Last Updated on July 2, 2026 3:28 pm by Keston Paul | Published: July 2, 2026

Welcome (back) to our Free Agency Rundown series for 2026 NBA free agency, and a belated Happy Canada Day to everyone chilling in the north.

The first day of free agency didn’t have too much blockbuster-wise but yesterday saw some bigger names fly off the board. Norman Powell, John Collins, Tobias Harris and Mitchell Robinson all found their new spots and the Lakers completely remade their roster in the span of an hour. Of course, the day was capped by our first true blockbuster when Jaylen Brown was sent to the Sixers for Paul George and picks, ending a trade cycle that came out of nowhere and ended in shocking fashion, in terms of both speed and return.

It’s an exciting time of year as all 30 teams are plotting their course for next season. Fans whose teams have been out of it for a long time are locked back in after the draft and every single squad will be making some moves to shake up the roster. It’s a fresh start for everyone in the league and a time when hope is renewed no matter where you finished last season.

Naturally, all that player movement is doubly exciting to fantasy basketball players, as each transaction creates fun new alignments while creating the potential for sleeper values all over the place.

It’s important to remember that no team is even close to being a finished product at this point. Moves get made that create depth chart imbalance, which requires more moves to be made. Things will continue to change and so will fantasy outlooks. Don’t expect the Blazers to enter the season with all those guards, for example — but if they do, get ready for some headaches. The rosters you see in the immediate aftermath of trades and signings are not necessarily what you’ll see on opening night.

The goal of this exercise is to give you running thoughts and live fantasy analysis of all the moves that get made. We’ll need to wait and see how rotations look and how coaches scheme around all their shiny new toys but you’ll be getting our first impressions of every transaction. Get excited — basketball is just around the corner again, already.

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Free Agent News

Anfernee Simons and the Sixers shake hands on a two-year, $12.3 million deal

The contract includes a player option. Simons was a bit of a disappointment last season, even if we remove the short Chicago stint where he barely played. Let us weigh up that Boston stint, since it should give us a better indication of his fantasy potential in Philadelphia. Simons made 49 appearances for the Celtics (no starts), averaging 24.5 MPG for 14.2 points (.440 FG% from 11.6 FGA, .889 FT% from 1.5 FTA), 2.7 triples, 2.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.1 blocks and 1.1 turnovers for No. 193/189 (8-cat/9-cat) value per game. The Sixers have a lot of mouths to feed, including VJ Edgecombe — and if he plays enough, recent first-round pick Labaron Philon — outside of the three stars. Simons has some recognizable “name value” for fantasy, but with the Celtics, he only really had a few weeks of true 12-team play and was generally inconsistent outside of that, popping up with a big game here and there while mostly being underwhelming. This likely puts him in the 14-team or even the 16-team range (if the assists remain muted). However, one “positive” for Simons is that even with Paul George gone, the Sixers do tend to deal with a lot of injuries, so he could have 12-team stints as a fill-in player.

Yesterday’s Recap

Celtics trade Jaylen Brown to Sixers for Paul George, two first-round picks, two second-round picks: One day you’re the centerpiece of a Giannis Antetokounmpo option, the next you’re being traded for what is widely regarded as one of the worst contracts in the league. The relationship between Brown and the Celtics deteriorated in record time and to see him dealt not only for a bad contract and futures, but to a division rival, is shocking. Brown did a speedrun of misguided comments right after the Celtics collapsed in the playoffs and while some of that can be chalked up to misinterpretation, he hasn’t done himself any favors in the reputation department. A canvassing of the league revealed that his value — likely tied to his current and future contracts — was not what he or the Celtics thought it was, and Boston decided to move him now before that value dropped even further. Ultimately, the numbers are not great in terms of Brown’s overall team impact, and volume scorers who don’t make their teammates better are not in fashion these days. He forms an immensely talented partnership with Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe in Philly but fantasy managers should anticipate some statistical decline as Brown is no longer “carrying” a team. Expect middle-round value at early-round prices, yet again.

Paul George is much easier to project in Boston, as he’ll step right into the No. 2 offensive role… when healthy enough to do so. His fantasy game has a higher ceiling than Brown’s and if George can end up bringing his two-way impact without rocking the boat, there’s a chance the Celtics make out much better than anyone expects. It’s a huge gamble though, and the Celtics are surely worse off in the immediate future. It’s going to be high-risk, high-reward in fantasy but George makes for a very good fit on paper.

Lakers rebuild their entire roster with Walker Kessler, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Quentin Grimes and Collin Sexton: The Lakers were not a deep team last year so in a big-picture view, all of these moves are wins. It gets a little less appealing when you step back and see that both Grimes and Mamukelashvili are expected to start as of right now, but more moves could be coming.

In acquiring Kessler for a haul of picks, the Lakers shored up their defensive back line with one of the league’s premier rim protectors. It’s a move that isn’t without risk given Kessler’s health history and the picks they surrendered but he has been a target for multiple seasons and will be essential to the roster. The stat set is bankable and the team needs him in the worst way, so Kessler figures to be a very popular guy in fantasy drafts between his blocks potential and the fact that he’s now wearing purple and gold. This also crushes Deandre Ayton’s appeal, assuming he isn’t waived or traded.

Mamukelasvhili offers some intrigue as a versatile frontcourt option who brings way more mobility and shooting touch than we’ve seen from the frontcourt in recent seasons. He had runs of 12-team value as a key player for the Raptors last season but expecting him to hold onto a full-time starting gig on a team with title visions might be a bit much. Right now he’s got enough skills and opportunity to be included in the late-round pick mix but it does feel like the Lakers would prefer to have him be their primary bench big instead of a starting four.

Grimes is perhaps the safest of LA’s new additions and there shouldn’t be any qualms about him starting on the wing even if it does make the Lakers a little small. He has easy 3-and-D abilities and is a nice fit next to their star guards. There’s a world where Grimes carves out quiet top-100 numbers, though the Lakers might have enough scoring prowess across the rest of the roster to keep him from reaching that level.

Sexton is a shrewd pickup as the Lakers’ new sixth man. Like last year, he’s going to come in outside the top-150 when the team is healthy, but he’s an outstanding insurance policy and can easily prop up the second unit as a scorer. Expect him to have pockets of streaming value but unless your roster build maximizes his scoring (and reasonable efficiency), there’s not much reason to consider him a 12-team option.

Norman Powell agrees to two-year deal with Bulls: It’s a bit surprising that Powell picked Chicago and not a more competitive team but he’s going to be their go-to scorer and will have the opportunity to secure another bag in a couple of years, so it’s not the worst outcome. Powell’s game has traveled well in his recent tour of the league and that shouldn’t change in Chicago. With some talent flanking him up and down the depth chart, Powell might benefit from being set up by a pair of strong playmakers and Chicago’s young, athletic forward duo could help push the pace in a fantasy-friendly way. Expect more of the same out of Powell even if the Bulls aren’t a real threat just yet.

Mitchell Robinson agrees to three-year, $47.4 million deal with Celtics: Robinson immediately becomes the best center on the roster in Boston but the fact remains that you can’t trust his body to hold up to a true starter workload in terms of both average playing time and games played. His playing time is going to be on the rise and Robinson’s per-minute credentials are obvious so it’s good news overall, but this move may not create the next middle-round sensation. Of course, Robinson will also be toxic in any builds where FT% matters even a little bit, so you have to consider that as well when trying to place him onto an early draft board.

John Collins, Pistons reach agreement on three-year deal: Collins’ contract is a surprising one given that only the first year is fully guaranteed but he will be the Tobias Harris replacement as the starting PF in Detroit. It should lead to more consistency compared to what we got last year with the Clippers and Collins projects as a key scoring option. It’s good news for his fantasy outlook — there’s top-100 upside — but a bit questionable for the Pistons overall, who are still not adding shot-creators to their mix. Collins gives the team another play-finisher but the burden on Cade Cunningham hasn’t been eased one bit.

Tobias Harris agrees to two-year deal with Spurs: Harris joining the Spurs is a great depth pickup but there are a lot of cooks in the kitchen. Two of Harris, Julian Champagnie, Devin Vassell and Dylan Harper are going to be coming off the bench unless more moves get made. He’s an upgrade on Harrison Barnes as a veteran scorer but Harris was already just a borderline option last season as a critical player for the Pistons. It’s hard to see how that improves on a deeper team.

Marcus Smart agrees to two-year deal with Rockets: Smart bolsters Houston’s backcourt in a meaningful way and should soak up big minutes as the top guard off the bench — sorry, Reed Sheppard. The biggest fantasy implication is likely that Sheppard’s stock is tumbling, because Smart is unlikely to get the volume necessary for his stat set to shine. He’ll be a steals specialist with some production in assists and triples but we don’t see him being a 12-team guy as it stands.

Santi Aldama traded to Mavs for AJ Johnson and picks: The Grizzlies appear to be all in on Cam Boozer, removing a rotation stalwart from the equation to clear the deck in the frontcourt. It’s also good news for Jerami Grant and maybe even Taylor Hendricks in deeper leagues. Aldama heads to a Mavs team that is in flux but there’s intrigue here given that PJ Washington is in trade rumors himself and the team’s two centers can’t stay healthy. He’s a versatile player with skills that will help him fit in a lot of different groups. Last year was a struggle but we won’t necessarily hold that against him given that everyone in Memphis had a tough time. Aldama is an upside dart at the end of drafts.

Kelly Oubre reaches agreement with Pacers for two years, $17 million: Oubre is a starting-caliber player whose best fit is as a key reserve on a quality team and that looks like what we’ll get from the Pacers. The only wrinkle (when healthy) would be if they decide to start Oubre over Aaron Nesmith, but that doesn’t feel particularly likely. It’s not a setup that screams “standard-league value incoming” but Oubre always finds a way to be relevant for some stretch of time. Not quite a draft pick but someone you will almost certainly add for a few weeks along the way.

De’Anthony Melton agrees to two-year deal with Warriors: Given Moses Moody’s injury, Melton has to be considered the favorite to start at SG on the current version of the Warriors roster. Without minutes restrictions of his own given that last year’s ACL recovery is in the rearview mirror, Melton could get enough minutes to be relevant in 12-team leagues. He’s already on the board as a potential late-round pick in standard leagues but isn’t out of the woods just yet.

Other moves with less fantasy implications: Nikola Vucevic signs with Magic for one year, $3.9 million; Jonathan Mogbo will sign two-way contract with Kings; Jevon Carter re-signs with Magic for one year, $3.5 million; Moritz Wagner agrees to two-year, $19 million deal with Nets; Mike Conley agrees to one-year deal with Celtics; Ariel Hukporti agrees to one-year, $3.4 million deal with Sixers; Alijah Martin returns to Raptors on two-year, $4.8 million deal; Jonathan Isaac back to Magic on one-year deal; Jamir Watkins returns to Wizards on two-way contract; Jaxson Hayes agrees to two-year, $12 million contract with Jazz; Adam Flagler agrees to two-way deal with Kings; Bucks sign 2025 No. 47 stashed pick Bogoljub Markovic to multi-year contract; Marvin Bagley agrees to deal with Nuggets

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