The Most Coveted NBA Free Agents of a Star-Studded 2012 Class

The 2012 NBA free agency class is going to be littered with great players who can make an immediate impact on their new teams, and these are the best of the bunch. 

This group of top-tier players isn't quite as stacked as the 2011 class that featured LeBron James and plenty of other stars, but it's significantly better than the last group of players who were available for purchase to the highest bidding team. 

There's no doubt that Deron Williams is the gem of this class, but read on to find out how the rest of the quality players fit in. 

10. Ray Allen

Position: Shooting guard

Current Team: Boston Celtics

Free Agency Type: Unrestricted

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: 14.8 points, 2.5 assists, 3.0 rebounds

Ray Allen will turn 37 before the 2012-2013 season starts, but that's not going to stop him from playing at a high level. It's also not going to stop teams from signing the all-time leading three-point shooter to a short contract. 

We won't be seeing any four-year deals or anything like that, but can you imagine if Allen signed with the Chicago Bulls for example? 

Allen hasn't lost his shooting touch, and that's all that matters here. 

9. Ryan Anderson

Position: Power forward

Current Team: Orlando Magic

Free Agency Type: Restricted

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: 15.6 points, 1.0 assists, 7.7 rebounds

Now we go from arguably the greatest three-point shooter of all time to one of the best we currently have in the NBA. 

Ryan Anderson has truly broken out this year as he's become the Orlando Magic's true Robin to Superman's Batman. If I have hate mail from cartoon enthusiasts now, I know why because I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to mix superheroes like that.

Anderson isn't a terrific defender and he's not a great rebounder for his size, but boy can he shoot. With Dwight Howard returning to the Magic for at least one more year, it seems unlikely that Anderson will go anywhere else, as the Magic will surely have to match any offer sheet.  

8. Nicolas Batum

Position: Small forward

Current Team: Portland Trail Blazers

Free Agency Type: Restricted

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: 13.6 points, 1.2 assists, 4.3 rebounds

Nicolas Batum has been ever-present on breakout candidate lists in the NBA for what seems like forever now. 

Although he's been productive this season, he still has yet to truly break out. There's no doubt that the French forward has a ton of skill and athleticism, but he hasn't been able to put it all together at this point. 

Batum should get a lot of action in the news during the summer, but it's going to be awfully difficult for the Portland Trail Blazers to let him go. 

7. Gerald Wallace

Position: Small forward

Current Team: New Jersey Nets

Free Agency Type: Player option

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: 13.5 points, 2.7 assists, 6.6 rebounds

Gerald Wallace was recently traded to the New Jersey Nets, but I highly doubt that he spends more than the remainder of the 2011-2012 campaign with the team. The only time he'll be playing in Brooklyn is when his new team for the 2012-2013 season has an away game against the Nets. 

The small forward remains a versatile, high-energy player, but he's not an elite option. Wallace's PER of 15.85 is solid, but definitely well short of spectacular. 

Wallace's age is going to start to scare off some teams since he's turning 30 this summer, but he'll get looked at a lot.

6. Ersan Ilyasova

Position: Power forward

Current Team: Milwaukee Bucks

Free Agency Type: Unrestricted

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: 12.4 points, 1.1 assists, 8.7 rebounds

Ersan Ilyasova went from unrecognized to unstoppable in just a short matter of time. Now he's going to be one of the most coveted unrestricted free agents on the market when the 2012 free agency bonanza explodes in the summer. 

After averaging 14.9 points and 10.9 rebounds per game during the month of February, Ilyasova proved that he was no joke by putting up 19 and 8.9 per contest this month thus far. Included in that stretch was his ridiculous 29-point, 25-rebound game against the New Jersey Nets. 

This guy can do it all now. 

5. Steve Nash

Position: Point guard

Current Team: Phoenix Suns

Free Agency Type: Unrestricted

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: 13.4 points, 11.3 assists, 3.0 rebounds

Steve Nash is 38 right now and will turn 39 during the middle of the next season. 

So what? Do you honestly think that he's going to slow down? Steve Nash? 

The Phoenix Suns point guard is having one of the best seasons of his entire career, maybe even better than his MVP campaigns. His court vision is still top notch and his physical skills remain elite. 

Whoever signs Nash to a short contract is going to thank their lucky stars. 

4. Eric Gordon

Position: Shooting guard

Current Team: New Orleans Hornets

Free Agency Type: Restricted

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: 21.0 points, 2.0 assists, 5.0 rebounds

Eric Gordon was the coveted prize for the New Orleans Hornets in the Chris Paul trade, but he hasn't been too effective for the team thanks to his knee injury that has limited the young shooting guard to just two games of action. Because of that, I can't imagine David Stern and the Hornets' management to let him walk in free agency.

The former Los Angeles Clipper was poised to become one of the best shooting guards in a league that doesn't seem to have very many stars at that position. He's a fantastic scorer and hasn't come close to realizing his potential.

I was tempted to jump Gordon up ahead of the next two players in these rankings, but I couldn't pull the trigger because I've only seen him play in those two games this year.  

3. Roy Hibbert

Position: Center

Current Team: Indiana Pacers

Free Agency Type: Restricted

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: 12.8 points, 1.7 assists, 9.1 rebounds

The first-time NBA All-Star is set to cash in during restricted free agency during the summer of 2012. That said, the Indiana Pacers would have to be crazy to let him walk away to a new team and not match the inevitable offer sheet. 

Even though I maintain that Greg Monroe deserved Hibbert's All-Star spot, he's still quickly become one of the best big men in the game. 

The former Georgetown Hoya is improving on offense and went from a good but not great rebounder to a seriously above-average one. But the most noticeable difference in his form this year is his stellar defensive play for the tenacious Pacers. 

2. Brook Lopez

Position: Center

Current Team: New Jersey Nets

Free Agency Type: Restricted

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: 19.2 points, 1.2 assists, 3.6 rebounds

If he can stay healthy—and that is a big if—Brook Lopez is an elite center. 

Lopez is a fantastic scorer, but his complete lack of rebounding ability means that he'll only fit in on certain teams. He wasn't a particularly good cleaner of the glass coming out of Stanford, but his rebounding skill has only declined as he's gained NBA experience as his TRB percentage has dropped from 15.8 percent to 13.5 to 10.0 to a putrid 7.8 in the small sample size that is his injury-plagued 2011-2012 campaign. 

Undoubtedly an offensively-oriented big man, Lopez is this high in the rankings simply because this league is so starved for quality centers. 

1. Deron Williams

Position: Point guard

Current Team: New Jersey Nets

Free Agency Type: Player option

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: 22.1 points, 8.1 assists, 3.4 rebounds

I'm not going to put Deron Williams' almost inevitable free agency at the same level as Peyton Manning's in the NFL or Albert Pujols' in the MLB, as it's not a once-in-a-generation talent that's up for sale, but he's not that far away from that level. 

If he decides to opt out of the final year of his contract, D-Will will be the absolute gem of this class. He's one of a select few players who can claim to be an elite point guard, after all. 

Williams has done a remarkable job producing on a pretty bad New Jersey Nets squad, even if he remains unhappy with his situation. 

I can't even imagine how good he'd be if he's playing on a contending squad and is highly motivated to succeed. 

Best of the Rest

The following are in alphabetical order by last name:

Michael Beasley (restricted)

Vince Carter (unrestricted)

Tim Duncan (unrestricted)

Kevin Garnett (unrestricted)

Jeremy Lin (restricted)

JaVale McGee (restricted)

Andre Miller (unrestricted)

Jason Terry (restricted)