{"id":151768,"date":"2025-07-23T15:38:01","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T19:38:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=151768"},"modified":"2025-07-23T15:38:01","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T19:38:01","slug":"best-players-change-teams-free-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/07\/23\/best-players-change-teams-free-agency\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Players To Change Teams In Free Agency This Offseason"},"content":{"rendered":"

Other than some notable restricted free agents, many of the more impactful players on the market have been signed. Let\u2019s take a look at the best players that changed teams via free agency this offseason. These are only free agents, so someone like Kevin Durant<\/a>, who changed teams by way of trade, is not included. Other notable free agents that changed teams include Caris LeVert<\/a> (Pistons), Marcus Smart<\/a> (Lakers), Chris Paul<\/a> (Clippers), Brook Lopez<\/a> (Clippers), Dennis Schroder<\/a> (Kings), and Luke Kornet<\/a> (Spurs).<\/p>\n

(The five players below are listed in alphabetical order by last name.)<\/p>\n

The Best Players To Change Teams In Free Agency This Offseason<\/h2>\n

Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Atlanta Hawks<\/h3>\n

Finishing sixth in Sixth Man of the Year<\/a> voting last season, Nickeil Alexander-Walker<\/a> joins the Hawks after spending the last two years with the Timberwolves. A solid on-ball defender, he also shot better than 38% from beyond three-point range each of the last three seasons. Turning 27 years old on September 2, he has also shown the ability to be a secondary\/tertiary ball-handler.<\/p>\n

\"The
May 26, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker (9) reacts against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second half during game four of the western conference finals for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bradley Beal, Los Angeles Clippers<\/h3>\n

Not originally a free agent, Bradley Beal<\/a> was bought out by the Suns<\/a>. He was heavily scrutinized as a player earning $50+ million last season with a no-trade clause. Now, the 32-year-old still provides present day value on a much more reasonable deal. Beal should have less pressure on a veteran-laden<\/a> Clippers team. While his usage rate paled in comparison to his earlier Wizards days, the 13-year pro had solid shooting splits of 49.7\/38.6\/80.3 in 2024-25.<\/p>\n

Dorian Finney-Smith, Houston Rockets<\/h3>\n

Not a huge scorer, Dorian Finney-Smith<\/a> is a prototypical 3-and-D player, and has been for quite some time. The 32-year-old was one of the few players outside of Luka Doncic<\/a>, LeBron James<\/a>, and Austin Reaves<\/a> that head coach JJ Redick had any faith in during last season\u2019s playoffs with the Lakers. The 41.1% three-point accuracy Finney-Smith had in 2024-25 was the best of his nine-year career. He now joins a loaded Rockets team (especially in the frontcourt), but he will certainly play a large role in their rotation.<\/p>\n

Ty Jerome, Memphis Grizzlies<\/h3>\n

Last season was a breakout one for Ty Jerome<\/a>, who was a finalist for Sixth Man of the Year (finished third in voting). The recently-turned 28-years old-old nearly became a member of the 50\/40\/90 club in 2024-25. He finished the year with shooting splits of 51.6\/43.9\/87.2 with the Cavaliers. He now joins a Grizzlies team where he should play a similar role, but it remains to be seen if he can show the world that last season wasn\u2019t a one-off.<\/p>\n

Myles Turner, Milwaukee Bucks<\/h3>\n

Arguably the most surprising free agent to change teams, Myles Turner<\/a> spent his first 10 seasons with the Pacers. He joined the Bucks, a team that Indiana eliminated from the playoffs the last two years, on a four-year deal. The 6-foot-11 center is a stretch-five that connected on a career-best 39.6% of his three-point tries in 2024-25. Now 29 years old, he\u2019s effectively replacing Brook Lopez (signed with the Clippers) in Milwaukee\u2019s starting lineup.<\/p>\n

Photo credit: \u00a9 Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Other than some notable restricted free agents, many of the more impactful players on the market have been signed. Let\u2019s take a look at the best players that changed teams via free agency this offseason. These are only free agents, so someone like Kevin Durant, who changed teams by way of trade, is not included. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5060,"featured_media":151780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,4,31,27,32,15,62,3],"tags":[311,2272,637,947,1877],"class_list":["post-151768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-hawks","category-rockets","category-clippers","category-grizzlies","category-bucks","category-nba","category-news","tag-bradley-beal","tag-dorian-finney-smith","tag-myles-turner","tag-nickeil-alexander-walker","tag-ty-jerome"],"modified_by":"Kenny Kluska","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5060"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151768"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":151781,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151768\/revisions\/151781"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}