The 16 best remaining NBA free agents on the market

NBA free agency is all but over. The biggest names were all signed a week into the month, and the middle-of-the-pack ones have gone steadily since then until almost none of them are left. Still, every team needs a solid eighth or ninth man coming off the bench, and more rotations haven’t been finalized so far than have. That leaves us with the best players who are still on the free agency market.

The restricted free agent and the Mavericks were “not close” to a deal on Wednesday, according to a league source, but the team is still the extremely heavy favorites to sign him before the summer is up. It’s only a matter of time and whether someone else decides to extend him an offer sheet that would inevitably be matched. (There aren’t many teams left with cap space.)

Gasol opted out of his deal with the San Antonio Spurs which would have paid him $16.2 million next season. It must have needed some convincing by the Spurs, who wanted flexibility for the summer, but they will presumably reward Gasol now that their plans fell through.

It’s impossible to gauge what Denver thinks of Plumlee, who they acquired last year for Jusuf Nurkic. They have an excess number of players in the frontcourt already, but Plumlee is a restricted free agent, so there’s also no reason to let him go elsewhere. The most likely option might be Plumlee taking the qualifying offer for a year.

Mirotic is another restricted free agent and a player who the Bulls have said they’d love to keep. With time, he’ll probably re-up with Chicago.

Despite the Spurs maybe renouncing his restricted free-agency rights (although that wasn’t totally clear), it still seems most likely that the player discovered by the Spurs will end back with them.

UPDATE: Guess not! Simmons signed a three-year deal with Orlando.

Either Ginobili has said, “I think I can still play,” but his decision to return or retire next season is still up in the air. If he returns, of course, the only option is the Spurs.

The Suns are presumably set on retaining their restricted free-agent center, especially given the only other two on the roster are 34-year-old Tyson Chandler and 6’7 Alan Williams (if you can even call him that). Marquese Chriss could (and probably should) slide up there at some point, too, since his outside game doesn’t appear to be developing.

The Warriors are the only team that accentuates McGee’s strengths enough that his weaknesses don’t overtly shine through. (To be fair, McGee also played one of his best years of basketball.) Since he didn’t get a huge offer on the open market, there’s a good chance he returns somewhat cheap to Golden State.

This one is iffier than any player listed above, but Lee was a successful rotation player in San Antonio last year after struggling to be that in any of his stops since Golden State. He declined a player option, but he may end up returning there anyway.

Does anyone want Rose? He averaged 18 points on 47 percent shooting last year, a way higher percentage than the previous seasons. But given his inability to hit threes and his declining free-throw rates, he’s still not a highly efficient player, not to mention he’s a poor defender.

After a couple of decent seasons with the Timberwolves, Muhammad may be able to carry on the decent role playing with another team as well. Plus, he shot 34 percent from three last season, which isn’t too bad.

It appears the Grit ‘N’ Grind days are over, and Allen may be moving on from Memphis. That’s sad, and his effectiveness is almost gone, but he’s a good veteran on the bench for someone, you’d think.

It’d make sense for him to return to Memphis, and that still seems like the frontrunner. But after weirdness on the Fourth of July and virtual silence ever since, who knows.

This is the player you sign on, like, July 24 for the minimum, and then he ends up starting 38 games for your favorite team. It’s not great, but at least it’s decent value. And hey, he shot 39 percent on threes last year, his best number behind the arc yet.

UPDATE: Mbah a Moute is headed to the Rockets.

Despite barely showing up in the finals, Williams was actually quite good during the regular season. Still, he’s not consistent.

Another Mavericks castoff from last season, Bogut is reportedly healthy and ready to go. Still, his injury history would scare anyone off, and he probably shouldn’t make more than the minimum. Also, do fellow teammates appreciate his locker room presence?

What a dramatic rise and fall of a career. Lawson was incredibly average last year in Sacramento, if anyone needs an extremely backup point guard.

Another incredibly average point guard, but if you must have one ...