Surprise Landing Spots for Top 2024 NBA Free Agents
NBA free agency is a time of unpredictability, but we're taking things to the extreme with truly out-of-the-blue destinations for some of the 2024 offseason's biggest names.
We're ditching conventional wisdom, dispensing with the most logical landing spots and leaning into the endless possibilities that come with cap space, bidding wars and ambitious buyers.
Rest assured, we'll operate within the rules. You won't see a likely max-salaried player sent to a team with 17 cents of cap space to spend. Every suggestion will actually be possible from a financial standpoint, and we'll highlight places where an acquiring team will have to stretch or swing other transactions to land certain targets.
The player-team fits here are designed to inspire reactions in line with the now-ancient Alonzo Mourning meme. You might be disgusted initially, but give these a moment's thought and, hopefully, you'll land in the realm of surprisingly satisfied acceptance.
That's a pretty specific emotional arc, and therefore a small target to aim at. But we'll do our best to hit it with these unlikely but possible free-agent landing spots.
Paul George to the Oklahoma City Thunder
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The "how" of Paul George's wildly improbable return to the Oklahoma City Thunder is a lot easier than the "why." But let's game this out.
OKC is set to have around $33 million in cap space this summer, which isn't close to the $48 million player option George holds for 2024-25. His starting salary on a hypothetical four-year, $212 million max (not saying the Thunder should go all the way there, but we need the numbers on record) would be even higher.
The Thunder could dig into their stockpile of picks to move money, though it probably wouldn't take sweeteners to dump Josh Giddey, which would clear $8 million in room. Kenrich Williams' $6.7 million would be easy enough to relocate, putting the Thunder within range of the number they'd need.
This is absolutely doable on OKC's end.
Does George want anything to do with a return to Oklahoma City? Would he really leave L.A. for any destination, all things being equal? Maybe not. But then again, the fact that George hasn't inked an extension yet suggests either he or the Clippers (or maybe both of them) aren't sure about continuing their association. From George's perspective, the Thunder offer a far clearer shot at contention and don't need him to occupy the alpha role he's never quite fit into.
If winning is the goal, George might not be able to do any better than Oklahoma City.
The Thunder don't need to swing this big. They could hoard their picks and bank on organic growth. At the same time, this exceptionally young team feels like it's only a player away from reaching the A-1 contender class.
Swap Giddey out for George, and instead of an exploitable postseason weakness in the starting five, the Thunder would have an All-NBA star. Even if George slips as he moves deeper into his 30s, he's certainly not going to be someone opposing defenses dare to shoot on offense and attack on defense.
Sorry for starting this exercise by going way outside the box, but the Thunder should understand that title windows are difficult to prop open for any length of time. Few have the luxury of playing things patiently like OKC does, but one-player-away teams with the resources to go out and get that player should be aggressive.
LeBron James to the Philadelphia 76ers
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On the May 14 edition of Get Up, ESPN's Brian Windhorst said, "I think the Lakers are going to give LeBron whatever contract he wants." A three-year, $162 million deal leads the options James might prefer after opting out of $51.4 million for 2024-25.
And on a recent episode of Buha's Block (h/t HoopsHype.com), Jovan Buha of The Athletic said "all indications" are that James will remain with the Lakers.
Technically, then, the most surprising free-agent landing spot for LeBron James is "anywhere other than the Lakers." But if we need to get specific, James winding up with the Philadelphia 76ers certainly checks the shock-value box.
One uncomplicated element to get out of the way before delving into the particulars: The Sixers have the cash to simply sign James to a max deal. No muss, no fuss, no cap-clearing maneuvers. That flexibility sets Philly apart from every other semi-realistic James pursuer, and its possession of an in-prime MVP in Joel Embiid and rising star Tyrese Maxey doesn't hurt either.
A couple of other destinations have clearer ties to James, furthering the surprise factor that'd attend a LeBron-to-Philly move.
James said in 2022, per Jason Lloyd of The Athletic, that "the door's not closed" on a potential return to the Cleveland Cavaliers. His recent appearance at a Cavs playoff game predictably got the rumor mill churning. But that felt like more of a "how you doin'?" to possible Lakers trade target Donovan Mitchell than anything else.
Cleveland would have to convince James to take a minimum salary in free agency unless it works out a complex sign-and-trade or opt-in-and-trade deal with the Lakers, likely costing itself two of Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen in the bargain.
The Golden State Warriors would have to gut the roster without taking money back, yet they've still been linked to LeBron more often than most teams. That probably has something to do with Golden State taking a crack at a trade for James at the 2024 deadline and LeBron's on-record desire to someday play with Stephen Curry.
Again, James suiting up for literally any team other than the Lakers would be a first-class stunner. But the Sixers' pile cap space, which is being handled by the relentlessly ambitious Daryl Morey, means they cannot be totally counted out.
DeMar DeRozan to the Detroit Pistons
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The Chicago Bulls are an almost perfectly mediocre 125-121 across the three seasons DeMar DeRozan has spent with them. That's not a level most other teams aspire to hit, but the Detroit Pistons are not most other teams.
The Pistons haven't won more than 23 games in any of the last five years, bottoming out with just 14 victories in 2023-24. For them, a break-even record would constitute an enormous step forward. Along with some organic growth from the gaggle of mostly underperforming youngsters on the roster, adding DeRozan as a veteran leader and high-end scorer might be enough to get Detroit into the not-so rarefied air of the early-2020s Bulls.
DeRozan—34 and coming off averages of 24.0 points, 5.3 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game—clearly still has gas in the tank. While he said Chicago is "definitely somewhere I'd like to return to" on Lou Williams' Run it Back, the six-time All-Star might feel differently if he can find someone to beat the Bulls' best offer.
K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago reported in April that Chicago "recently offered DeRozan's representative a two-year deal at a high annual salary, perhaps as much as $40 million per season." That's a hefty number for DeRozan, who earned $28.6 million in 2023-24, but the Pistons project to have a league-leading $64 million in cap space. Paired with a desperate desire to get out of the cellar, they could easily come over the top with a package DeRozan couldn't refuse.
Whether Detroit should go down this road at all is a separate question, and...actually, you know what? Let's just answer it. The Pistons shouldn't be in the market for 34-year-old non-spacers, no matter how productive they've been, with a young roster starved for shooting.
What's more, all that cap space would be better utilized as a means to take on bad contracts with picks attached. Adding costly veterans at this juncture would be classic step-skipping—exactly the kind of hasty thinking that gets teams mired in the dreaded middle.
But one can at least understand how the brutal last half-decade might spur some rash decisions in Detroit. When you've been this bad for this long, mediocrity, which DeRozan has proved he can deliver, looks pretty good.
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Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the Orlando Magic
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Yet again in 2024, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope found himself featuring prominently in a deep playoff run. He won a ring with the Los Angeles Lakers, another with the Denver Nuggets last year and looks to have a good shot at another title in June.
That means the 31-year-old guard is in for a significant raise over the $15.4 million player option he holds for 2024-25.
While the Nuggets know KCP's value better than anyone, and while they also have the ability to pay whatever's necessary to keep him, it's still possible one of the defending champs' key pieces will play elsewhere next season. Denver will be nearly $10 million beyond the second apron if Reggie Jackson picks up his player option and Vlatko Čančar returns via team option.
Losing KCP would be a brutal blow, but the Nuggets haven't often paid the tax and may have quietly been preparing for a scenario in which another team makes an offer for KCP they can't justify matching. Between Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Julian Strawther, Jalen Pickett and Hunter Tyson, they have five 25-and-under guards and wings in the pipeline—none of whom will earn more than $3 million in 2024-25.
Great teams don't often let players as important as KCP walk away over money. But it happens.
And if it does in this instance, it may be because the Orlando Magic shove a $100 million offer across the table.
The Magic are likely to wield around $35 million in cap space, and they need shooting from their backcourt players to maximize the facilitating they get from forwards Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. Some other Orlando options—trade candidate Zach LaVine and unrestricted free agent Klay Thompson to name two—would provide the sought-after offensive boost while taking something off the table defensively.
Not so for Caldwell-Pope, who's hit at least 39.0 percent of his triples in each of the last four years while also playing elite perimeter defense. He'd fit into Orlando's clampdown identity on one end while bolstering its much weaker operation on the other. That's a double-whammy worth nine figures, even if KCP is nearing his decline phase.
Klay Thompson to the San Antonio Spurs
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The smart money is on sentiment winning out as Klay Thompson returns to the Golden State Warriors on a contract at or below the two-year, $48 million extension offer he reportedly turned down prior to last season.
The San Antonio Spurs project to have a little less than $20 million in cap room unless they swing deals to clear more space, which will probably keep them from being the leading bidder if Thompson leaves Golden State.
Those factors combine to make this one quite a long shot. Reminder: These are supposed to be surprising landing spots. Thompson inking a deal with San Antonio would certainly raise eyebrows, but it could happen for a couple of reasons.
First, the Warriors might not offer Thompson anything close to what he wants. A prideful player, Klay could bristle at signing for less than the deal he rejected a year ago. Perhaps he'll also be eager to prove he can succeed outside the only professional playing environment he's ever known. With the other cap-space teams—OKC, Philly, Orlando and Detroit—looking to spend on bigger fish, it's possible the Spurs emerge as one of the only real options.
From San Antonio's perspective, Thompson's premium shooting and championship experience could be hugely valuable for cornerstone Victor Wembanyama. An offense that ranked 28th in three-point percentage can't give Wemby the spacing he needs to thrive, and Thompson could help boost that hit rate.
For Thompson, there would certainly be worse options than signing on to play alongside a younger generational superstar in Wemby after spending his career with Stephen Curry. Throw in head coach Gregg Popovich, an organization that historically treats its vets well and the opportunity to link up with a team on the rise, and the Spurs actually have quite a bit to offer.
Stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference and Cleaning the Glass. Salary info via Spotrac.
Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@gt_hughes), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report's Dan Favale.
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