Enrique Freeman Hitting Free Agency With Optimism: ‘I Think I Put Myself In A Good Position’

After spending his rookie season with an Indiana Pacers team that reached Game 7 of the NBA Finals, forward Enrique Freeman is now exploring unrestricted free agency for the first time. And by all accounts, he’s embracing the opportunity.

“I think I put myself in a good position to where I’ll be somewhere soon to get a job and continue my career,” Freeman told Spencer Davies of RG.org. “My biggest goal is to get a contract and be a steady NBA player.”

Freeman, 24, is a native of Cleveland and a product of the University of Akron. He was selected with the 50th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft and ended up appearing in 22 regular-season games for Indiana, averaging 2.1 points and 1.4 rebounds in just over seven minutes per game. His minutes increased after fellow big man Isaiah Jackson suffered an Achilles injury midseason.

Freeman followed that up with a strong showing in Summer League earlier this month. In Las Vegas, he averaged 16.6 points, 9.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks while shooting 72.5 percent from the field and 55.6 percent from beyond the arc on limited attempts.

Despite that performance, Indiana opted not to retain him. With all three of their two-way contract slots already filled, the Pacers pulled their two-way qualifying offer, officially making Freeman an unrestricted free agent earlier this month.

The 6-foot-7 forward now looks to parlay his Summer League success into a new opportunity elsewhere. He’s still looking for his first standard NBA contract but has shown enough flashes to draw plenty of interest across the league.

“I can bring rebounding, defense. Now I can bring shooting. Now I can bring an offensive threat,” Freeman told Davies. “I had a great Summer League this year, four double-doubles, No. 4 in efficiency throughout the Summer League. And also, I can offer my motor. I play very hard. I put in very hard work, and a lot of teams love that.”

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