The NBA free agency period is over a month away, but names like LeBron James, Zach Randolph, Eric Bledsoe, Dwyane Wade, Tim Duncan, Gordon Hayward and Carmelo Anthony have already started to get attention from teams, as they are the top players set to be free agents and clubs like the Chicago Bulls, Houston Rockets, Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, NY Knicks, LA Lakers and Brooklyn Nets are all expected to be active in summer 2014.
James and Anthony are obviously the biggest names set to hit the market, but only a handful of teams will have the chance to sign those players. Miami expects to keep James and it's likely that only the Bulls or Lakers have a chance to get him over the Heat, while Anthony has a number of options to consider. The Knicks are the favorites based on money and length of contract, but for winning Anthony may get swayed by the Bulls or Rockets, who will have to make some moves to get the cap space to sign those players.
The NY Knicks are expected to try and sign Anthony along with another player and someone like Luol Deng could be in the mix if they clear out enough cap space. The team can move Tyson Chandler or Raymond Felton this offseason and they will try to move Amar'e Stoudemire but it will be hard to find a team willing to take his salary. Iman Shumpert also could be on the move and Phil Jackson has already said that Felton is likely getting traded.
Randolph is a player to watch, as he could have a big impact on the market and could be an option for teams if they miss out on Kevin Love. Randolph likely wants to stay in Memphis, but he has a decision to make about his $16.5 million player option, as that is a ton of money and he could look at getting more on the market. Randolph is 32 so he is getting to "that" age and he may want to secure some more years over the most amount of money.
Luol Deng is hitting the market after being traded from the Bulls to the Cavaliers and he could be an option for teams that miss on Anthony. The Lakers, Bulls and Knicks are all expected to make runs at him and Deng is not expected to stay in Cleveland. There are many other names out there to sign this summer and for teams that can't get players like Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James, players like Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade, Lance Stephenson, Greg Monroe, Eric Bledsoe and Gordon Hayward could be options along with Kyle Lowry, who could leave the Raptors after having a career season.
The Lakers and Rockets could be interested in Lowry, while the Celtics are an option for Hayward after bringing in his old coach brad Stevens. The free agent market will have some surprises this offseason and it could be with Anthony, as he realistically could go to the Bulls or Rockets. The Knicks had a terrible season and he missed the playoffs for the first time in his career and now he could be on his way out of town.
