The 67 best 2026 NBA free agents, with LeBron James ranked second

The 2026 NBA offseason officially begins on Tuesday evening, and the expectations are that perhaps up to a quarter of the league could be on the move. If that’s an exaggeration, it’s not much of one: We’re expecting massive amounts of movement … just not necessarily through free agency.

As usual, the NBA’s transaction periods have heavily shifted towards trades and draft picks as the league’s movement mechanisms; free agency is mostly relegated to role players choosing which team’s exceptions to sign into. Beyond that, it’s often hard to know which players with player or team options will even be available: For Andrew Wiggins, say, he may decline his player option and technically be an unrestricted free agent … but only to re-sign on a longer deal with the Miami Heat that creates more immediate space for them.

Still, here are 67 free agents — six-seven, haha, get it — who could or will be available this summer. Some have options that will be triggered either by the player or the team; some are restricted free agents whose negotiations may drag on for weeks or months. But I ranked them in a rough order of interest; the ranking itself isn’t definitive, nor are the names, but it’s a good step in the right direction if you’re seeking some targets that might be worth adding to your favorite team.

Where does LeBron James end up?

James is probably leaving the Los Angeles Lakers … we think? The likeliest outcomes seem to be the growing fascination for Anthony Davis and him to join the Golden State Warriors in a convoluted retirement tour that would feel more like a bachelor’s party than any last ditch ring chasing. A reunion with the Cleveland Cavaliers still could be on the table; a return to the Lakers, it seems, would be the failsafe option past that where, reporting is sure to remind us every few weeks, he “has no issues playing with Luka Dončić”. (It’s interesting how often they seem to feel the need to say this.)

James is only the league’s second-best free agent, in my eyes, behind All-NBA third-teamer Jalen Duren. That said, the likeliest expectation is for Duren to return to the Detroit Pistons; that’s just what happens with restricted free agents in this day and age. While James likely only has three destinations, he can still help someone next season, regardless where he ends up.

What other free agents could help your team?

Tim Hardaway Jr. outperformed the minimum contract he signed last season for the Denver Nuggets, finishing tied for the 10th-most made 3s in the NBA last season. Keon Ellis didn’t play much in the postseason for the Cleveland Cavaliers, but he’s a good two-way player who has bounced around the league because he’s not quite good enough at either. Still, that’s a player who can competently fill a middle-tier rotation spot for most teams in the league if you need a decent minutes-eater.

Quentin Grimes probably won’t earn the money he sought when he chose the qualifying offer to enter unrestricted free agency this season, but Grimes offers some two-way value, too, even if he is stuck between wanting to be an on-ball creator without enough juice to pull it off and settling for an off-ball scoring role with worse spot-up shooting than his picture perfect jump shot form would lead you to believe.

Tim Cato is ALLCITY’s national NBA writer currently based in Dallas. He can be reached at tcato@alldlls.com or on X at @tim_cato.