NBA Free Agency Rumors: The Latest on the 2012 Point Guard Carousel

The 2012 Point Guard Carousel has been a confusing maelstrom of unconfirmed rumors thus far, making it difficult to get a grip on what exactly is happening.

Teams have jockeyed for position among a deep (albeit bottom-heavy) class of floor generals, but the picture has yet to sharpen into focus.

Some small dominoes have fallen into place already with George Hill and Andre Miller re-signing with Indiana and Denver, respectively. But until some of the top pieces fall into place, it will be hard to make good sense of who will land where in 2012-13.

Having said that, we've done our best to keep you apprised of the carousel as it currently stands:

Tier One (All-Stars)

Deron Williams

Suitors: Nets, Mavericks

The "Deron Williams Sweepstakes" continues to boil down to Brooklyn and Dallas. Both sides met with the free-agent on Monday, and both feel like they have a realistic shot at signing him.

Brooklyn was busy elsewhere yesterday, acquiring Joe Johnson from Atlanta for a slew of role players. This may hinder their chances of acquiring Dwight Howard, but it was part of the Nets' pitch to get D-Will back next season.

Steve Nash

Suitors: Raptors, Knicks, Suns, Nets

Nash is being courted from all sides of the continent with the Knicks, Raptors and Suns still the most realistic landing spots. The Suns are reportedly offering $12 mill over two years (half of what Toronto offered for three years) leading to further speculation that the Suns will not retain his services.

The Raptors, with their deep pockets and bull-headed determination, remain the surprising favorites to acquire the two-time MVP. But depending on where the Deron Williams and Jeremy Lin pieces fall, that could change quickly.

Tier Two (Potential Starters)

Goran Dragic

Suitors: Suns, Rockets

With Nash presumably on his way out of Phoenix, the Suns have emerged as a front-runner to re-acquire Goran Dragic from Houston. The Rockets want to have him back, but have only tepidly agreed to his demands, and the sides are far apart in negotiations.

The former Sun has been explicit with his desire to start after an excellent 2011 campaign, and the Nash-less Suns would give him a good chance to do just that. His signing could affect Aaron Brooks' decision, as well.

Jeremy Lin

Suitors: Knicks, Raptors, Mavericks, Nets

The Knicks have chosen to let the market dictate Lin's value, opting not to offer him a contract while a slew of other teams have touched base with him.

Lin is most likely waiting to see where the first big domino falls, as his fate is tied closely with the decisions of Deron Williams and Steve Nash.

Raymond Felton

Suitors: Knicks, Blazers, Suns, Nets 

After a disappointing 2011 season in Portland, Raymond Felton is determined to get a fresh start in 2012.

A return to New York, where he had a career renaissance before being shipped to Denver, is an intriguing option. He met with GM Glen Grunwald on Sunday, but his fate is also tied up in the decisions of Nash, Dragic and Lin.

Lou Williams

Suitors: 76ers

Williams is a high-scoring point guard, who led the 76ers in scoring off the bench last season.

He opted out his contract to test the free agent waters, but hasn't been a hot commodity in this stage of the game. Teams could panic and overpay him if they don't land the pieces they want, but for now, Philadelphia remains his most likely destination.

Aaron Brooks

Suitors: Suns, Lakers

The Suns extended a qualifying offer to Brooks, making him a restricted free agent. However, if they sign Goran Dragic to go along with lottery-pick Kendall Marshall, it's unlikely they will pay to retain his services.

Speculation has linked Brooks to the Los Angeles Lakers, where he would be an improvement over fellow free agent Ramon Sessions. The Lakers' interest, however, hasn't been confirmed.

Jameer Nelson

Suitors: Magic

Like Williams, Nelson has found free agency more barren than he would have liked. His stock has fallen considerably in the past few years, with no teams lining up for his services.

With only Chris Duhon on the roster, the Magic have expressed their desire to retain Nelson, and the feeling (more per force than out of loyalty) is reportedly mutual.

Tier Three (Rotation Players)

Kirk Hinrich

Suitors: Bulls, Knicks

The Hawks acquired Devon Harris from the Jazz on Tuesday, ostensibly ending Hinrich's run in Atlanta.

Hinrich has received plenty of interest on the market, however, particularly from his former team the Bulls.

With Derrick Rose's future in doubt, he would make a good stop-gap option, and veteran mentor for Marcus Teague (whose brother Jeff he backed up in Atlanta).

D.J. Augustin

Suitors: Bobcats

Augustin is an underrated point guard lost in the anonymity of Charlotte. The Bobcats have disrespected him multiple times. First dangling him as trade bait, and then drafting Kemba Walker in last year's lottery.

Although he could help numerous teams (most notably the Lakers), he hasn't received much interest thus far. He's a good bet to return to Charlotte next season.

Jason Kidd

Suitors: Nets, Mavericks

Kidd surprised everyone with his bizarre desire to follow Deron Williams to either New Jersey or Dallas. It's a little venerable, however, that he is self-aware enough to realize he's not an NBA-level starter anymore.

Recently, however, he also added New York to his list of teams that he could see himself playing for. His distributing ability would make him a nice consolation prize if the Knicks lose out on Nash.

Chauncey Billups

Suitors: Clippers, Blazers

Chris Paul has called retaining Billups his top offseason priority (even though it's not really his job), and the Clippers reportedly plan to offer him a $4 mill contract.

That's better than a 35-year-old coming off an Achilles tear can expect to make on the open market. So if it's true, he's a good bet to return. If not, he could be a fallback option for a number of teams, including Portland. 

Randy Foye

Suitors: Knicks, Clippers

Foye had a nice season in Los Angeles last year, and should be able to parlay that into a decent contract and meaningful rotation minutes in 2012-13.

He's reportedly interested in joining the Knicks, where he would be a major improvement over Baron Davis and J.R. Smith, coming off the bench in a combo-guard role. The presence of Nick Young, Eric Bledsoe and (potentially) Chauncey Billups makes him expendable in Los Angeles.

Ramon Sessions

Suitors: Lakers

Sessions was an immediate hit for the Lakers last season, before regressing to the mean down the stretch—and regressing way below the mean in the playoffs.

He was one of many Lakers' scapegoats after they lost to the Thunder, making him expendable. They reached out to Sessions on Sunday, but are also looking at a slew of other veteran point guards, knowing that the Kobe-window is closing.