It took much longer than expected, but the biggest name of this year’s NBA free agency cycle finally came off the board on July 24 when LeBron James agreed to terms with the 76ers, marking the fourth time he has changed teams in his legendary career.
Free agency officially began at 6 p.m. ET on June 30, and more than 30 of CBS Sports’ top 40 free agents had agreed to deals in the first 48 hours. When James’ situation finally settled, only a handful of notable names remained on the market. Several teams and players made moves to land James, including James Harden and Draymond Green declining their team options to open flexibility for the pursuit of James. But once he signed in Philly, Green re-signed with the Warriors on a one-year, $27.7 million deal — the same exact contract he opted out of. Harden, meanwhile, is expected to return to the Cavaliers.
Elsewhere at the top of the free agency rankings, Jalen Duren remains on the market as a restricted free agent. Duren, an All-NBA center in the 2025-26 season, could very well return to the Pistons, who can match any offer sheet he gets.
So what other moves have we seen? The Lakers’ post-LeBron era will see them bring back Austin Reaves on a $185 million deal, add big man Walker Kessler in a sign-and-trade with the Jazz and sign free-agent guards Quentin Grimes and Collin Sexton. Mitchell Robinson is one of the best free agents to change teams, as he left the champion Knicks for a three-year deal with the Celtics (just hours before Boston’s stunning trade of Jaylen Brown to the 76ers). Norman Powell left the Heat for the Bulls. And Tobias Harris is heading to the Spurs as the Pistons signed John Collins to fill his gap.
Anfernee Simons agreed to a two-year deal with the 76ers after Philly’s move for Brown. Later on, Tari Eason agreed to a five-year, fully guaranteed deal to stay with the Rockets.
We’ve ranked the 40 best players in free agency (more on them here) and will be keeping tabs on the moves below in our free agency tracker.
2026 NBA free agency rankings, tracker
| Rank | Player | POS | Last Team | New Team | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Austin Reaves (28) |
SG |
|
|
Agreed to 4-year, $185M deal |
| 2 |
Jalen Duren (22) |
C |
|
Restricted free agent | |
| 3 |
LeBron James (41) |
SF |
|
|
Agreed to 2-year, $8M deal |
| 4 |
Trae Young (27) |
PG |
|
|
Agreed to 4-year, $212M deal |
| 5 |
Walker Kessler (25) |
C |
|
|
Agreed to 4-year, $130M deal |
| 6 |
Peyton Watson (23) |
SF |
|
Restricted free agent | |
| 7 |
James Harden (36) |
PG |
|
Declined player option | |
| 8 |
Andrew Wiggins (31) |
SF |
|
|
Agreed to 3-year, $64M deal |
| 9 |
Draymond Green (36) |
PF |
|
|
Agreed to 1-year, $27.7M deal |
| 10 |
Ayo Dosunmu (26) |
PG |
|
|
Agreed to 5-year, $112M deal |
| 11 |
Tari Eason (25) |
PF |
|
|
Agreed to 5-year, $81.5M deal |
| 12 |
Fred VanVleet (32) |
PG |
|
|
Picked up $25M player option |
| 13 |
Kristaps Porzingis (31) |
C |
|
|
Agreed to 2-year, $40M deal |
| 14 |
Rui Hachimura (28) |
PF |
|
|
Agreed to 2-year, $14M deal |
| 15 |
John Collins (28) |
PF |
|
|
Agreed to 3-year, $51M deal |
| 16 |
Mitchell Robinson (28) |
C |
|
|
Agreed to 3-year, $47.4M deal |
| 17 |
Quentin Grimes (26) |
SG |
|
|
Agreed to 4-year, $60M deal |
| 18 |
Coby White (26) |
PG |
|
|
Agreed to 3-year, $74M deal |
| 19 |
CJ McCollum (34) |
PG |
|
|
Agreed to 1-year, $21M deal |
| 20 |
Norman Powell (33) |
SG |
|
|
Agreed to 2-year, $45M deal |
| 21 |
Collin Gillespie (27) |
SG |
|
|
Agreed to 4-year, $48M deal |
| 22 |
Anfernee Simons (27) |
SG |
|
|
Agreed to 2-year, $12.3M deal |
| 23 |
Bennedict Mathurin (24) |
SF |
|
Restricted free agent | |
| 24 |
Robert Williams III (28) |
C |
|
|
Agreed to 3-year, $44M deal |
| 25 |
Collin Sexton (27) |
SG |
|
|
Agreed to 2-year, $19M deal |
| 26 |
Tobias Harris (34) |
PF |
|
|
Agreed to 2-year, $31M deal |
| 27 |
Kelly Oubre Jr. (30) |
SF |
|
|
Agreed to 2-year, $17M deal |
| 28 |
Sandro Mamukelashvili (27) |
PF |
|
|
Agreed to 4-year, $52M deal |
| 29 |
Landry Shamet (29) |
SG |
|
|
Agreed to 4-year, $24 million deal |
| 30 |
Keon Ellis (26) |
SG |
|
|
Agreed to 2-year, $18M deal |
| 31 |
Kevin Porter (26) |
PG |
|
|
Picked up $5.4M player option |
| 32 |
Marcus Smart (32) |
PG |
|
|
Agreed to 2-year, $13M deal |
| 33 |
Luke Kennard (30) |
SG |
|
|
Agreed to 2-year, $13M deal |
| 34 |
Deandre Ayton (28) |
C |
|
|
Picked up $8.1M player option |
| 35 |
De’Anthony Melton (28) |
SG |
|
|
Agreed to 2-year, $11M deal |
| 36 |
Jose Alvarado (28) |
PG |
|
|
Agreed to 3-year, $14M deal |
| 37 |
Dean Wade (29) |
PF |
|
|
Agreed to 4-year, $39M deal |
| 38 |
Mark Williams (24) |
C |
|
|
Agreed to 3-year, $38M deal |
| 39 |
Harrison Barnes (34) |
PF |
|
|
Agreed to 1-year, $8M deal |
| 40 |
Jusuf Nurkic (31) |
C |
|
|
Agreed to 2-year, $22M deal |
