With a half-dozen teams projected to have at least $30 million in cap space and several more with the flexibility to clear significant room, it might seem like many NBA free agents have almost unlimited options this offseason.
All the more reason for them to be choosy.
Here, we’ll run down the most and least favorable destinations for a handful of this free-agent class’ most interesting names.
We’ll leave out a few players you might expect to see—like LeBron James, Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby and Tyrese Maxey—because it’s highly likely they’ll return to their current teams on new contracts or extensions.
In addition, we’ll try to keep the landing spots at least semi-realistic and only use each one once. Otherwise, we’d just keep citing the Oklahoma City Thunder or Philadelphia 76ers as the best landing spots for every big name. And on the other end of things? Well, let’s just say the Detroit Pistons should be glad we’ve instituted this rule. Otherwise, they might have dominated the “worst” section a little too consistently.
Best Landing Spot: New York Knicks
This really comes down to whether you believe the Knicks are a better destination for George than the Philadelphia 76ers, who have max cap space (and then some) and have been most frequently mentioned as the biggest threat to sign PG away from the Los Angeles Clippers.
The case for Philly is pretty simple: It has Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and unfettered ambition. But are we sure the Sixers, with virtually no one else under contract and the colossal variable of Embiid’s health, are the absolute best place for George to play out the late-prime years of his career?
This isn’t a conversation if we limit it to teams that can sign George. The Knicks don’t have the cap space to get him, and they’re also going to pay through the nose to keep OG Anunoby. But New York could absolutely work out a trade package to bring George across the country, and he’d fit perfectly as a Julius Randle replacement next to Anunoby, Jalen Brunson, Isaiah Hartenstein (also a free agent) and Josh Hart.
Maybe the Sixers offer the loftier ceiling because they have an in-prime MVP and an ascendant second star in Maxey. But New York’s floor is much higher, and the thought of tethering himself to yet another ultra-talented but constantly injured superstar might not appeal to George.
Yes, we’re fudging this exercise a little by arguing George (player option) would be best served by joining the Knicks, which can probably only happen via trade. But he’s the biggest name on the market, and we need to be on the right side of history by alerting him and everyone else that Philadelphia isn’t the no-brainer pick everyone seems to think it is.
Worst Landing Spot: Utah Jazz
Though they don’t have the space to sign George at the moment, the Jazz could get off of John Collins ($26.5 million), Jordan Clarkson ($14 million) or Collin Sexton ($18.2 million) and put themselves in position to onboard a starting salary in the $40 million range.
So there’s a way for Utah to acquire George if he declines his player option, but there certainly shouldn’t be any will on the part of either party.
George is 34, and any four-year agreement could easily turn him into a negative-value asset in the last couple of years of that deal. It’s one thing for the Jazz to juggle Lauri Markkanen, who’s 27, with a developing core in its very early 20s. But the gap between the veteran George and players like Walker Kessler, Taylor Hendricks and Keyonte George would simply be too wide to make sense.
Best Landing Spot: L.A. Clippers
James Harden worked his way to the Clippers to get paid, among other reasons. Fortunately for him, L.A. is the only team that can justify giving him significant cash in free agency.
Teams with enough cap space to get anywhere close to a big number for the soon-to-be 35-year-old are either rebuilders who should have no interest in him (Detroit Pistons, Charlotte Hornets, Utah Jazz) or too good to risk disrupting their operation by adding him (Oklahoma City Thunder, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers).
That means Harden’s best landing spot is L.A. by default. The Clippers need him more than anyone else because they can’t backfill the playmaking void his departure would create, and because they’re committed to a win-now timeline in which, for all his flaws, Harden still matters.
The particulars, in terms of years and dollars, will still be interesting. L.A. needs Harden to return, but it also knows he has no other realistic teams to use as leverage. Things could get dramatic if the Clips come in with a low-ball offer and dare Harden to prove he could do better elsewhere, but it sounds like negotiations will run pretty smoothly. Both Harden and the Clippers “want this relationship to continue,” per Sam Amick and Law Murray of The Athletic.
Worst Landing Spot: Philadelphia 76ers
Can you even imagine?
To say Harden burned bridges on the way out of Philly is to grossly understate things. In basically quitting on his team, calling Daryl Morey a liar and forcing his way out of town, Harden might as well have gone back in time, made sure the first bridge in history could never be built and prevented the very concept of bridges from ever existing.
He cannot, under any circumstances, ever go back to the Sixers.
Nor should they want him. Tyrese Maxey emerged as a star in a larger role, and it should go without saying Philadelphia has no need for a ball-dominant lead guard playing out the final years of his career.
Best Landing Spot: Golden State Warriors
Rumors of Klay Thompson’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. Though the man who ranks sixth on the NBA’s all-time three-point-makes list is enduring predictable decline as he moves deeper into his 30s, he remains a valuable role player.
Last year’s 17.9 points and 38.7 percent clip from deep on 9.0 attempts per game would be a career year for a lot of players. Those figures, which Thompson produced across 77 contests last season, had everyone calling him washed.
Practically speaking, the Warriors need Thompson. They have the ability to get under the luxury tax, but they still won’t have the resources to replace even the diminished production he provided in 2023-24. Still committed to a win-now stance for at least the two remaining years of Stephen Curry’s current contract, the Dubs aren’t in a position to let key contributors walk.
Of course the emotional component looms largest. Thompson’s exit would mark the end of an era in Golden State, breaking up the most successful trio in franchise history. As long as Curry is around, echoes of the dynasty will be audible, but Thompson’s absence would quiet them considerably.
Worst Landing Spot: Detroit Pistons
“Thompson wants to win,” per Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “Don’t expect him to chase the largest possible offer from the Detroit Pistons or Charlotte Hornets, even if that’s the correct financial or leverage move.”
There you have it. The Warriors can comfortably offer Thompson peanuts because none of the cash-rich cellar-dwellers are actual threats to sign him. Nothing to see here!
Obviously, the Magic, Thunder and Sixers loom as true threats. They can offer money and the chance to win—maybe an even better one than Thompson would get with the Warriors.
But we can rule out teams like Detroit, which simply can’t offer the level of success Thompson grew accustomed to while winning 66.5 percent of his career regular-season games in Golden State.
Best Landing Spot: San Antonio Spurs
First of all, everyone loves a reunion. Second, and more importantly, there’s actually a decent case for DeMar DeRozan making a positive difference with the Spurs.
We should introduce the caveat that San Antonio should first seek out a traditional point guard with its cap space and trade assets. Victor Wembanyama is going to be a superstar regardless, but the Spurs can’t go through another season in which Tre Jones, who’s probably a third-stringer on a good team, spends the majority of the time running the first-unit offense.
The market isn’t exactly flush with floor generals, though, so maybe the Spurs could think non-traditionally.
DeRozan has averaged more than 5.0 assists in six of his last seven seasons, and he even posted a career-high 6.9 dimes per game back in 2020-21, the last of his three years with the Spurs.
Though his facilitation wouldn’t come as a high-volume pick-and-roll orchestrator, DeRozan has shown an ability to distribute from the elbows and out of isolation sets when he draws a second defender. A little individual shot creation wouldn’t hurt either, considering San Antonio ranked 26th in offensive efficiency last season.
Worst Landing Spot: Charlotte Hornets
The smug answer would be the Chicago Bulls, as DeRozan’s return for a fourth season would signal the team’s intention to maintain its low-ceiling status quo. That actually appears to be the likeliest outcome, considering few teams are primed to top what K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago reported could be a two-year deal from the Bulls worth up to $80 million.
At least that somewhat disappointing reunion would be better than DeRozan heading to Charlotte, a team with substantial cap space, where his individual shot creation wouldn’t add the value it might elsewhere.
The Hornets figure to put the rock in a healthy LaMelo Ball’s hands this season as they try to probe the connection between him and last year’s No. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller. DeRozan is great at what he does, but his isolation game tends to make him a focal point—partly because his reluctance to space the floor and shoot threes means he doesn’t have much off-ball value.
Charlotte needs its young players to max out their touches this season, and while DeRozan could offer helpful veteran leadership to a young team that might need some, this just isn’t a fit. Neither he nor the Hornets would be set up for success.
Best Landing Spot: Los Angeles Lakers
Chris Paul may not hit free agency at all if the Golden State Warriors guarantee his salary and either keep or trade him. But if the Dubs cut him loose to save money, Paul could be a sought-after commodity in a weak point guard market.
If he’s willing to play a backup role like he did last season for the Warriors, there might be 20 teams that’d happily take him aboard and benefit from his presence in the rotation. Even teams for which he’s previously played—the Phoenix Suns and L.A. Clippers chief among them—would be decent landing spots if we could wave a magic wand and eliminate some of the awkward interpersonal angles in those scenarios.
Realistically, though, Paul might still prefer to start and win as much as possible.
That leaves a thinner field, led by a Los Angeles Lakers team that will likely be built around an age-40-season LeBron James. At least Paul would clearly fit the timeline here.
If D’Angelo Russell declines his player option and enters free agency, the Lakers will have a glaring void at the 1. And if they also hire a relatively untested head coach, it’ll help to have someone with Paul’s experience to complement James’.
Even if Russell picks up his option, CP3 could provide insurance or even give the Lakers more confidence in trading Russell away to fill out other areas of the roster.
Worst Landing Spot: Golden State Warriors
The cost consideration has to come first here, as the Warriors cannot justify paying Paul $30 million next season. Barring an unlikely scenario in which some other team is willing to give up positive value for a 39-year-old point guard to occupy a backup role, the odds strongly favor Golden State letting Paul’s June 28 guarantee date come and go before turning the second-unit minutes over to Brandin Podziemski.
Maybe there’s a tiny sliver of a chance for Golden State to re-sign Paul to a minimum deal, but it’s hard to imagine him wanting to run it back if his role is likely to be even smaller than it was in 2023-24.
Not only that, but Paul doesn’t solve any of the Warriors’ most pressing problems. He can’t help them get more athletic or push their upside any higher. Fans who already wanted more minutes for Golden State’s young players probably wouldn’t be on board with another tour for CP3 either.
Stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference and Cleaning the Glass. Salary info via Spotrac.
Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@gt_hughes), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale.