With DeMar DeRozan landing in Sacramento and Caleb Martin becoming a Sixer this past weekend, much of the most significant free agent dust has settled on this NBA offseason.
Still, moves around the margins — be it for a backup big or a reserve wing — are often the ones that elevate good teams to great and great teams to champions.
So we looked at six of the top remaining free agents and examined where they’d fit best, including two on title contenders in the Eastern Conference and one on a fast-rising team in the West.
The 25-year-old big man, whom the Philadelphia 76ers waived to make space to sign Martin, would fit seamlessly on the Knicks, who lost Isaiah Hartenstein to the Oklahoma City Thunder this offseason.
New York still has Mitchell Robinson — who is fantastic on the offensive glass (6.7 rebounds per 36 minutes) and as a defensive presence — when he’s available. The center has played more than 70 games in a season once over his six-year NBA career.
Reed, however, played in all 82 regular-season games for the Sixers last season, and he is almost equally relentless on the boards, having finished ninth in the league in offensive rebounding percentage among those who played in at least 60 contests this past season.
Lowry, arguably the most accomplished player still on the market as both an NBA champion and a six-time All-Star, returned to his hometown of Philadelphia last season following a trade to (and a buyout with) the Charlotte Hornets. And it makes the most sense for Lowry to stay with the Sixers.
In his 23 games with the 76ers, he enjoyed what would’ve been the most efficient shooting span of his career, if extrapolated over a full campaign. And Philadelphia has what it believes is closer to a championship roster with newcomers Paul George and Martin, minimizing the burden the 38-year-old point guard might otherwise need to shoulder.
Lowry fits in Philly in a minimum-salary backup role, playing behind (and perhaps at times alongside) rising star Tyrese Maxey.
Utah is the team everyone across the NBA is watching because of the offers coming in for All-Star Lauri Markkanen.
As the roster stands now, even with Markkanen, the club has holes everywhere. Two of its biggest: shooting and perimeter defense, especially with point-of-attack stopper Kris Dunn landing with the LA Clippers.
Trent fits that bill. He has shot nearly 39% from distance over the past five seasons while averaging better than one steal per game over that same span. And he has plenty of room to improve defensively too, if he learns to gamble less in passing lanes.
For a team looking to tank — or prioritize its young players — the Jazz could do far worse than Trent, who is still just 25 years old and would immediately become one of the team’s best shooting threats.
Jones entered this summer as one of the better point guards to hit the market. The 28-year-old Washington Wizards floor general is believed to be seeking a starting role — with a salary to match — but just about every club has a starter already. (Even the Wizards have since landed point guard Malcolm Brogdon from the Portland Trail Blazers in a move Washington might have made in anticipation of Jones heading elsewhere over the summer.)
So where does that leave one of the league’s most sure-handed point guards? It likely would take some maneuvering in the form of a sign-and-trade, but Orlando is a great fit, even if Jones might not start for the Magic. They have one of the NBA’s best wing defenders in Jalen Suggs and look comfortable giving the lead ball handler reins to him.
Still, the Magic need guards who can shoot, and Jones is coming off a career-best season in nearly every category. He shot 41% from 3 and led the NBA in assist-turnover ratio. He would immediately get significant minutes with the rest of the starters, given his ability to organize an offense.
The soon-to-be 25-year-old was a meaningful role player in 49 games with the Knicks this past season, filling in for both Robinson and Hartenstein when they were out of the lineup tending to injuries.
Achiuwa enjoyed more playing time than ever before in New York and made the most of the opportunity, logging what would have been career bests in effective field goal rate and rebounds per game. And he held opposing shooters almost five percentage points beneath their norms around the basket. Could it have been a function of the system he was playing in and the coach he was playing for? Sure. But if you are managing a team like the Pistons, who need better big man play behind youngster Jalen Duren, what’s the risk in signing someone like Achiuwa, who has shown this kind of upside?
If Achiuwa continues developing, he could become a long-term player for a franchise lacking any sort of identity.
When we think about organizations that seek players who either have the necessary fundamentals or possess the ability to develop them, San Antonio, like the Miami Heat, is right near the top of the list.
Because of that, the 27-year-old Highsmith would make all the sense in the world for the Spurs. He has upgraded his game every year he has been in the NBA. His 3-point shot has improved drastically over the past three campaigns (from 32% to 40%), as has his defense. This past season, he was third in the NBA in defending isolations, limiting opposing players to just 0.70 points per isolation chance, according to Second Spectrum. He likely wouldn’t be a starter with the Spurs, who already have Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell (and might need to make some roster adjustments in order to afford Highsmith’s contract). But Highsmith could be a valuable player off their bench, one who could be a part of the Spurs’ next critical developmental phase.