We are nearing the start of free agency for the 2019-20 NBA season, as the moratorium period begins at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 30.
This year’s free agency figures to be the craziest and most impactful since 2016 — with teams hoping to avoid some of the pitfalls of that summer — as there are more than 10 teams with max cap space and hopes of bringing in a superstar talent. Not everyone is going to be able to fill their space with the elite talent, but there are plenty of starting caliber players and quality role players that can provide significant depth as teams seek to build out their rosters this summer.
Ranking free agents is a difficult proposition, because every team values something different, even when broken down positionally. One team may value shooting more, while defense or rebounding could be at a premium for another. With that in mind, we took who we believe to be the top 100 free agents for this season and broke them in to various tiers, starting with three tiers of max contract talent then starting caliber players at point guard, wing, and big, and likely bench players in those same three categories.
In the current age of somewhat positionless basketball, the lines between even those three broad distinctions can be blurry, and we fully understand that not every player fits perfectly into these categories. Within each tier, you’ll find a rough ranking, but, again, this comes with the understanding that every team values players differently, both in terms of what they do on the court and what they bring to a locker room.
Since most of you will ignore all of this and just jump to the rankings. Part 1 looked at the stars and starting caliber players available on the market, and can be found here. Part 2 looks at the opportunities to build depth with bench players, many of whom could make a significant impact on a new team in a reserve role.
Bench Point Guards
1. Derrick Rose: I did not expect Rose to be the most efficient offensive point guard on the reserve list, but he is that by a lot. I have no idea whether last year’s production is sustainable, but he was undeniably very good when on the floor for Minnesota last year and, after many thought his career may have been finished, he is likely to find a healthy contract out there this summer.
2. Trey Burke: He had a good year on two very bad teams and that always makes things tricky. Still, he was productive and proved to be a nice option to run a bench unit.
3. Cory Joseph: At this point we know what Joseph is as a pro, which is a solid reserve point guard who can play defense and run a second unit, but isn’t spectacular at really anything and struggles with his shooting. Given everyone else’s inconsistencies in their careers on this list, that makes him fairly valuable this summer.
4. Tyus Jones: Jones was rather dreadful shooting last year, but has shown the ability to be an average shooter in the past. If he can get back to that, he may be a steal in this free agency class. He upped his facilitating game significantly last season and if he could put that together with better shooting, he’ll be a nice bench option for someone.
5. Elfrid Payton: He still isn’t an efficient shooter, but he was in the midst of, by far, his best season as a pro before it was derailed by injury. If he can get back to that level and stay healthy, this is way too low a ranking, but given his entire career before New Orleans there has to be some concern that last year was the exception, not the rule, with him.
6. Delon Wright: As part of the Marc Gasol trade, Wright got extended burn with Memphis and struggled with his efficiency, which isn’t a huge surprise for a guy that suddenly saw his minutes and usage skyrocket. I like Wright’s size and believe he’ll be a better shooter in a smaller role again.
7. Austin Rivers: Rivers played significant, important minutes for the Rockets last season and had flashes of brilliance. He still is an inconsistent and inefficient offensive player, and while his defense is passable, it doesn’t jump off the page. He’s carved out a role as a solid backup point guard in the NBA, which given the hate that came his way early in his career is fairly impressive.
8. Alex Caruso: Like Payton, this ranking may be too low if he can replicate what he did in 25 games last year. He was doing that on a very bad team, but he shot the lights out from three and was one of the very few bright spots for the Lakers in an otherwise dismal season. One would expect him back in L.A. on a minimum deal, and depending how they spend in free agency, they may need him to play real minutes for the entire season.
9. Ryan Arcidiacono: Due to the Bulls’ thin point guard situation, Arcidiacono got a lot of run last year and played well. While he shouldn’t start 32 games for a decent NBA team, he was efficient with the ball as a low turnover point guard with pretty good three-point shooting, and there’s a place for that on the bench of a lot of teams.
Bench Wings
I’m going to preface this section by noting it was, by far, the most difficult ranking. Some of these players have startlingly similar stats, but a lot of this is going to come down to team need of strong defender or strong shooter. There are excellent shooters that aren’t considered great defenders and vice versa on this list, and as such any team’s list of these players is likely to vary wildly based on need.
1. Jeremy Lamb: Lamb quietly had a very solid year for the Hornets, and while he may not find a starting role on his next team, he presents considerable value for a team looking for a 3-and-D wing to eat up significant bench minutes. Lamb has become a solid three-point shooter and, while not the tallest wing, has a lot of wingspan and length to bother twos and smaller threes on the perimeter defensively.
2. Reggie Bullock: Bullock didn’t shoot the ball well in Los Angeles after being dealt there midseason, but this is a career 39 percent three-point shooter who can defend twos or threes. The Lakers, if they don’t get a max guy, could very well retain his rights and look to go over the cap to sign him, thanks to a fairly friendly $4.7 million cap hold, but expect other contenders to chase him as they look to load up on shooting.
3. Rodney Hood: His playoff performance, particularly against Denver, is going to end up making him some money this offseason. Hood famously had an awful time in Cleveland in 2018 after being dealt there at the deadline, but bounced back for a solid regular season and then became a key player for the Blazers in their Western Conference Finals run.
4. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope: At this point, KCP might just be what he is, which is a good bench scorer who isn’t especially efficient. There’s a space for that and he’s shown he can be a primary scorer for a bench unit. If he can ever replicate that 38 percent mark from three he had two seasons ago in L.A., he’ll be even more valuable.
5. Seth Curry: Of the second tier of three-point specialists, expect Seth Curry to be the top target of teams. The Lakers could reportedly have interest, but so will an awful lot of contenders that want someone that can come in and hit 45 percent of their threes. There are defensive issues given his slight stature on the wing, but there’s no question he can light it up.
6. Wayne Ellington: I still don’t know why Ellington wasn’t signed by the Lakers last offseason instead of, say, Lance Stephenson, but I don’t think contenders will let him completely fall by the wayside again this year. Ellington is a very good three-point shooter and can give you quality minutes off the bench.
7. Danuel House Jr.: If House is the player he was in limited action last season consistently, this ranking is too low. I still want to see it for a full season, but he was spectacular for the Rockets and became an absolute marksman from three-point range for them. Someone will take the chance on him this summer to see if he can replicate that, even if only on a short-term deal.
8. DeMarre Carroll: After knee injuries ruined what was supposed to be his prime, Carroll has had back-to-back very good seasons in Brooklyn and re-established himself as an excellent veteran wing presence. He’s a solid, but not spectacular, shooter, and is a high energy guy who gets after it on the glass and on the defensive end.
9. Wesley Matthews: Matthews can still shoot it from deep, but he’s become a far less efficient scorer than he was pre-Achilles injury, mostly in his inability to be effective getting to the rim. There’s still plenty of teams that could use him, but he has a bit of an issue with not totally recognizing his limitations and that can lead to poor shot selection. He’d be best suited as a bench scorer for a contender, playing in spurts.
10. Garrett Temple: The versatility he gives you positionally, being able to check guys 1-3, makes him a valuable asset. He’s not a very good or consistent three-point shooter, but he’s a solid defender that can give you quality minutes of the bench.
11. Wilson Chandler: After a strong start to the year in Philly, Chandler struggled to find his groove with the Clippers and fell out of favor in L.A. He’s likely not the guy that’s going to be able to give you a lot of great minutes on the wing anymore, but if he can shoot the way he did in Philly, not L.A., he can still give a team value.
12. Dorian Finney-Smith: DFS is still young enough that teams will hope he can unlock a three-point shot and become a really strong 3-and-D type. He’s super long and can play the 3 or 4, and if he can just find a way to be a more efficient offensive player, he could be a really strong signing this summer.
13. James Ennis III: Ennis was good with the Rockets last year and spotty at best with the Sixers. In Philly he was not the shooter he had been in Houston, but he still is a long wing that can pester opponents on the defensive end. If he shoots well, he can be a really helpful two-way guy off the bench, but last year, that was not a consistent trait.
14. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson: The value with Rondae is on the defensive end, where he’s got great size and strength to bother opposing wings. He is one of, if not the, worst three-point shooters in the NBA, and so he needs to be on a team that will allow him to cut and slash to the hoop with other players providing the spacing.
15. Jabari Parker: At this point, we have a pretty good idea of what Jabari Parker is as a player. He can score the ball and that is his elite NBA skill. There’s spots on teams for a guy that can be a primary bench scorer. He’s not super efficient and is still a very poor defender, but will get you buckets and some boards.
16. Justin Holiday: I’m still a believer in Justin Holiday despite his nomadic career in the Association. He’s an average shooter with good length at the two-guard spot and I just can’t help but think he’d be helpful in a bench role, rather than as a starter on bad teams as he was last year.
17. David Nwaba: Nwaba is a big, physical guy on the perimeter, and while not a great three-point shooter, he scores very well at the rim. He’s likely headed to his fourth team in as many years, but in the right situation I think he can be a useful guy off the bench.
18. Alec Burks: Burks had so much promise early in his career, and last year, he floated around before getting buried in Sacramento of all places. I still think he can be a helpful bench scorer, but he’s not the guy he was early in his career in Utah.
19. Anthony Tolliver: The consummate professional, Tolliver knows exactly how to play his role as a 3-and-D and doesn’t stray from hit. He hit nearly 38 percent of his threes last year and those accounted for nearly 80 percent of his shot attempts. He’s not a great defender, but always gives you effort on that end and has enough length where that can be effective. Wherever he goes, he’ll give you a rock solid 15-ish minutes per game of the same thing every night.
20. Jeff Green: You know what Jeff Green is going to give you. He’s not a guy you want to lean on to knock down threes, but he can score at the rim and give you some useful minutes at the 3 or 4.
21. Thabo Sefolosha: His role was significantly reduced last year and he’s struggled with health things ever since having his ankle broken by New York police, but when on the floor, he’s still a good 3-and-D option for 12-15 minutes per game.
22. Gerald Green: The career renaissance of sorts for Gerald Green has been great to see in Houston. He’s become a solid spot-up shooter and can give you a scoring boost off the bench in spurts.
23. Troy Daniels: Maybe the best bargain shooter available on the market. Daniels doesn’t shoot it quite as efficiently as Seth Curry, but if you’re looking for that kind of impact for a cheaper price, he’s going to be the guy.
24. Iman Shumpert: The veteran guard still can give you positive minutes on the defensive end and bounced back nicely after an injury plagued 2017-18 season. Anything you get from Shump offensively needs to be the cherry on top, not the expectation, as his value is on the other end.
25. Jake Layman: It was a career year for Layman in Portland, where he was terrific scoring at the rim and gave the Blazers good minutes on the wing in a year where they needed that. He’s still not hitting as many threes as you’d like and that limits his value, but after a pair of lean years with few opportunities, he took advantage of it last year and proved he belongs in the league.
26. Rodney McGruder: It was a tough year in Miami for McGruder, who really struggled with his efficiency, but the hope I think is that a bench role would be a better fit for him, going up against non-starters more often.
Bench Bigs
1. Thomas Bryant: I know he started a bunch last year for a depleted Wizards team, but I think he’s likely to be asked to take a similar minutes load (20-22) but from a bench role. Whatever the semantics of starting or not, Bryant was spectacular in Washington and will deservedly cash in on it this summer. He was highly efficient offensively and was a reasonably solid defender on what was an atrocious defensive team.
2. Dwight Powell: The Mavs are likely to retain Powell after another strong season in Dallas where he’s become an excellent rim-runner, which is a good skill to have with Luka Doncic running the offense. Powell isn’t a great shooter but brings energy to the bench unit on both ends and has proven to be a valuable asset to have on the roster.
3. Bobby Portis: He is a very solid offensive player and if his shooting from three-point range from last season becomes the new norm for him, he is going to make a team very happy. Defense remains an adventure with Portis, which keeps him from being higher on the list, but he’s active on the glass and flashed a three-point mark of 39.3 percent in his 50 games last season. Washington extended the QO to him, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him back in the nation’s capital next year.
4. Taj Gibson: Nothing has changed much for Gibson over the past few years. He’s a max-effort guy all the time, attacking the glass and doing whatever’s asked of him offensively. He’s far from a sharp-shooter, but he was better from the perimeter last season in limited attempts and has adapted well to the modern game despite not being an exceptionally stretchy four.
5. Robin Lopez: Like Gibson, Lopez is a rock solid veteran big that you’re happy to have on the roster. He gives full effort on both ends and still has some craftiness in the post. Neither of these two are going to be splash signings, but contenders looking to get some productivity for a relative bargain will surely be looking their way.
6. Ivica Zubac: One of the strangest trades of the season was the Lakers effectively giving Zubac away, as he was a solid contributor for them and continued to be a solid bench big for the Clippers. He’s a good rebounder and a very good free throw shooter, and while not the most mobile center you want defending pick-and-rolls constantly, he has the length to bother shots at the rim.
7. Maxi Kleber: The Mavs gave Kleber a QO and for good reason. He doesn’t put up numbers that pop off the page at you, but showed growth from his rookie year to sophomore year in just about every area and became a dependable big off the bench in Dallas.
8. Daniel Theis: Like Kleber, Theis showed solid growth from rookie year to sophomore season in Boston, also stretching his range to the three-point line. He’s not the biggest center and isn’t especially fleet of foot, but is solid on both ends and gave Boston some much-needed production at that spot last year.
9. Boban Marjanovic: He is one of the hardest players to figure out exactly what to do with in the league. At times, he is unplayable due to a matchup, but he’s also one of the most incredibly efficient offensive big men in the league. Teams will attack him mercilessly in pick-and-rolls, but he often makes up for the points given up on that end with tremendous play on offense. He might not be a 16-game player, but in the regular season and in certain playoff matchups he can be wildly effective.
10. Nerlens Noel: It is I, the Nerlens Noel believer. He didn’t play a ton last year in Oklahoma City, but was solid when he was out there. His block numbers still make him seem like a better defender than he actually is in a team sense, but the ability is there. Offensively he was efficient and seems to know his limitations, and is a strong rebounder. Even if placed in the same role somewhere else to eat up 15 or so minutes a game, Noel re-established a little bit of his value this year after the misguided decision in passing on the Mavs multi-year offer a couple summers ago.
11. Mike Scott: I will be the first to admit I’ve never been the biggest fan of Scott’s game, but he has become a very reliable three-point threat from the power forward spot and there is real value in that in today’s league. He’s still not a good defender and his shot selection is at times still a bit aggressive, but he’s as good as it gets in terms of spot-up shooting from a reserve power forward in the league and has proven that over two straight seasons.
12. JaVale McGee: McGee has value, but not as much as his stats from last year would indicate. He put up rather gaudy numbers with the Lakers, but they were fairly empty. For every positive he produced, very often he would negate that with what are often times comedic errors. As we saw in Golden State, there’s a right way to deploy McGee that can be very effective, and if he finds that type of place, this might be too low of a ranking. He should be a reserve center, not a starter, and used in bursts where his high energy is less likely to result in terrible lapses in judgement.
13. Khem Birch: It’s not easy to shine as a reserve big man in Orlando as there’s a lot of competition there, but Birch had a nice season and took advantage of the opportunities when they came his way. He’s a restricted free agent, so a return to the Magic may happen, but who knows what will go down if Nikola Vucevic comes back.
14. Noah Vonleh: Vonleh put up strong numbers on a bad Knicks team, with career-highs in every category off the board. I don’t know what he gets on the market, but someone might believe he’s tapping into the potential that made him a top-10 pick.
15. Richaun Holmes: A Process legend, Holmes put together a solid season in Phoenix and could be a nice pickup on the lower end of the contract spectrum this summer for a team looking for size and athleticism.
16. Kyle O’Quinn: He was buried in Indiana, but O’Quinn could be a sneaky good signing for someone this offseason. In the right situation he could be a very helpful bench rotation big for someone.
17. Jared Dudley: Dudley almost made the “Veteran Leader” section, as he’s a great locker room presence along with being a solid reserve big man. In the right matchup, Dudley can thrive, but his greatest impact on a team may just be off the court.
18. Jordan Bell: There were times where Bell was apparently unplayable in Golden State and times where he shined in the postseason. I have no idea what his value is or what role he should play. He’s a super athletic, undersized center who at times looks great and other times looks lost. This ranking might be too low, and all it takes is one team thinking they can extract the most out of him for him to get paid well more than many guys in this tier.
19. Greg Monroe: Did you know Greg Monroe is only 29 years old and won’t turn 30 until next June? I always assume he is four years older than he actually is due to the nature of his game, but he played well for Philadelphia in spots last season and could bolster a rotation in spot duty on the right team.
20. Bismack Biyombo: After getting massively overpaid by Orlando, Biyombo is set to hit the free agency market again and while he’ll make much, much less, he’s still a reasonably effective reserve center that, for the right price, would be a fine signing.
Veteran Leaders
1. Vince Carter: These two belong in their own category, as what they bring of the court is arguably more valuable than what they can do on it. Carter gets the nod here in the top spot because he’s become a legitimate three-point threat in his advanced age and that is extremely valuable, even in limited minutes. You’ll be hard pressed to find anyone from his recent stops with a bad thing to say about Vince’s presence in the locker room and most will heap copious amounts of praise on him.
2. Pau Gasol: Pau wasn’t a factor for Milwaukee in the playoffs, but he’s still got some game and, like Carter, he’s an absolute delight to have as a veteran presence in your locker room. Either of them are likely to be on a veteran minimum deal and it’ll be fascinating to see what Gasol wants to do, given that, unlike Carter, he already has a pair of championships to his name.
HONORABLE MENTION TIER
LeBron James’ Friends And Future Lakers
1. Kyle Korver: Korver will be bought out at some point by Memphis and should make his way to L.A. to join his old Cavs teammate. He’s lost a step defensively, which isn’t great for a guy who was always underrated on that end simply through effort and being in the right place positionally at all times. Still, he’s a lethal shooter and the Lakers will need that.
2. J.R. Smith: A year off may help Smith this coming season when he is also bought out and ends up with the Lakers as most expect. It’ll be interesting to see if Smith can become an efficient marksman again playing alongside James, but that seems to be where we are headed.
3. Carmelo Anthony: Hopefully, like Smith, a year off will have Anthony mentally and physically recharged. He too seems like a logical vet min target for the Lakers and as has been the case for the last three years, his success in L.A. will be dependent on his willingness to accept a lesser role. Maybe a reality check has taken place and LeBron can keep him happy as a spot-up shooter and bench role guy, but color me skeptical.
