The Best Free Agents Still Available Once Kawhi Leonard Makes His Decision


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It didn’t take long for the majority of the top free agents to make their decisions this year, as many players had agreements in place before we even reached July 1 thanks to the moved up moratorium start.

After an insane first day of free agency, the past 24 hours have been fairly quiet, as it seems the market is now awaiting Kawhi Leonard’s decision before it settles out the rest. In total, 18 teams are now fully capped out, with only minimum signings and exceptions available to them, and of the remaining 12 teams, just four have the chance to open up real space: the Lakers ($32.1 million), Clippers ($37.8 million), Mavericks ($22.9 million), and Hawks ($15.1 million). The rest max out at $6 million in potential cap space, which means once Leonard makes his decision, there won’t be a ton available for those remaining.

As a result, we’ve seen a lot of guys go ahead and get locked in on reasonable contracts, such as Kevon Looney returning to Golden State on a three-year, $15 million deal, so as to avoid the possibility of everything drying up if Leonard chooses one of the L.A. teams. On the flip side, it means whichever of those two misses out on Leonard (or, possibly both if he stays in Toronto) is going to have slim pickings when it comes time to pick up the pieces.

With that in mind, we wanted to update the list of available free agents and look at the best of those still out there on the market after Leonard, who is, obviously, at the top.

Point Guards:

1. Trey Burke: Dallas should have interest in bringing Burke back, but like their interest in Danny Green, they’re waiting out what happens with Leonard. I’d expect him back with the Mavs next season, though, the question is how long a deal they give him.

2. Tyus Jones: An RFA with nowhere to go, expect Jones to seriously consider the qualifying offer in Minnesota if they don’t come with a decent long-term deal.

3. Delon Wright: Like Jones, Wright’s market has dried up and as an RFA, he might just return to Memphis on the qualifying offer.

4. Alex Caruso: Caruso seems all but assured to return to the Lakers, it’s just a question of whether on a minimum after Leonard signs or for potentially a touch more if they don’t.

Wings

1. Danny Green: Green is waiting for Kawhi to make his decision before he decides on a future home, as he’s reportedly spoken with the Lakers, Clippers, Mavs, and Raptors about a potential signing. All four teams are chasing his shooting and defense to either pair with Kawhi once again, or to serve as a consolation prize for missing out.

2. Kelly Oubre Jr.: Poor Oubre is trapped in RFA hell and it’s possible his best option will be signing the qualifying offer to go back to Phoenix and hit unrestricted free agency next year. It’d be a risk, but with so few teams having any space, unless Phoenix is willing to put a long-term offer out there for him, it’s hard to see where he’ll find a good deal.

3. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope: Like so many others, KCP is waiting on Leonard to see if he’ll be back in L.A. or not next season. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him end up on another one-year deal somewhere else if they do bring Kawhi in, unless he’ll take the room exception.

4. Wayne Ellington: The best shooter left on the market outside of Danny Green. Expect him to have interest from all the teams reported to be in on Green once he signs.

5. Wilson Chandler: It’ll be very interesting to see what happens with Chandler, a 3-and-D type who struggled with the former in Los Angeles. He’s a mini-mid level option for some teams, surely.

6. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson: A quality defender, but complete non-shooter. There hasn’t been much smoke around RHJ’s free agency, but someone will look to scoop him up on a bargain contract.

7. Jabari Parker: The polar opposite of Hollis-Jefferson, Parker seems destined for a mini-mid level from someone to bolster their bench scoring.

8. Justin Holiday: I’ll be honest, I’m running out of ways to say wings are all waiting on Kawhi and Danny Green to set up the second wave of signings. Holiday will help someone’s bench rotation but at what price is a mystery.

9. David Nwaba: See the RHJ section.

10. Thabo Sefolosha: A guy who’s not been the same since the NYPD broke his ankle, but he can help someone in bursts off the bench.

11. Iman Shumpert: Another guy you’ll see tied to the Lakers I’m sure — see: every former LeBron teammate as well. Shump was useful last year in Houston and I think he’ll have a few suitors.

Bigs

1. Marcus Morris: The Morrii are both on the market still and it’ll be fairly fascinating to see where they go. There are some teams with full mid-level exceptions they could fit into, and I could see the Clippers or Mavs each having interest depending on what happens with Kawhi and Green. Marcus’ play in Boston the last two years has him as the twin likely to command the most, but I expect both to come off the board quickly after Leonard.

2. JaMychal Green: Green is likely waiting on the Clippers to figure out Kawhi. I’m sure they’d love to bring him back, but his cap hold is significant, and if they get Leonard, it’ll be tough for them to keep him. The Lakers could look to Green if they miss out on Leonard as a quality big to shore up a need there and Atlanta also is a team to watch with an eye on adding center help with Dewayne Dedmon leaving.

3. Ivica Zubac: Zubac was very good for the Clippers last year and, as such, is likely to return as an RFA. If for some reason they pull his QO to get Kawhi, I’d expect someone to scoop him up quickly.

4. Khem Birch: The frontcourt log jam in Orlando has only gotten murkier, and with them perilously close to the tax, one has to wonder if a decent sized offer sheet could get Birch away from the Magic. I’m not sure that’s out there for him, but Orlando would have a tough decision.

5. DeMarcus Cousins: The market for Cousins is, apparently, non-existent. That’s a shame and surely he’ll find a job next year, but it’s going to be fore a very small deal and his focus should be on the best fit and opportunity to prove what he apparently didn’t in Golden State.

6. JaVale McGee: Likely waiting on the Lakers, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see McGee in the purple and gold again next year.

7. Vince Carter: Same thing in the locker room as Dudley, but with three-point shooting instead of a post presence. I really hope this ends up being a homecoming in Toronto.

8. Pau Gasol: All the same locker room stuff, and like Carter, there are a lot of folks that want to see him go home to the Lakers.

9. Greg Monroe: He’s 28! How is that possible?! I have no idea who signs Monroe, but I want to bring up that he’s somehow only 28 whenever he is mentioned.

10. Bismack Biyombo: Shouts to Bismack for getting the bag, now he can go back to being a bargain role big for someone, which will likely raise his value once again.

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