Ziller Ranks all the Free Agents

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#25. Eric Gordon The Pelicans’ highest-paid player has a chance to lock in another long, rich deal. What a weird career he’s had, though. He had his best shooting season ever in 2014-15, but he’s really stopped driving to the rim much and has gone from a 20-point scorer to a 13-point scorer in just a few years. (He’s still only 26.) If Gordon is put into a position to rediscover his once prodigious dribble-drive game to pair with his tremendous shooting stroke, he can be a top-7 two-guard. Otherwise, he’s turning into an Anthony Morrow. That’s fine, but that’s not worth $15 million. UPDATE: Gordon picked up his player option.

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#47 Omer Asik Unrestricted

It’s time to start asking whether Asik is even a good team defender. He looked great in Chicago, but so does everyone. Houston’s defense improved a bunch this season despite Asik’s flight and Dwight Howard being injured, while New Orleans’ defense was not great with Asik and Anthony Davis up front. I’m newly skeptical of Asik’s NBA usefulness.

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#70 Norris Cole Restricted

Surprisingly competent in NoLa. Two-time NBA champion.

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#14. Danny Green Unrestricted

Green is the youngest 27-year-old on the planet. He still doesn’t even have 10,000 total NBA minutes under his belt. He’s also never been paid more than $4 million in a season. Little attention has been paid to Green as San Antonio opens up its books in search of another star to pair with Kawhi Leonard for the next four years. For that reason, Green feels eminently gettable. He’s only one of the league’s most prolific and effective deep shooters and an excellent defender. He should command upwards of $12 million a year.

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#20. Khris Middleton Restricted

Middleton looks like the classic role player who gets massively overpaid based on one really good season, a la Bobby Simmons. Here’s how Middleton is different: he’ll be just 24 next season with two strong deep-shooting seasons and he’s excelled under two (very) different coaches. He’s more proven than you think. Given the future of the salary cap, you wonder if a team will throw $15 million per year or more at him to see if Milwaukee blinks.

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#22. DeMarre Carroll Unrestricted

Carroll is similar to Middleton but older (29 in July) and with a stronger defensive reputation. He’s also unrestricted, which could lead to a massive payday. LeBron thoroughly dominated him in the playoffs, though he was playing through an injury. It’s hard to hold that against Carroll — who doesn’t LeBron dominate? — but it’ll be something teams consider heavily before backing up the armored truck in free agency.

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#27. Tobias Harris Restricted

Harris probably felt pretty good about returning to Orlando until they hired his old coach, Scott Skiles. He's a solid No. 2 scorer and mid-range shooter. It’s fitting that he’s been linked to the Knicks; he’s a (very) poor man’s Carmelo Anthony

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#30. Jae Crowder Restricted

Sign him to a modest contract around the mid-level, invest in a shooting coach, ask him to defend the opponents’ best wing every night and see where you are in two years. This is the type of player you chase if you want to grab a Middleton or Carroll before they are getting serious paper.

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#32. Tyson Chandler Unrestricted

Chandler isn’t too worn out to anchor a defense. He is too old to be the only decent defender on a team. He’d be super interesting as a (potentially) cheaper alternative to Omer Asik and a mentor in New Orleans.

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