Tyrese Haliburton Undergoes Surgery On Torn Achilles
10:14 pm: Haliburton has published a photo of himself in his hospital bed, post-surgery, along with a candid message to Pacers fans (Twitter link).
“Words cannot express the pain of this letdown,” Haliburton wrote, in part. “The frustration is unfathomable. I’ve worked my whole life to get to this moment and this is how it ends? Makes no sense.
“… At 25, I’ve already learned that God never gives us more than we can handle. I know I’ll come out on the other side of this a better man and a better player. And honestly, right now, torn Achilles and all, I don’t regret it. I’d do it again, and again after that, to fight for this city and my brothers. For the chance to do something special.
“Indy, I’m sorry. If any fan base doesn’t deserve this, it’s y’all. But together we are going to fight like hell to get back to this very spot, and get over this hurdle. I don’t doubt for a second that y’all have my back, and I hope you guys know that I have yours.”
5:02 pm: Haliburton underwent an MRI on Monday which confirmed the injury, according to a Pacers press release. The surgery will be performed today by Dr. Martin O’Malley at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.
12:33 pm: Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton has been diagnosed with a torn right Achilles tendon, sources confirm to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). Grant Afseth of RG.org, who initially reported that Haliburton suffered an Achilles tear, states that he’s traveling to New York on Monday to prepare for surgery to address the injury.
Haliburton had been playing through a right calf strain that he suffered in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. The injury likely would have sidelined him for multiple weeks had it occurred during the regular season, but he was determined to play through it and was able to finish out Game 5 and compete in Game 6 without any setbacks.
With just over five minutes left in the first quarter of Sunday’s game, Haliburton caught a pass outside the three-point line and made a move to drive toward the Thunder’s basket. However, his right leg gave way as he pushed off and he fell to the court, where he shouted in frustration, grabbing his right lower leg and then pounded his fist against the floor (Twitter video link via ESPN). He was unable to put any weight on the leg as he was helped off the court.
It immediately looked like it might be an Achilles injury and John Haliburton, Tyrese’ father, confirmed as much to ESPN’s Lisa Salters prior to the end of the first half.
While the Pacers kept the game close for a little while after their starting point guard went down, the Thunder began to pull away in the third quarter and held their lead for the rest of Game 7 to secure the 2025 NBA championship.
“It’s heart-breaking, man,” Pacers reserve center Thomas Bryant said after the game, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star (subscription required). “You never want to see that with any of our players, especially with Ty. He’s the heart and soul of our team. He’s our point guard. He’s our point god, you know? We all gathered around each other when he went down and said we’re trying to do this for him, man. And it just sucks that we couldn’t get that accomplished.”
“We needed Ty out there,” added forward Obi Toppin. “He’s been good for us all year. For him to go down at the beginning of the game like that, it sucked the soul out of us.”
It’s a devastating blow for the Pacers and for Haliburton not just because it came during Game 7 of the NBA Finals but because it means the 25-year-old’s availability for the entire 2025/26 season is now very much in jeopardy. It often takes a full calendar year for a player to return from an Achilles tear.
Haliburton averaged 18.6 points, 9.2 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.4 steals in 33.6 minutes per game in 73 regular season starts for Indiana, with a shooting line of .473/.388/.851. While that performance earned him a spot on the All-NBA third team, he was even more impressive during the postseason, making multiple game-winning shots for the upstart Pacers, who came within one win of claiming the first NBA title in franchise history.
Haliburton is the third Eastern Conference star to tear an Achilles during this postseason, joining Celtics forward Jayson Tatum and Bucks guard Damian Lillard, whose injury occurred in the first round vs. Indiana. Haliburton is also the third Pacer to sustain that injury this season, as backup centers James Wiseman and Isaiah Jackson both did so in the span of nine days in the fall.
Haliburton is under contract with the Pacers through the 2028/29 season, so the franchise figures to continue building around him once he’s ready to return.
Scotto’s Latest: Thunder, Pacers, Kings, Barrett, Rockets, Wolves, KD
Their seasons ended less than 24 hours ago, but the Thunder and Pacers will have significant roster decisions to make in the coming days, and executives around the NBA are keeping an eye on both teams to see how they’ll handle them, writes Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
The Thunder have the ability to essentially run it back with their same roster, since 13 of their players are on guaranteed deals for next season, while the team holds cost-effective options on the other two. However, Oklahoma City also has multiple first-round picks at No. 15 and No. 24 and could be facing a roster crunch.
According to Scotto, rival executives believe the Thunder may either trade the No. 24 pick for a future first-rounder or use it to select a potential draft-and-stash prospect like Hugo Gonzalez or Noah Penda. Execs also view former lottery pick Ousmane Dieng as a possible trade candidate as he enters the final year of his rookie scale contract, Scotto notes.
Meanwhile, with Tyrese Haliburton potentially sidelined for all of the 2025/26 season after tearing his Achilles, people in league circles are wondering if the Pacers and team owner Herb Simon are still prepared to go into luxury-tax territory in 2025/26 to re-sign Myles Turner and keep their roster intact, says Scotto. There’s an expectation that rivals will inquire this summer on the trade availability of role players like Bennedict Mathurin, Obi Toppin, and Jarace Walker, Scotto adds.
Here’s more from Scotto:
- Although a Sacramento Bee report over the weekend indicated that the Kings haven’t yet engaged in trade discussions about Malik Monk, Scotto hears from sources that the team has gauged the market on both Monk and Devin Carter as it seeks a potential first-round pick and a point guard upgrade. Sacramento was unwilling to move Carter when the club talked to the Nets about Cameron Johnson prior to the trade deadline, Scotto writes, but Scott Perry has replaced Monte McNair as the Kings’ head of basketball operations since then and may not be as attached to last year’s No. 13 overall pick.
- According to Scotto, the Raptors have continued to gauge the trade market for forward RJ Barrett. The former No. 3 overall pick hasn’t come off the bench since his rookie year in 2019/20, but could be the odd man out of Toronto’s starting five with Brandon Ingram set to make his Raptors debut this fall.
- Rockets head coach Ime Udoka, who spent a season with Kevin Durant in Brooklyn, was in favor of the Celtics trading for Durant during his time in Boston and advocated for Houston to acquire the star forward this summer, per Scotto. In addition to reuniting with Udoka, Durant will be teaming up again with friend and fellow Texas alum Royal Ivey — the Rockets assistant interviewed for the Suns‘ head coaching vacancy and turned down interest from the Grizzlies and Spurs for assistant coaching positions, Scotto reports.
- In addition to being concerned about Durant’s lack of enthusiasm for Minnesota, the Timberwolves didn’t want to lose Rudy Gobert, a Suns target in trade talks, which is why the Wolves didn’t end up beating Houston’s offer for the 15-time All-Star, Scotto explains. Giving up Gobert and potentially having Durant play alongside Julius Randle in their frontcourt wasn’t considered an “ideal pairing defensively” for the Wolves, Scotto writes.
Spurs Among Teams Eyeing Guerschon Yabusele
The Spurs are one of several teams expected to have interest in big man Guerschon Yabusele when he reaches free agency, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
The 16th overall pick in the 2016 draft, Yabusele came stateside a year later at age 21, but was unable to carve out a rotation role during two seasons in Boston from 2017-19. He returned overseas and honed his game in China, France, and Spain for five years before taking another shot at the NBA in 2024, when he signed a one-year, minimum-salary contract with the Sixers.
Yabusele’s second go-round in the league has gone much better than the first thus far. He played a more prominent role than expected for a banged-up Philadelphia team and averaged 11.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 27.1 minutes per game on .501/.380/.725 shooting across 70 outings (43 starts).
While the Sixers are reportedly interested in retaining Yabusele, they’ll only hold his Non-Bird rights, so they would need to use their mid-level exception to offer him more than 20% above his minimum. And Philadelphia may only have the $5.7MM taxpayer mid-level exception available, depending on how the rest of the club’s offseason plays out.
The Spurs could offer Yabusele the opportunity to reunite with fellow Frenchman Victor Wembanyama, his teammate at the Paris Olympics a year ago. With centers Charles Bassey, Sandro Mamukelashvili, and Bismack Biyombo all headed for unrestricted free agency, San Antonio will be in the market for frontcourt help this summer and should have the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($14.1MM) on hand to go free agent shopping.
We ranked Yabusele 26th on our list of the top 50 free agents of 2025 earlier today.
Rockets Likely To Decline VanVleet’s Option, Work On New Multiyear Deal
The Rockets will likely decline their team option on Fred VanVleet for the 2025/26 season in the coming days, but still intend to work toward a new multiyear contract with their starting point guard, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Veteran reporter Marc Stein (Twitter links) also hears that there’s a “strong expectation” the Rockets and VanVleet will agree to terms on a new deal soon, though he cautions that one source said Houston is still weighing its options and hasn’t ruled out simply exercising that option.
Whichever direction the Rockets go, VanVleet is considered a good bet to remain with the team, Stein adds (Twitter link).
[RELATED: VanVleet, Rockets Have Mutual Interest In Continuing Relationship]
Declining VanVleet’s option in order to sign him to a longer-term deal makes sense for the Rockets, since picking it up would lock in his $44,886,930 salary for 2025/26. That’s a big number for a Houston team that has agreed to acquire Kevin Durant and would likely have to operate in tax-apron territory if it brings back VanVleet on a maximum-salary cap hit.
Turning down the option and lowering the 31-year-old’s cap hit for ’25/26 would position the Rockets to remain below the aprons and potentially even to avoid the luxury tax, depending on how much of a pay cut VanVleet is willing to take. Tacking on multiple years could entice VanVleet to take a sizable haircut in year one, since a deal in the neighborhood of, say, $30MM annually over three seasons would still assure of him significantly more total guaranteed money than his option would pay him.
There had been speculation that Houston might exercise its option on VanVleet in order to include him as a salary-matching piece in a trade for Durant. However, using one of their other big contracts (like Jalen Green‘s) as a centerpiece for Durant always made more sense for the Rockets, who would have created a major hole at point guard by sending out VanVleet in the move.
A career 37.5% three-point shooter entering 2024/25, VanVleet had a down year from beyond the arc (34.5%), but led the Rockets with 5.6 assists per game, ranked third on the team with 14.1 points per contest, and served as a veteran leader and organizer for a young squad that won 52 games and claimed the No. 2 seed in a tough Western Conference.
The Rockets’ decision on VanVleet’s team option was originally due five days after the team’s season ended, but the two sides agreed last month to push it back to June 29.
Suns Notes: Frontcourt, Allen, O’Neale, Micic, Martin
Expect the Suns to focus on adding frontcourt help in the draft and during free agency, according to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link), who points out that the team could really use a power forward after agreeing to trade Kevin Durant to Houston and also needs either a starting or backup center.
As a result of adding Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks in the Durant deal, Phoenix’s roster is heavy on wings, with Green now part of a group of shooting guards that includes Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, and Grayson Allen, while Brooks joins Royce O’Neale and Ryan Dunn at small forward. Cody Martin, who has a non-guaranteed $8.7MM salary for next season, could also be part of that mix if the Suns decide to hang onto him.
The Suns have gauged the trade market for Allen and O’Neale, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reports, so moving one of them could help clear the logjam on the wing.
Up front, meanwhile, Phoenix likes both Nick Richards and Oso Ighodaro, according to Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports, and the expectation is that Richards will have his $5MM salary guaranteed, per Scotto. However, Richards probably fits better as a backup than a full-time starter, while Ighodaro is entering his age-23 season and still needs time to develop.
Unless they’re able to shed significant salary, the Suns will only be able to offer minimum-salary contracts to free agents, but they now control four draft picks this week, including Nos. 10 and 29 in round one.
Here’s more on the Suns:
- Within a story that extensively breaks down the Durant trade and its impact on the rest of the Suns’ roster, Bourguet says he expects the team to decline Vasilije Micic‘s $8.1MM team option and suggests Martin could be an odd man out as well for cap/tax reasons, though the club does like him. Scotto confirms that Phoenix will likely turn down Micic’s option and waive Martin unless one of their salaries is needed for a trade.
- In that same PHNX Sports story, Bourguet notes that Brooks will bring some “swagger” to the roster that the Suns have lacked since Jae Crowder and Chris Paul departed, confirms that the plan is to hang onto Green rather than flipping him to another team, and briefly explores what the front office will do with Beal, since finding a trade for him feels unlikely.
- The Suns had won between 45 and 64 games in the four seasons prior to 2024/25, but the Durant trade feels like it could be the beginning of a difficult stretch for the franchise, writes Doug Haller of The Athletic.
- Eric Koreen and James Jackson of The Athletic teamed up to discuss what the Durant trade means for Phoenix going forward, with Jackson expressing surprise that the Suns weren’t able to extract either more young talent beyond Green or additional draft assets besides this year’s No. 10 overall pick.
Bulls’ Jevon Carter Picking Up 2025/26 Option
Bulls point guard Jevon Carter is exercising his player option for the 2025/26 season, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link). The move will lock in a salary worth $6,809,524.
Carter, who signed a three-year, $19.5MM contract with the Bulls after enjoying a career year in Milwaukee in 2022/23, hasn’t played a major role during his first two seasons in Chicago, having had a hard time earning consistent minutes in a crowded backcourt. Josh Giddey, Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu, Lonzo Ball, and Tre Jones were all ahead of him on the depth chart this past season.
Carter has averaged 4.7 points, 1.2 assists, and 0.9 rebounds in 12.3 minutes per game in total 108 outings since becoming a Bull, with a subpar shooting line of .378/.330/.706. He posted averages of 8.0 PPG, 2.4 APG, and 2.5 RPG in 22.3 MPG on .423/.421/.816 shooting in his final season with the Bucks.
While Carter doesn’t project to have a clearer path to playing time in Chicago in 2025/26, there’s some uncertainty surrounding a few of the Bulls’ guards. Giddey will be a restricted free agent, Jones will be an unrestricted free agent, and White, Dosunmu, and Ball will also be on expiring or pseudo-expiring contracts. One or two of those players could emerge as trade candidates, though Carter figures to be on the trade block himself, since his $6.8MM cap hit could help grease the wheels on a deal.
As our tracker shows, Carter is the only Bull who had a player option decision to make this month.
Wizards’ Khris Middleton Opts In For 2025/26
Wizards forward Khris Middleton has exercised his player option for the 2025/26 season, postponing his free agency until next summer, sources tell ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).
Middleton, who will turn 34 in August, was always expected to take this route, since his option will pay him $33,345,679 next season. That’s significantly more than he would’ve earned next season if he had opted for free agency, given his health issues in recent years.
A three-time All-Star between 2019 and 2022 and a key member of the Bucks team that won a title in 2021, Middleton has been slowed by wrist, knee, and ankle injuries over the past three seasons, having appeared in just 125 total regular season games since the fall of 2022. He has averaged 14.1 points, 4.8 assists, and 4.3 rebounds in 25.0 minutes per game with a .472/.356/.863 shooting line during that stretch.
Middleton showed during the 2023 and 2024 playoffs that he can still be dangerous when he’s at full health, having averaged 24.3 PPG, 7.9 RPG, and 5.4 APG on .475/.381/.883 shooting in 11 games across those two brief postseason runs. However, his inability to stay healthy and perform at that level consistently – combined with his sizable contract – prompted the Bucks to trade him to Washington at the 2025 trade deadline in February.
While Middleton is a Wizard for now, the odds are probably against him spending the full 2025/26 season in D.C. with a rebuilding team. His big expiring contract could come in handy for salary-matching purposes in a trade, either this summer or during the season, if Washington hangs onto him into the fall in the hopes of rebuilding his value. If the forward has another down year and is still on the Wizards’ roster after the trade deadline, a buyout could be in play at that point.
Even with Middleton’s $33MM+ salary locked in, the Wizards project to operate comfortably below the luxury tax line this season.
Top 50 NBA Free Agents Of 2025
With the 2024/25 NBA season in the books, the offseason has begun, and so has free agency — sort of.
A tweak in the league’s most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement means that teams are permitted to begin negotiating with their own free agents one day after the NBA Finals end rather than having to wait until June 30 to do.
Clubs still aren’t allowed to talk to rival teams’ free agents until June 30, and most contracts can’t be officially signed until July 6, but some free agents will almost certainly reach tentative agreements prior to the typical opening of the free agent period.
Listed below are our top 50 free agents for the 2025/26 NBA season. Our rankings take into account both a player’s short-term and long-term outlook and lean a little more heavily toward market value than present on-court value.
Players who are under contract for next season aren’t listed here, even if their salaries aren’t fully guaranteed and they’re candidates to be waived. However, we’ll continue to update this list up until June 30, so certain players may be added or removed as option decisions are made and other roster moves are finalized.
In addition to the players listed below, there are plenty of other free agents available this summer. You can check out our breakdowns of free agents by position/type and by team for the full picture.
Here are our top 50 free agents of 2025:
1. Kyrie Irving, G, Mavericks (player option)
It’s a reflection of the relative weakness of this year’s free agent class that a 33-year-old who will spend the rest of 2025 recovering from a torn ACL tops our list. But there’s some precedent here that bodes well for Irving’s chances of scoring a big payday — Klay Thompson signed the most lucrative free agent contract of the 2019 NBA offseason (five years, $189.9MM) despite having suffered an ACL tear a few weeks earlier that would sideline him for all of 2019/20. I don’t expect Irving, who is four years older now than Thompson was in 2019, to receive quite that lengthy a commitment from Dallas, but he has a chance to top Klay’s average annual salary. After trading Luka Doncic earlier this year, the Mavericks are pot-committed to Kyrie, the only star ball-handler and play-maker on their roster, who will have some leverage in spite of his injury.
Update: Irving reportedly intends to sign a three-year, $119MM contract with the Mavericks.
2. James Harden, G, Clippers (player option)
While his field goal percentage (41.0%) and three-point percentage (35.2%) were both well below his career averages, Harden enjoyed a bounce-back year of sorts in 2024/25, registering his highest scoring average (22.8 PPG) since 2020/21 and earning a spot on an All-NBA team for the first time since ’19/20. With Kawhi Leonard out for the first half of the season, Harden was the primary offensive engine for a Clippers team that performed better than expected after losing Paul George. The former MVP won’t get a long-term contract as he enters his age-36 season, but I could see him getting multiple guaranteed years with a salary bump, assuming he declines his $36.3MM player option.
Update: Harden reportedly intends to sign a two-year, $81.5MM contract with the Clippers.
3. Myles Turner, C, Pacers
The top option among a solid group of free agent centers, Turner has increased his value this spring by anchoring the Pacers’ defense during their unexpected run to Game 7 of the NBA Finals. The 29-year-old isn’t perfect – notably, he’s a subpar rebounder for his size – but as a big man who can protect the rim on defense and stretch the floor on offense, Turner has a rare, coveted skill set. Brook Lopez, who has a similar game to Turner, is coming off a two-year, $48MM contract that he signed at age 35. Given that he’s six years younger than that, I expect the Pacers center to get at least three or four years and to comfortably clear Lopez’s last deal in terms of per-year salary. Indiana will have competition for him, but reports have suggested the club is willing to enter luxury tax territory for the first time since 2006 to keep their core intact. We’ll see if that’s still the case in the wake of Tyrese Haliburton‘s Achilles injury.
4. Josh Giddey, G, Bulls (RFA)
I don’t know that Giddey is a top-five player among this year’s free agents, but he’s reaching the market at age 22, making him one of the strongest candidates to sign this summer’s biggest free agent contract. He was reportedly seeking $30MM per year when he and the Bulls discussed a rookie scale extension last fall. After a slow start, he finished his contract year strong by averaging 21.2 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 9.3 assists per game on .500/.457/.809 shooting after the All-Star break. One factor potentially working against Giddey is that the Bulls may be wary of bidding against themselves again after committing five years and $90MM to restricted free agent Patrick Williams a year ago.
5. Julius Randle, F, Timberwolves (player option)
Randle wasn’t scoring or shooting as much during his first year as a Timberwolf as he had gotten accustomed to during his years in New York, but after finding his footing in Minnesota, the 30-year-old continued to be an effective scorer, rebounder, and play-maker, putting up averages of 18.7 PPG, 7.1 RPG, and 4.7 APG. Given the lack of league-wide cap room available this summer, declining his $30.9MM player option isn’t a no-brainer. If he goes that route though, Randle should be able to lock in a much bigger overall guarantee on a multiyear deal — even if it means taking a slight short-term pay cut for 2025/26.
Update: Randle reportedly intends to sign a three-year, $100MM contract with the Timberwolves.
6. Fred VanVleet, G, Rockets (team option)
An underrated point guard whose contributions go far beyond his box-score stats, VanVleet has helped transform the culture in Houston, serving as a veteran leader for a young team that improved by 19 wins in his first season as a Rocket, then by 11 more wins in his second season. The Rockets could afford to overpay VanVleet during those two years because their young players were all still on their rookie scale deals, but with the roster starting to get more expensive, the club may decline the 31-year-old’s $44.9MM team option in order to sign him to a longer-term deal with a more manageable first-year cap hit.
Update: VanVleet reportedly intends to sign a two-year, $50MM contract with the Rockets.
7. Jonathan Kuminga, F, Warriors (RFA)
The final few weeks of Kuminga’s season were a microcosm of his first four years in the NBA. After falling out of the Warriors’ rotation entirely for the regular season finale, the play-in game, and most of the first round, the 22-year-old got another opportunity in round two following an injury to Stephen Curry and took full advantage, scoring 24.3 points per contest on 55.4% shooting in Golden State’s final four games. That tantalizing upside as a big-time scorer makes Kuminga one of the year’s most intriguing free agents, even if the fit with the Warriors has been a challenge at times.
8. Naz Reid, F, Timberwolves (player option)
The NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year in 2023/24, Reid put up pretty similar numbers in ’24/25, increasing his points (14.2), rebounds (6.0), and assists (2.3) per game. A beloved Timberwolf, Reid has been the third big man in Minnesota’s frontcourt in recent years, but could be in line for a much more significant role if the team doesn’t retain Randle — or if Reid leaves the Wolves to sign elsewhere. Teams in need of a forward/center who can knock down outside shots will likely take a long look at Reid, with the Pistons said to be among his potential suitors. Still, it will take more than the non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($14.1MM) to make him a competitive offer, so Minnesota is in the driver’s seat to retain him.
Update: Reid reportedly intends to sign a five-year, $125MM contract with the Timberwolves.
9. Cam Thomas, G, Nets (RFA)
There are a lot of red flags to consider with Thomas. He’s not a great play-maker for a ball-dominant guard, isn’t a strong defender, and hasn’t shot three-pointers especially efficiently since entering the league (.345 3PT%). He’s also coming off a series of hamstring injuries that limited him to just 25 outings in 2024/25. But there are few players in the NBA who are better at simply getting the ball in the basket. Thomas has improved his scoring average every year since being drafted in 2021, establishing a new career high with 24.0 PPG this past season. The Nets, who barely have any multiyear contracts on their books, are well positioned to give the 23-year-old a lucrative multiyear deal and hope that he continues to develop the non-scoring aspects of his game.
10. Quentin Grimes, G, Sixers (RFA)
After establishing a reputation during his first three-and-a-half NBA seasons as a solid three-and-D role player, Grimes showed after being traded to the Sixers at the deadline that he’s capable of playing a featured role too, averaging 21.9 points and 4.5 assists per game on .469/.373/.752 shooting in 28 games with Philadelphia. It’s hard to know how much stock to put in those stats, given that the 76ers were very much in tank mode during that stretch of the season, but even if he returns to his complementary role, Grimes is a valuable piece. The Sixers will be looking to re-sign him without going too deep into tax-apron territory.
11. Nickeil Alexander-Walker, G, Timberwolves
The third Timberwolf on our list already, Alexander-Walker has rejuvenated his career in Minnesota after having been an afterthought in the three-team February 2023 trade that sent him from the Jazz to the Wolves. A talented perimeter defender, Alexander-Walker has displayed a reliable outside shot over the past three seasons (.385 3PT%) and will still be just 27 years old when training camps get underway this fall. I’d expect him to be a popular target for teams with the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception available, and he could even end up exceeding that figure.
12. Santi Aldama, F, Grizzlies (RFA)
Aldama flies somewhat under the radar in Memphis, where he plays a complementary role to stars like Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr., but he quietly had a career year in his fourth NBA season, averaging 12.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 2.9 assists in 25.5 minutes per contest. His 48.3% mark on shots from the floor and 36.8% percentage on three-point tries were both career bests too. A solid, versatile frontcourt defender, Aldama will be a priority for the Grizzlies this offseason and has a pretty good case to match or exceed the four-year, $58MM contract Obi Toppin signed with Indiana a year ago.
13. Brook Lopez, C, Bucks
If Lopez were 10 years younger, he might be up in the top five of this list alongside Turner, his fellow rim-protecting, floor-spreading center. At age 37, he’ll still draw plenty of interest on the open market, but he’ll have a hard time getting more than a couple guaranteed years. I’ll be interested to see whether Lopez prioritizes one last big payday or if he’s open to accepting a substantial pay cut to take on a role with a team that may be closer than Milwaukee to contending for a title in 2026. He nearly left the Bucks for the Rockets in 2023 — maybe this will be the year he finally changes teams.
14. Bobby Portis, F/C, Bucks (player option)
A reliable part of the Bucks’ frontcourt for the last five seasons, Portis earned Sixth Man of the Year votes in three of those years — he started too many games to qualify in one of the other two seasons, then only suited up a total of 49 times last season due to a 25-game suspension that cost him much of the second half. His consistency is an asset, and it’s one Portis believes he should be rewarded for. He recently spoke about a desire to be “compensated fairly” after accepting what he views as team-friendly contracts in recent years. Given that context, it seems relatively safe to assume he’ll decline his $13.4MM player option in search of a more sizable commitment, either from Milwaukee or another team.
Update: Portis reportedly intends to sign a three-year, $44MM contract with the Bucks.
15. Caris LeVert, G/F, Hawks
With three ball-dominant guards (Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, and Ty Jerome) on the roster in Cleveland, LeVert wasn’t an ideal fit for a team that needed more of a three-and-D wing in his spot. The Cavaliers ultimately ended up sending him out in a trade to get exactly that sort of player (De’Andre Hunter). But LeVert thrived leading the second unit in Atlanta following his change of scenery, looking more like the player who frequently averaged between 17 and 20 points per game earlier in his career. The Hawks reportedly want to bring him back in that role and have plenty of cap flexibility to do so.
16. 
25. 
33. 
43. Tyrese Haliburton Exits Game 7 With Achilles Injury
8:21 pm: ESPN’s Lisa Salters spoke to Haliburton’s father prior to the end of the first half and he confirmed that his son suffered an Achilles injury (Twitter video link).
The team will likely be conducting more tests to confirm the diagnosis, but if it’s an Achilles tear for Haliburton, it could cost him the entire 2025/26 season.
7:50 pm: Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton has exited Game 7 of the NBA Finals in the first quarter after sustaining a right lower leg injury (Twitter video link via ESPN). He won’t return to the game, according to the team.
With just over five minutes left in the first quarter on Sunday, Haliburton caught a pass outside the three-point line and made a move to drive toward the Thunder’s basket. However, his right leg gave way as he pushed off and he fell to the court, where he shouted in frustration and banged his fist against the floor. He was unable to put any weight on the leg as he was helped off the court.
Haliburton had been playing through a right calf strain that he suffered in Game 5 of the series. The injury likely would have sidelined him for multiple weeks had it occurred during the regular season, but he was determined to play through it and was able to finish out Game 5 and compete in Game 6 without any setbacks.
Playing through a calf strain generally increases the risk of suffering a major Achilles injury (ie. a tear) — that happened to Kevin Durant when he attempted to return early from a strained calf in the 2019 NBA Finals.
We don’t know that Haliburton injured his Achilles tonight and we’ll obviously be hoping for a best-case scenario, but video of the play and the guard’s reaction suggest the injury is a significant one, affecting that lower part of his right leg.
An All-NBA third-teamer during the regular season, Haliburton has made several huge game-winning shots for the Pacers during the playoffs, leading the way for the upstart club as it pulled off multiple upsets in the Eastern Conference bracket and pushed the 68-win Thunder to a Game 7 in Oklahoma City. If Indiana is going to win its first NBA championship on Sunday, the team will have to do it without its starting point guard.
2025 NBA Offseason Preview: Minnesota Timberwolves
After making it to the Western Conference Finals in 2024 for the first time in 20 years, the Timberwolves found themselves at the center of a battle over team ownership and facing an increasingly concerning long-term salary cap situation entering last summer.
Glen Taylor was fighting to stop minority stakeholders Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez from gaining majority control of the franchise at the same time that Anthony Edwards' Rose rule rookie scale extension took effect, which gave the Wolves a trio of max-salary players and pushed the team's salary above the restrictive second tax apron.
A year later, much has changed in Minnesota. Longtime Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns, the club's No. 1 overall pick back in 2015, was traded to New York before the 2024/25 season began; Lore and Rodriguez ultimately won their protracted struggle with Taylor for ownership of the team; and Edwards is now the only maximum-salary player on Minnesota's roster after Towns was traded and Rudy Gobert took a pay cut on his latest contract extension.
But there was one notable constant that carried over from 2024 to 2025: the Timberwolves made it back to the conference finals for a second straight time this spring.
It wasn't just the first time in franchise history that the team had accomplished that feat in back-to-back seasons -- it was the first time the Wolves had won even a single playoff series in consecutive years. The club, which made its NBA debut in 1989, has compiled just six postseason series victories in its history, and four of them have occurred within the past two years.
As talented as some of those Kevin Garnett-led Timberwolves teams in the late 1990s and early 2000s were, you could make a strong case that this 2020s iteration of the Wolves is the best the club has ever been.
Still, there's work to be done, not just to get the Wolves to the next level but to make sure they don't drop off at all from their current level. In Julius Randle, Naz Reid, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Minnesota will have three of the NBA's top 15 free agents this summer and may not be able to bring all of them back. And even if the front office can retain that trio, more upgrades may be necessary to turn the Wolves from a perennial playoff team into a legitimate championship threat.
Figuring out how to take that next step will be the challenge facing president of basketball operations Tim Connelly this offseason.
The Timberwolves' Offseason Plan
Technically, there's a possibility that Connelly won't be the one making the roster decisions facing the Timberwolves this summer. He has an opt-out clause in his contract that gives him the ability to leave the team if he so chooses. However, there has been absolutely no indication he's thinking about taking that route.
