NBA Free Agents 2012: 10 Restricted Free Agents Who Will Be on the Move

The NBA's free-agency period is among us, which is going to mean endless talk about the salary cap, qualifying offers, offer sheets and guys switching teams quicker than you can blink.

One of the most confusing concepts to the casual NBA fan is the difference between restricted and unrestricted free agents, which gets a bit muddled once qualifying offers come in.

Basically, a restricted free agent is any guy coming off his rookie contract or a player who has been in the league for three years or fewer. Once a team extends their qualifying offer, they become a restricted free agent, and the player's original team has the right to match whatever contract offer that player signs.

Restricted free agents make it easier for teams to keep their young players, but it isn't unheard of for players who are restricted free agents to move. In fact, it's quite common.

So, let's take a look at the guys who will most likely move, despite their restricted free-agent status.

Marreese Speights

Marreese Speights finally got the playing time he always needed, showing that he can score, rebound and just be a rough guy around the rim.

However, the question remains whether Memphis would be able to make use of both Speights and Darrell Arthur, who's coming off a torn ACL. The two are very similar, with Speights getting the slight edge on the boards.

In the end, it might get too pricy to re-sign Speights, who showed his value as a big man last season. With big men at a premium, some team is likely to reach out and give him a pretty large contract.

D.J. Augustin

The Charlotte Bobcats need a lot of things, but they don't need a constant reminder of the failures of their past in the form of a guy who was destined to become a backup point guard from day one.

D.J. Augustin has some value, he's spent the past two seasons as a starting point guard, he can score a bit and he's a decent passer, but he's not so valuable that the Bobcats are going to overpay to keep him.

In the end, they may just look at Kemba Walker and decide to go ahead and turn the team over to him and see what they've got in the young fellow.

Jerryd Bayless

Jerryd Bayless showed off his value last season, as he could be one of the better backup point guards in the NBA, but Toronto doesn't value him so much that they're willing to overpay him.

The Raptors have all their eggs in the Steve Nash basket at this point. For them to waste cap space overpaying for Jerryd Bayless should some team reach out to make him a bit too rich for his skill is not a wise decision just to have him on the bench.

Jason Thompson

This will be an interesting measuring stick to see if the Maloof Brothers are still playing cheap with their team, and if so, just how cheap.

Jason Thompson showed that he can be a legitimate NBA center last season. Hell, it almost seemed like they were holding him back a bit so the rest of the league wouldn't notice, leaving him to be an easy re-sign for them come time to match offer sheets.

Well, his near double-double in his per-36 minutes stats is hard to ignore, and so will the fairly large deal that he gets signed to here in the next few days.

Luke Harangody

The Cleveland Cavaliers picked up Luke Harangody on a whim from Boston at the end of 2011. Basically, it seemed like the Cavs wanted Semih Erden in their trade, and to test the waters, they decided to see if they could get a guy thrown in with him. Like that, Harangody was in Cleveland.

Harangody has been up and down over the season and a half that he's played with Cleveland, but he offers the lucrative floor-stretching ability in a power forward that teams like.

Don't look for Cleveland to put too much pressure on themselves to re-sign him but don't look for them to give him away either.

Sonny Weems

Sonny Weems is a guy who has steadily improved over the past three seasons, but not so much that you look at his numbers and go, "Woah, this guy could be something."

Basically, he's turned into a decent seventh man on a bad team from a lump on the bench.

However, after picking up Terrence Ross in the draft, Weems can't hope to continue to get decent minutes in Toronto, and they should realize that by letting him go should he get signed to an offer sheet much more than his qualifying offer.

Aaron Brooks

Although Aaron Brooks hasn't played a game for the Phoenix Suns since the 2011 season, he's still a part of their team and one of their restricted free agents.

Brooks shocked the world in 2010 by averaging nearly 20 points a game over the course of the season, but he fell back to Earth in the following season, falling back down to 10 points per game.

But wait, he's back! Brooks averaged over 20 points in fewer than 30 minutes a game in China, along with nearly five assists and three rebounds.

Brooks is one of the most coveted free-agent point guards on the market this summer, and with the market so light in point guards, he'll likely get a deal well over what he's worth.

A.J. Price

A.J. Price is a guy whom nobody should want on their team. He can't shoot from long range, he can't shoot from short range, he's not a good passer and he can't rebound. I suppose, to his credit, he's a decent free-throw shooter, and he can play a smidgeon of defense.

Aside from that, all he's got going for him is that he looks a bit like Tone Loc.

You could sign him to a contract that only offers a year's supply of $5 footlongs, and I doubt Indiana matches it.

Ivan Johnson

Ivan Johnson displayed a skill that not many basketball players have in his few months in the limelight in Atlanta. The dude plays hard, chases rebounds and boxes guys out. 

Basically, he's a guy who isn't going to play more than 25 minutes in a game, but you would still pay for him to come into town and rile up your team.

Young Reggie Evans should get a pretty good offer, and Atlanta might be too afraid of that luxury tax to match it.

Patty Mills

It's hard to say whether or not Patty Mills fits into the future of the San Antonio Spurs. On one hand, Mills only played 16 games for the Spurs this season. On the other hand, he showed that he can play.

The guess here is that if some team comes in and offers him something to the tune of the mid-level exception, then they'll be able to steal him away. Otherwise, San Antonio will keep him.

If you are one of those Twitterers, you can follow me @JDorsey33.