NBA Free Agency 2012: Predicting Where Top Available Free Agents Will Land
Wednesday, July 11, marks the first day free agents can sign in the NBA.
While many of the top free agents have been accounted for thus far, there are still some free agents who can boost teams next season. Some will likely come cheap, too.
Here's a look at the top five available free agents and where I see them landing.
5. Antawn Jamison, F
Antawn Jamison may be 36 years old, but he was still productive for the Cleveland Cavaliers last season, averaging 17.2 points and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 34 percent from downtown. He had a respectable PER (16.17) and he averaged just 1.4 turnovers in 33 minutes per game.
Of course, you aren't going to see Jamison playing rugged defense, but he's still a decent scoring option off the bench.
According to Chad Ford of ESPN, the Charlotte Bobcats and Golden State Warriors have expressed interest in Jamison.
But, given the Warriors already have good depth at small forward, I expect Jamison to land with the Bobcats.
There's also the fact that Jamison said "It’s always been a dream of mine" to play in his hometown of Charlotte, per the Charlotte Observer.
4. Kris Humphries, PF
Humphries wants a multi-year deal, but no one seems to want to give him that, including the Cleveland Cavaliers and Charlotte Bobcats. He ultimately makes more money re-signing with the Nets in the long run in that case.
3. Carl Landry, PF
It's rather curious why nobody wants Carl Landry. He averaged 12.5 points and 5.2 rebounds in 24 minutes per game with the New Orleans Hornets last season. He may be a bit of a defensive liability, but his rebounding rate rose significantly last season and he shot 50 percent from the floor.
I could ultimately see Landry landing with the Milwaukee Bucks. The Journal Times reported last Thursday that the Bucks were interested in Landry, a Milwaukee native and former star at Milwaukee Vincent High School.
2. JaVale McGee, C
The Portland Trail Blazers and Houston Rockets could go after JaVale McGee, according to Ford. But Ford noted "early signs" indicate the Trail Blazers won't push for McGee, and the Rockets are still waiting to see if the Chicago Bulls will match their offer sheet to Omer Asik.
In that sense, as Ford notes, the Denver Nuggets will likely re-sign McGee to a multi-year contract.
1. Brook Lopez, C
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported the Nets are prepared to offer Lopez a five-year, $78 million maximum contract extension if Howard trade talks break down on Wednesday. I see that being the case and Lopez being their starting center next season.
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