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Kevin Pelton, ESPN Senior Writer
Just 24 hours after NBA teams were allowed to negotiate with other free agents at 6 p.m. ET on June 30, nearly every top player on the market had inked a deal, including Paul George, who left the Los Angeles Clippers for the Philadelphia 76ers.
LeBron James is still technically a free agent. James offered the Los Angeles Lakers the possibility of taking a pay cut if they sign a player worth signing using the nontaxpayer midlevel exception, and he's still waiting for that to happen, but the league's all-time leading scorer has no plans to leave Los Angeles this summer.
This leaves Chicago Bulls' DeMar DeRozan as the only free agent ranked in the top 10 of last month's projections who has yet to agree to a contract and is being pursued by other teams.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at my updated list of the top 10 free agents on the market, noting what value acquisitions could be available for the few teams with cap space remaining and the few that can use exceptions to offer more than just the veteran minimum salary.
1. LeBron James
Los Angeles Lakers | Forwards
James' return to Los Angeles is a given. It's just a question of whether the franchise can find a move that will convince James to sign a new contract for less than the max. With Klay Thompson moving to the Dallas Mavericks in a sign-and-trade, it's unclear how many more free agents fit the “impact player” James was hoping the Lakers would have. That could narrow it down to the next two on my list.
