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.
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43. Thunder Win First Championship Since Move; SGA Named Finals MVP
The Thunder claimed their first NBA championship since the franchise moved to Oklahoma City, as they defeated the depleted Pacers, 103-91, in Game 7 on Sunday.
Seattle, which won the championship in 1979, relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008. The Pacers, who have never won an NBA title, played the last three quarters without Tyrese Haliburton, who suffered an Achilles injury in the first quarter.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, this season’s Most Valuable Player, also earned Finals MVP honors, the league announced (via Twitter). It’s the 16th time a player has won both in the same year, though it hasn’t happened since LeBron James pulled it off during the 2012/13 season.
The Thunder should be major contenders for years to come with their young core, featuring Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren. The top priorities for the Thunder this offseason center around extensions.
Gilgeous-Alexander has met the performance criteria for a super-max contract and will become eligible to sign that extension next month. The 2024 MVP runner-up still has two years left on his current deal and can’t exceed six years in total, so the maximum value of his extension would be a projected $293.4MM over four years, beginning in 2027/28.
Williams and Holmgren are eligible for rookie scale extensions until the beginning of next seasons and both could receive the max – five years and a projected $246MM. The maximum value of those extensions could increase to a projected $296MM if All-NBA, MVP or Defensive Player of the Year honors are negotiated into the contracts.
The Pacers’ offseason outlook could change dramatically due to Haliburton’s injury. Myles Turner, their starting center, is headed to unrestricted free agency and while the Pacers reportedly want to re-sign him, they could have plenty of competition. Bennedict Mathurin is eligible for a rookie scale extension.
Several other key players, including Haliburton and Pascal Siakam, are signed through at least the 2027/28 season. Could they look to shed salary in light of Haliburton’s injury?
With the NBA Finals decided, the 2025 NBA offseason is officially underway. For the second straight year, teams will be permitted to negotiate contracts with their own free agents one day after the Finals. Players who won’t be free agents this offseason but who will become eligible to sign contract extensions on July 6 will also be permitted to begin negotiations with their current teams on Monday.
Thus, it wouldn’t be surprising if some agreements are reported this week. Free agent contracts still can’t be officially finalized until after the July moratorium lifts on July 6.
The draft will be held on Wednesday and Thursday, with free agency beginning on June 30 at 6 p.m. Eastern time.
Lottery Pick Facilitated Durant Trade
The Rockets’ willingness to give up their lottery pick in this week’s draft played a significant role in the agreed-upon Kevin Durant blockbuster with the Suns, Kelly Iko and Sam Amick report.
The Rockets refused to give the Suns’ 2027 and 2029 first-round selections, which Houston controls via prior trades, back to Phoenix. Those picks were sent to Brooklyn in the February 2023 Durant deal and the Rockets acquired them in a June 2024 deal with the Nets.
However, the Rockets had found it difficult to bring in top prospects for workouts this spring due to the possibility of a Durant deal. The Suns believe they can draft a player at that spot who can be an immediate contributor.
The trade between the clubs was the culmination of weeks-long discussions, though the two sides hadn’t talked for a week before the conversations were reignited on Thursday. Rockets general manager Rafael Stone refused to part with most of his young players, including Reed Sheppard, Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason. Efforts were made to add other trade partners to the mix but that didn’t gain any footing, so it became a straight two-team swap.
Jalen Green, who struggled in the postseason, became increasingly aware he could be part of a potential package, even though he preferred to stay put. He received word that he was being dealt approximately an hour before the deal was first reported.
According to Phoenix sports talk show host John Gambadoro, the Rockets were willing to give up Smith prior to the February trade deadline. They offered Smith and Green without any draft picks for Durant at that time (Twitter link).
While there were numerous reports in recent months that the Rockets were unwilling to break up their young core, they eventually warmed to the idea of making an all-in move. The prospect of adding a dynamic scorer and proven postseason performer like Durant was seen as their best win-now option, according to The Athletic duo. There’s a strong belief that the Durant-Rockets partnership will extend beyond next season, even if he doesn’t sign an extension right away next month.
Houston head coach Ime Udoka, who recently received an extension, was a strong behind-the-scenes advocate for adding Durant, Marc Stein reports in his latest Substack post. Udoka, who overlapped with Durant in Brooklyn, has a close friendship with the star forward.
With both Green and Dillon Brooks included in the trade, a starting spot should open up in Houston for Smith, who was moved to the second unit for a portion of the season. Amen Thompson, who replaced Smith in the lineup, will join Fred VanVleet in the backcourt. The Rockets hold a $44.9MM option on VanVleet’s contract, with a decision due in the next week.
Durant expressed excitement when asked by Kay Adams at Fanatics Fest in New York about the trade, ESPN’s Shams Charania relays.
“Being part of the Houston Rockets, I’m looking forward to it,” Durant said. “Crazy, crazy last couple weeks, but I’m glad it’s over with.”
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.
Suns Notes: Beal, Green, Wild-Card Suitors, Lanier, Durant, Cousins
With the Suns agreeing to trade Kevin Durant to the Rockets, Phoenix radio talk show host John Gambadoro continues to believe the team will either trade or buy out Bradley Beal, he said on The Kevin O’Connor Show (Twitter video link).
Of course, Beal has a no-trade clause and would have to agree to waive it for a deal to be made. If the Suns are unable to trade or buy out Beal, then they’d have to hope he could rebuild his value on the court. Gambadoro previously noted that head coaching candidates were asked how they would utilize Beal if he’s still on the roster.
Cap expert Yossi Gozlan (Twitter link) looks back at the buyouts of Kemba Walker and Blake Griffin in recent seasons as examples of what Beal might be willing to give back, presuming the three-time All-Star could receive a full non-taxpayer mid-level exception deal elsewhere. If Beal were willing to give up 25 percent of his current contract with two years left, the cap hits for the Suns would total $40.25MM and $42.85MM.
Here’s more on the Suns:
- While the Suns now seemingly have two combo guards with similar skills, they are not planning to move Jalen Green, Gambadoro tweets. Instead, the Suns will look to pair him with Devin Booker in the backcourt and see how they’ll mesh. Green has shown durability, appearing in every game over the past two seasons. He averaged 21.0 points and 3.4 assists this season.
- While Durant negotiations were primarily focused on the Heat, Rockets and Timberwolves, several wild-card suitors emerged, including the Raptors, Cavaliers, Nuggets and Clippers, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. The Cavs, in particular, were a long shot since they would have needed to send out enough salary to get under the second apron for 2025/26. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been allowed to aggregate salaries. Since the Suns are also a second-apron team, a deal between Phoenix and Cleveland would have required the involvement of at least one more club.
- Tennessee guard Chaz Lanier worked out for the Suns on Friday, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic tweets. Lanier set the Volunteers’ single season record for made three-pointers with 123 this past season. He’s ranked No. 38 overall on ESPN’s Best Available list. The Suns own the 29th and 52nd picks in addition to the 10th and 59th selections they’re acquiring from Houston.
- Earlier in the weekend, Durant brushed off a comment by former NBA center DeMarcus Cousins, who claimed on Fan Duel’s Run It Back show that there were “fistfights” in the Suns locker room. As Rankin relays, Durant responded on social media that Cousins’ source for that claim was “lying” and that there were “NEVER” any locker room fights.
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.
Spurs To Hire Mavs Assistant Sweeney As Associate Head Coach
Mavericks assistant Sean Sweeney has agreed to become the associate head coach of the Spurs under Mitch Johnson, Shams Charania of ESPN tweets. The Spurs’ interest in Sweeney was previously reported by Marc Stein.
Sweeney has been an assistant under Jason Kidd with the Nets and Bucks as well as the Mavericks. They’ll now lose him to an up-and-coming division rival.
Sweeney’s name has frequently popped up when head coaching jobs have come open but he has yet to land one of those coveted positions. He most recently interviewed for the Suns head coaching job.
Stein also reports that another Mavericks assistant, Jared Dudley, is being pursued by the Grizzlies and Cavaliers (Twitter link). According to The Athletic’s Fred Katz, the Mavericks opted not to extend the contracts of their assistant coaches after their 2024 run to the NBA Finals (Twitter link). That is apparently a contributing factor in those assistants seeking other jobs.
Dallas could try to convince former Lakers and Suns coach Frank Vogel, who is now a consultant to the organization, to take Sweeney’s spot, according to Stein (Twitter link). However, Vogel apparently is comfortable in his consultant’s role as he awaits another head coaching opportunity.
Another assistant, God Shammgod, is drawing interest from the Magic, Stein adds (Twitter link).
California Notes: Warriors, Buss Legacy, DeRozan, Monk
After acquiring six-time All-Star forward Jimmy Butler midway through 2024/25, the Warriors’ offseason will be focused on building out their roster with an eye towards a deeper playoff run next spring.
In a story previewing the team’s summer, Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Substack link) notes that Golden State possesses the draft picks and movable contracts needed to make some key personnel improvements.
According to Gozlan, restricted free agent forward Jonathan Kuminga‘s next deal could prove crucial to helping the club level up. Gozlan considers a sign-and-trade with another team to be the best path for the Warriors to maximize value for the 22-year-old and for Kuminga to get the bigger role he seems to be seeking. The Warriors also have other, more veteran free agents for whom they could extract value in sign-and-trade deals.
Golden State has just nine players under contract heading into the summer and are $17.4MM below the projected luxury tax line.
There’s more out of California:
- With the Buss family set to sell their majority stake in the Lakers after 46 years, Jim Alexander of The Orange County Register looks back on the transformative impact late patriarch Dr. Jerry Buss’ ownership had on the league at large. Beyond drafting superstars Magic Johnson and James Worthy early in his tenure, Buss helped eventize the league, making the games more than just basketball and helping elevate the NBA’s profile around the world.
- Now-Pacers All-NBA guard Tyrese Haliburton‘s big showing in the ongoing Finals highlights a glaring point guard deficiency for the team who drafted him in 2020, observes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. After trading Haliburton in 2022, the Kings went on to move De’Aaron Fox to San Antonio this past season as part of a three-team deal that netted them swingman Zach LaVine. New general manager Scott Perry now must work to find the club’s new lead ball-handler of the future, Anderson writes, noting that players like Ja Morant, Trae Young, Darius Garland, and Jrue Holiday have been floated as potential trade fits.
- The Kings haven’t yet engaged in trade conversations about veteran wings Malik Monk or DeMar DeRozan, but Anderson tweets that talks could kick up with Kevin Durant‘s trade fate now resolved.
Texas Notes: Wemby, Durant, Rockets, Flagg
All-Star Spurs center Victor Wembanyama has been maximizing his summer. The 7’4″ big man, whose 2024/25 sophomore season was cut short early by a blood clot issue, spent two weeks with monks at Shaolin Temple in China.
Reflecting on the stint during an appearance on “The Shop” with Lakers All-Star LeBron James, former seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady and streamer Kai Cenat, Wembanyama spoke fondly of his time abroad, writes Larry Holder of The Athletic.
“It was a great experience,” Wembanyama said. “My goal going there was putting my body through things that it’s not used to doing and allowing my range of movement and strength. This was probably as very different as possible from what I’m used to doing.”
There’s more out of the Lone Star State:
- The Spurs were considered a potential Kevin Durant suitor and were said to be among his preferred landing spots, but he’ll join one of San Antonio’s division rivals instead. According to Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News (subscription required), the Spurs’ refusal to include either the No. 2 overall pick or Stephon Castle in their offer is believed to have prompted Phoenix to look elsewhere. Multiple reports indicated San Antonio wasn’t one of the teams engaged in serious trade talks with the Suns.
- The Rockets‘ decision to trade Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the No. 10 pick in this year’s draft and five future second rounders for Durant should give Houston the go-to scorer the team has been missing and will create more lineup optionality for head coach Ime Udoka, write Doug Haller, Sam Amick, and Kelly Iko of The Athletic. The Rockets’ elite defense and Durant’s offensive weapons make them a “match made in heaven,” The Athletic adds.
- The Mavericks control the top pick in this week’s impending draft and are expected to use it on superstar Duke forward Cooper Flagg. The 6’8″ phenom’s longtime trainer, Matt MacKenzie, recently raved to Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News (subscriber link) about Flagg’s relentless drive and stunning aptitude. “You only had to tell him something once and he was immediately starting to apply it into drill work,” MacKenzie told Curtis, “and then I would watch his games and he would immediately start to try to apply it into his game. So there was just an incredibly steep learning curve. He was able to pick up on things quickly. It was very natural to him.”
Rockets Trading For Suns’ Kevin Durant
The Rockets are acquiring Kevin Durant from the Suns in exchange for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the 10th pick in the 2025 draft, and five second-rounders, reports Shams Charania of ESPN.
The Heat were the other finalist for Durant, sources tell Charania.
According to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link), who reported this morning that Phoenix was “very close” to trading Durant, the second-round selections the Suns will receive are the 59th pick in this year’s draft, two picks in 2026, Boston’s selection in 2030, and Houston’s pick in 2032.
As ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets, the blockbuster trade cannot be formally completed until July 6 due to the poison pill provision affecting Green’s rookie scale extension.
Durant, who turns 37 years old in September, has been on the trade block for months after Phoenix nearly sent him to Golden State prior to the February deadline, a move that reportedly fell apart after the former NBA MVP didn’t want to return to the Warriors, especially during the season. Four months later, he’ll be heading to Houston, one of three teams said to be on his wish list, along with San Antonio and Miami.
Although Durant will be entering his 19th NBA season this fall, he continues to perform at an All-NBA level. In 62 games for the Suns this past season, he averaged 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 1.2 blocks in 36.5 minutes per game, with an impressive shooting line of .527/.430/.839.
In Durant, Houston now has a star capable of creating his own shot and generating half-court offense, which was an issue for the team during its first-round playoff loss to Golden State this spring. While Green was Houston’s leading scorer during the regular season, he struggled in his first appearance on the postseason stage — he poured in 38 points in Game 2 but failed to score more than 12 points in any of the series’ other six games.
Still, Green is just 23 years old, so he has the potential to continue improving and expanding his game after averaging 20.1 points per contest on .422/.342/.799 shooting in his first four NBA seasons.
According to Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Twitter link), although Jabari Smith Jr. was among the young Rockets players the Suns were reportedly interested in, Houston was insistent on only doing a Durant trade if Green was the only member of its young core it gave up.
Phoenix now has a crowded shooting guard depth chart, with Green joining Devin Booker and Bradley Beal on the roster, but Gambadoro tweets that there are no plans to flip Green to another team and that he’ll play alongside Booker in the Suns’ backcourt. There has been an expectation that Beal won’t return to the club next season, though his contract (which includes a no-trade clause) will make him difficult to move.
Besides Green, the Suns are also adding a solid defensive wing in Brooks and a lottery pick in this week’s draft, which will put them in position to add another promising young prospect to their core.
Durant will be on an expiring $54.7MM contract, so the Rockets will likely make an effort to extend his deal beyond 2025/26. As Marks tweets, the star forward will be eligible for a two-year extension worth roughly $122MM as of July 6. If he were to wait six months, his maximum extension would be worth a little more, though the difference would be minimal (approximately $2MM).
Green’s three-year, $105.3MM rookie scale extension will go into effect this July. That deal includes a third-year player option and a 10% trade kicker, though that bonus will likely have to be eliminated or amended in order to make this trade work, Marks notes.
Brooks, who is on a descending contract, is owed about $41.1MM in base salary over the next two seasons, with an additional $2MM in incentives ($1MM per year) for making the first round of the playoffs.
Because Houston achieved that feat this season and Phoenix didn’t, that bonus will change from “likely to be earned” to “unlikely” as a result of the trade, reducing Brooks’ 2025/26 cap hit by $1MM. That will be a key to making the trade legal for the Suns, who can’t take back more salary than they send out as long as they continue to operate over the second tax apron, Marks adds (via Twitter).
According to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter links), the Heat improved their offer for Durant in recent days and received consideration from the Suns, but their offer ultimately couldn’t compete with Houston’s. Jackson suggests Miami was unwilling to include multiple first-round picks and young players in its package, while Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link) hears that the Heat’s unwillingness to include center Kel’el Ware was among the sticking points that led to Phoenix going in a different direction.
The Timberwolves were also involved in the Durant sweepstakes, but with no assurances from Durant that he actually wanted to be in Minnesota, they seemingly didn’t get all that close to making a deal, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.
The Spurs, Raptors, and Clippers were among the other teams who were said to have interest in Durant before the Suns reached an agreement with the Rockets.
Luke Adams contributed to this story.