NBA free agency figures to be relatively light on fireworks this summer.
Trae Young and James Harden seem likely to re-sign with the Washington Wizards and Cleveland Cavaliers, respectively. LeBron James is no guarantee to stay with the Los Angeles Lakers, but the 41-year-old is likely heading into the last year of his Hall of Fame career. While LeBron effectively held up the rest of free agency back in 2010, he might not have that type of sway anymore.
The Lakers, Chicago Bulls and Brooklyn Nets and Lakers are heading into free agency as the only three teams with a clear path to significant spending power. The Atlanta Hawks could join them, but that would require them to decline their team option on Jonathan Kuminga and renounce the rights to all of their free agency, including CJ McCollum.
Teams can get creative, though, especially when desperate. Look no further than last offseason, when the Milwaukee Bucks waive-and-stretched Damian Lillard to open up enough cap room to sign Myles Turner to a nine-figure contract.
With that in mind, we’ve highlighted the perfect landing spot for each of the NBA’s top five free agents, even if it might require some financial finagling to get them there.
1. LeBron James: Cleveland Cavaliers
If LeBron is willing to take a veteran-minimum contract this summer, there’s nothing stopping him from signing with his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers or any other team of his choosing. If not, the Cavs might have their work cut out for them.
Between Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen alone, the Cavs have $128.2 million on their books for next season. Add in Max Strus ($16.7 million), Dennis Schröder ($14.8 million) and Sam Merrill ($9.2 million), and they’re already well above the salary cap with only those six players factored in.
The Cavs figure to decline their $42.3 million team option on Harden to renegotiate a longer-term contract with a lower annual price tag. That could give them enough wiggle room under the first apron to either use the $15.0 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception to sign LeBron or acquire him via sign-and-trade. (If they’re over the first apron, they can’t do either.)
In that scenario, Allen would likely be the main piece going back to L.A., although the Cavs could also try to offload Schröder and/or Merrill to give themselves more flexibility under the first apron. That would be James’ only way to get anything close to his nearly $58 million max salary from Cleveland.
If James did return home for his farewell tour, he wouldn’t have to worry about the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs until the Finals. Getting through the New York Knicks wouldn’t be a cakewalk, but the Cavs would instantly join the inner circle of Eastern Conference contenders if they did manage to land James this summer.
2. Jalen Duren: Los Angeles Lakers
If LeBron does leave the Lakers, they could have upward of $50 million in spending power this offseason. They’re also reportedly “looking for center upgrades,” according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line.
The Lakers have previously shown interest in Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler, who’s also set to become a restricted free agent this summer. But if they’re willing to swing for the fences, they could try to pry Jalen Duren out of Detroit after his disappointing playoff run took some of the shine off his breakout campaign.
Duren averaged a career-high 19.5 points along with 10.5 rebounds in only 28.2 minutes per game this season en route to his first All-Star and All-NBA nods. However, he sputtered in the playoffs with only 10.2 points and 8.5 rebounds in 30.1 minutes per game, as Orlando Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. roundly outplayed him for most of their first-round series.
Duren is one of the league’s best young bigs when it comes to finishing and rebounding, but he lacks the ability to create offense on his own. He needs to be paired with a star point guard such as Cade Cunningham—or, say, Luka Dončić—to maximize his abilities.
If Cunningham and Duren evolved into one of the league’s most lethal pick-and-roll duos this past, just imagine what a Dončić-Duren duo could accomplish. The Lakers might not have enough spending power to pry Duren away from Detroit, but he’s the best big man on the market this summer. They should at least consider making a run at him.
3. Austin Reaves: Chicago Bulls
In all likelihood, Austin Reaves will re-sign with the Lakers on a max or near-max contract. But what if the Lakers try to lowball him?
According to Dan Woike of The Athletic, multiple front office sources around the league expect the Nets to offer Reaves a full four-year, $178.5 million max contract. He also named the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks as being “among a group of interested teams that can create space to make competitive offers.”
Woike did not specifically name the Bulls as a team with interest in Reaves, which begs of the question of whether they plan to make a run at him. They could use more guard help after their trade-deadline teardown, though, and they’re projected to have a league-high $54.4 million in cap space even after moving up to the No. 4 pick in this year’s draft.
Assuming that the Bulls take Caleb Wilson at No. 4, they’ll be set at forward between him, Matas Buzelis and Noa Essengue. The Bulls also have Josh Giddey signed to a four-year, $100 million deal that should age increasingly well as his salary stays flat at $25 million annually while the salary cap continues to increase.
Reaves got plenty of experience working as an off-ball guard thanks to his time alongside LeBron and Luka, so the Bulls shouldn’t have any concerns about his potential fit with Giddey. And if they aren’t sold on Giddey’s ability to carry them as a scorer (which they shouldn’t be), Reaves could fill that void for them.
4. James Harden: Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks aren’t likely to be a cap-space team this offseason. They figure to negotiate new deals with McCollum and Kuminga and call it a day.
But if McCollum and/or Kuminga sign elsewhere, that could open some additional options for them. One of those options could be Harden.
In Atlanta, he’d get to team with a do-it-all forward in Jalen Johnson, the league’s reigning Most Improved Player in Nickeil Alexander-Walker and a defensive dynamo in Dyson Daniels. The Hawks also have a pick-and-pop big in Onyeka Ogonkwu who could form a deadly tandem with Harden.
The Hawks should have access to the non-taxpayer MLE, but Harden will presumably want more than that. If the Cavs can’t take anyone back via sign-and-trade due to their proximity to the first apron, the Hawks could instead offer some combination of Kuminga (if they picked up their $24.3 million team option on him), Corey Kispert ($14.0 million), 2024 No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher ($13.8 million) and Buddy Hield ($9.7 million).
Harden isn’t aligned with the Hawks’ developmental timeline, so he’d be more of a short-term rental rather than a long-term piece of the puzzle for them. But for a Hawks team whose offense sputtered in the playoffs as defenses could key in on Johnson and Alexander-Walker while completely ignoring Daniels, Harden could provide a much-needed spark.
5. Trae Young: Miami Heat
If the Miami Heat do trade some combination of Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and the No. 13 pick in this year’s draft to the Milwaukee Bucks for Giannis Antetokounmpo, they won’t have much left to build around aside from Bam Adebayo. A point guard rotation of Davion Mitchell and Kasparas Jakucionis hardly screams championship material.
But what if the Heat could also acquire Trae Young via sign-and-trade? Suddenly, their roster could start to make more sense.
They could look to flip Andrew Wiggins as the main salary match if he picked up his $30.2 million player option. Otherwise, they could try to swing a double sign-and-trade involving Norm Powell, or they could offer Mitchell and/or Nikola Joviċ if they don’t head to Milwaukee in a trade for the Greek Freak.
The Heat would be top-heavy with Adebayo, Giannis and Trae, but #HeatCulture should help them attract some ring-chasers on the cheap with that core in place. Young would have two dominant pick-and-roll threats at his disposal, but the Greek Freak could also alleviate some of his playmaking duties, allowing him to operate more off the ball.
Even if the Heat don’t acquire Giannis, landing Young could make sense for them, particularly given their previously reported interest in Memphis Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant. Fischer reported that he has emerged as a backup “big fish” option if they fall short in the Giannis hunt.
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