Ranking the Top 30 NBA Free Agents for 2023 Offseason

The 2022-23 NBA season has tipped off. Free agency is over eight months away. But player movement always occupies at least some space in every front office's plans.

You can be sure that every team in the league, especially those anticipated to have cap space, are keenly aware of who will be (or might be) available in 2023.

The 30 best free agents, based on a mix of past production, future prospects and age, are below.

The only real caveat is that you won't see any players on their rookie deals who could become free agents by virtue of a declined team option. The Phoenix Suns' recent Jalen Smith debacle notwithstanding, that just doesn't happen.

What you will see are restricted and unrestricted free agents, as well as players who can enter the class by declining a player option.

30. Donte DiVincenzo (Player Option)

Among the 162 players who took at least as many threes, Donte DiVincenzo's 2021-22 effective field-goal percentage ranked 159th.

With injuries that plagued him for much of that campaign behind him, DiVincenzo is now in about as good a spot as any to bounce back to the Three-and-D player he was with the Milwaukee Bucks.

29. Matisse Thybulle (Restricted)

One of the best wing and perimeter defenders in the NBA, Matisse Thybulle could soar up lists like this by proving he can hit threes at an average rate this season.

28. Otto Porter Jr. (Player Option)

It feels like he's been in the league forever, but Otto Porter Jr. isn't even 30 yet.

Last season, he proved mostly healthy, shot 37.0 percent from deep, guarded all over the floor and helped the Golden State Warriors win a title.

27. Bruce Brown (Player Option)

Bruce Brown is 6'4", but he's functioned at every position on a basketball court during his young career. And yes, that includes center, thanks to the creativity of Brooklyn Nets coach Steve Nash.

If he can recreate the 40.4 three-point percentage he put up last season, Brown could find a strong market for himself next summer.

26. Max Strus

Max Strus seemingly supplanted Duncan Robinson in the Miami Heat's rotation because he provides similar value as a floor spacer (he made 2.7 threes per game and shot 41.0 percent from deep last season), but he's a bit more trustworthy as a defender and ball-handler.

25. Seth Curry

Age and injury history may finally be catching up to 32-year-old Seth Curry. That'll certainly impact him on the defensive end, but he should still provide value as a shooter for years to come.

After shooting 42.2 percent from deep in 2021-22, he's currently third all time in career three-point percentage.

24. Bojan Bogdanovic

There was an expectation that Bojan Bogdanovic, who averaged 18.4 points and shot 39.7 percent from three over the last three years, might fetch more draft capital for the Utah Jazz. Only getting Kelly Olynyk and Saben Lee (who was later cut) for him was a surprise, and that may foreshadow his free agency.

Bogdanovic will be 34 next summer, so there will surely be concerns about his defense, but that combination of size (6'7") and shooting should still be helpful.

23. Jakob Poeltl

Jakob Poeltl has been one of the game's better space-taking defensive bigs for years, but he showed plenty of offensive ability in 2021-22, too.

No one matches or exceeds both of Poeltl's career marks for offensive rebounding percentage and assist percentage.

22. Rui Hachimura (Restricted)

In the penultimate season of Rui Hachimura's rookie contract, he shot an eye-popping 44.7 percent from deep on decent volume.

If he can recreate that kind of efficiency from the outside (or something close to it), while providing more consistent defense, he'll have plenty of suitors.

21. Grant Williams (Restricted)

Grant Williams' track record as a three-point shooter is a bit longer than Hachimura's, and he's certainly shown more on the defensive end.

With Robert Williams III out for the start of the season, he should have an early opportunity to drive up his value too.

20. P.J. Washington (Restricted)

Another forward-center with Three-and-D chops, P.J. Washington has averaged 11.8 points and hit 37.6 percent of his career three-point attempts.

19. Josh Hart (Player Option)

Solid defense, plus rebounding for his position and occasional scoring seemed like the extent of Josh Hart's game prior to 2021-22.

Then, he got traded to the Portland Trail Blazers. The sample was small (only 13 games), but Hart averaged 19.9 points and went off for 44 in a game against the Washington Wizards.

18. Russell Westbrook

Russell Westbrook was often the scapegoat during the Los Angeles Lakers' 33-49 campaign. If things go sideways again, he'll probably remain the target of criticism.

Still, we're just one season removed from him averaging a triple-double and willing the Washington Wizards to the postseason.

If he shows a willingness to do more without the ball and play defense in 2022-23 (big if, I know), he could secure one more solid contract.

17. Myles Turner

The idea of Myles Turner has long been a bit better than the actual player (he's tied for 78th in the league in wins over replacement players over the course of his career), but the combination of shot-blocking and shooting (in theory) is intriguing.

He's led the league in blocks per game twice, and a 38.8 three-point percentage in 2018-19 remains a source of hope there.

16. Dillon Brooks

His shot selection generally ranges from questionable to atrocious, but a 34.8 career three-point percentage is good enough to warrant attention outside. And it doesn't need to do much more than that for Dillon Brooks to be a plus player.

Last season, he ranked in the 97th percentile in defensive estimated plus-minus (one of the game's most trusted catch-all metrics).

15. Jerami Grant

Jerami Grant had his chance to be a top scoring option, and it wasn't pretty. He averaged 20.9 points, but his effective field-goal percentage was way below average, and his Detroit Pistons lost a lot.

He'll back in a more appropriate role in 2022-23, and that should help him earn some more money in free agency. When he's able to focus more on his strengths (solid, multipositional defense and opportunistic offense), his impact will be more obvious.

14. Al Horford

Al Horford is coming off a stellar postseason in which he averaged 12.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.0 threes and 1.3 blocks, while posting the eighth best box plus/minus in the field.

He'll be 37 by the time free agency rolls around, but his game hasn't been about top-flight athleticism for a while. With his shooting, passing and defensive awareness, he can still be a plus player for another year or two beyond this deal.

13. Kevin Love

Another veteran who proved he has something left in the tank in 2021-22, Kevin Love posted his best box plus/minus since 2013-14 (his last season with the Minnesota Timberwolves) and may have established his ideal role going forward.

Love came off the bench in all but four games last season, took over 60 percent of his shots from three and converted 39.2 percent of his three-point attempts.

12. Nikola Vucevic

Nikola Vucevic had dips all over the stat sheet in 2021-22, most notably in the three-point percentage column where he was at 31.4. The season before, he hit 40.0 percent of his outside looks.

He's still a consistent double-double threat and an underrated passer, though (he's averaged 3.7 assists over his last five seasons). And in 2021-22, he had his fourth campaign with at least one block and one steal per game.

11. Christian Wood

Luka Doncic and Christian Wood should fit together well. With the number of open threes Luka will create for Wood, his efficiency could creep up from the already strong 60.7 true shooting percentage he's posted throughout his career.

Cracking the top 10 in lists like this will depend on what he does on the other end, though. He's rarely looked committed there, but he has the physical tools to make an impact. Jason Kidd might be the right coach to draw that out of him.

10. Gary Trent Jr. (Player Option)

Gary Trent Jr. is only 23 years old, but he's already shown two of the most important traits for any NBA wing.

For his career, he's hit 38.9 percent of his three-point attempts, and that didn't really go down with increased volume (he averaged 18.3 points and shot 38.3 percent from deep in 2021-22). Then, last season, he cracked the 0.0 threshold for defensive estimated plus-minus for the first time in his career.

9. Harrison Barnes

Harrison Barnes has worn a bunch of hats in his career. He was the top high school recruit in 2010. He was a title-winning role player for the Warriors. The Dallas Mavericks made him a No. 1 option. And now, as he enters his 30s, it seems like he's found the right role.

During his three seasons with the Sacramento Kings, Barnes has hovered around being a third option, averaged 15.7 points, hit 38.9 percent of his threes and played solid defense.

8. Kyle Kuzma (Player Option)

Kyle Kuzma had something of a re-breakout for the Washington Wizards in 2021-22, and the 17.1 points were far from the most encouraging mark.

Kuzma posted career highs in rebounds (8.5), assists (3.5) and blocks (0.9) per game, showing a willingness and ability to expand his game beyond scoring.

7. Cameron Johnson (Restricted)

The thought of coming off the bench was apparently enough to push Jae Crowder to ask for a trade, and that means Cameron Johnson will get his chance to show what he can do as a starter.

Last season, he averaged 12.5 points and 2.5 threes, while shooting 42.5 percent from three in just 26.2 minutes. And while he's not necessarily a lockdown defender, he's 6'8" and typically in the right spots. Those two things can go a long way.

6. D'Angelo Russell

His shooting numbers left something to be desired, but D'Angelo Russell has more fully embraced the distributor's role, and the Timberwolves were the beneficiaries.

Last season, he averaged a career-high 7.1 assists, and that unselfishness positively impacted the bottom line.

Last season, Minnesota was plus-4.6 points per 100 posssessions with Russell on the floor and plus-1.5 with him off.

Much has been made of the now infamous punch that Draymond Green threw at Jordan Poole during a Golden State Warriors practice, but the bigger issue for Draymond's value in free agency might be his inability to score.

He last averaged double-figures when he put up 11.0 points per game in 2017-18. Since then, he's put up 7.4 points while shooting 44.9 percent from the field and 28.1 percent from three.

Still, even as he enters his age-32 campaign, Green does enough in literally every other facet of the game to remain one of next summer's most interesting free agents.

Prior to a midseason injury, Green was rightfully generating Defensive Player of the Year buzz. He can still dominate bigs and wings, or operate as a chaos agent in help.

His playmaking and passing remain very real weapons too. And a player who can deliver passes on time and on target to guards can be a major boon to team efficiency.

Underwhelming as the assumed second star for a big name like Luka Doncic didn't help Kristaps Porzingis' reputation. Averaging fewer than 50 appearances per season doesn't help either.

When healthy, though (as rare as that is), Porzingis remains one of the game's more unique and effective big men.

Last season, he ranked in the 94th percentile in overall estimated plus-minus. After the trade to the Washington Wizards, he put up 22.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.7 threes and 1.5 blocks.

And that three-point mark doesn't really do KP's floor spacing justice.

Despite all the missed time, Porzingis is 12th in the league in total 28-plus-foot attempts over the last three seasons. And his percentage on those shots (37.6) is a stout 7.9 points higher than the league average from that range.

Having a player of KP's size, 7'3", commanding attention from that far behind the line opens up a ton of room inside.

There's far from enough room here to dive into all the chemistry and off-court issues that have accompanied Kyrie Irving throughout his career.

The list is long. And when combined with his career average of 55.5 appearances per season, it's easy to see why there was little interest around the league in trading for the Brooklyn Nets star this summer.

If you can somehow get past all of that (and I'm not blaming you, if you can't), Irving is still one of the most talented, entertaining and devastating offensive players in basketball.

Over the last five years, he's ninth in the league in offensive box plus/minus, with averages of 25.5 points, 6.0 assists and 2.8 threes per game and a true shooting percentage of 60.2.

Consider this placement a cautiously optimistic endorsement of "contract year Kyrie." If he puts up those kinds of numbers and plays in 65 games, a handful of teams may talk themselves back into Irving.

The wrist injury that kept Khris Middleton out for most of the Milwaukee Bucks' 2022 playoff run could now cost him the first few weeks of the 2022-23 season, but that's far from enough to really drive down his value as a 2023 free agent (should he choose to decline his player option).

Khris Middleton has his Finals bona fides, thanks to averages of 24.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists in the Milwaukee Bucks' 2021 win over the Phoenix Suns.

And at 6'7", he has the prototypical size for the league's most sought after position and role: the do-everything wing.

Over the last three seasons, Middleton has put up 22.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 5.5 assists, while shooting 35.0 percent from three. Kevin Durant is the only other player in league history with a three-year span in which he matched or exceeded all four of those marks.

James Harden averaged 22.0 points, 10.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds last season.

Detach his name from the numbers, and no one would be clamoring for a comeback season, but that's what Harden can (and may have to) deliver in 2022-23.

He's not as explosive as he was in his prime Houston Rockets years (few players across history can claim that), but Harden remains one of the game's best and most savvy pick-and-roll ball-handlers.

While the one-man-offense seasons are behind him, Harden can still pilot an attack about as well as most. And after a full season as a second (and probably third on some nights, thanks to Tyrese Maxey) option, Harden will be even more adept in the role that will carry him into the next phase of his career.

Calling him an old-school, pass-first point guard may be taking it too far, but he's certainly heading in that direction.