If your team needs a starting small forward entering free agency, well … you’ll probably still need one afterward.In an NBA free-agent market with generally slim pickings, the small forward market is the driest of them all. Not a single unrestricted free agent at the position rates as being worth more than the projected non-taxpayer midlevel exception (about $15 million) according to my BORD$ valuations. (More on the methodology here.)As always, I’ve included all free agents and potential free agents due to player options, team options and non-guaranteed contracts, except for absurd cases where there is no chance of a player being waived and — importantly — also no chance for other cap shenanigans by declining options and signing new contracts.Free-agent market: Top 25 | shooting guards(PO = player option; TO = team option; NG = non-guaranteed; PG = partial guarantee; R = restricted)Tier 1: Max guysNoneTier 2: More than MLE, less than max1. Tari Eason, Houston (R): $24,110,720 Eason and the Rockets were close to an extension for roughly this dollar amount a year ago but couldn’t dot all the I’s by the deadline for rookie contact extensions. The most important stat for Eason is the games played column — he suited up for 60, plus all six playoff games, his most since he played 82 as a rookie. Eason also showed more bona fides as a 3-and-D guy by shooting 35.8 percent from distance on respectable volume. The “D” part of the equation for him is much more established, of course, as Eason is a chaos agent with plus-size for a wing and ballhawking instincts.All of that should leave him with a market right in the neighborhood of three years and $75 million. The question is more about how many contractual bells and whistles will be attached to guard against physical issues. Houston will surely tender him his $8 million qualifying offer, and one presumes the Rockets would match reasonable offer sheets given their mostly manageable cap sheet.Tier 3: MLE guys2. Lu Dort, Oklahoma City (TO): $17,705,328 It seems unlikely that the Thunder can continue with Dort next season. They have multiple players at his position who are both better and younger, the team is set to be $40 million over the projected luxury tax line and Dort is coming off an off-year in which he was ineffective in the Western Conference finals.The Thunder’s most likely pathway out would be to trade him for a second-round pick or two and generate a $17 million trade exception. Given that Dort has a contract for $17.7 million with one year left (note that it also has an extra $1 million in unlikely incentives that count toward the apron) — nearly the same figure as his BORD$ valuation — that seems a fair proposition for the acquiring team. He could also be extended as part of the same trade. If the Thunder can’t make a deal, another endgame is to decline the option on Dort, which would likely see him get offers for the full non-taxpayer midlevel exception (MLE).3. Duncan Robinson, Detroit (PG): $16,785,284It seems highly unlikely the Pistons would waive Robinson from his partially guaranteed deal ($2 million) just to get some extra cap space, and this BORD$ exercise shows why. The Pistons owe him nearly $16 million for the coming season, not far off from his valuation. Eating $2 million just to go into a very uncertain cap environment is an unlikely play. Alas, if Robinson were somehow waived (and presumably stretched), he likely has a market at the full MLE.The 3 teams that should trade for GiannisEsfandiar Baraheni4. Kevin Huerter, Detroit: $14,886,871Find somebody who loves you as much as my numbers love Huerter. Despite a dropoff in his level of play since his Atlanta days and his inability to make an impact after his midseason trade to Detroit, BORD$ still sees Huerter as a plus rotation player worth MLE money.He’s not getting that type of scratch this summer, but he’d be a good candidate on a one-plus-one deal for the projected room exception ($9.4 million) that would give him a chance to make some bank next summer if he has a good year.5. Andrew Wiggins, Miami (PO): $13,735,931It seems very, very unlikely Wiggins will hit free agency. He has a player option worth $30 million, and at long last, there is nobody left who can talk themselves into the idea that he’s a max- or near-max-caliber player.6. Peyton Watson, Denver (R): $12,953,096Watson will likely be the subject of heavy bidding from teams with MLE money or better, given the perception that the Nuggets are too cheap to match a strong offer sheet. BORD$ is perhaps a bit conservative since his 2025-26 season was so much stronger than his first three. His 41.1 percent from 3 might be a fluke, but Watson is only 23 and heavily increased his usage. He also has wing-stopper defensive upside, so there’s a floor regardless of what happens offensively.Tier 4: Less than MLE, more than minimum7. Ziaire Williams, Brooklyn (TO): 10,338,494The Nets have a team option on Williams for a mere $6.1 million, but the scenario in which the Nets decline his option to re-sign him to a longer deal seems likely. The Nets using the rest of their cap space and then inking Williams for three years and $28 million using the room exception would seem a potential outcome.8. Javonte Green, Detroit: $10,114,318Detroit’s bench energizer played more at power forward last season, but at 6 foot 5, his natural position is small forward. Green turns 33 this summer, which should limit him to a one- or two-year deal. But his late-in-life shooting transformation (38.1 percent last year from 3 on real volume) has made him a valuable player. Coming off a one-year deal with no Bird rights, he’s among the more gettable free agents, as the Pistons need to use exception money to keep him.With his shooting, Vít Krejčí’s contract is one of the league’s best. (Jaime Valdez / Imagn Images)9. Vít Krejčí, Portland (NG): $8,640,704Listed here for posterity, as the Trail Blazers traded two second-round picks for the sharpshooting Krejci (39.3 percent career from 3) in February, and his $2.7 million deal for the coming season is one of the league’s best contracts.