Welcome to the doldrums of the NBA offseason — half the league is on vacation, there are few transactions and the ones that happen are more about filling out the end of the roster (Utah signing Patty Mills, for example) or locking down two-way players and camp invites.
Still, there are a few free agents out there worth noting. They are not game changers, but guys who could fill a rotation spot and help a team. Here are the seven best free agents still on the market today.
1. Markelle Fultz
This one surprises me a little because out of the spotlight in Orlando, Fultz has developed into a solid point guard when healthy. A couple of things have slowed teams. First are health concerns — he played 43 games last season and 129 over the previous four. Second, he needs the ball in his hands to be most effective, yet he’s not a great shooter (22.2% from 3 last season).
Still, he could give a team solid bench minutes as a backup one, but no team has yet made a move. He will have to accept a minimum contract at this point, possibly from Orlando.
The Cavaliers wing expected a raise from the $8.9 million he made last season (the final year of his rookie deal) but got crushed by the restricted free agent market. Okoro averaged 9.4 points a game last season and shot an improved 39.1% from 3, but teams were not jumping in to offer more than Cleveland would have matched. The Cavaliers have let the market play out, no team was willing to come in over the top with a huge offer (so no teams made any offer), and here we are. Okoro likely re-signs with the Cavaliers before training camp.
Walker averaged 9.7 points a night in 58 games for the Nets last season, shooting 38.4%. Those are solid numbers and Walker could fit into a lot of teams’ rotations, although whether he fits in a changing Brooklyn is up for debate. The challenge is that the front offices see Walker as a scorer and little else. Still, some team should sign him on a minimum deal, he can get a team buckets and is capable of lighting it up a handful of games a season.
The veteran guard spent last season in Denver, where he played in 58 games and averaged four points a night shooting 40.4% from 3, then saw a bump in minutes during the playoffs against the Timberwolves. With that, he was likely looking for a salary above the veteran minimum (what he got last season), but the deal wasn’t out there. At age 35 he’s going to be signed by a team looking for a veteran presence off the bench, but he can come in and be a stabilizing force.
Osman was a regular part of the Spurs rotation last season, averaging 6.8 points a game and shooting 38.9% from 3 in the 72 games he played (all but 3 off the bench). Osman has said he would like to return to the Spurs, but at this point any team looking to add shooting off the bench may want to give him a call. He’s under 30, has good size (6’7″) and could fit on a lot of teams.
Smith is another player left without a chair when the music stopped after the Nets’ offseason moves. Last season, the point guard averaged 6.6 points and 3.6 assists a game in Brooklyn. While he’s not a great outside shooter (career 29.8% from 3), he can run the show and give rotation minutes off the bench. While there have been rumors about a couple of teams, nothing has yet to materialize.
Davis Bertans was waived by Charlotte this summer — while he was on the court for his native Latvia in an Olympic Qualifying game — and has yet to be picked up, although the 76ers are rumored to have interest. Bertans is a 6’10” floor spacing big who averaged 6.7 points a game and shot 38% from 3 last season with Oklahoma City and Charlotte. A lot of teams could use a four/small-ball five to space the floor off the bench, so it’s easy to imagine him inking a deal somewhere before training camp.
Honorable mention: Boban Marjanović, Talen Horton-Tucker, Marcus Morris Sr., Evan Fournier, Tristan Thompson, Reggie Bullock, Danilo Gallinari, Jae Crowder, T.J. Warren, Thaddeus Young, Robert Covington, and Javonte Green.
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