Which remaining NBA free agents should your favorite team be targeting?
Believe it or not, Sunday marked three weeks since the start of free agency. With the market moving faster than ever before, nearly all the rotation-caliber players available have already found homes.
By this point in the process, teams are looking to fill specific needs to complete their rosters, so rather than ranking the best available free agents overall, I've highlighted the top players in specific categories that teams might desire. Let's take a look:
Best backup PGs
1. Jeremy Lin
Lin played only 27 minutes in the playoffs after signing with the eventual champion Raptors via buyout to give them insurance at point guard. Before that, Lin bounced back from a ruptured patella tendon to provide solid play for the Hawks off the bench behind rookie Trae Young. He best combines efficiency as a scorer and playmaking of any of the point guards left unsigned.
2. Trey Burke
The 27.1 points per 100 possessions Burke averaged last season are the most of any remaining free agent who finished the 2018-19 season on an NBA roster and played at least 250 minutes. Predictably, Burke's unsustainably hot shooting from midrange during 36 games with the Knicks in 2017-18 regressed to the mean, leaving him below average in terms of efficiency. Burke is always going to be a score-first point guard, and his size makes him a weak defender. Nonetheless, there should be a place for Burke somewhere in the league.
There's a huge drop-off in terms of traditional point guards after the top two remaining. Crawford doesn't fit into that category, but he did average a career-high 9.0 assists per 100 possessions last season at age 39. The three-time Sixth Man Award winner showed in April he has plenty left in the tank, averaging 31.3 points and 5.8 assists in the four games he played in the season's final month -- including 51 points in Phoenix's season finale.
Best wing shooters
1. JR Smith
As recently as 2017-18, Smith shot 37.5% from beyond the arc during the regular season and 36.7% in the playoffs as the Cavaliers reached to the NBA Finals. Following LeBron James' departure, Smith was deactivated 11 games into 2018-19 as Cleveland moved into rebuilding mode. For a contending team willing to live with Smith's occasional lapses in attention, his shooting makes him a useful rotation piece.
Korkmaz reportedly agreed to return to his native Turkey with Fenerbahce in late June, but no deal has been announced and Korkmaz might prioritize staying in the NBA if it's possible. Korkmaz had solid moments during his second season in Philadelphia and won't turn 22 until later this week, giving him time to improve on 32% 3-point shooting thus far in his NBA career.
3. RJ Hunter
At 17.0 PPG, Hunter was the leading 2018-19 scorer among remaining free agents. Granted, that average was compiled in one game, the season finale. However, Hunter was also effective at the G League level over a much larger sample. Though he has never become a highly accurate 3-point shooter, Hunter has ranked in the G League's top 10 in made 3s each of the past two seasons while showing impressive playmaking for a wing (4.0 APG in 2018-19).
Best wing defenders
After a recent spate of signings, Shumpert's nearly 1,500 minutes last season are the most of any remaining free agent. He started 40 of the 42 games he played in Sacramento before a midseason trade to Houston, where he played a sizeable role for the Rockets in the playoffs. If he can keep his 3-point percentage near the 35% he hit last season, Shumpert is a capable role player.
2. Wayne Selden
A dogged defender whose style fit in well with the Memphis Grizzlies' grit-and-grind mentality, Selden struggled offensively in his most extended NBA playing time last season. He shot just 32% on 3s and posted a true shooting percentage worse than 50. Selden still averaged 23 minutes after a midseason trade to Chicago because of his defensive effort and could be useful providing energy in a limited role.
Across three NBA stops, Anderson has consistently put up strong rates of steals and blocks while defending both forward positions. Unfortunately, the "3" part of the 3-and-D equation is lacking. Anderson is a career 30% 3-point shooter, which makes it difficult for him to contribute in an off-ball role. Anderson might best be deployed situationally against physical wings or athletic 4s.
Best stretch bigs
1. Vince Carter
As he has entered his 40s, Carter has morphed from a high-flying wing player to a frontcourt option thanks to his strength. According to my analysis of lineup data from NBA Advanced Stats, 94% of Carter's minutes last season were played as a power forward. There, Carter's 3-point shooting (39% on 316 attempts in 2018-19) is an enormous positive. Given Carter would be entering his 22nd season in the NBA, a sudden drop-off is always possible. For now, though, Carter is one of the top remaining free agents.
Don't be discouraged by Jerebko's postseason, when he shot 26% from 3-point range and 29% overall on 42 shots. During the regular season, Jerebko was far more effective for the Warriors. Over his past two seasons, including 2017-18 with the Utah Jazz, Jerebko shot 39% on 3s while providing reasonable defense at power forward.
3. Pau Gasol
Over the past three seasons, Gasol has hit 105 triples at a 44% clip. At 39, he's no longer mobile enough to be an effective pick-and-roll defender, but Gasol's skill has scarcely faded if a team is willing to live with the defensive hit.
Best defensive bigs
1. Joakim Noah
Following his preseason release by the Knicks, Noah landed with Memphis in December and was effective as a backup big the rest of the season. Noah still reads the game as well as anyone and was in better shape to execute on that knowledge. Noah's 52% shooting on 2-point attempts was his best since 2011-12 and he remains a capable defensive anchor in limited minutes.
Noah is perhaps the only above-average defensive center left unsigned, so the other options in this spot are quality defensive 4s who can provide switching versatility. Sefolosha has made the same move along the positional spectrum from wing to power forward as Carter. He hit 41% of his 3s in that role during two seasons in Utah, though I'm inclined to believe that somewhat fluky given Sefolosha is at 35% for his career. His ability to defend multiple positions and rack up steals (his 3.3 per 100 plays were most among players who had at least 150 minutes of action in 2018-19) are more likely to travel to a new team.
3. Lance Thomas
Like Sefolosha, Thomas is a combo forward who can take a variety of frontcourt defensive assignments. Thomas isn't the same kind of offensive contributor, slipping to 28% 3-point shooting last season after three years north of 40% beyond the arc. Only once in five seasons with the Knicks did Thomas post a true shooting percentage better than 52%.