10 free agents who can help NBA teams

The NBA free agency well dried up long before the middle of August rolled around. In fact, it appears owners are a bit fed up over the perception that the to-be best available players negotiated moves to future homes ahead of when clubs were first allowed to speak with them, per ESPN's Zach Lowe and Brian Windhorst. Nevertheless, no game-changers remain unsigned and on the open market as of when this piece first goes public. Franchises will have to execute trades to land big names like Kevin Love, Chris Paul or Bradley Beal.

This isn't to say there's no help left among the vast group of unattached free agents. Every team out there, from those destined to finish among the lottery selections to organizations eyeing lengthy postseason runs, can use shooters capable of getting buckets from beyond the arc. In other instances, veteran leadership and mentorship mean more than what someone in the twilight of his career can offer on the court. For example, the Portland Trail Blazers likely are hoping Pau Gasol can help Hassan Whiteside find his best form after the team traded for the Miami Heat big man earlier this offseason.

So who are the free agents most able to help an NBA team?

Jeremy Lin

Veteran point guard and cultural icon Jeremy Lin may have overreacted when publicly talking about his NBA future in July. Granted, the days of "Linsanity" are but a memory, and he played a total of 27 postseason minutes for the Toronto Raptors during that club's championship run. The 30-year-old showed with the Atlanta Hawks that he's comfortable coming off the bench and playing behind a young point guard hoped to be a future franchise cornerstone. He averaged 10.7 PPG and 3.5 AST in 51 appearances with the Hawks before Atlanta helped him chase a ring with Toronto. The Cleveland Cavaliers have a pair of young guards who could benefit from sitting under Lin's learning tree for even a few months.

Joe Johnson 

Johnson is 38 years old, he didn't play in the Association last season and his three-point shooting dropped to below 30 percent across his last 55 NBA games. Still, hear us out. The seven-time All-Star who first entered the league in 2001 is keeping his playing career afloat in the Big3, and he's still dialing it up from long distance in front of audiences. Right around Christmas in July, Iso Joe told Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune, "To be honest, I’m not at peace with how my career ended." Earlier this summer, Johnson linked himself with the Los Angeles Lakers when speaking with Atlanta sports station 92.9 The Game. The Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers and Utah Jazz could all do worse in looking for a veteran willing to take a reduced role.

Thabo Sefolosha

Health concerns and a prior league ban may be why 35-year-old forward Thabo Sefolosha remains unsigned weeks ahead of Labor Day. His 2017-18 campaign ended prematurely due to a knee injury he suffered in January 2018, and he received a five-game suspension for violating the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program that April. Despite all of that, Sefolosha is still an above-average defender at his position, and the 3-and-D specialist converted 34 of 78 attempts from distance (43.6 percent) in 50 regular-season appearances with the Utah Jazz last season. He could contribute 15 minutes per night for a contender.

Kenneth Faried

All things being equal, Kenneth Faried may be the most surprising free agent still not scooped up by a team in need. The 29-year-old waived by the Brooklyn Nets in January found a home with the Houston Rockets after Clint Capela suffered a thumb injury, and those two became a solid pairing, as Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle described, once Capela returned to the lineup. In 25 regular-season appearances (13 starts) with the Rockets, Faried averaged 12.9 PPG, 8.2 REB, and 0.8 BLK, and he made 7-of-20 three-point attempts (35 percent). That's more threes than he's ever buried in a campaign. Some club searching for a 6-foot-8 backup will grab Faried, presumably before the season starts.

Jamal Crawford

Despite turning 39 years old in March, Jamal Crawford isn't ready to call time on his career before playing a 20th season. In 64 appearances with the Phoenix Suns last season, Crawford registered a career-best in assists per 100 possessions (9.0), his assist percentage (27.7) was his highest since the 2002-03 campaign, and his true shooting percentage remained over 52 percent. Obviously, his legs and defensive abilities aren't what they were even a few years ago. In April, however, Crawford became the oldest player in league history to score 50 points in a game and also the first player to reach the 50-point threshold with four different clubs. Let him get buckets at an average of 15 minutes per game, NBA teams.

Shaun Livingston

Like Crawford, Shaun Livingston delivered his own version of the NSFW "Wolf of Wall Street" speech by declaring he wasn't leaving the NBA after the Golden State Warriors waived him in July. The lengthy 6-foot-7 guard won three championships as part of the dynastic Warriors, he's played in 126 playoff contests during his career and he's appeared in the NBA Finals on five consecutive occasions. Livingston, who turns 34 years old in September, offers much more than experience.  He's well-respected as a class act behind the scenes, and his basketball IQ makes him an on-the-floor coach in a backup role limited to 10 minutes per night. He'd probably still be with Golden State had the club not faced a salary-cap crunch this summer. Ryan Piers of Hoops Habit mentioned playoff teams such as the Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Clippers as potential destinations for the veteran.

Iman Shumpert

By now, Iman Shumpert's game isn't a secret. He's a consistent wing defender who can produce some clutch stops underneath the postseason lights, but also somebody almost inevitably plagued by shooting woes during a stint with a team. His stats from the last campaign are evidence of this. He shot 36.6 percent from three-point land in 42 appearances, 40 starts, with the Sacramento Kings, but that number dipped to below 30 percent in 20 contests following a trade to the Houston Rockets. That aside, Shumpert averaged over 15 minutes per game and notched double-digit scoring nights twice in the postseason series against the Warriors. While he'll be relegated to the bench come April, he's a decent spot-starter option for the winter months.

JR Smith 

Odds are the last time non-Cleveland fans saw JR Smith in action, he was forgetting how much time was left in the closing seconds of Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals. Smith's scoring has declined since Cleveland's championship season, and he played in only 11 games during the 2018-19 campaign before he and the tanking Cavs agreed they were better off apart. The one-time NBA champion can still shoot over 37 percent from three when fully motivated, and he's bound to be healthy, if not in "basketball shape," after his long layoff. Considering how he reacted upon realizing where the Cavs were headed (to the basement of the standings), he's probably hoping to sign with a contender.

Joakim Noah 

Even before Joakim Noah's forgettable tenure with the New York Knicks mercifully concluded last October, plenty wrote him off as a relic who simply could no longer go against elite competition. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he experienced a career resurrection with the Memphis Grizzlies, averaging 7.1 PPG, 5.7 REB, 2.1 AST and 0.7 BLK in 42 appearances. He averaged 15.5 points (a career-high), 12.4 boards, 4.6 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.0 steals per 36 minutes with Memphis. He shouldn't start, and 16 minutes per game should be his ceiling. As long as a playoff team realizes that, Noah can make a difference this coming season.

Carmelo Anthony

To sign Carmelo Anthony is to acquire everything that comes along with him, including the type of baggage that led to USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo telling Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated that adding 'Melo to the 2019 FIFA World Cup squad "could have been a distraction." Several months after his 35th birthday, Anthony can average over 10 PPG against reserve defenses in his sleep. That's just one reason some predicted he could compete for Sixth Man of the Year honors after joining the Houston Rockets ahead of the 2018-19 season. One wonders if sitting until September could aid Anthony in understanding his fit with a club during what would likely be an unofficial farewell tour.