Best Fits for NBA's Most Intriguing 2025 Free Agents
The 2025 NBA free agent class isn't loaded with stars, although there are a number of starters and future Hall of Famers who can make a big impact if they land on the right team.
This includes players like Jonathan Kuminga, Tyus Jones, Al Horford and Chris Paul, who can all be starters and key contributors on the right team.
When factoring in role, potential cost and opportunity, the following five teams make for the best fits for these free agents.
Tyus Jones: Orlando Magic
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The Orlando Magic trading for Desmond Bane was like buying a fan for your house when the air conditioner dies. It technically helps alleviate the issue without completely solving the problem at hand.
Bane is a talented passer and shooter, but he's not a pure point guard, which is what the Magic desperately need.
Jones, 29, has been the purest of point guards throughout his career, with a lifetime 5.5 assist-to-turnover ratio. Orlando ranked 26th overall last season in taking care of the ball (1.62) while the top two teams (Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers) made the NBA Finals.
Jalen Suggs and Bane are going to be the starting guards on this team, although Jones can play big minutes off the bench and run the offense beside either one. His outside shooting (41.4 percent from three) would be a huge boost to a team that finished dead last in the NBA in three-point makes (11.2) and efficiency (31.8 percent).
Orlando has gotten increasingly expensive as extensions for Franz Wagner and Suggs are about to kick in, but could still offer Jones the tax-payer mid-level exception of $5.7 million, an increase over the veteran minimum he made with the Phoenix Suns a year ago.
There aren't many starting point guard jobs available throughout the league, so Jones may have to settle for a sixth man role where he doubles his salary and gets to play on a team on the verge of becoming one of the top squads in the East.
Al Horford: Golden State Warriors
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The Boston Celtics will undoubtedly want Al Horford to return, although the franchise is only about $4.5 million under the second apron. That limits the kind of money Horford can make in what could be the final season of the 39-year-old's career.
If Horford wants to get paid, feels like he's still a starting center and desires a chance to compete for a title, the Golden State Warriors are perhaps the only team that can check all three boxes.
Horford is a perfect fit for this Warriors system with his versatility. The veteran big man is still a good three-point shooter (36.3 percent last year), willing passer and above-average defender. Plugging him into a lineup with Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green would help keep Golden State towards the top of the West and add even more playoff and championship experience to this core.
The Warriors have the entire $14.1 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception at their disposal, as this franchise has done an admiral job or getting out of the luxury tax over the past few seasons. Even if they don't offer Horford the entire amount, Golden State can easily outbid any offers the Celtics make due to their proximity to the second apron.
An old team gets even older here, but Horford is the type of do-it-all center this franchise needs to chase yet another championship.
Chris Paul: Los Angeles Lakers
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Chris Paul chose maximizing his earnings last season over the chance to return home to Los Angeles, taking a $10.5 million deal over a veteran minimum contract with the Lakers or Clippers.
According to NBA Insider Marc Stein, Paul is now "determined to play closer to his home base in Los Angeles" as he approaches season No. 21. Paul's son, Chris Jr., will be entering his sophomore year of high school this fall.
The chance to finally join his family full-time in Los Angeles, play with a close friend in LeBron James before their careers are over and compete for a title with the Lakers will finally be too much for Paul to pass up. LA can offer Paul its tax-payer mid-level exception of $5.7 million to become the backup point guard to Luka Dončić in the rotation.
Gabe Vincent, the Lakers' current backup floor general, has either been hurt or ineffective since signing a three-year, $33 million deal in 2023. Now on an expiring $11.5 million deal, Rob Pelinka and company can use his and Maxi Kleber's $11.0 million contract (also expiring) along with their 2031 first-round pick and/or Dalton Knecht to go shopping for a starting center.
A return to Los Angeles should be the first option for Paul, who could end his legendary career surrounded by family and friends while still making a good amount of money.
Jonathan Kuminga: Brooklyn Nets
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There's absolutely no reason why Jonathan Kuminga and the Golden State Warriors should continue their partnership. The talented wing understandably wants a bigger role, one he's not going to get on the Warriors.
“That’s what’s been on my mind,” Kuminga told The Athletic's Anthony Slater. “Things take time, but I feel like I’m at the point where that has to be my priority, to just be one of the guys a team relies on. Aiming to be an All-Star. Multiple times. Aiming to be great. … Wherever I’m going to be at, it don’t matter if it’s the Warriors or if it’s anywhere else, it’s something I want. I want to see what I could do. I know I got it. So I want to really see. I’ve never got that chance.”
Enter the Brooklyn Nets, the mystery box of NBA franchises right now.
If Kuminga really wants to be a focal point, there's no better opportunity in the league for him than in Brooklyn. The Nets just added five rookies to their roster and are clearly prioritizing the development of young talent. We could see a complete roster overhaul within a two-year span, especially if the team trades Nix Claxton and/or Cam Johnson this summer.
Unlike in Golden State, Kuminga could have complete freedom here. He could start at either forward position. Bring the ball up the floor like a point guard. Play both sides of the pick-and-roll. With no expectations to win in 2025-26, this is the ultimate sandbox for someone as talented as Kuminga to play in.
The Nets are also the only team with enough cap space to make a real offer to Kuminga, one the Warriors have the option to match. Both franchises could agree to let Kuminga change coasts with some draft compensation or find a way to put Claxton or Johnson in the deal.
Going to a team like the Miami Heat with veterans who are still trying to win is too similar of a situation for Kuminga.
The Nets are the best choice for the 22-year-old to play through his mistakes and truly spread his wings.
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