After Duren, who are the best free agents still available? Here is our list of the top seven players who can still be signed.
Cam Thomas
Cam Thomas is a bucket.Last season between Brooklyn and Milwaukee, he averaged 13.5 points a game. The season before in Brooklyn he averaged 24. However, he's inefficient getting those points (31% from 3 and a .530 true shooting percentage last season, both well below the league average), doesn't involve teammates, and isn't a good defender. In short, he doesn't contribute to winning basketball and, according to teammates, wasn't popular in the locker room.
Which is why he's still available (and was waived by both Brooklyn and Milwaukee last season). However, for a team looking for a scoring punch off the bench, a guy who can go get a bucket, Thomas is available and can get one. Some Miami fans have pushed for the team to sign him, but that seems unlikely at this point. (He's not going to want to play overseas, but he could give his NBA chances a boost with a big season in Europe.)
John Konchar
The seven-year veteran guard was traded from Utah to Minnesota for Josh Green, but the Timberwolves instantly waived and stretched Konchar's salary, giving them the space to sign Jonathan Kuminga.Konchar is a rock-solid, 6'5" deep bench guard who has a spot in the NBA. He's not going to put up a lot of points (4.3 points per game for his career), nor is he a great floor spacer (34.9% from 3 for his career), but he will get a team rebounds (4.3 a game last season) and will just play smart ball. He has been linked to final roster spots in New York and Miami.
Ochai Agbaji
Agbaji is an athletic wing who has bounced around the NBA for four seasons after being the No. 14 pick out of Kansas in the 2022 NBA Draft. Two seasons ago in Toronto he showed his potential as a 3&D wing, but last season he struggled, shooting 26.6% from 3, although that was a better 34.9% in 20 games with Brooklyn.If Agbaji can return to his 2024-25 form — 10.4 points per game, shooting 39.9% from 3 — he has real value, but he needs to prove to teams he can be that guy again.
Kelly Olynyk
One of a long list of solid veterans still available, and Olynyk showed his value as a mentor last season in San Antonio. He can fill that role and still contribute.Olynyk, 34, is a 13-year NBA veteran stretch big who is a career 36.9% shooter from 3-point range, but that fell to 25.5% last season. Still, stretch bigs are always in demand, and it's easy to imagine Olynyk landing somewhere either before the season starts or during it when a team facing injuries (or just a surprise weakness in the frontcourt) reaches out to him.
Bruce Brown
Brown is at the front of the line of a series of veteran guards still available (including Gabe Vincent and Cameron Payne). He played in all 82 games for Denver last season, and while he may not have been the guy from the 2023 championship run, he still averaged 7.9 points and 3.9 rebounds a game, shooting 38.5% from 3-point range. Brown has been linked in rumors to the Lakers and Knicks in recent weeks.Cam Whitmore
Is there a team out there willing to bet on Cam Whitmore's potential and growth?He is an explosive scorer, which is why Washington brought him in a year ago, but by early December coach Brian Keefe buried him on the bench because of his lack of passing and defense. He was too one-dimensional (he injured his shoulder in January and was done for the season). With the drafting of AJ Dybantsa, Whitmore was going to be out of the Wizards' rotation, so they traded him to Cleveland, which promptly released him.
Whitmore is just 22 and has played three years in the league, some team should consider taking a flyer on him. Whitmore wouldn't like this, but may have to take a two-way contract (he still has eligibility for that) and prove he can fit with a team before he gets another standard deal.
Kevin Love
Love just turned 38 and has played 18 seasons in the NBA, but for a team looking for a quality locker room guy who can a mentor and still play a little as a stretch big — and throw incredible outlet passes — Love may be the guy.The five-time All-Star has been linked to a return to Cleveland (where he won an NBA title) and Minnesota (where he played the first six years of his career), but in both cases that likely would come a month or two into the season. Both would be great stories, but it is possible another team makes a move earlier.
Other free agent names of note: 18-year NBA veteran Jeff Green, Nicolas Batum, Dwight Powell, Bismack Biyombo, Cameron Payne, Victor Oladipo, Elfrid Payton, Gabe Vincent and Blake Wesley