Checking In On NBA’s Top Remaining Free Agents
Technically, most of this year’s top free agents remain unsigned. Until the moratorium in place at the start of the 2023/24 league year lifts at 11:01 am Central time on July 6, most of them are ineligible to sign their new contracts.
However, within the last 40-ish hours, 36 of the players from our list of 2023’s top 50 free agents have taken themselves off the market by reaching contract agreements with teams around the league.
[RELATED: 2023 NBA Free Agent Tracker]
While those are just tentative agreements and could still fall apart, that usually doesn’t happen more than once or twice in a given offseason, so it’s safe to pencil those deals in for the time being and assume those free agents are off the board.
So who does that leave? As of early Sunday morning, here are the top free agents from our top-50 list who have yet to agree to new deals:
- Miles Bridges, F, Hornets (RFA)
- P.J. Washington, F, Hornets (RFA)
- Grant Williams, F, Celtics (RFA)
- Christian Wood, F/C
- Kelly Oubre, F
- Eric Gordon, G
- Malik Beasley, G/F
- Matisse Thybulle, F, Trail Blazers (RFA)
- Lonnie Walker, G/F
- Mason Plumlee, C
- Ayo Dosunmu, G, Bulls (RFA)
- Torrey Craig, F
- Hamidou Diallo, G
- Paul Reed, F/C, Sixers (RFA)
The Hornets are very much in the mix for all three of the remaining free agents in our top 20. As long as their qualifying offers to Washington and Bridges remain on the table, they control those players’ free agencies, with the ability to match any offer sheet they sign.
A report on Saturday indicated Charlotte is also mulling the possibility of an offer sheet for Williams. If the Hornets went ahead with a pursuit of the Celtics forward, it would presumably mean moving on from at least one of Bridges or Washington. According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, Washington has received interest from a few other teams and may be looking at a deal in the range of the one Rui Hachimura got from the Lakers (three years, $51MM).
Since being restricted can slow down the free agency process for players who don’t quickly negotiate a deal with their own teams, it’s possible there won’t be resolution right away for Thybulle, Dosunmu, and Reed. However, the rest of the players in this group are unrestricted and could move faster.
Scotto also has an update on Beasley, reporting today that the veteran shooter has drawn interest from the Sixers, Suns, Raptors, Mavericks, Bucks, and Warriors since reaching free agency. Some of those teams are limited to a minimum-salary offer.
The Kings and Pistons are among the teams that have displayed interest in Craig, according to Scotto, who notes that Detroit’s new head coach Monty Williams was a fan of the wing in Phoenix.
The following free agents were noted in the honorable mention section of our top-50 list and aren’t yet spoken for:
- Mohamed Bamba, C
- Dalano Banton, G
- Terence Davis, G
- Javonte Green, G
- Derrick Jones, F
- Cory Joseph, G
- Romeo Langford, G/F
- Jaylen Nowell, G
- Kendrick Nunn, G
- Dario Saric, F
Here are our full lists of free agents by position/type and by team.
2023 NBA Free Agency: Day 2 Recap
The NBA’s free agent market remained active on Saturday after a busy Friday, but the most significant headlines of the day involved players who were already under contract.
Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard made the day’s biggest news by submitting a long-awaited trade request to the team. Lillard is reportedly focused on landing with the Heat, but Portland will survey the market, and there are questions about whether Miami will the assets to get a deal done without involving a third team.
Meanwhile, Saturday’s two most lucrative contract agreements were extensions rather than free agents deals. The Hornets and guard LaMelo Ball reached an agreement on a five-year, maximum-salary rookie scale extension, while Kings center Domantas Sabonis agreed to a renegotiation and extension that will add four years and $195MM in new money to his deal.
Listed below are the rest of the highlights from around the NBA on Saturday.
Free agent agreements
Most of these deals aren’t yet official, so the reported terms could change — or agreements could fall through altogether. Generally speaking though, teams and players are on track to finalize these agreements sometime after the moratorium ends on July 6.
[RELATED: 2023 NBA Free Agent Tracker]
Note: Some of these salary figures may include options, incentives, or non-guaranteed money.
Dillon Brooks, Rockets agree to four-year, $80MM contract (sign-and-trade).- Max Strus, Cavaliers agree to four-year, $63MM contract (sign-and-trade).
- Austin Reaves, Lakers agree to four-year, $53.8MM contract.
- Donte DiVincenzo, Knicks agree to four-year, $50MM contract.
- Brook Lopez, Bucks agree to two-year, $48MM contract.
- D’Angelo Russell, Lakers agree to two-year, $37MM contract.
- Jock Landale, Rockets agree to four-year, $32MM contract.
- Moritz Wagner, Magic agree to two-year, $16MM contract.
- Dwight Powell, Mavericks agree to three-year, $12MM contract.
- Jalen McDaniels, Raptors agree to two-year, $9.3MM contract.
- Russell Westbrook, Clippers agree to two-year, $7.9MM contract.
- Jeff Green, Rockets agree to one-year, $6MM contract.
- Ty Jerome, Cavaliers agree to two-year, $5MM contract.
- Thomas Bryant, Heat agree to two-year, minimum-salary contract.
- Jaxson Hayes, Lakers agree to two-year, minimum-salary contract.
- Patrick Beverley, Sixers agree to one-year, minimum-salary contract.
- Dante Exum, Mavericks agree to one-year, minimum-salary contract.
- Alex Len, Kings agree to one-year, minimum-salary contract.
- Sandro Mamukelashvili, Spurs agree to one-year, minimum-salary contract.
- Jack White, Thunder agree to two-year contract.
- Jae Crowder, Bucks agree to one-year contract.
- Dennis Smith Jr., Nets agree to one-year contract.
- Heat sign Orlando Robinson to minimum-salary contract.
Trades
- Knicks agree to trade Obi Toppin to Pacers for two second-round picks.
- Rockets agree to trade Kenyon Martin Jr. to Clippers for two second-round picks.
- Rockets agree to trade Usman Garuba, TyTy Washington, two second-round picks, and cash to the Hawks for the draft rights to Alpha Kaba.
- Spurs to acquire Cedi Osman, Lamar Stevens, and a second-round pick; Heat to acquire a second-round pick in the Max Strus sign-and-trade agreement with the Cavaliers.
- Rockets to acquire Dillon Brooks in a sign-and-trade agreement that includes Josh Christopher going to the Grizzlies and Patty Mills going from the Nets to an unknown team. There will be more details to come on this one.
- Jazz agree to trade Damian Jones to Cavaliers.
Other notable deals
- Vasilije Micic, Thunder agree to three-year, $23.5MM contract.
- Sasha Vezenkov, Kings agree to three-year, $20MM contract.
- Several first-round picks signed their rookie scale contracts, including No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama of the Spurs.
Previously:
Free Agency Rumors: G. Williams, Hornets, VanVleet, Blazers, Tavares
The Hornets are mulling the possibility of an offer sheet for Celtics restricted free agent forward Grant Williams, sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Williams has also drawn some interest from the Mavericks, according to Scotto.
The Hornets are currently operating as an over-the-cap team, which means they could offer up to the full $12.4MM mid-level exception in a deal for Williams. They have a potential path to creating cap room to make a stronger bid, but it would require renouncing the cap holds for multiple free agents, including their own RFA forwards P.J. Washington and Miles Bridges. The Hornets have also engaged in contract discussions with Washington, Scotto reports.
Here are a few more free agency notes and rumors from around the NBA:
- The third and final season of Fred VanVleet‘s new three-year deal with the Rockets will be a team option, according to Jackson Gatlin of Locked on Rockets (Twitter link). A non-guaranteed third year makes the deal look considerably more team-friendly — and considerably more like the two-year offer the Rockets were originally said to be preparing for the veteran point guard.
- Veteran center Edy Tavares, a second-round pick in 2014, has received a contract offer from the Trail Blazers, sources tell Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com. Tavares played just 13 games during his initial NBA stint, but is apparently earning another look after several strong seasons with Real Madrid, with whom he has won two EuroLeague titles and earned three All-EuroLeague First Team nods. However, Tavares’ contract includes a significant buyout, which may preclude a move stateside, Urbonas explains. His deal with Real Madrid will expire in 2024 if he doesn’t sign an extension before then.
- Donte DiVincenzo drew “strong” interest from three other teams during his free agency before he agreed to sign with New York, reports Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link). While DiVincenzo’s Villanova connection to Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart was a factor in his decision to join the Knicks, he also believes his new team can be a contender. “He wants to win and has a great opportunity to do so in New York,” a source said to Begley.
Sixers Officially Sign Terquavion Smith, Ricky Council To Two-Way Deals
The Sixers have officially completed a pair of two-way contract agreements that were reported shortly after the 2023 draft ended last week, having put out a press release confirming that they’ve signed undrafted rookies Terquavion Smith and Ricky Council to two-way deals.
Smith earned All-ACC honors as a sophomore at NC State this past season after averaging 17.9 points and 4.1 assists in 33.6 minutes per game across 34 appearances. The 6’4″ guard was a 35.2% three-point shooter in his two college seasons.
Council, who began his college career at Wichita State, transferred to Arkansas for his junior year in 2022/23 and averaged 16.1 PPG in 36 games (34.1 MPG) for the Razorbacks. The 6’6″ wing declared for the draft as an early entrant.
Teams will be permitted to carry three players on two-way contracts for the first time in 2023/24, and the Sixers had a clear idea after the draft about how they wanted to fill those slots. Besides reaching deals with Smith and Council, they also agreed to sign Arizona State’s Azuolas Tubelis. His signing hasn’t been finalized yet, but there’s no reason to believe it won’t be.
The 76ers opted not to tender two-way qualifying offers to last season’s two-way players, Louis King and Mac McClung, making them unrestricted free agents.
Raptors Sign Jalen McDaniels To Two-Year Deal
JULY 6: The Raptors have officially signed McDaniels, per a team press release.
“Jalen is a hard-working, defensive-minded player who we believe has tremendous potential for growth,” team president Masai Ujiri said in a statement. “He brings versatility to both ends of the floor, and we’re excited to see him develop as a member of the Raptors.”
JULY 1: The Raptors have reached an agreement on a deal with free agent forward Jalen McDaniels, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
According to Charania, McDaniels will sign a two-year, $9.3MM contract with Toronto. Those figures suggest the team will complete the signing using its bi-annual exception, which starts at about $4.5MM.
A former second-round pick, McDaniels spent his first three-and-a-half seasons in the NBA with the Hornets before being traded to the Sixers at the February deadline. The 6’9″ forward is a 34.5% career three-point shooter and has the length and athleticism to guard multiple positions, so he should fit right in with the Raptors and their collection of rangy wings.
The No. 34 free agent on our top-50 list, McDaniels averaged 9.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.0 steal in 23.9 minutes per game (80 appearances) for Charlotte and Philadelphia in 2022/23.
The Raptors suffered a major loss on the first day of free agency when Fred VanVleet opted to leave Toronto for Houston. That generated some spending flexibility below the luxury tax line for the Raps, who committed their full mid-level exception to point guard Dennis Schröder.
With their bi-annual exception ticketed for McDaniels, the Raptors will be limited to minimum-salary signings and/or trades for the rest of the offseason.
Rockets Sign Jock Landale
JULY 6: Landale is officially a Rocket, according to a press release from the team.
JULY 1: The Rockets have agreed to sign free agent center Jock Landale, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Landale was originally tendered a qualifying offer by the Suns, but they withdrew it, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Landale’s new deal will be worth $32MM over four years, according to Charania. However, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN clarifies (via Twitter) that only the first season will be fully guaranteed. It will be non-guaranteed in years two and three, with a fourth-year team option, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
Landale, 27, had a solid season in Phoenix in 2022/23 as a reserve behind starting center Deandre Ayton, averaging 6.6 points and 4.1 rebounds in 14.2 minutes per game across 69 appearances. He also played well in the Suns’ second-round series loss to Denver, including scoring 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the Game 6 loss that ended the team’s season.
Barring a sign-and-trade, it looks like Landale will be signed into the Rockets’ cap room. Although the room exception is worth $7.7MM+ this season, it can only be used to sign contracts up to three years.
Lakers Re-Sign Austin Reaves To Four-Year Contract
JULY 6: Reaves is officially back under contract with the Lakers. The team issued a press release announcing the signing.
JULY 1: Restricted free agent guard Austin Reaves will be returning to the Lakers, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), who hears from agents Aaron Reilly and Reggie Berry that Reaves will be signing a four-year contract worth the full Early Bird amount to remain in Los Angeles.
The deal will be worth just shy of $54MM. It will include a fourth-year player option, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link), and will feature a 15% trade kicker, according to Charania (Twitter link).
It’s a great outcome for the Lakers, who only held Reaves’ Early Bird rights and couldn’t legally offer him any more than approximately $54MM over four years. Because he was an Arenas provision free agent, Reaves would have been eligible for a back-loaded offer sheet worth in excess of $100MM from a rival suitor, which Los Angeles could have matched.
However, either that offer sheet didn’t materialize or Reaves simply opted to negotiate directly with the Lakers in order to stay with the club that helped facilitate his breakout season in 2022/23.
The No. 12 free agent on our top-50 list, Reaves averaged 13.0 points, 3.4 assists, and 3.0 rebounds in 28.8 minutes per game with an excellent .529/.398/.864 shooting line in 64 regular season appearances last season. He was a full-time starter in the postseason and played even better, putting up 16.9 PPG, 4.6 APG, and 4.4 RPG on .464/.443/.895 shooting in 16 contests (36.2 MPG).
It has been a busy 24 hours for the Lakers, who also reached agreements to re-sign D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura and lined up deals with Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, Cam Reddish, and Jaxson Hayes.
Assuming they sign Maxwell Lewis to a rookie-minimum contract, the Lakers will be right up against the luxury tax line with at least one roster spot still to fill, tweets Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype. However, they’ll have plenty of breathing room below the first tax apron ($172.3MM), which will be their hard cap for the season.
The Lakers will likely seek one more big man with their 14th roster spot and will plan on keeping the 15th slot open to begin the 2023/24 season, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
Trail Blazers Sign Scoot Henderson To Rookie Deal
The Trail Blazers have officially signed Scoot Henderson to his rookie scale contract, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.
With Damian Lillard‘s trade request perhaps signaling the end of an era in Portland, the Blazers have formally locked up the player whom they’ll build around as they enter their next era. The No. 3 overall pick, Henderson is considered to have All-NBA potential and figures to be the team’s lead guard of the future.
Henderson will earn approximately $9.8MM in the first season of his four-year rookie scale contract, which will be worth over $44MM in total.
Although there’s a transaction freeze during the NBA’s July moratorium, which runs from July 1-6, there are a few kinds of moves that can still be completed during the moratorium period. Rookie contract signings are one of them, so many of this year’s first-rounders will likely ink their first NBA deals in the coming days.
Heat Sign Thomas Bryant To Two-Year Contract
JULY 2: The Heat have formally announced Bryant’s deal with the team, issuing a press release to confirm that it’s official.
JULY 1: The Heat and free agent center Thomas Bryant have agreed to a two-year contract, agents Mark Bartelstein and Zach Kurtin tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
It’ll be a minimum-salary contract with a second-year player option, according to Wojnarowski. The first-year cap hit will be about $2.53MM, then Bryant will make a decision on a $2.85MM salary for 2024/25.
Bryant, who will turn 26 later this month, signed with the Lakers in free agency a year ago after returning from an Achilles tear that limited him to 37 total games for the Wizards in the prior two seasons. He played well in Los Angeles, averaging 12.1 points and 6.8 rebounds in 41 games, including 25 starts. However, when his rotation role was cut back, he reportedly sought a change of scenery.
The Lakers acquiesced, sending him to the Nuggets in a trade-deadline deal. Bryant didn’t end up playing much in Denver either, averaging just 11.4 MPG in 18 appearances down the stretch, but he got to part of the team’s championship run this spring.
In Miami, Bryant figures to get an opportunity to play rotation minutes behind Bam Adebayo at center, with centers Cody Zeller and Omer Yurtseven both on the open market and seemingly unlikely to return. The Heat’s newest center will bring some floor-stretching ability, having made 36.6% of his career three-pointers.
A strong season would put Bryant in position to opt out and return to free agency a year from now.
NBA Maximum Salaries For 2023/24
Now that the NBA has set its salary cap for the 2023/24 league year at $136,021,000, we have a clear idea of what maximum-salary contracts will look like for the coming season.
Listed below are the maximum-salary contracts for players signing contracts that start in 2023/24.
The first chart shows the maximum salaries for a player re-signing with his own team — a player’s previous team can offer five years instead of four, and 8% annual raises instead of 5% raises. The second chart shows the maximum salaries for a player signing with a new team.
These figures will apply to a number of players who signed maximum-salary contract extensions that will go into effect in 2023/24: Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, LeBron James, Ja Morant, Zion Williamson, and Darius Garland. They’ll also apply to anyone who signs a maximum-salary contract with his own team as a free agent in ’23/24, though there likely won’t be anyone who fits that bill.
A player’s maximum salary is generally determined by his years of NBA experience, so there’s a wide gap between potential earnings for younger and older players.
In the charts below, the “6 years or less” column details the maximum contracts for players like Morant, Williamson, and Garland, as well as what a free agent like Miles Bridges is eligible for; the “7-9 years” column applies to free agents like Fred VanVleet and to players who qualified for a Rose Rule rookie scale extension, though no one did this year; and the “10+ years” column applies to the league’s most experienced vets, like James, or those who qualified for the super-max, such as Jokic and Embiid.
Here are the maximum salary figures for 2023/24:
A player re-signing with his own team (8% annual raises, up to five years):
| Year | 6 years or less | 7-9 years | 10+ years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023/24 | $34,005,250 | $40,806,300 | $47,607,350 |
| 2024/25 | $36,725,670 | $44,070,804 | $51,415,938 |
| 2025/26 | $39,446,090 | $47,335,308 | $55,224,526 |
| 2026/27 | $42,166,510 | $50,599,512 | $59,033,114 |
| 2027/28 | $44,886,930 | $53,864,316 | $62,841,702 |
| Total | $197,230,450 | $236,676,540 | $276,122,630 |
A player signing with a new team (5% annual raises, up to four years):
| Year | 6 years or less | 7-9 years | 10+ years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023/24 | $34,005,250 | $40,806,300 | $47,607,350 |
| 2024/25 | $35,705,513 | $42,846,615 | $49,987,718 |
| 2025/26 | $37,405,775 | $44,886,930 | $52,368,085 |
| 2026/27 | $39,106,038 | $46,927,245 | $54,748,453 |
| Total | $146,222,575 | $175,467,090 | $204,711,605 |
It’s worth noting that none of the maximum-salary figures listed above will apply to extension-eligible players whose new contracts will start in 2024/25.
This group includes players like Tyrese Haliburton and Desmond Bane, who agreed to maximum-salary extensions with the Pacers and Grizzlies, respectively. It also includes players who signed maxextensions in previous years that will begin in ’24/25, such as Karl-Anthony Towns and Devin Booker.
The exact value of those players’ contracts will depend on where the cap lands for 2024/25, which won’t be officially announced until next June.