More than a month into NBA free agency, the market has been stripped down to a short list of names, and most of the biggest ones still hanging around are there for a reason. Out of the players on our 2026 top-50 free agent board, 44 have already landed new deals. That still leaves a handful of notable names without agreements, including several who sat near the top of the list.
The remaining group includes Jalen Duren, James Harden, Peyton Watson, Jonathan Kuminga, Bennedict Mathurin and Brandon Williams.
Duren is the clearest case where the clock can keep working in Detroit’s favor. With the Lakers, Nets and Bulls having used most of their cap space, no team is currently positioned to push the Pistons with a maximum or near-max offer sheet for the restricted free agent center.
Sacramento reportedly showed mutual interest with Duren when free agency opened and explored a sign-and-trade involving Domantas Sabonis, but Detroit is said to have little appetite for that route, or for any sign-and-trade at all. The Pistons have made it clear they want to keep the All-NBA big man, and at the moment they seem to have the leverage to simply wait and see whether he comes around.
The latest word on Duren came last week, when Marc Stein reported that the 22-year-old was considering taking his $9.6MM qualifying offer so he could become an unrestricted free agent next year. Shams Charania also reported that Duren and Detroit remain stuck in negotiations, adding that the situation could drag on “well into August” or even September.
Harden’s situation has moved more slowly, but the expectation around him has stayed pretty consistent: several reports over the past few weeks have said he remains on course to re-sign with the Cavaliers on a two- or three-year deal. The hold-up is Cleveland’s reported sign-and-trade interest in both Watson and Kuminga.
That overlap matters, because the two athletic forwards keep popping up in the same conversations. Along with the Cavaliers, the Bucks, Hawks and Clippers have all been connected to Watson and Kuminga.
Watson has reportedly been offered deals from Denver in the $14-18MM range per year, though he was said to be looking for something north of $25MM annually early in free agency. The Nuggets are boxed in financially, sitting above the second tax apron, which makes any resolution trickier.
Kuminga, who finished last season with Atlanta, has also been linked to the Lakers and Timberwolves. Minnesota can basically only offer the veteran’s minimum, and the 23-year-old is said to be unhappy with the contract proposals from Los Angeles.
Mathurin is the last restricted free agent still available. For a while, there wasn’t much noise around the former No. 6 overall pick, but that changed recently when he was connected to the Pelicans, Bulls, Bucks and Mavericks.
Later reports cooled the Dallas and Chicago chatter, saying the Mavericks hadn’t shown “serious” interest and that the Bulls’ interest in the Montreal native was “ overstated.” The Clippers are also said to want to keep Mathurin.
Williams, coming off what was described as a solid season with the Mavs, was expected to draw interest from Phoenix, Golden State, Boston and Dallas, but the market has been quiet since free agency opened. The 6’1″ guard may no longer fit into the Mavericks’ plans because of their roster crunch.
DeRozan is the other notable name still waiting. A six-time All-Star who turns 37 on Friday, he would have been a top-50 free agent if he had been on the market earlier, but he didn’t reach free agency until July 8 after Sacramento waived him a couple days before. He has been tied to several teams, including Washington, and still hasn’t signed with anyone.
All of the deals that have been agreed to so far are in our 2026 free agent tracker, and the full list of remaining free agents is available as well.
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Clippers Interest In Peyton Watson Comes With One Clear Limit
The Clippers interest in Peyton Watson has been real enough to register, and it makes sense from their side. He is a young wing with defensive upside, and Los Angeles has the draft capital to get into a conversation Denver would actually entertain. But the asking price helps explain why talks have not moved quickly, especially with the Nuggets looking for a steep return and the Clippers trying to protect the kind of future assets they have been careful to preserve.
Watson also comes with the kind of questions that make any front office slow down. His half-court creation remains a concern, and his injury history adds another layer of caution for a team trying to balance present value with long-term flexibility. So while the Clippers clearly see enough there to keep watching, their line appears to be firm: interested, yes, but not at the cost of paying premium price for a player they are not ready to treat as a must-have. [Read more 🡒]