The NBA free agent market may have some big names in the summer of 2015, as players like Rajon Rondo, Greg Monroe, Kemba Walker, LaMarcus Aldridge, Al Jefferson, DeAndre Jordan, Rudy Gay, Paul Millsap,, Wesley Matthews, Robin Lopez, Omer Asik, Anderson Varejao, Carlos Boozer, Goran Dragic, Roy Hibbert, Paul Pierce, Monta Ellis, Brook Lopez, Tristan Thompson, Kenneth Faried, Ricky Rubio, Jimmy Butler and Patrick Beverley have the potential to be FAs as unrestricted, restricted players and because of contract options
Phew, get all that? Obviously some of these players may end up signing extensions or they could get traded, but there are some potential superstars in that mix. The Knicks and Lakers will be looking to spend since they will have a nice amount of cap space for next year, while the Celtics and other teams will be looking to make moves on the lower level options as they try and rebuild.
Rondo is a player that will be targeted heavily and while he has a chance to stay in Boston, there is just as good of a chance that he could sign elsewhere or get traded. The Celtics have said that they are not looking to trade Rondo ahead of the season and once the deadline gets closer, all that could change. The Lakers and the Knicks will have cap space with big contracts coming off of the books and after the two basically stayed out of major free agency, Carmelo Anthony excluded, they are preparing to spend big.
The Knicks will be looking to add a major star next to Carmelo and the Lakers will be looking for their next franchise player with Bryant getting older. LaMarcus Aldridge will get looks and while it's likely that he will be back in Portland, anything can happen. Aldridge had a fantastic season last year and he should be getting the max money, as he is looking like one of the best bigs in the league moving forward. Last season he had back to back 40 point games in the playoffs and also factored into the MVP voting and now he should be cashing in.
Greg Monroe is taking the one year qualifying offer and that means he will be on the market as well after not signing a longer deal with the Pistons. The Lakers and the Knicks will be looking at him hard and that could be an option for those teams, as he is young and looking like a star in the making. The Lakers, Knicks and Sixers will have a ton of cap space and while Philly may not be looking to spend yet, they could be an impact player with trades and other moves.
2015 is still a long way off and with a season to play there are many things that could change, but the summer is expected to be a dramatic one in free agency...as usual.
