Peyton Watson already found his home, landing with the Cleveland Cavaliers via a five-team trade and signing a four-year, $88 million deal.
James Harden has now followed him, agreeing to a new three-year, $97 million deal to stay in Cleveland.
That leaves a still-stacked group of names unsigned deep into late August.
Jalen Duren, Jonathan Kuminga and DeMar DeRozan headline a market that’s gotten weirdly slow for players this talented.
Peyton Watson and James Harden Are Confirmed, Everyone Else Is Still Guessing
Watson averaged a career-high 14.6 points last season before the Denver Nuggets’ reported offer of four years and $70 million fell short of his asking price.
That gap forced a sign-and-trade, and Cleveland ended up the winner, adding a switchable wing coming off a breakout year.
Full trade details and grades are broken down in Sportscasting’s coverage of the Cavaliers’ blockbuster.
Harden’s return removes the second-biggest name from the board.
He declined a $42.3 million player option back in June specifically to give Cleveland flexibility, then waited for the Watson trade to close before finalizing his own deal.
The new contract includes a player option in the third year and a 15% trade kicker, and it pushes Harden’s career earnings past $500 million, making him only the fourth player in NBA history to reach that mark.
Everything else on this list remains a prediction, not a done deal.
Jalen Duren is locked in a genuine standoff with the Detroit Pistons after third-team All-NBA numbers got wrecked by a playoff collapse.
Detroit isn’t rushing to overpay a 22-year-old center with obvious flaws still on tape.
Where the Market’s Biggest Remaining Names Could Land
Jonathan Kuminga is the market’s most fascinating logjam. His reported sub-$20 million annual asking price is scaring off suitors who lack cap space, forcing sign-and-trade talks with a Hawks front office that wants real assets back.
| Free Agent | Predicted Landing Spot | Analyst Confidence |
| Jalen Duren | Re-signs with Pistons | 70/30 |
| Jonathan Kuminga | Sign-and-trade to Lakers | 55/45 |
| Bennedict Mathurin | Takes qualifying offer, stays with Clippers | 60/40 |
| DeMar DeRozan | Signs with Raptors, veteran minimum | 50/50 |
DeRozan, Love and the Veteran Bench Market
DeMar DeRozan quietly shot 53% from inside the arc for a bad Kings team before Sacramento waived him in early July.
At 37, he’s still a bucket-getter, and the decision now comes down to what he wants, not what teams are offering.
Kevin Love is a different case entirely.
His production has cratered, but his locker room value hasn’t, and the 76ers have shown real interest despite needing to clear a roster spot.
That interest ties directly into Philadelphia’s broader roster build, detailed in Sportscasting’s look at the Sixers’ current core.
Why the Restricted Free Agents Are the Real Story
This is not a story about star power sitting unsigned.
This is a story about restricted free agency and second-apron math strangling every negotiation on the board.
Duren and Mathurin remain young, productive, and stuck because their teams either can’t or won’t pay market rate.
Other outlets have run their own rankings on this exact market.
Yahoo Sports ranked Duren as the top remaining free agent, while Pro Football Network’s earlier list flagged Kuminga and Josh Giddey as the market’s biggest question marks. Multiple outlets converging on the same stuck names is itself a signal.
What Bettors Should Track Next
Watch the Duren negotiation closest.
If Detroit and its center can’t agree soon, he plays out a qualifying offer and re-enters the market in 2027 as a true unrestricted free agent.
With Harden’s deal now finalized, Cleveland’s front office turns its attention to finishing out its depth around him and Watson.
