Shooting Guard Carousel Will 'Define First Few Hours Of Free Agency'

06/24/2024 11:38 AM

Heading into the start of free agency on the evening of June 30th, the shooting guard position has become where there will be the biggest level of uncertainty with big name players potentially changing teams. Paul George, Klay Thompson, DeMar DeRozan and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will receive interest on the open market, but there are not quite enough available slots for all four to leave their incumbent teams.

"We're seeing what is a carousel of shooting guards developing," said Brian Windhorst on Monday's episode of Get Up. "There's really four to keep an eye on: Klay Thompson, Paul George, DeMar DeRozan and Kentavius Caldwell-Pope. [Caldwell-Pope] is expected to opt out of his contract with the Denver Nuggets.

"My speculation and league sources believe that somebody's going to be left without a chair here. There's a couple of teams that are interested in signing these guys in free agency, such as Philadelphia or Orlando, but not everybody's going to have a spot. And that could leave either Klay Thompson or Paul George maybe staying put thinking that that's their best option. So that shooting guard position... DeMar DeRozan, a possibility as well, maybe to leave the Bulls or stay put. All of those things are going to define the first few hours of free agency. That's where the star power is in this free agent class."

With George possessing the ability to opt-in with the intent on orchestrating a trade, that option would only be available to him until June 29th, which could give his situation some clarity before those other players.