NBA free agency officially kicked off on Monday evening as the negotiating window opened for eligible players and all teams across the league at 6 p.m. ET. Monday night was relatively quiet, but the first stunners of the new league year came Tuesday morning. Myles Turner, the top free agent on the board as of Monday, has agreed to join the Bucks on a four-year deal. That's a surprise on its own. But to make matters crazier, the Bucks are also waiving Damian Lillard to make room for Turner.
Before Tuesday's Turner shocker, the biggest names in the free agent pool had mostly agreed to deals to stay put. LeBron James, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Julius Randle and Fred VanVleet all remained with their incumbent teams before June 30. While the 2025 free agent market is light on star power, we still saw some significant moves as the negotiating period opened around the league.
The biggest of them Monday night came by way of a trade, as the Nuggets sent Michael Porter Jr. and a 2032 first round pick to the Nets for Cam Johnson. Denver got a player who is a strong fit and serious cap relief, while the Nets took the long view of acquiring a future draft asset that could be incredibly valuable.
Al Horford, Deandre Ayton, Josh Giddey and Jonathan Kuminga are the biggest names left in free agency as of Tuesday night, and the Warriors and Lakers are among the teams with the most glaring roster questions.
CBS Sports will be keeping track of the latest rumors and all the most notable moves here as the offseason pace picks up during free agency. Follow along below.
Deandre Ayton will clear waivers on Wednesday afternoon at 5 p.m. ET. The former No. 1 pick will officially be a free agent, and he's generated plenty of interest since news broke of his Blazers buyout Sunday night. The "safest forecast" for Ayton, per Jake Fischer of the Stein Line, is that he joins the center-needed Lakers. However, there is interest in Ayton from the Pacers, per Fischer.
Jonathan Kuminga remains a free agent, and there has not been too much buzz about the Warriors forward this week. Kuminga is a restricted free agent, so Golden State will have the chance to match any offer he gets. Per Jake Fischer of the Stein Line, four non-Warriors teams have various degrees of Kuminga interest: the Heat, Bulls, Pelicans and Kings.
Kuminga could move via a sign-and-trade, but the Warriors, per Fischer, have cooled on their previous interest in trading for Bulls big man Nikola Vučević.
The possibility also remains that Kuminga could just sign a one-year deal with the Warriors and enter unrestricted free agency next season. Perhaps the Kuminga rumors will pick up before the end of the week.
Happy Wednesday, NBA fans. Free agency rolls along. After yesterday morning's stunning news that the Bucks were not only adding Myles Turner but waiving Damian Lillard to do it, things were relatively quiet the rest of the afternoon. Tim Hardaway Jr. joined the Nuggets, who continued a strong stretch, the Kings got Dennis Schröder and the 76ers brought back Eric Gordon. But the top names left on the market remained.
So who's left in the free agency class? Here are the top 10 players on the board as of Wednesday morning.
Veteran guard Eric Gordon is returning to Philadelphia, the team announced. Gordon, 36, averaged 6.8 points and shot 40.9% from long distance in 39 games (13 starts) last season. He scored in double figures 14 times.
According to Derek Bodner, it's a one-year minimum deal for Gordon, who declined his player option with the team earlier in the week. Next season will be Gordon's 18th in the NBA.
One of the biggest shockers of the offseason happened on Day 2 of free agency when the Milwaukee Bucks stretched and waived star guard Damian Lillard. Lillard, who is expected to miss most if not all of next season after tearing his Achilles during the playoffs, should have interest on the open market. One of the teams potentially interested in Lillard's services is the Golden State Warriors, per Marc Spears.
"Of the many teams that reached out to Damian Lillard, the Warriors were one of those teams," Spears said on Tuesday.
Damian Lillard just won the basketball lottery, and he can go wherever he wants to cash the ticket, writes Brad Botkin.
The Charlotte Hornets are re-signing guard Tre Mann to a three-year, $24 million deal, per ESPN. Mann averaged 14.1 points this past season in Charlotte. He started his career with the Oklahoma City Thunder before being traded to the Hornets at the 2024 trade deadline.
The Detroit Pistons are signing sharpshooter Duncan Robinson to a three-year, $48 million deal, per ESPN. This will be part of a sign-and-trade that will see Simone Fontecchio get traded to the Miami Heat. The Pistons are adding more shooting to their team amid free agency sharpshooter Malik Beasley being the subject of a serious gambling investigation from the U.S. District Attorney's office.
The Los Angeles Clippers are waiving big man Drew Eubanks, ESPN reported on Tuesday. Once Eubanks clears waivers, he plans on signing a one-year deal with the Sacramento Kings, per the report. The Kings traded backup big man Jonas Valančiūnas to the Denver Nuggets earlier today, so this signing appears to be a move to add depth.
One of the most polarizing players in this year's free agency class is Golden State Warriors RFA forward Jonathan Kuminga. It's been rumored that one team that could be interested in a potential sign-and-trade scenario with the Warriors was the Chicago Bulls. However, according to Chicago Sports Network insider K.C. Johnson, that doesn't appear to be the case, at least for now. Johnson said that he has not heard "any traction" on a potential deal between the Warriors and the Bulls. It remains to be seen where the 22-year-old forward will be playing next season.
The Denver Nuggets have been extremely active during the first two days of free agency. Now, they're signing Tim Hardaway Jr. to a one-year deal, ESPN reported Tuesday. Hardaway joins Bruce Brown (free agency), Cam Johnson (trade) and Jonas Valančiūnas (trade) as new additions to the roster within the last 24 hours. The Nuggets are one of the early winners of this free-agency period.
The Boston Celtics are signing forward Josh Minott to a two-year, $5 million deal, ESPN reports. Minott, a former second-round pick in 2022, will get a fresh start with the Celtics.
Free-agent big man Al Horford appears to have a handful of suitors in free agency. The Athletic reported on Tuesday that Horford is under "serious consideration" by the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers. Both teams have a clear need for a starting-caliber center on their respective rosters.
The Toronto Raptors and Jakob Poeltl have agreed on a four-year, $104 million contract extension that will keep him with the franchise through the 2029-30 season, ESPN reports. Poeltl will pick up his 2026-27 player option and this will add three additional years to his current deal.
How is Damian Lillard taking the news that he won't be returning to the Milwaukee Bucks? Pretty well, apparently.
The Athletic reports Lillard is "elated" by the news. Lillard is still going to be paid the $113 million owed to him by Milwaukee. Now he just gets to handpick his next team without worrying about who has enough money to sign him. The nine-time All-Star can essentially pick his next destination without the usual cap-management logistics. Lillard is expected to miss most or all of the 2025-26 season as he recovers from a torn Achilles, but he could help a contender in 2026-27.
Here's more from The Athletic:
League sources say Lillard is elated with this decision, as it puts him in the kind of basketball-first position that few All-Star level players, if any, have experienced in league history. In short, he'll be able to join the contending team of his choosing, either sometime soon or perhaps next summer, without the financial aspect of the decision playing a significant part.
The Milwaukee Bucks are trading guard Pat Connaughton and two of their own second-round picks to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for guard Vasilije Micić, ESPN reported on Tuesday. The Bucks have had quite the start to Day 2 of free agency.
The Sacramento Kings are signing veteran point guard Dennis Schröder to a three-year, $45 million deal, ESPN's Shams Charania reported on Tuesday. Schröder is set to play for his fourth NBA team since the start of last season and tenth overall. He had stints with the Brooklyn Nets, Golden State Warriors and Detroit Pistons during the 2024-25 campaign and combined to average 13.1 points, 5.4 assists and 2.6 rebounds in 75 games.
One of the biggest shockers of the offseason happened on Day 2 of free agency when the Milwaukee Bucks stretched and waived star guard Damian Lillard. Lillard, who is expected to miss most if not all of next season after tearing his Achilles during the playoffs, should have interest on the open market. One of the teams that is expected to be interested, according to Tim Reynolds of the AP, is the Miami Heat. The Heat notably made a run at Lillard in 2023 when trade rumors started picking up.
The Milwaukee Bucks became the story of NBA free agency on Tuesday when they made a pair of shocking moves. News first broke that the team was signing Myles Turner to a four-year, $107 million deal, which was stunning on its own, but folks quickly wondered how Milwaukee -- which did not have $27 million in cap space -- was going to make that work.
The Sacramento Kings are trading center Jonas Valančiūnas to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Dario Šarić, ESPN reported on Tuesday. The Nuggets have already had a busy offseason by adding Bruce Bruce in free agency and Cam Johnson and Jonas Valančiūnas via trade.
Milwaukee's busy day is not done. The Bucks are reportedly adding veteran forward Gary Harris to the roster.
The Bucks might've signed Myles Turner and waived Damian Lillard to keep Giannis Antetokounmpo happy, but it sounds as though he may not be thrilled about all of this. According to Chris Haynes, the Bucks superstar is "not pleased" with Milwaukee deciding to waive Lillard.
Obviously this is all just reported information, so it's unclear if Antetokounmpo is truly unhappy with the prospect of no longer having Lillard on his team. But he could be upset at the fact that the Bucks having $22.5 million in dead money over the next five years as a result of waiving and stretching the final two years of Lillard's contract. That will certainly handicap the Bucks for any future signings, and while they are signing Turner to a deal, now Milwaukee has to figure out who the starting point guard will be going forward.
The Bucks aren't done surprising us. In an effort to make room for Myles Turner's new contract, Milwaukee will be waiving Lillard, and stretching out the remaining $113 million he's owed over five years, per ESPN. So Lillard will make $22.5 million from the Bucks in each of the next five seasons, while he's able to now freely sign elsewhere.
Lillard will spend most, if not all of next season rehabbing from a torn Achilles, but he can sign somewhere else that he prefers. Back when the Bucks traded for Lillard initially, his preferred destination was the Miami Heat, that now becomes a possibility for Miami when he clears waivers.
In a surprising turn of events, Turner will be signing a four-year, $107 million contract with the Bucks, per ESPN. That's incredibly shocking news considering the expectation was that Turner would remain with the Pacers, especially after the team reached Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
However, with Tyrese Haliburton expected to miss most if not all of next season after tearing his Achilles, perhaps the Pacers thought process was to not expend a ton of money on Turner right now in an effort to keep their books clean for the next few years down the line. Milwaukee doesn't have the cap space to sign Turner, so this could likely be a sign-and-trade with the Pacers.
While the Sixers originally expected to re-sign Yabusele, it sounds like he'll be heading to an in-division rival for a two-year $12 million deal, per ESPN.
Yabusele returned to the NBA this past season after a standout role on France's 2024 Olympic squad. He got a ton of minutes due to Philadelphia's injury issues, and was incredibly efficient while averaging 11 points and 5.6 rebounds. He'll now add to the Knicks' frontcourt depth behind Mitchell Robinson, and provide some spacing off the bench as he shot 38% from 3-point range on nearly four attempts a game last season.
Where will Russell Westbrook play next season? Apparently not Madison Square Garden. The Knicks, who are in position to land Jordan Clarkson after his Jazz buyout, are no longer in the running for the former MVP, per Marc Stein. Stein also reports that the Kings remain interested in Westbrook, who could join his sixth different team since 2020.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the NBA's reigning MVP and Finals MVP, signed a record-breaking contract extension on Tuesday. SGA and the OKC Thunder agreed to a four-year, $285 million contract extension which runs through the 2030-31 season, per ESPN.
The four-year extension sets the record for the highest average annual value of a contract in NBA history at $71.25 million.
Not a ton of big names were available at the start of free agency... but those at the top of the market have remained there so far. Myles Turner, Jonathan Kuminga and Josh Giddey all remain free agents as of Tuesday morning. Other notable vets are out there as well, like Al Horford, Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul.
Here are the top 10 free agents on the board as of Tuesday morning (this list excludes Malik Beasley, who is under a federal gambling investigation).
The first 12+ hours of NBA free agency are in the books. There were no earth-shaking moves on Monday night in a relatively pedestrian start to the league's new year. But there were plenty of notable moves. The Nuggets traded Michael Porter Jr. to the Nets for Cameron Johnson and also brought back a key piece of their 2023 title team in Bruce Brown. The Rockets and Hawks also continued their active offseasons. Houston acquired Dorian Finney-Smith, while Atlanta landed Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
Brad Botkin takes you through the winners and losers of Night 1:
And Sam Quinn asks the lingering questions remaining... like what will the Lakers do at center?
