2013 NBA Free Agency: Predicting 5 Biggest Busts and Potential Destinations

Every summer after the playoffs have ended, the NBA's "third season" begins—free agency.

It's time for the teams that have carefully carved cap space for themselves to lick their lips and get ready to spend. 

However, not every NBA signing works out and not every player is a good fit just because he had success at his previous stop. Here are five players who are expected to sign with new teams this summer, but could easily end up being serious busts. 

Listed beside each player is their projected destination. They are ranked on the likelihood they'll end up disappointing their new teams. 

5. Paul Millsap

Projected Destination: Charlotte Bobcats

The Bobcats have cap space and a need for improvement at every position, and they'll most likely use it this summer to acquire a skilled veteran with some name recognition.

Paul Millsap has teetered back and forth from underrated to overrated and back to underrated over the past few years. As he heads into free agency looking for a humongous pay day while coming off a disappointing season, it's doubtful that a team looking for a star will find one in him.

Millsap is capable of doing everything, and he spent a bit of last season out of position at small forward on a Utah Jazz team that didn't know how to manage its loaded frontcourt. As the go-to option, though, on a team like Charlotte, Millsap won't make a significant difference on any team's win-loss record moving forward. 

Chances are, he still won't make his first All-Star team.

4. Monta Ellis

Projected Destination: Utah Jazz

Monta Ellis has established himself as a one-dimensional gunner who lacks defensive knowledge and skill, and he takes low-percentage shots that kill his team's offensive possessions.

With Ellis reportedly set to opt out of his $11 million player option, making him an unrestricted free agent this summer, the Utah Jazz could be a potential suitor. They have loads of cap space and a thin backcourt in need of a scoring punch.

Ellis, however, probably isn't the answer in a starting role for any team in the league right now. The only situation where he'll succeed is off the bench, a la Jamal Crawford or J.R. Smith, limiting his weaknesses while shining a light on his strengths in a limited role.

3. Jarrett Jack

Projected Destination: Detroit Pistons

The Golden State Warriors own Jarrett Jack's "Bird rights", meaning they can go over the salary cap in offering him a new contract this offseason, but their long-term salary limitations should prevent them from offering the type of multi-year deal that Jack could see on the open market.

Look at the Pistons, a team that is in sore need of stable backcourt play and off-the-dribble scoring. Detroit should be giving Jack a long, hard look with hopes that he can become the player for them that Rodney Stuckey could not.

Jack, however, will be 30 years old next season. The promise of him playing his best basketball off the bench at the age of 29 after bouncing around the league for the first few years of his career is worrisome. Jack's three-point range has fluctuated over the past eight years, as he has gone from 41.2 percent in 2010 to 30.6 percent in 2011.

It'd be shocking for him to play better next season and highly unlikely for him to replicate what he just spent this season doing.

2. J.R. Smith

Projected Destination: Philadelphia 76ers

J.R. Smith corralled his first NBA Sixth Man of the Year trophy by riding the back of a two-month stretch of brilliant play in a season where the field was weak.

However, he has been in the league far too long to convince anyone he's anything more than a steak shooter. We've seen his bad half in these playoffs where he is putting up a 28.3/33.6//66.7 shooting split.

If the Philadelphia 76ers choose to renounce Andrew Bynum, they will have plenty of cap space to spend. After a season in which the Sixers' offense ranked 26th in the league, per NBA.com, a player like Smith might be a target.

It's possible that the team's new general manager, Sam Hinkie, won't be drawn towards a tantalizing, non-efficient player like Smith. The Sixers, however, are in desperate need of scoring and that's what Smith provides. Unfortunately, he isn't the player a lot of people think he is on the court.

1. Andrew Bynum

Projected Destination: Phoenix Suns

Everything about Andrew Bynum has disappointment written all over it, and in the end, where he signs hardly matters.

Due to ongoing health problems in his legs, expectations for Bynum are polarizing. Some folks do not expect anything at all while others are figuring to see Bynum regain his All-Star form in the years ahead.

His talent is at a high enough level where it doesn't matter which team signs him or what players he has around. Where he ends up is anybody's guess.

Even though the Phoenix Suns recently hired Ryan McDonough—a young general manager who's more focused on patiently building a sturdy foundation through the draft than blowing his cap space on a mercurial, seven-foot tall question mark—the Suns still stand as a possible landing spot because of their cap space and top-notch training staff.

If Bynum does sign a multi-year contract somewhere, his health issues could easily derail that team's salary cap and long-term future.

He did it to the Philadelphia 76ers, and all it takes is one general manager to fall for his tempting potential.