2020 NBA Free Agent Rankings: Anthony Davis, Brandon Ingram, And The Top 10 Overall

The NBA’s 2020 Free Agency period is currently scheduled to commence on Sunday, October, 18th at 6 p.m. EST. However, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported in late August that the National Basketball Players Association has been preparing its membership for the likelihood that the start of free agency could be pushed back several weeks. Whenever free agency begins, here are the ten players expected to atop most team’s wishlists:

1. Anthony Davis – Player Option – Los Angeles Lakers:

Davis, fresh off a fantastic all-around debut campaign in L.A. and currently in the middle of an outstanding postseason run, has a $28.75 million option for the 2020-21 season. Most pundits fully believe A.D., who is represented by LeBron James’ buddy Rich Paul and Klutch Sports Group, will opt-out and re-sign with the Lakers. The question appears to be whether or not he’ll re-up for one more season, or ink a three-year deal, with a player option for the fourth.  

2. Brandon Ingram, Restricted, New Orleans Pelicans:

Ingram was one of the players the Pelicans received from the Lakers in the trade that sent A.D. to L.A. Ingram had an incredible season in New Orleans, setting career highs in points (23.8), rebounds (6.1), assists (4.2) and steals per game (1.0), as well as 3-point percentage (39.1%) and free throw percentage (85.1%). For his efforts, he was handed the NBA’s Most Improved Player award last week. Having just turned 23, Ingram is just starting to scratch the surface of his vast potential. It would be shocking if the Pels didn’t offer him a maximum-salary contract to keep him in New Orleans.

3. DeMar DeRozan – Player Option – San Antonio Spurs:

How consistently great has DeRozan been over the last five years? Dating back to 2015, he’s one of only five players to score at least 1,500 points each of the last five seasons. The other four are LeBron James, James Harden, Damian Lillard and Russell Westbrook. And this past season, DeRozan was one of two players to average 20+ points, 5+ rebounds and 5+ assists while shooting over 50% (Giannis Antetokounmpo was the other). He has a $27.7 million options for 2020-21, but with the salary cap expended to drop dramatically, he may decide to opt-in for one more season in San Antonio and then hit free agency in 2021.

4. Fred VanVleet – Unrestricted – Toronto Raptors:

After surprisingly taking on a starring role in the Raptors run to a title in 2019 (averaging 14.9 points on 49% shooting over Toronto’s final eight playoff games, including the NBA Finals), VanVleet has continued his astonishing upward trajectory this season, his first as a full-time starter. In addition to career-highs in points (17.6) and rebounds (3.8), FVV also averaged 6.6 assists, 2.8 made 3PT’s and 1.9 steals during the 2019-20 campaign. According to Basketball-Reference, only two players in NBA history have matched or exceeded those averages in each of those categories throughout a full NBA season: Steph Curry and James Harden. 

5. Andre Drummond – Player Option – Cleveland Cavs:

Back in June, Drummond said he would ‘definitely’ exercise his player option, worth a cool $28.7 million, and return to Cleveland next season. There’s no way he’d get anything approaching that number for the 2020-21 campaign if he hit free agency, so it’s a relatively easy decision for the big man.  

6. Montrezl Harrell – Unrestricted – Los Angeles Clippers:

Harrell won the 2019-20 NBA Sixth Man Award, after averaging 18.6 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocked shots in 27.8 minutes per game. He’s earned less than $16 million combined over his first five seasons in the NBA, but the 26-year-old Harrell will be looking for a contract that exceeds $16 million annually in free agency. It’ll be interesting to see if billionaire owner Steve Ballmer and the Clippers pony up to keep him in Los Angeles. 

7. Gordon Hayward – Player Option – Boston Celtics:  

If Hayward, 30, choose to opt out and hit free agency this fall, he’d undoubtedly be one of the top all-around players on the market. However, he has a massive $34.2 million player option for next season. While several suitors would be willing to offer him long-term contracts despite his lengthy and worrisome injury history, Hayward wouldn’t get anywhere close to $34 million as a starting salary. Thus, it’s probably safe to assume he’ll opt in to the final year of his contract and join the incredibly stacked free-agent crop of 2021.

8. Danilo Gallinari – Unrestricted – OKC Thunder:

Long-range marksmanship is extremely valuable in today’s NBA, and few shooters in the league are more accurate from downtown than Gallinari. In 2018-19, he ranked fifth in the NBA in 3-point percentage (43.3%) and was the only player in the league to average at least 19 points and six rebounds, while shooting over 43% from 3PT-range. This past season, he once again stayed relatively healthy, and again posted a True Shooting percentage north of 61% while averaging 18 points per game. 

9. Bogdan Bogdanovic – Restricted – Sacramento Kings: 

Bogdanovic is coming off the best season of his career, as he averaged 20.0 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.0 made 3-pointers a night, while shooting a scorching 41.4% from behind the arc and 90.3% from the free-throw line. According to Basketball-Reference, the only other players in league history to attempt more than seven 3-pointers and four freebies per game, and shoot above 40% from deep and 90% from the stripe are Ray Allen and Steph Curry. The Kings can match any offer Bogey receives; however, Sacramento signed Buddy Hield to a four-year, $94 million extension and inked Harrison Barnes to a four-year, $85 million deal last summer. In addition, the Kings will soon have to shell out significant money for De’Aaron Fox and Marvin Bagley III. The new front office in Sacramento has some difficult decisions this summer. 

10. Davis Bertans – Unrestricted – Wizards: 

Bertans enjoyed a career-year during his first season with the Wizards. After averaging 6.1 points per game over his first three NBA seasons in San Antonio, Bertans poured in 15.4 points a night this past season and pulled down a career-high 4.5 rebounds. Bertans’ most valuable asset is undoubtedly his 3-point shooting. After knocking down 43% of his triple tries in 2018-19, Bertans attempted a whopping 8.7 three-pointers per game this past season and converted 42.4%. Coming into 2019-20, only two players had ever shot above 42% while attempting more than eight treys per game for a full season: Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. The Wizards declining to trade Bertans at the deadline back in February would suggest they are willing and prepared to pay him market value this offseason.