Kyrie Irving, James Harden and again Dennis Schröder will become free agents in early July. The class is not the best, but some stars could be up for grabs. We have summarized everything.
We also explain the most important terms such as unrestricted or restricted free agent and list who has a player or team option in their contract.
Who are the top free agents of 2023?
- James Harden (Philadelphia 76ers, age 33, player option)
- Kyrie Irving (Dallas Mavericks, 30 years)
- Draymond Green (Golden State Warriors, age 33, player option)
- Fred VanVleet (Toronto Raptors, 29 years, player option)
- Khris Middleton (Milwaukee Bucks, 31 years, player option)
- Kristaps Porzingis (Washington Wizards, 27 years, player option)
This player have one player option
A whopping 21 players can decide this summer whether they want to stay with their teams for another year or test the open market. Here they are at a glance.
| player | position | Old | team | Salary 23/24 |
| James Harden | Point Guard | 33 | Philadelphia 76ers | 35.6 |
| Khris Middleton | Forward | 31 | Milwaukee Bucks | 40.4 |
| Kristaps Porzingis | center | 27 | Washington Wizards | 36.0 |
| Draymond Green | Forward | 33 | Golden State Warriors | 27.6 |
| Fred VanVleet | Point Guard | 29 | Toronto Raptors | 22.8 |
| Gary Trent Jr | Guard | 24 | Toronto Raptors | 18.6 |
| Kyle Kuzma | Forward | 27 | Washington Wizards | 13.0 |
| Josh Hart | Guard | 28 | New York Knicks | 13.0 |
| Talen Horton Tucker | Guard | 22 | Utah Jazz | 11.0 |
| Victor Oladipo | Guard | 30 | Miami Heat | 9.5 |
| Bruce Brown | Guard | 26 | Denver Nuggets | 6.8 |
| Danilo Gallinari | Forward | 34 | Boston Celtics | 6.8 |
| Rudy Gay | Forward | 36 | Utah Jazz | 6.5 |
| Donte DiVincenzo | Guard | 26 | Golden State Warriors | 4.7 |
| Daniel House | Forward | 29 | Philadelphia 76ers | 4.3 |
| Derrick Jones Jr. | Forward | 26 | Chicago Bulls | 3.4 |
| Andrew Drummond | center | 29 | Chicago Bulls | 3.4 |
| Montrezl Harrell | center | 29 | Philadelphia 76ers | 2.8 |
| Damien Jones | center | 27 | Utah Jazz | 2.6 |
| Jordan Clarkson | Guard | 30 | Utah Jazz | 14.3 |
| Otto Porter Jr. | Forward | 29 | Toronto Raptors | 6.3 |
These players have a team option
The various teams have until June 29th to make a decision on whether they would like to retain their players for another year from the players listed below.
| player | position | Old | team | Salary 23/24 |
| Malik Beasley | Guard | 26 | Los Angeles Lakers | 16.5 |
| Derrick Rose | Guard | 34 | New York Knicks | 15.6 |
| Mike Muscala | center | 31 | Boston Celtics | 3.5 |
| Goga Bitadze | center | 23 | Orlando Magic | 2.1 |
| Lindy Waters III | Guard | 25 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 1.9 |
| Kevin Knox | Forward | 23 | Portland Trail Blazers | 3.0 |
| Nathan Knight | center | 23 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 2.0 |
| Michael Carter Williams | Guard | 31 | Orlando Magic | 3.1 |
| Kessler Edwards | Forward | 22 | Sacramento Kings | 1.9 |
| Xavier Tilman | center | 24 | Memphis Grizzlies | 1.9 |
| Lamar Stevens | Forward | 25 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 1.9 |
| Miles McBride | Point Guard | 22 | New York Knicks | 1.8 |
| Naji Marshall | Forward | 25 | New Orleans Pelicans | 1.9 |
| Alec Burks | Guard | 31 | Detroit Pistons | 10.5 |
| Herbert Jones | Forward | 24 | New Orleans Pelicans | 1.8 |
| Kenyon Martin Jr. | Forward | 22 | Houston Rockets | 1.9 |
| Isaiah Livers | Forward | 24 | Detroit Pistons | 1.8 |
| Admiral Schofield | Forward | 25 | Orlando Magic | 2.0 |
| Ish Wainright | Forward | 28 | Phoenix Suns | 1.9 |
All restricted and unrestricted free agents at a glance
Here is a detailed overview of all players who will become free agents in the 2023 offseason. UFA stands for Unrestricted Free Agent, RFA for Restricted. Important, these are only the 108 players who do not have an option (team/or player) in their contract.
| Atlanta hawks | Boston Celtics | Brooklyn Nets | ||
| Aaron Holiday, G (UFA) | Grant Williams, F (RFA) | Seth Curry, G (UFA) | ||
| – | Blake Griffin, C (UFA) | Cameron Johnson, F (RFA) | ||
| – | – | Yuta Watanabe, F (UFA) | ||
| Charlotte Hornets | Chicago Bulls | Cleveland Cavaliers | ||
| Kelly Oubre Jr., F (UFA) | Nikola Vucevic, C (UFA) | Caris LeVert, G (UFA) | ||
| PJ Washington, F/C (RFA) | Coby White, G (RFA) | Dylan Windler, F (RFA) | ||
| Svi Mykhailiuk, G (UFA) | Javonte Green, G (UFA) | Danny Green, F (UFA) | ||
| Dennis Smith Jr., PG (UFA) | Ayo Dosunmu, G (RFA) | Robin Lopez, C (UFA) | ||
| Nick Richards, C (RFA) | Patrick Beverley, G (UFA) | Raul Neto, PG (UFA) | ||
| Dallas Mavericks | Denver Nuggets | Detroit Pistons | ||
| Kyrie Irving, G (UFA) | Ish Smith, PG (UFA) | Hamidou Diallo, G (UFA) | ||
| Christian Wood, PF (UFA) | Jeff Green, F (UFA) | Cory Joseph, PG (UFA) | ||
| Dwight Powell, C (UFA) | DeAndre Jordan, C (UFA) | Rodney McGruder, F (UFA) | ||
| Frank Ntilikina, G (UFA) | Thomas Bryant, C (UFA) | – | ||
| Markieff Morris, F (UFA) | Reggie Jackson, G (UFA) | – | ||
| Theo Pinson, G (UFA) | – | – | ||
| Justin Holiday, F (UFA) | – | – | ||
| Golden State Warriors | Houston Rockets | Indiana Pacers | ||
| Andre Igoudala, F (UFA) | Frank Kaminsky, C (UFA) | George Hill, G (UFA) | ||
| JaMychal Green, F (UFA) | Boban Marjanovic, C (UFA) | Oshae Brissett, F (UFA) | ||
| Anthony Lamb, F (RFA) | – | James Johnson, F (UFA) | ||
| LA Clippers | Los Angeles Lakers | Memphis Grizzlies | ||
| Mason Plumlee, C (UFA) | D’Angelo Russell, PG (UFA) | Dillon Brooks, F (UFA) | ||
| Russell Westbrook, PG (UFA) | Lonnie Walker IV, G (UFA) | – | ||
| – | Wenyen Gabriel, F (UFA) | – | ||
| – | Dennis Schroeder, PG (UFA) | – | ||
| – | Troy Brown Jr., F (UFA) | – | ||
| – | Austin Reaves, G (RFA) | – | ||
| Miami Heat | Milwaukee Bucks | Minnesota Timberwolves | ||
| Kevin Love, C (UFA) | Brook Lopez, C (UFA) | Nickeil Alexander-Walker, G (RFA) | ||
| Udonis Haslem, C (UFA) | Jae Crowder, F (UFA) | Jaylen Nowell, G (UFA) | ||
| Max Strus, G (UFA) | Joe Ingles, F (UFA) | Naz Reid, C (UFA) | ||
| Gabe Vincent, G (UFA) | Thanasis Antetokounmpo, F (UFA) | Austin Rivers, G (UFA) | ||
| Ömer Yurtseven, C (RFA) | Wesley Matthews, F (UFA) | – | ||
| Cody Zeller, C (UFA) | Goran Dragic, PG (UFA) | – | ||
| – | Meyers Leonard, C (UFA) | – | ||
| New Orleans Pelicans | New York Knicks | Oklahoma City Thunder | ||
| Josh Richardson, G (UFA) | – | Dario Saric, F (UFA) | ||
| Jaxson Hayes, C (RFA) | – | Justin Jackson, F (UFA) | ||
| Orlando Magic | Philadelphia 76ers | Phoenix Suns | ||
| Moritz Wagner, C (UFA) | Georges Niang, F (UFA) | Torrey Craig, F (UFA) | ||
| – | Shake Milton, G (UFA) | Darius Bazley, F (RFA) | ||
| – | Jalen McDaniels, F (UFA) | Bismack Biyombo, C (UFA) | ||
| – | Paul Reed, C (RFA) | TJ Warren, F (UFA) | ||
| – | Dewayne Dedmon, C (UFA) | Damion Lee, G (UFA) | ||
| – | – | Josh Okogie, F (UFA) | ||
| – | – | Jock Landale, C (RFA) | ||
| – | – | Terrence Ross, G (UFA) | ||
| Portland Trail Blazers | Sacramento Kings | San Antonio Spurs | ||
| Jerami Grant, F (UFA) | Harrison Barnes, F (UFA) | Romeo Langford, F (RFA) | ||
| Cam Reddish, F (RFA) | Terence Davis, G (UFA) | Keita Bates-Diop, F (UFA) | ||
| Matisse Thybulle, F (RFA) | Alex Len, C (UFA) | Tre Jones, PG (RFA) | ||
| Justise Winslow, F (UFA) | Trey Lyles, C (UFA) | Gorgui Dieng, C (UFA) | ||
| Ryan Arcidiacono, G (UFA) | Chimezie Metu, F (UFA) | Sandro Mamukelashvili, C (RFA) | ||
| Drew Eubanks, C (UFA) | Matthew Dellavedova, G (UFA) | – | ||
| Toronto Raptors | Utah Jazz | Washington Wizards | ||
| Jakob Pöltl, C (UFA) | Udoka Azubuike, C (UFA) | Kendrick Nunn, G (UFA) | ||
| Dalano Banton, G (RFA) | Juan Toscano-Anderson, F (UFA) | Taj Gibson, C (UFA) | ||
| Will Barton, F (UFA) |
Which Teams Have Cap Space This Summer?
This question can only be answered to a limited extent, since it also depends on the decisions made by the players with their player options or teams with team options.
In our case, we assume that all prospective free agents will not be kept. The cap hold for possible first-round picks is also not taken into account. For example, the upcoming top pick can get up to $12 million for the first year. Should Houston win the draft lottery, the possible cap space would be reduced by this amount.
The teams are listed, which in theory can hand over a maximum contract. According to the estimates (it depends on how high the salary cap for the coming year really is) this starts at $33.5 million for players with a maximum of six years of experience. For seven to nine years it would be 40.2 million, for more than ten years 46.9 million dollars in the first year of the contract.
| # | team | Possible Cap Space* |
| 1 | Houston Rockets | 72.6 million |
| 2 | Orlando Magic | 55.2 million |
| 3 | San Antonio Spurs | 54.6 million |
| 4 | Utah Jazz | 49.1 million |
| 5 | Detroit Pistons | 47.0 million |
| 6 | Charlotte Hornets | 43.7 million |
| 7 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 40.7 million |
| 8th | Indiana Pacers | 38.5 million |
* Source: Spotrac
What is a sign and trade deal?
The sign-and-trade was long out of fashion, but since the Golden State Warriors’ deal with the Brooklyn Nets that brought Kevin Durant to New York and D’Angelo Russell to the Bay Area, such transactions have resurged . One benefit of this is that it allows teams with no cap space to sign free agents.
Player A signs with his old team to be immediately traded to another franchise for Player B. Of course, this requires the consent of the player.
What is an Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA)?
A player becomes an unrestricted free agent when their contract expires and there are no other options in their contract. He is free to choose which team he wants to sign with.
What is a Restricted Free Agent (RFA)?
If a player is a restricted free agent, his previous team can match any offer from another team, i.e. go with the offer of the competition. In this case, the player must remain with his previous team.
What is a qualifying offer?
The qualifying offer is an option that allows the team to make their player a restricted free agent. If the team does not do this, the player automatically becomes an unrestricted free agent.
What is an offer sheet?
If a team wants to sign a restricted free agent from another team, they must submit an offer sheet to the player. The previous team has two days after the agreement to match the offer.
Here is an overview of the most important restricted free agents of the offseason:
| player (team) | position | Old | Salary 22/23 (in million dollars) |
| Cam Reddish (Blazers) | Forward | 23 | 6.0 |
| Cam Johnson (Nets) | Forward | 27 | 5.9 |
| Matisse Thybulle (blazers) | Forward | 26 | 4.4 |
| Grant Williams (Celtics) | Forward | 24 | 4.3 |
| Austin Reaves (Lakers) | Guard | 24 | 1.6 |
| Ayo Dosunmu (Bulls) | Guard | 23 | 1.6 |
| Rui Hachimura (Lakers) | Forward | 25 | 6.3 |
What is a player option?
If a contract includes a player option, the player has the option to extend their contract for another season. Failure to select this option will result in the player becoming an Unrestricted Free Agent.
What is a team option?
The same applies to the team option. If this option is anchored in the contract, a team has the option of extending a player’s contract for another season. If the team does not exercise the option, the player becomes an unrestricted free agent.
