This is not the summer to switch teams if you are looking for a payday north of $15 million per season.
Just three NBA teams, the Brooklyn Nets , Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers , project to have cap space. Another 11 have only the $15 million non-tax midlevel exception to offer.
But, as the Milwaukee Bucks showed last offseason, avenues exist to manufacture cap room.
Milwaukee waived and stretched Damian Lillard to create the necessary space to sign Myles Turner -- the only free agent to switch teams on a starting salary of more than $20 million.
The evaporated spending power around the league is a result of more than 60 players signing rookie or veteran extensions over the past two seasons.
But signing a player into cap space or using an exception, those are not the only mechanisms for a player to switch teams.
In the past two offseasons, 15 players -- including Duncan Robinson , DeMar DeRozan and Klay Thompson -- changed teams via sign-and-trade.
To better understand the market this summer, we examine the 20 biggest potential free agents and what their next contract should be.
Note: Players with team options for 2026-27 -- a group that includes Luguentz Dort , Isaiah Hartenstein , Neemias Queta , Jonathan Kuminga and Daniss Jenkins , among others -- are not included.
Jump to a section: Unrestricted free agents Player option | Restricted
The deal I'd offer: One year, $30 million. The contract includes a full no-trade clause.
Best fits: Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers , San Antonio Spurs , Denver Nuggets , Golden State Warriors
James' impact during the regular season and playoffs still reflects a max player.
He was named an All-Star for a record-setting 23rd season and averaged at least 20 points, six rebounds and seven assists per game for a third straight year.
And only Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey scored more fast-break points this season than 41-year-old James.
After March 1, the Lakers went 15-4 in games in which James played. He averaged under 20 points during the stretch but was plus-7 when on the court.
In the playoffs without Luka Doncic , the Lakers became the first team in NBA history to win a series without that season's leading scorer.
James averaged 23.1 points against the Houston Rockets in the first round.
“We probably haven't seen a player that has honored the game to the extent that he's honored the game,” Rob Pelinka, Lakers president of basketball operations and general manager, said of James. “He's given so much to his teammates, to this organization.
And the thing we want to do more than anything else is honor him back. .. ”Any team, including ours, would love to have LeBron James on their roster.“
Can the Lakers afford to bring back James on a $50 million salary and still be in a position to bolster their roster?
When factoring in a new contract for Austin Reaves , that answer is a resounding no.
Would James compromise to return to L.A.?
A $30 million salary would allow the Lakers to re-sign Luke Kennard and Rui Hachimura and use the full $15 million non-tax midlevel exception.
The Lakers could also act as a cap-space team but without Hachimura and Kennard.
They would then have $20 million in room plus the $9.4 million room exception.
As for suitors outside of the Lakers, teams such as Cleveland, Denver, Golden State and New York can offer only the $3.9 million veterans minimum.
”I'm still in the moment of just taking my time,“ James said on a recent episode of his podcast ”Mind the Game“ with co-host Steve Nash. ”I haven't even really thought about it too much.
Obviously, I understand that I'm a free agent and I can control my own destiny -- being here with [the Lakers] for the foreseeable future or if it's going somewhere else.“
Without James, the Lakers will have cap space for the first time since 2019, but at the expense of their own free agents.
They could re-sign Reaves and still have nearly $50 million in room to use in a trade or free agency, but only if those three players sign for the veterans minimum.
The deal I'd offer: Three years, $65 million with a team option in the final season.
With a starting salary of $20 million, Miami would be able to re-sign Powell, swing a trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo and retain enough flexibility to fill out its depth using part of its $15 million non-tax midlevel exception.