Top NBA Free Agents Still Available: Kawhi Leonard, Dennis Schroder and More
The NBA's 2021 free-agency window is open, and signings came pouring through Monday and Tuesday.
Bleacher Report's Eric Pincus has you covered for the biggest action that took place around the league, but the focus here will be the players who haven't been snatched up.
This class may not have a ton of star power, but there are still some free agents who can move the needle for teams in need of role players. A handful of restricted free agents (known hereafter as RFAs) are still on the market too.
As we trek through the offseason, here are the top 25 players still available.
Editor's note: Text for some players in this article was originally featured in an earlier positional series.
Frank Jackson (RFA)
1 of 24
According to traditional positional designations, 6'3" Frank Jackson is a little undersized to be a 2, but he may not create enough for others to be a 1.
In today's game, though, playmaking can come from anywhere on the floor, and Jackson showed more than enough shooting in Year 3 to increase his staying power in the league.
He was one of 26 players who made at least three threes per 75 possessions while shooting over 40 percent from three. And that range had a positive impact on the Detroit Pistons.
Their net points per 100 possessions was 5.0 points better when Jackson was on the floor.
If he can work his way into being even a passable defender, the 23-year old could have a nice career as a heat-check guy off the bench.
Frank Kaminsky
2 of 24
He wasn't a big part of the rotation for the Phoenix Suns' run to the NBA Finals, but Frank Kaminsky was a solid contributor to the West's No. 2 seed in the regular season.
He averaged 16.1 points, 9.7 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.6 threes per 75 possessions, while registering a three-point percentage barely below the league average.
The benefit of his shooting is obvious. The stretch big isn't a new concept. What may be more intriguing with Kaminsky is the hint of passing his new team will get.
Career shooting splits of 42.7 percent from the field, 34.8 percent from three and 73.9 percent from the line suggest Kaminsky could regress a bit in 2021-22, but he's worth a flier for a team in need of a reserve center.
Avery Bradley
3 of 24
Name recognition and experience should boost Avery Bradley's value this summer. He's a two-time All-Defensive selection who's slightly above average from three over the course of his career.
His actual impact may not live up to the reputation, though. For his career, his team's are minus-0.1 points per 100 possessions when he's on the floor and plus-1.1 when he's off. He's had a positive swing in just four of his 11 seasons.
Still, he can probably be trusted as a reserve responsible for bothering the opposition's heat-check guy. And he won't mind being a sacrificial lamb for stretches against No. 1 options.
Frank Ntilikina
4 of 24
Frank Ntilikina still offers some upside as a multipositional backcourt defender, but the current state of his offense is borderline alarming.
For his career, he's hit just 38.9 percent of his two-point attempts. Last season alone, he was 6-of-31 inside the three-point line. And his assist percentage plummeted from a solid 19.9 in his first three seasons to a traditional center-like 8.1 in his fourth year.
A team taking a flier on him now would have to have a great deal of faith in its developmental staff. He just turned 23, but there's a lot of work to do here.
Denzel Valentine
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Denzel Valentine's role has been all over the place over the course of five years in the NBA, but there may still be a versatile playmaking wing in there.
In 2017-18, he averaged 10.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists while shooting 38.6 percent from three on 4.8 attempts per game.
He's already 27 years old, though. And he missed an entire season due to injury. There likely isn't a lot of long-term potential to be unearthed.
Dante Exum
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He's yet to show much offensively in the NBA, but Dante Exum can guard multiple positions, including point guard.
During the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, he's shown off some playmaking ability too.
If he ever gets to around league average from three and figures out how to stay healthy (two big "ifs," at this point), he could be an ideal fourth or fifth man in lineups with ball-dominant stars.
Hamidou Diallo (RFA)
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Hamidou Diallo quietly took a significant step forward on offense in 2020-21, with career highs in field-goal percentage from almost every range on the floor.
His length and athleticism make him a decent bet to develop into a plus defender too.
Ultimately, though, Diallo reaching his ceiling may depend on continued improvement from behind the arc.
In his first two seasons, he shot 24.7 percent from three. In 2020-21, he shot up to 34.1. That's still shy of the league average, but another year or two there will force opposing defenses to respect his range.
Khem Birch
8 of 24
Khem Birch had a mini-breakout after he was acquired by the Toronto Raptors during the 2020-21 campaign.
In three-plus seasons with the Orlando Magic, he averaged 4.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 0.5 blocks. Then, in 19 games with Toronto, he jumped up to 11.9 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks.
Of course, a lot of that had to do with his playing time nearly doubling, but there's reason to believe Birch can produce in similar fashion for his next team. Over the course of his entire career, he's nearly averaged a double-double when he plays at least 30 minutes.
Whatever team signs him next likely won't be hoping for that type of role, but solid defense and finishing around the rim can help plenty of second units.
Isaiah Hartenstein
9 of 24
The sample size is very limited, and much of it likely came in garbage time, but Isaiah Hartenstein has registered a positive net-rating swing in each of his three NBA seasons.
Over the course of his career, his teams are plus-3.8 points per 100 possessions when he's on the floor and plus-0.5 when he's off.
A big man who knows his limitations, rim-runs with purpose, works on the boards and even defends a little bit can influence point differential.
In three NBA seasons, Hartenstein has averaged 13.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.2 blocks per 75 possessions.
Jarred Vanderbilt (RFA)
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In his first season with anything resembling a steady role, 22-year-old Jarred Vanderbilt was a solid contributor for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Their point differential was significantly better when the hustling forward was on the floor. And his per-75-possession averages of 11.4 rebounds, 10.7 points, 2.4 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.4 blocks paint a picture of versatility.
Like others who are still available in free agency, Vanderbilt's unselfishness should be appealing to teams that already have plenty of scoring on the roster.
Jabari Parker
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Jabari Parker's career is on life support. He appeared in just 13 games and averaged 5.5 points in 2020-21.
There were signs of hope with the Boston Celtics, though. He had 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting in the last game of the regular season. Then, he went for double figures in limited minutes in each of Boston's last two playoff games.
Justise Winslow
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Justise Winslow's run with the Memphis Grizzlies was a full-blown disaster, but there may still be a playmaking forward in there somewhere.
He's just 25 years old. And in 2017-18 and 2018-19, he averaged 10.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game while shooting 37.7 percent from three.
Enes Kanter
13 of 24
Over the course of his career, much has been made of Enes Kanter's defense, especially on perimeter switches.
His dominant offense has more than made up for it over the last two seasons, though. His teams were plus-6.0 points per 100 possessions with Kanter on the floor and plus-1.8 with him off it.
Paul Millsap
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Paul Millsap is entering his age-36 season, and his playing time has dipped for four straight seasons. He shouldn't be counted on for much more than 15-20 minutes, but he can spread the floor as a 4 and hold up while defending either big position.
His passing can add an intriguing dynamic to most reserve units too.
JJ Redick
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JJ Redick never found a consistent role in 2020-21, but he still shot an above-average 37.1 percent form three.
His off-ball movement and catch-and-shoot prowess can still bend the defenses of opposing second units.
Lou Williams
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Lou Williams has been in the NBA for 16 years. And though he's no longer the perennial Sixth Man of the Year contender he once was, he can still provide scoring pop off the bench.
Last season, he averaged 11.3 points in 21.6 minutes per game and shot a career-high 39.9 percent from three. If that last figure is an indicator of a trend, Williams might be effective a bit longer than anticipated.
Victor Oladipo
17 of 24
Victor Oladipo's injury history is beyond concerning. He's appeared in just 88 games over the last three seasons. And another injury ended his 2020-21 campaign in April.
"I repaired the quad tendon and did it a little differently than [he had] it done before," Oladipo's surgeon, Dr. Jonathan Glashow, told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. "The quad wasn't really hooked up. It was torn, and I reattached it. I was amazed he was playing with what he had."
It's good that Oladipo is now presumably healthy, but the track record for players with injuries that start to pile up isn't great.
If he's healthy, Oladipo still profiles as a solid second or third option who can defend the perimeter, but that "if" is becoming a more prominent part of his story every season.
Kelly Oubre Jr.
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Lop off Kelly Oubre Jr.'s extremely cold start, and his numbers look closer to what Golden State Warriors fans expected of him. From his 11th appearance on, he put up 16.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.8 threes per game while shooting 35.5 percent from three.
That's still below-average efficiency from deep, but it's close enough to make defenders honor him outside. And when you combine that with solid size (6'7"), athleticism and versatility, the 25-year-old Oubre is worth a shot.
Josh Hart (RFA)
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Josh Hart is coming off a campaign in which he averaged 11.6 points, 10.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.7 threes and 1.0 steal per 75 possessions. Yes, you read that right. When adjusted for pace and playing time, a 6'5" wing averaged a double-double.
Russell Westbrook was the only player in the league at Hart's height or shorter with a higher rebounding rate.
If he can manage an average three-point percentage (something he hasn't done since his rookie year in 2017-18), those well-rounded contributions would make Hart a solid contributor on any roster.
Dennis Schroder
20 of 24
Fresh off a strong 2019-20 campaign in which he finished second in Sixth Man of the Year voting, Dennis Schroder experienced something of a regression to career norms alongside LeBron James with the Los Angeles Lakers.
So, the question is whether he's the slashing, mid-range assassin he was with the Oklahoma City Thunder or the up-and-down, borderline ball-stopper he's been just about everywhere else.
If any organization ponies up for the $100-$120 million Schroder is reportedly after, it'll certainly be hoping for a return of the former.
Lauri Markkanen (RFA)
21 of 24
Like just about everyone else on this list, Lauri Markkanen has glaring flaws in his game. For a 7-footer, his rebounding and block rates are just bad. And he's not a great perimeter defender, either. But in 2020-21, he showed the potential to be a top-tier floor spacer.
The 24-year old averaged 13.6 points and 2.3 threes in 25.8 minutes per game while shooting 40.2 percent from three. He's approaching Davis Bertans or Duncan Robinson territory in terms of stretching defenses. And he has plenty of time to develop into a more reliable defender.
Danny Green
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I can't tell you where to find this stat, but it sure feels like Danny Green is an annual leader in TARPTOT (times a role player trended on Twitter). And unfortunately, he's often trending for an off shooting night.
What many of the tweets on those occasions fail to acknowledge is that Green is typically impacting games in positive ways that don't show up in a traditional box score.
He can guard multiple positions, is a fiend in transition defense and commands attention at the three-point line, even if his shot isn't falling.
Green is 44th in career three-point percentage, and no one matches or exceeds both his marks for three-point percentage (40.1) and defensive box plus/minus (BPM is "a basketball box score-based metric that estimates a basketball player's contribution to the team when that player is on the court," according to Basketball Reference).
At 34, Green is likely due for a decline soon, but he's coming off a 2020-21 in which he shot 40.5 percent from three and had a comfortably positive defensive BPM. He also had a positive impact on his team's point differential for the 10th time in the last 11 seasons.
It might be easy to jump on the internet and fire off a quip when he misses a few shots, but Green has proved for a decade that he just helps teams win.When Holmes played, the Kings were plus-0.7 points per 100 possessions. When he didn't, they were minus-6.3.
His athleticism and timing as a rim runner make him a devastating receiver out of pick-and-rolls. And he's even developed a lights-out runner from just outside the restricted area in case a big is in position to challenge him at the rim.
Defensively, he's not the kind of anchor Rudy Gobert is (of course, few are), but he doesn't take plays off and will get plenty of highlight, send-it-into-the-stands blocks over the course of a season.
Reggie Jackson
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Before you call the recency bias police, consider a few of the factors that drove Reggie Jackson so far up this list.
First, the blistering three-point shooting we saw in the playoffs (40.8 percent on 7.5 attempts per game) wasn't a fluke.
Over the first four years of his career, Jackson shot 29.4 percent from deep. He rose to 35.4 percent for the next four years. And over the last two, he's at 41.9 (peaking at 43.3 in 2020-21). The steady climb suggests this is just who Jackson is now.
Another plus is Jackson's willingness and ability to essentially function as a wing. He's listed at 6'2", but a 7-foot wingspan allows him to work in positionless, switch-happy lineups, which have become increasingly important in today's perimeter-oriented game.
On the other end, Jackson has proved content to work off the ball while possession-dominating wings such as Paul George and Kawhi Leonard operate the offense.
And in the playoffs, especially after Leonard went down with a torn right ACL, Jackson proved he can bring all of the above in the highest-leverage moments.
Across 19 postseason appearances (17 of which were starts), he averaged 17.8 points, 3.4 assists and 3.1 threes per game. In those contests, the Los Angeles Clippers were plus-8.8 points per 100 possessions with Jackson on the floor and minus-4.4 with him off it.
Kawhi Leonard
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Kawhi Leonard's right ACL reconstruction not only affects his potential free agency, but it could also completely alter the landscape of the Western Conference. Even if he opts in to the final year of his deal with the Los Angeles Clippers, it's hard to imagine they will contend for the title without Leonard.
If he opts out, even at 30 and coming off the major injury, Leonard would instantly be one of the biggest prizes on the free-agency market.
His explosiveness is obviously a big part of his game, but he's not overly reliant on it. And ACL surgeries and recoveries have a better track record than they did in the past.
If he's 95 percent of what he was athletically, his size, shooting and cerebral game should be able to cover the rest. Once he's healthy again, he figures to be one of the game's most impactful players.
Stats obtained from Stathead and Basketball Reference.
