restricted free agency is resolved. Sacramento would likely need to open a spot in the backcourt to make room for Westbrook.
Precious Achiuwa is another player who surprisingly remains unsigned ahead of training camp. He was added to our list of 2025’s top 50 free agents in late June after spending the past year-plus in New York.
Achiuwa, who recently turned 26 years old, reportedly drew EuroLeague interest from Panathinaikos in early August before the Greek team decided to sign Richaun Holmes. He has since been linked to the Heat, though Miami doesn’t currently have enough space below the luxury tax to sign him to a veteran’s minimum deal.
Ben Simmons (reportedly mulling retirement), Monte Morris, Cameron Payne, Malik Beasley (may or may not face criminal charges as part of a gambling probe), Alec Burks, Mo Bamba and Thomas Bryant are among the other noteworthy names who have yet to find new teams with training camps set to begin within the next two weeks.
I’d say Mo Bamba no longer deserves to be on a list such as this.
Considering Bamba wasn’t on a team to end last season, that’s more than fair. His brief inclusion was more about his age and draft status rather than what I personally think of him as a player.
If we were solely going by career accomplishments, DeAndre Jordan (three-time All-NBA) would be far more “noteworthy,” but he’s 37 and hasn’t been more than a minor role player and valued locker room presence for several years. Still, obviously it says something about him as a person that he’s been in the league for 17 seasons.
What kind of offer would it take to bring Grimes back to New York? I wouldn’t mind that at all. I honestly thought Burks would come back to New York also.