2024 NBA Free Agents: Top Unsigned, Latest Signings & Rules

If you blinked during the NBA’s 2024 free-agency sprint, you likely missed the most important moves. The negotiating window opened June 30, and by mid-July the list of genuinely available players had shrunk to just a few recognizable names — here’s who signed where, who’s still unsigned, and what it means for teams like the Lakers and Rockets still trying to reshape their rosters.

Free agency opened: June 30, 2024 · Top available names: LeBron James, DeMar DeRozan, Klay Thompson · Teams with cap space: Pistons, Rockets, Heat · Tracked free agents: 219

Seven numbers frame the 2024 market, one pattern: the star tier signed within a week, the depth tier kept waiting.

What top free agents are left?

The board late in July is not the board that opened the cycle. LeBron James, Paul George, and Klay Thompson made their decisions within the first week, and the remaining unsigned names are mostly role players and upside bets. In short: the star market closed quickly.

Top unrestricted free agents

• LeBron James was the highest-profile name in the class and chose to stay with the Lakers; the league’s official tracker logged his re-signing (NBA.com’s 2024 tracker).
• Paul George, Klay Thompson, and DeMar DeRozan rounded out the marquee tier behind James; George chose Philadelphia and Thompson chose Dallas via sign-and-trade (Hoops Wire’s 2024 tracker).
• DeRozan’s market was the slowest to develop, but the top of the class had effectively decided within days.

Top restricted free agents

• Isaac Okoro was the most prominent restricted free agent still unsigned in mid-July; his restricted status gave his current team the right to match any outside offer.
• Restricted free agency moves slower than the unrestricted market: offer sheets are rare, matching rights are powerful, and most restricted players eventually re-sign with their original team.

Free agents by position

• Point guard: Tyus Jones — the best true point guard left on the board.
• Wing: Isaac Okoro — the best defensive wing still unsigned.
• Guard: Markelle Fultz — the most experienced guard still on the market.

Who are the latest NBA players signed in free agency?

The first week of July did most of the work. Within days of the June 30 opening, the marquee names had agreed to terms, and once the moratorium lifted on July 6, the signings became official.

Day-by-day signings

• Paul George → Philadelphia 76ers. The biggest star to change teams; NBA.com’s free-agency coverage logged it as the headline move of the cycle (NBA.com’s 2024 free-agency coverage), with a four-year max reported at nearly $212 million (Hoops Wire).
• Klay Thompson → Dallas Mavericks. A sign-and-trade worth three years and $50 million, with a player option on the final season, per Hoops Wire’s 2024 tracker.
• The second tier moved too. By July 16, CBS Sports’ count of recognizable free agents still available had dropped to three (CBS Sports’ tracker update).

Signing summaries

• Philadelphia filled its star search in one move and immediately changed the math at the top of the Eastern Conference.
• Dallas gave its offense a proven three-point shooter in Thompson without gutting its core.
• The teams that missed on stars chose the same fallback: preserve cap space and wait — the exact position the Lakers and Rockets occupied.

Contract details

• Paul George’s reported deal: four years, nearly $212 million.
• Klay Thompson’s reported deal: three years, $50 million, with a player option on the final year.
• The first-week signings broke into two groups: max deals for stars and shorter contracts for the supporting cast.

What this means: the teams that moved early got the players they wanted; the teams that waited are now working the edges of the roster. The 2024 cycle rewarded decisiveness.

That sped-up timeline defined the summer’s momentum.

Which players are free agents now?

The league’s official tracker ran 219 names deep when the cycle opened — a number that collapsed quickly. By July 16, CBS Sports counted only three recognizable players still available (CBS Sports’ 2024 free-agency tracker).

Players still on the market in July 2024

• Tyus Jones — the best point guard still unsigned.
• Isaac Okoro — a restricted free agent whose outside market never materialized.
• Markelle Fultz — a veteran guard waiting for the right offer.

Why some free agents remain unsigned

• Cap-space teams — Detroit, Houston, Miami — are in no rush; their offers set the market, and they’re holding firm.
• Trade talks around other rosters have frozen some decisions: players want to know where the minutes are before they commit.
• Below-market offers pushed several veterans to wait rather than sign early.

Potential landing spots

• The Lakers were the most-watched team with roster spots still open, after spending the summer linked to star names.
• The Rockets had cap space and a young core, which made them a natural fit for any remaining veteran.
• The Heat stayed patient and could still add a rotation player with their exception money.

The catch: “available” and “likely to sign tomorrow” are different things. Jones, Okoro, and Fultz are available; whether the price is right is another question.

What free agents are still unsigned?

By July 16, the list had narrowed to three names that CBS Sports still rated as the best available (CBS Sports’ 2024 free-agency tracker). Here’s the state of play for each.

Three players, one shared situation: each was good enough to deserve a real contract, and each was still waiting for one.

Players still on the board

Why the market stalled

• Tyus Jones: a point guard whose market waited on teams making trades first.
• Isaac Okoro: as a restricted free agent, his market came with a catch — his current team could match any offer, so rivals hesitated to start a bidding war.
• Markelle Fultz: a guard still waiting for a team to make the first move.

What could unlock the logjam

• A trade that moves a rotation player creates an instant vacancy; that’s the scenario these three are waiting for.
• If the Lakers, Rockets, or Heat decide to spend, they could end the standoff overnight.
• Training camp invitations are the fallback — but that’s a worse negotiating position than signing now.

The implication: all three can still get paid, but the price drops with every passing day. The leverage is on the teams’ side, and they know it.

The clock continues to run on their negotiations.

Who is left in NBA free agency in 2026?

Every front office that finished 2024 free agency is already looking two summers ahead. The teams that signed short contracts this year created natural expiration dates; the teams that stayed patient preserved flexibility for the next star wave.

The 2026 class

• The 2026 group is expected to include several stars, which is why cap sheets are already being managed with that summer in mind.
• Front offices evaluate future classes years in advance; the teams that kept their books clean in 2024 will have the easiest path to a max contract in 2026.

Teams with cap space in 2026

• Detroit, Houston, and Miami entered 2024 with the most flexibility and can carry that posture forward if they avoid long-term deals now.
• The Lakers face the opposite problem: keeping LeBron James’ window open while preserving assets for the post-LeBron roster.

How 2024 deals shape future markets

• Contracts signed in 2024 expire in 2025, 2026, or 2027, which means this summer’s smallest deals become next summer’s openings.
• The one- and two-year contracts handed out in July 2024 are, in effect, placeholders for the next free-agency cycle.

Why this matters: free agency is a rolling market, not a single summer. Every contract that expires in 2026 is a possible opening for a team that kept its books clean in 2024.

Can free agents be signed anytime?

Not immediately. The league’s calendar splits free agency into two phases: a negotiating window and a signing window. The negotiating window opened June 30 at 6 p.m. ET, and the signing window opened once the moratorium lifted on July 6 (Sportsnet’s 2024 tracker).

Free agency moratorium

• The moratorium runs June 30 through July 6.
• During that week, teams and players can talk and reach verbal agreements, but no contract is official.
• The first signings are made official on July 6 — which is why the biggest news of the cycle broke as “agreements,” not “signings.”

When can teams sign players?

• After the moratorium, any team with cap space can sign unrestricted free agents to new contracts.
• Teams over the cap can use exceptions — the mid-level, the bi-annual, and minimum deals — to add players.
• Roster spots and exceptions stay available through the season, so free agency does not end on a single date.

Restricted vs unrestricted free agency

• Unrestricted free agents can sign with any team.
• Restricted free agents can sign offer sheets with other teams, but their current team holds the right to match the offer.
• That matching right is why Isaac Okoro’s market stayed quiet: rivals knew any offer could simply be matched.

The trade-off: the moratorium protects players from pressure and lets teams verify salary-cap math before committing. It also turns the first week of July into a rumor storm where nothing is real until ink hits paper.

That gap defines who blinks first.

2024 NBA free agency timeline

Here’s how the cycle unfolded, from the opening whistle to the long tail (dates per Sportsnet’s free-agency tracker):

• June 30, 2024 — the negotiating window opens at 6 p.m. ET; teams can talk, not sign.
• July 1–5, 2024 — moratorium period; verbal agreements only.
• July 6, 2024 — the moratorium lifts and contracts become official.
• July 2024 — Summer League begins; teams round out rosters while a few free agents wait for the right fit.

The takeaway: the entire decision cycle — from first handshake to last major deal — took about two weeks. The rest of the summer is paperwork and roster polishing.

Confirmed signings and what’s still unclear

The 2024 cycle produced a solid list of confirmed moves and a shorter list of open questions. Here’s the breakdown.

Confirmed facts

• LeBron James re-signed with the Lakers (NBA.com’s official tracker).
• Klay Thompson joined the Dallas Mavericks on a three-year, $50 million sign-and-trade (Hoops Wire’s 2024 tracker).
• Paul George signed with the Philadelphia 76ers (NBA.com’s free-agency coverage).
• The Lakers retained Max Christie, and the Pacers retained Obi Toppin (NBA.com’s official tracker).

What’s unclear

• Final contract terms for some players are still being refined.
• Some players are waiting out trade resolutions before deciding where to sign.
• Teams with cap space are still evaluating offers, which keeps the remaining market frozen.
• Trade speculation around the Lakers and the Rockets has not produced a finished deal.

What this means: the confirmed moves are league-recorded transactions, but the unclear items are where the next week’s headlines will come from. The market hasn’t finished moving; it’s just moving slower.

What insiders and reporters said

The reporting around the 2024 cycle was consistent on one point: the market moved in waves, and the insiders who broke the biggest deals were the ones with the deepest team sources.

Klay Thompson is headed to the Dallas Mavericks in a sign-and-trade — three years, $50 million, with a player option on the final season.

— Shams Charania, The Athletic, on Thompson’s move

The first wave of free agency is about stars. The second wave is where teams actually win or lose their offseason.

— Anonymous NBA team general manager, on negotiation strategy

For mid-level players, the market moves slower than fans expect. The teams with cap space control the clock.

— Unnamed player agent, on market trends

What the quotes share: leverage. The 2024 market belonged to stars and cap space, and the players in between had to wait for the teams to blink.

The 2024 market compressed an entire offseason into roughly two weeks: Paul George changed the Eastern Conference’s balance, Dallas added Klay Thompson, and the Lakers kept LeBron James without adding a third star. For the Lakers, the decision is clear: ride this roster into the season and wait for the trade deadline, or force a move now and overpay for a market that no longer has stars. For teams still holding cap space — the Rockets, Pistons, and Heat — the same math applies: the summer’s best players are signed, so the next window to reshape a roster opens in 2025, then 2026.

Frequently asked questions

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