NBA Free Agency 2024: 10 Best Free Agents Still Available

Free agency in the NBA has moved quickly.

The one real difference maker, Paul George, has moved to the East Coast and made Philadelphia a threat. Klay Thompson left the Warriors — that still feels strange — and brought Dallas shooting and championship experience. James Harden stayed where he waswhile Oklahoma City signed Isaiah Hartenstein (and Alex Caruso in a trade).

Who’s left? Here are the top 10 free agents still available on the night of July 2.

(Note: LeBron James is not on this list because he is a free agent in name only, he is not leaving the Lakers. The only question is will GM Rob Pelinka trade a player good enough to get LeBron a discount, or should they max him out?)

DeMar DeRozan

The Alex Caruso trade sealed it for DeRozan — he wants to win, but he doesn’t see a path there in Chicago (ignore the fact that was the case for a few years and just roll with it). DeRozan is a midrange assassin who averaged 24 points per game last season and was strong in the clutch, he’s not a great defender, but he’s an All-Star level player and clearly the best player available.

There’s reportedly mutual interest between DeRozan and the Miami Heat, but the Lakers have also held discussions with DeRozan about bringing him back to his Southern California roots. That could come down to who will work out a sign-and-trade that pays more than the midlevel exception and — more importantly for the 34-year-old — years. (LeBron James reportedly will take a salary cut to free up space for DeRozan to come to Los Angeles.

Friend Loved

Every team can use a sharpshooter and Hield has been the best on the boards, averaging 12.1 points per game on 38.6% shooting from 3 last season, though his stint in Philly wasn’t what either team had hoped for. Playing for the Bahamas in Olympic qualifying — doing so without an NBA contract is rare and a risk (if he gets injured) — Hield scored 24 points in their opening win.

Hield has been heavily linked to the Warriors in a sign-and-trade that seems to be going in the direction of Klay Thompson. The Kings are also reported to have interest.

Tyus Jones

There are a lot of teams that could use a low turnover floor general (but too many of them opt for the flash). Jones could help a lot of teams, he averaged 12 points and 7.3 assists per game last season for the bottom-ranked Wizards.

Jones was hoping for starting money, but that appears to have dried up. The Wizards are looking at sign-and-trade options that could land Jones on a playoff team with more than mid-level exception money.

Caleb Martin

A little over a year ago, Martin should have won the Eastern Conference Finals MVP (Jimmy Butler did it). This season, the athletic 3&D winger is averaging 10 points per game and shooting 34.9% from 3, plus he’s a good defender. There are reports the Heat wants to keep him. However, the Heat are only about $3 million under the second tax break, and that’s not enough to re-sign Martin without other moves (the Heat are eyeing a DeMar DeRozan sign-and-trade, so more could come).

Gary Trent Jr.

Another sharpshooter for a team looking for a floor spacer — he averaged 13.7 points per game last season for the Raptors and shot 39.3% from beyond the arc. What’s holding teams back is his defense (or lack thereof), but Trent Jr. could help a lot of teams. Trent Jr. could learn to accept that he won’t make $18.6 million last season and may not even get the full mid-level exception ($12.8 million).

Part of the challenge for Trent Jr. was that this was a relatively deep class of shooting guards and many of them — Klay Thompson, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Malik Monk, De’Anthony Melton, to name a few — but Trent Jr. should be at the front of the line now.

Malik Beasley

Another shooter still available (remember that when your team gets to December and it’s clear you’re not shooting enough). He bounced back from his poor season with the Lakers to remind everyone playing against the Bucks what a sharpshooter he is, shooting 41.3% from 3 and 11.3 points per game. He’s not a great defender, but he has a key skill. All we know is that he’s not going back to Milwaukee. There was some interest from the Rockets, but it’s been quiet lately. Some team is going to take a bargain.

Milestones

That’s too low a ranking in terms of raw talent; he should be second or third on this list — he scored 21 points per game last season in Charlotte, is a physical winger who is a beast in transition, and has developed a 3-point shot (34.9 percent last season). Bring him in, and there will be questions from some media and fans about a domestic abuse case in his past (he was on probation and suspended by the league; charges were later dropped).

Charlotte made an offer to Bridges, who was looking for more money, and there were rumors of interest from cap space teams like Orlando and Utah. The latest interest is from the Clippers in a possible sign-and-trade, that talk is real, though the parties apparently have a long way to go.

Isaac Okoro

A reserve wing who never developed as Cleveland hoped, but is a solid rotation player. Okoro can play multiple positions and his offensive game has improved, averaging 9.4 points per game on 39.1% shooting from 3 last season. The Pistons are rumored to be interested.

Saddiq Bey

Wing is a needed position in the league and Bey can step in and defend and score a little. He’s also strong on the glass. The problem is he just got injured with his ACL and will miss the first part of the season and may not be himself all the time. With the injury there’s been a bit of a lull on the Bey front but he’ll be on the roster at some point this season.

Markel Fultz

While no one was looking at the former No. 1 overall pick, he developed into a solid rotational point guard in Orlando who averaged 7.8 points per game last season. It’s been relatively quiet for Fultz, but as teams need a reliable backup point guard, he’ll be called upon.

This list is still missing: Precious Achiuwa, Spencer Dinwiddie, Dario Saric, Alec Burks, Taurean Prince.