A year ago, the 2021 NBA free-agent class looked absolutely loaded. But since then, several of the players who were on track to reach free agency this offseason have signed contract extensions with their respective teams, taking them off the market.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, LeBron James, Rudy Gobert, Paul George and Jrue Holiday were among the veteran stars who went this route since last fall. Several up-and-coming stars who would have been restricted free agents in 2021 also inked long-term extensions ahead of time, including Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell, De’Aaron Fox and Bam Adebayo.
That doesn’t mean there’s no talent left on the free-agent market this summer, but the list is lacking the star power it once had. Most teams should be fine with that however, since only a small handful of clubs projects to have anything close to maximum-salary cap room.
Below, we’ve taken a crack at ranking the top free agents for 2021. This list attempts to capture each player’s expected value on the 2021 free agent market, rather than simply ranking them based on their present-day on-court contributions. As such, younger players who figure to sign long-term contracts sometimes rank higher than a veteran who might not receive that same sort of commitment.
If you need a refresher on which players will be free agents this fall, be sure to check out our FA lists sorted by position/type and by team.
With all that in mind, here’s the first installment of our 2021 free agent power rankings:
