Top 10 NBA Free Agents in 2025

Key Takeaways

• Alex Caruso is an elite defender and will command high value when he becomes a free agent.
• Clint Capela’s value lies in rebounding and shot-blocking, though his offensive efficiency has declined, so he should expect a pay cut.
• Caris LeVert is a reliable role player worth considering for teams looking to improve.

In the NBA, free agency is one of the easiest ways for teams to instantly improve their roster. Unlike trades, where a team has to give up assets to get a player, or the draft, where players are not sure things, free agency allows established players to sign contracts with the highest bidder, or whoever manages to stand out from the crowd.

Past blockbuster free-agent signings include LeBron Jamesgoing back to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Kevin Durant signing with the juggernaut Golden State Warriors, and Shaquille O’Neal signing with the L.A. Lakers.

This season, there are plenty of solid players on expiring contracts who can enter unrestricted free agency, meaning they can sign with any team that makes them an offer. Other players will enter restricted free agency, where they can sign with any team but their current team can match the deal and retain them. Finally, some players have options on their contracts. Either the player or the team can “opt-in” to the final part of the contract, keeping players under contract. Perhaps the most notable example was Lonzo Ball opting into his contract in 2023-24, forcing the Chicago Bulls to pay him $20.4 million despite him not playing a game that year.

For the sake of this list, only players who have made it clear that they will opt out of their contract have been included, along with several unrestricted players who can test the open market.

Here are the ten best free agents in the NBA for the 2025 offseason.

10 Clint Capela

C, Atlanta Hawks – Unrestricted free agent

Clint Capela has played next to two of the best volume scorers and pick-and-roll players in the NBA in James Harden and Trae Young. He will make $22.6 million in the final year of his contract, and his next deal will likely see him take a pay cut.

He is still a solid rebounder and shot blocker, but his lack of lateral quickness and declining offensive efficiency make him a high-level backup at best, or he could play as the fifth option on a well-rounded team. At 29 years old, he still has plenty of gas in the tank, but his best days are likely behind him.

If Capela ever added a reliable outside shot, a different discussion would be in order, but his playstyle is from a bygone era where towering centers dominated the NBA by staying in the paint. A team looking for a high-quality depth piece would happily sign him to a lesser deal.

9 Caris LeVert

SG, Cleveland Cavaliers – Unresitected free agent

Caris LeVert is going to make $16.6 million this season, and he has shown that he is well worth the money. He’s bounced around the league, playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers, and Brooklyn Nets, and has been a do-all player everywhere he’s been.

He’s equally comfortable playing a starter or sixth-man role, and his “little bit of everything” playstyle lends itself well to the positionless, versatile league. He can be a solid shooter, going 39.2 percent from deep in 2022-23, but he tends to put the “D” in 3-and-D.

In 2021, he underwent successful surgery to remove cancerous growth in his kidneys and has not missed a beat since. While he has had nagging injury issues throughout his career, he is a solid, if not high-level, role player who has consistently made meddling teams better.

8 Malcolm Brogdon

PG, Washington Wizards – Unrestricted free agent

Last year, Malcolm Brogdon got paid $22.5 million to ride the bench for the Portland Trail Blazers, and unless he is traded, he will likely do the same for the Washington Wizards. The former Rookie of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year is a solid, tried-and-true NBA point guard but has been stuck on bad teams, limiting his playtime.

However, when he gets a chance to play for a team with playoff aspirations, he is an excellent player. He is sturdy for his size and is a reliable shooter who can add some pop off the bench or conduct an offense at a high level. At 31 years old, he has fallen off some radars after stints with bad teams, but he was a key piece of the Boston Celtics in 2022-23 before they upgraded with Jrue Holiday.

If Brogdon remains in Washington all season, his value will continue to dip, which means whoever picks him up will get an absolute bargain.

7 Chris Paul

PG, San Antonio Spurs – Unrestricted free agent

Chris Paul is one of the best point guards to ever play professional basketball, but he is past his prime. At 39 years old, he signed a meager one-year, $11 million deal with the San Antonio Spurs, who will use him to mentor their young core. After this season, expect him to be back on the open market.

Other teams in need of veteran leadership like the Charlotte Hornets or Utah Jazz might be interested in making a deal with Paul, but it’s more likely that he will either retire or hunt a ring one last time, which has so far eluded him for 19 years.

If Paul is a solid player for the Spurs, despite no longer being “The Point God,” there will be a market for him and a contender looking for a steady hand on the bench might be eager to sign him, although his days of signing long and lucrative contracts are over.

6 Brook Lopez

C, Milwaukee Bucks – Unrestricted free agent

Over the course of his long NBA career, Brook Lopezadapted from a low-post monster to a shot-blocking floor spacer perfect for the modern NBA. He and Giannis Antetokounmpo have consistently been one of the best defensive frontcourt duos in the NBA, but the Milwaukee Bucks’ financial constraints will likely keep them from retaining him unless he agrees to a pay cut.

Lopez is 35 years old and has lost a step, but a center who can reliably knock down shots from downtown at 36 percent does not come by very often, and there will be a market for him. This year, he is making $23 million, and a team with title hopes will likely offer him a similar amount, just on a short-term deal.

The Bucks will likely try and extend him during the season, or trade him for other assets instead of letting him walk for nothing. There certainly won’t be a shortage of buyers looking for a quality, floor-spacing big man.

5 Charles Barkley

Broadcaster, TNT – Unrestricted free agent

An NBA team has not paid Charles Barkley since the 1999-00 season, when the Houston Rockets gave him $9 million. He has not played in over two decades, but he will likely be one of the biggest names in free agency all season long.

Barkley has been a key member of the Inside the NBA show on TNT alongside Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson. The quartet has brought gaffs, analysis, and unique segments to NBA fans for several years, but Amazon recently gained broadcast rights to the NBA, booting TNT off the beat.

The 2024-25 season will be the last season where Inside the NBA is a staple of the entertainment side of the sport.

“My deal is 10 years, $210 million. Turner has to come to me ASAP and they have to guarantee my whole thing or they can offer me a pay cut, which there is no chance of that happening and I’ll be [a] free agent.” -Charles Barkley

Barkley will enter free agency knowing his worth. He still holds a seasonal gig working for TNT to broadcast March Madness and is a spokesperson for Capital One and Subway, among other companies. Expect his next contract to be under just as much speculation as some of the best players in the league.

4 Myles Turner

C, Indiana Pacers – Unrestricted free agent

The Indiana Pacers are likely going to try and extend or re-sign Myles Turner before he can hit the open market. He is the longest-tenured player on the team, having spent the last nine seasons with the franchise. He is a premier shot-blocker and can space the floor, much like Lopez, but he is only 27 years old.

Turner will be making $19.9 million this season, and will likely be expecting a raise, especially if the Pacers can make another deep playoff run. The taps are about to run dry in Indiana, and it will take some financial maneuvering for the Pacers to afford their franchise center unless he is willing to take a pay cut.

Turner has long been linked to teams like the Lakers and Knicks, and the market for him this season is expected to be competitive as teams look for young players who can match up with Victor Wembanyama, Chet Holmgren, and the next generation of NBA big men.

3 Alex Caruso

G, Oklahoma City Thunder – Unrestricted free agent

The Oklahoma City Thunder fleeced the Chicago Bulls last offseason, sending out disgruntled guard Josh Giddey for Alex Caruso, who is arguably the best perimeter defender in the NBA. He has made two All-Defensive teams in back-to-back years, and will only make $9.9 million this season.

Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein are expected to be the additions that put the Thunder over the top.

However, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, two of the better young players in the NBA, will be due for their rookie extensions in the coming years. With Caruso able to make a lot more than just under $10 million, expect the Thunder to struggle to afford all of those players, and Caruso might be the odd man out.

If the Thunder win a ring this season, he might be talked into coming back on a discount, but if he hits the open market, there could be a nine-digit contract in store. At only 29 years old, he’s improved every season and is a true pest on defense, so he will be able to command a lot of value.

2 Brandon Ingram

SF, New Orleans Pelicans – Unrestricted free agent

In addition to being one of the best free agents next summer, Brandon Ingram is also one of the hottest names on the trade block. He will make $36 million in the final year of his contract before hitting unrestricted free agency and has made it clear that he wants a maximum extension.

The New Orleans Pelicans can’t afford to pay him that, and he’ll be hard-pressed to find a team that is willing to throw that type of money his way.

Ingram is a very good player and would likely be a solid second or third option on a team with championship aspirations. He is a capable defender, an adept playmaker, and can handle the ball. He is also a legitimate three-level scorer.

However, teams don’t want to cough up maximum money for a player who is a third option. The Denver Nuggets did that with Michael Porter Jr. and are now struggling to add talent next to Nikola Jokic and are in danger of closing their championship window.

With the Nuggets serving as a recent example as to why a great, but not elite, player is not worth maximum money, expect Ingram to sign a rich contract when he hits the market–just not as rich as he might want.

1 Jimmy Butler

SF, Miami Heat – Player option

Jimmy Butler could opt into $52.4 million for the 2025-26 season, but he, like Ingram, is looking for a longer deal than that. He has been included in trade rumors, so if he is traded to an ideal landing spot he might reconsider his stance, but for now it is assumed that he will opt out.

While age and durability are not on his side, he is the best playoff performer in the league, provided that he is available. He has twice led an underdog Miami Heat team to the NBA Finals, but the job is not yet finished.

Butler has been tasked with being both the on and off-court leader in Miami. Off the court, no one in the league is as fiercely competitive as he is, but on the court, it’s clear that he would be an elite second option. Unlike Ingram, who doesn’t have the same winning pedigree, Butler will likely get the contract he wants in the hopes that his fire will rub off on whatever roster he joins.