With former Los Angeles Lakers reserve power forward/center Wenyen Gabriel now off the free agency board (he's joining a revamped Boston Celtics team), HoopsHype has just released its new list of what it considers the best remaining free agent NBA players across all five positions:
I agree with four of these five options. John Wall, a former five-time All-Star and All-NBA Third Team honoree while with the Washington Wizards, has been sapped of a lot of the athleticism that made him so special on both ends of the hardwood.
He had a very brief run with the Los Angeles Clippers last season, and was flipped to the Houston Rockets as part of a three-team deal at the trade deadline. The rebuilding Rockets waived him before he could ever play a game with another of his former clubs. He failed to find a landing spot heading into the season's home stretch and playoffs.
Austin Rivers is younger, a better two-way player capable of playing either guard spot, and doesn't have nearly the same ball-stopping issues that have plagued Wall of late. He is the best free agent point guard left on the market. Wall might just be cooked.
The Lakers still have one available roster spot heading into the 2023-24 season, so they could ostensibly look to sign any of the aforementioned players, though it is rumored they want to keep that spot open for easier facilitating in potential trades. Ross, Rivers and Green could all be decent theoretical fits, as floor spacers who don't need the rock in their hands to be effective.
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