(Note: The order below is based on the rankings of the top 25 free agents of the 2025 offseason.)<\/p>\n\n\n
Because James has a player option, it would be irresponsible of me not to have contingency plans. But my intention is that, if he doesn’t exercise his option, we can reach an agreement that works well for James and for the Clippers.<\/p>Lawrence Frank, president of basketball operations for the Clippers<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\nConsidering the lack of teams with salary cap space, Harden’s age (recently turned 37 years old) and the importance of financial flexibility in the 2026 offseason, the Clippers can be creative with their next contract.\n\nThe $38 million salary in the first year is an increase over his $36.3 million player option, but still gives them flexibility to use their full non-taxpayer mid-level exception of $14.1 million.\n\nThe second year not only benefits Harden financially, but also the Clippers if they reach the conference finals for the first time since 2021.\n\n\n
Kyrie Irving<\/h2>\n\n\nDallas Mavericks | Guard\n\nFree agent ranking: 3\n\nBest fit as a free agent: Dallas\n\nProposed offer: Three years, $113 million.\n\nThe $113 million contract is beneficial for Irving and the Mavericks.\n\nThe $35 million price tag next season is $8 million less than Irving’s player option and gives Dallas greater flexibility to operate below the second salary cap. The Mavericks now have access to the $5.7 million taxpayer mid-level exception to sign a temporary replacement for Irving. If the nine-time All-Star exercises his $43 million option, the Mavericks only have the veteran minimum exception and exceed the second salary cap.\n\nWhile there is a decrease in salary next season, Irving is guaranteed an additional $70 million in new money. The 33-year-old player suffered a torn left ACL in March, but is still part of the Mavs’ future.\n\n
The team we are bringing back is a championship-caliber team. We hope Kyrie will be back with us next year. When he recovers from his injury, we believe we will compete for a championship.<\/p>Nico Harrison, general manager of the Mavs<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\nIrving’s three-year contract coincides with Anthony Davis’.\n\n\n
Julius Randle<\/h2>\n\n\nMinnesota Timberwolves | Forward\n\nFree agent ranking: 4\n\nBest fit as a free agent: Minnesota\n\nProposed offer: Four years, $121 million. (The fourth year of the contract is guaranteed if the Timberwolves reach the NBA Finals in 2026, 2027, or 2028.)\n\nRandle is not a restricted free agent like Giddey and Kuminga, but he faces a discouraging market if he declines his $30.9 million player option and enters free agency. That doesn’t mean the forward and the Timberwolves shouldn’t reach an agreement on a new contract.\n\nRandle’s good play to end the regular season (averaged 18.2 points in the last 21 games) carried over to the first two rounds of the playoffs, where he had eight 20-point games and averaged 23.9 points. But in Games 2 and 4 in the Wolves’ conference finals loss to the Thunder, Randle scored a combined total of 11 points.\n\nThe new four-year, $121 million contract (the player option is replaced with a new salary) is beneficial for Randle and the Timberwolves.\n\nSaving $4 million (Randle’s first-year salary would be $27 million) positions Minnesota to bring back reserves Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, staying below the second salary cap.\n\n
We very much appreciate how the market could be. We are cautiously optimistic that we are in a good place with all the guys [Randle, Reid and Alexander-Walker]. The most important thing is that they want to be here.<\/p>Tim Connelly, Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\nThe contract exceeds the $117 million extension Randle signed with New York in 2021 and grants him nearly $90 million guaranteed for the next three seasons.\n\n\n
Fred VanVleet<\/h2>\n\n\nHouston Rockets | Guard\n\nFree agent ranking: 5\n\nBest fit as a free agent: Houston\n\nProposed offer: Three years, $80 million. (The second year has $15 million guaranteed and the third season is a team option.)\n\nVanVleet’s next contract will play a role in Houston’s flexibility this offseason and in the coming years.\n\nThe Rockets could exercise their $44.9 million team option before June 29 and then use the guard as a valuable trade chip if a deal materializes (potentially for Kevin Durant). However, by accepting the option, Houston becomes a luxury tax team above both salary caps.\n\nThe most logical thing is to reject the option and negotiate a new contract with additional years but less money in the first year. For example, a salary that starts at $29 million (and then decreases each season) leaves Houston $20 million below the second salary cap. VanVleet finally recovers the $44.9 million option that is rejected, but in two seasons.\n\nDue to potential extensions for Rockets’ young forwards Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason, VanVleet’s second year is partially protected and the third season is a team option. In the unlikely scenario that Houston declines the option and doesn’t re-sign VanVleet, they would have available the non-taxpayer mid-level exception of $14.1 million.\n\n\n
Myles Turner<\/h2>\n\n\nIndiana Pacers | Center\n\nFree agent classification: 6\n\nBest fit as a free agent: Indiana\n\nProposed offer: Three years, $90 million. (The third year of the contract increases to full if Turner is named to the All-Defensive first team in 2026 or 2027.)\n\nThe Pacers and their longest-tenured player find themselves in a unique situation.\n\nBecause Turner renegotiated and extended his contract in January 2023, he cannot extend it before June 30. (Both parties can negotiate a new contract starting from the NBA Finals.)\n\nIndiana hasn’t paid a luxury tax penalty since 2005-06. However, as reported by Brian Windhorst and Shams Charania, Indiana is willing to incur the tax to sign their starting center. They are $20 million below the tax at the start of the offseason.\n\nA contract that starts at 30 million dollars and remains stable would achieve two things:\n\nDue to a change in the CBA this offseason, teams pay a less punitive tax penalty if they exceed the tax by up to 11.4 million. A contract starting at 30 million dollars costs Indiana only a 16 million penalty after their roster is complete. The signing of Turner also leaves them 7 million below the second salary cap.\n\nThere is concern that a Turner contract starting at $30 million could affect the Pacers’ great depth, as both Aaron Nesmith and Bennedict Mathurin are eligible for extensions this offseason. Mathurin is a restricted free agent next summer if a new deal is not reached.\n\nThe new contract would give Turner the tenth-highest salary among all NBA centers. Turner had 144 blocks this season, the third most in the league. He is the only player with at least 150 three-pointers and at least 125 blocks.\n\n\n
Josh Giddey<\/h2>\n\n\nChicago Bulls | Shooting Guard\n\nFree agent ranking: 7\n\nBest fit as a free agent: Chicago\n\nProposed offer: Five years, 125 million dollars.\n\nThe average salary of 25 million dollars seems low, considering that Giddey is coming off the most complete season of his career.\n\nHe joined Michael Jordan as the only Bulls players to average at least 10 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists in a season. And since mid-February, Giddey averaged 22.6 points, 10.3 rebounds and 9.1 assists. Giddey’s six triple-doubles tied for fourth place in a single season in franchise history.\n\nIn addition to the numbers, there is the understanding that restricted free agency should give the Bulls a competitive price advantage to keep Giddey, especially with Brooklyn as the only team that could sign the guard with a significant offer.\n\n
I think he fits in very well here. I hope to see him here in the coming years. I feel very good about Josh and his future here.<\/p>Arturas Karnisovas, Executive Vice President of the Bulls<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n
Jonathan Kuminga<\/h2>\n\n\nGolden State Warriors | Forward\n\nFree agent ranking: 9\n\nBest fit as a free agent: Golden State, Brooklyn\n\nProposed offer: Three years, 81 million dollars. (The last year is a player option.)\n\nProjecting a new contract for Kuminga is like trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube.\n\nLike Giddey, the 22-year-old player is a restricted free agent and Golden State has the advantage, considering the lack of available money that teams have to offer in free agency.\n\nHowever, unlike the Bulls’ guard, Kuminga’s fourth year was a rollercoaster. He went from coming off the bench at the start of the season, to an undefined role after Jimmy Butler’s trade, to averaging 21 points in the Warriors’ second-round loss to the Timberwolves.\n\nRegarding his next contract, the only thing guaranteed is that Golden State will offer the forward a qualifying offer of $7.9 million before June 29th.\n\nI know how we can work better with him. But as far as guessing how everything is going to play out or what the contract or signing and transfer agreements and things like that might look like, honestly, at this point I’d be totally guessing.\n\nA contract that starts at $25 million gives Golden State the flexibility to complete its roster and stay below the second salary cap limit.\n\n\n
Ty Jerome<\/h2>\n\n\nCleveland Cavaliers | Guard\n\nFree agent classification: 15\n\nBest fit as a free agent: Cleveland, Atlanta, Brooklyn, Charlotte, Sacramento\n\nProposed offer: Four years, 40 million dollars. (The last year is a team option.)\n\nJerome is one of the best backup shooting guards in free agency and should see a considerable pay raise compared to his $2.6 million salary in Cleveland last season.\n\nAfter playing only two games last season, Jerome finished second in the Sixth Man voting in 2024-25. Finally healthy, Jerome played 70 games, averaging career highs in points (12.3), field goal percentage (52%), and three-point percentage (43%). Cleveland had an 11-point advantage per 100 possessions with Jerome on the court during the regular season.\n\nRe-signing with Cleveland should be the obvious choice, considering that starting point guard Darius Garland could miss the start of the regular season after toe surgery and the Cavaliers can offer a contract of up to four years and $64 million, the most of any team outside of Brooklyn.\n\nHowever, Cleveland is not only a luxury tax team for the first time since 2018, but is also $13 million over the second salary cap. A starting salary of $14 million adds an additional $80 million in tax penalties and puts Cleveland even further over the second salary cap. Basketball operations president Koby Altman told the media after the season that owner Dan Gilbert has given the front office “no restrictions to incur the tax”.\n\nAtlanta, Brooklyn, Charlotte, and Sacramento have a void at the starting or backup point guard position and have the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception of $14.1 million available to offer. A starting salary of $10 million is comparable to the extension that T.J. McConnell signed with the Pacers last season.\n\n\n
Naz Reid<\/h2>\n\n\nMinnesota Timberwolves | Forward\n\nFree agent ranking: 17\n\nBest fit as a free agent: Minnesota, Detroit\n\nProposed offer: Three years, $57 million. (The last year is a player option.)\n\nDue to the Timberwolves’ finances and most other teams not having more than $14.1 million to spend in free agency, Reid’s next contract is difficult to project even though the former Sixth Man of the Year had his best season.\n\nReid averaged career highs in points (14.2), rebounds (6.0), and assists and finished second among reserves in points during the 2025 postseason. He finished first in the 2024 postseason.\n\nBy declining the $15 million player option and signing a three-year, $57 million contract with the Timberwolves or a team that has cap space, Reid gets a slight salary increase. More importantly, he has the option to extend or become a free agent in 2027.\n\nMeanwhile, the Pistons could create up to $17 million in cap space (or possibly more with a trade), but at the expense of free agents Tim Hardaway Jr., Dennis Schroder, and Malik Beasley.\n\nMinnesota and Reid could reach an extension before the start of free agency or he could exercise his contract option and then extend in July. Reid is allowed to sign a four-year, $87.2 million extension starting June 27. The $15 million player option for next season is replaced with a starting salary of $19 million. Reid could also opt in and then sign a four-year, $94.2 million extension. The $21 million salary in the first year begins in 2026-27.\n\n\n
Bobby Portis<\/h2>\n\n\nMilwaukee Bucks | Forward\n\nFree Agent Classification: NR\n\nBest fit as a free agent: Milwaukee, Atlanta, Detroit\n\nProposed offer: Three years, $54 million.\n\nAt a minimum, Portis will get an increase in his player option of $13.4 million.\n\nHowever, similarly to Reid, Portis’ market consists of signing (or extending) with his current team or targeting teams with the $14.1 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception.\n\nHis next contract in Milwaukee could be tied to free agent center Brook Lopez. If Lopez decides to sign elsewhere, the Bucks have the flexibility to give Portis a raise and also use their full non-taxpayer mid-level exception to bring back Gary Trent Jr. or sign a starting point guard to replace the injured Damian Lillard.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The NBA’s free agency this summer presents a cold reality: beyond renewals with current teams or “sign-and-trade” deals, free agents are primarily facing the Brooklyn Nets, the only team with enough salary cap space to offer contracts exceeding $30 million. Half the league has the non-taxpayer mid-level exception of $14.1 million. To analyze the complexity […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[762,3284,4126,4127],"class_list":{"0":"post-10838","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-james-harden","9":"tag-kyrie-irving","10":"tag-myles-turner","11":"tag-nba-free-agency"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10838\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}