Best Landing Spots for Top Available NBA Free Agents
While the 2023-24 NBA season has officially tipped off, there's still a large number of helpful veterans left on the free agent market.
Eleven NBA teams still have a roster spot (or two) open, meaning potential places exist for some of these free agents to find a home.
With the news that Bismack Biyombo is joining the Memphis Grizzlies to provide some center depth with Steven Adams projected to miss the entire season following knee surgery, these are the best free agent-landing spot combos left.
JaMychal Green to the Charlotte Hornets
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When the Hornets finally do the right thing and cut ties with Miles Bridges, they'll need another big on the roster, preferably one who can shoot.
Charlotte ranks 29th in three-point percentage (27.7 percent) and tied for 27th in made threes per game (9.0) in the early going this season. Adding another floor-stretching big to play next to Mark Williams would help open up the floor for LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier and others while elevating the Hornets offense.
Green owns a lifetime mark of 36.8 percent from three and was even better with the Golden State Warriors last season (37.8 percent). The 33-year-old spent time at both power forward and center for Golden State while averaging 6.4 points and 3.6 rebounds in 14.0 minutes, shooting 54.0 percent overall.
Mix in 56 playoff career games (including seven last season with two starts) and Green would be the perfect third-to-fourth big for a Hornets team that needs to clear itself of Bridges.
John Wall to the Cleveland Cavaliers
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The Cavs were already coming into the season thin at point guard with Ricky Rubio pausing his career to focus on his mental health. Cleveland's only two current floor generals are Darius Garland and newly-signed Ty Jerome, with Donovan Mitchell essentially functioning as a point guard in this offense when Garland is on the bench as well.
Garland has missed two of the Cavs' first three games with a hamstring injury, however, while Mitchell was absent in one contest with hamstring soreness.
Cleveland could use another ball-handling guard in the backcourt to provide some injury insurance while everyone heals up and Rubio hopefully makes a return.
Wall didn't shoot the ball well with the Los Angeles Clippers last season, but he did average 5.2 assists off the bench in only 22.2 minutes a game. His 35.3 assist percentage was higher than point guards like LaMelo Ball, Damian Lillard, Jrue Holiday and Garland.
If Wall can accept a role as a pass-first guard off the bench and occasional spot starter, the Cavs could use his services.
Terrence Ross to the Boston Celtics
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The trade for Jrue Holiday was huge for the Celtics, although it left Boston with little depth off the bench, especially on the wing.
It should come as no surprise that the Celtics rank dead last in bench scoring so far (10.0 points per game), with Al Horford and Payton Pritchard looking like the only playoff-rotation-worthy members of Boston's bench at the moment.
Ross was a solid member of both the Orlando Magic and Phoenix Suns last season, averaging 8.3 points, 2.4 rebounds, 0.6 steals and shooting 36.8 percent from three in 21.1 minutes per game. The 32-year-old could provide some instant offense as a shooting guard/small forward off the Celtics' bench and has 47 games of playoff experience in his career.
Ross connected on 38.8 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes in 2022-23 and should get plenty of open looks playing alongside Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porziņģis and others.
Blake Griffin to the Golden State Warriors
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Griffin joining the Warriors to team up with Stephen Curry, Chris Paul, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and others would be something our 2014-15 selves would have never believed.
Still, the veteran forward makes sense on a championship-hopeful team that's already had to endure an early season injury to Green.
Griffin was a solid veteran piece for the Celtics last season, even averaging 8.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists while shooting 52.2 percent overall and 38.8 percent from three in his 16 starts. The 34-year-old is a smart passer and able three-point shooter, which would fit well with the Warriors system.
"I'm not blowing smoke, it was as good as it gets. He was unbelievable when he played and even better when he didn't. He has a fan for life from everybody in our organization," Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens said of Griffin, per Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe.
Selfishly, we'd like to see one more alley-oop from Paul to Griffin for old time's sake, as the two no longer have any bad blood between them according to Griffin. Paul has since expressed some regret about no longer playing with his former All-Star forward as well, especially since Griffin added a three-point shot to his arsenal.
How many minutes Griffin could actually play for the Warriors would likely depend of the health of Green, although Griffin's proven he can be a valuable veteran mentor as needed as well.
Kendrick Nunn to the Miami Heat
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A return to Miami makes a lot of sense for both Nunn and the Heat, as the 28-year-old guard should still have plenty of good basketball left.
After failing to trade for Damian Lillard and losing Gabe Vincent to the Los Angeles Lakers in free agency, Miami has been forced to start 37-year-old Kyle Lowry at point guard while relying on him for a hefty 32.0 minutes a night thus far.
That's far too heavy of a workload for Lowry, who ended last season coming off the bench behind Vincent. The Heat will also need more than his current 5.3 points per game, with Nunn serving as the perfect offensive option to come in off the bench and provide a scoring pop.
Nunn finished last season averaging 13.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.6 blocks in just 18.7 minutes over his final seven games with the Washington Wizards, all while knocking down a healthy 43.2 percent of his threes on 5.3 attempts a night.
After scoring in double figures 24 times last season between the Los Angeles Lakers and Wizards, a healthy Nunn would help ease the burden on Lowry in Miami now.
