While most of the top free agents of the summer class of 2025 have either re-signed or ended up with new teams, there remain impact players on the market for cheap outside of the well-reported restricted free agent group.
Al Horford, Russell Westbrook and Amir Coffey round out the top three of Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report’s best-available low-cost free agents. Horford has been heavily linked to the Warriors (as have Pincus’s fifth- and sixth-ranked free agents in Gary Payton II and De’Anthony Melton) and reporting seems to indicate he will ultimately end up there once the Jonathan Kuminga situation is resolved.
Westbrook and the Kings have been linked together, but reporting indicates that Sacramento has explored the market for Malik Monk and/or Devin Carter to make room for the former MVP, so it’s unclear where Westbrook will end up if the Kings don’t clear space in the backcourt.
As for Coffey and Pincus’s No. 4-ranked player Ben Simmons, there have been fewer definitive reports linking them to one team or another. Simmons has been connected to the Kings, Suns, Knicks and Celtics, but there hasn’t been much media traction involving Coffey.
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Ahead of the 2025-26 collegiate season beginning, the 2026 NBA Draft class looks top-heavy, with three players in AJ Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer and Darryn Peterson who are in contention to be selected No. 1 overall, Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report writes. Karim Lopez of the NBL’s New Zealand Breakers is Wasserman’s highest-ranked international prospect in his August top-50 list, while Jayden Quaintance of Kentucky is the highest-ranked returning player at No. 4 overall, after he started 24 games for Arizona State in his age-17 season.
Looking ahead to next offseason, ESPN’s Bobby Marks details the headlines that should dominate the news cycle, including the futures of LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo. James will be an unrestricted free agent next year, and it’s unclear whether he will finish his career with the Lakers. Meanwhile, all of Curry, Jokic and Antetokounmpo can be free agents in 2027 if they do not agree to extensions before then.
One year removed from the 2024 class, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic re-drafted his top 20 from last year’s rookies. Zaccharie Risacher had a strong rookie season, but slipped from No. 1 to 2 with 2024/25 Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle overtaking him for the top slot. Jared McCain (from No. 16 to No. 3) and Jaylen Wells (from No. 39 to No. 9) are the biggest risers in the top 10, while Ajay Mitchell jumped from No. 38 to No. 12.