NBA OffseasonliveUpdated 19s agoNBA free agency begins at 6 p.m. ET Tuesday. Follow along for the latest leading up to then, including reaction from some big trades that have already happened.The Athletic NBA StaffJune 30, 2026 at 9:50 AM EDTJalen Duren may be the top free agent on the market, though Detroit has the right to match any offer. Gregory Shamus / Getty ImagesNBA free agency — the latestThe NBA offseason officially begins at 6 p.m. ET Tuesday when free agency gets underway. But a lot has already happened.Several All-Stars have already been traded, including Giannis Antetokounmpo to Miami, LaMelo Ball to Minnesota and, most recently, Ja Morant to Portland.Two other big names are on the block as well. Will the Clippers trade Kawhi Leonard? Is Jaylen Brown's time in Boston ending?On the free agency front, young big man Jalen Duren is seeking alternative destinations amid contentious negotiations with the Pistons. And what of LeBron James? Will the NBA's all-time leading scorer team up with Steph Curry and the Warriors, return to the Lakers or even retire?Stay here for the latest from our team of reporters. To catch up on everything that's already happened, click here. A lot has happened in the NBA over the past couple days. Let's catch you up!Subscribe to The Athletic! The AthleticThe NBA draft is over. The offseason fireworks have already begun. The NHL offseason has begun, as well, and the NFL and college football seasons are coming up fast. Plus, the World Cup is rolling along, with the USMNT set to play Wednesday in their first knockout game.We will have all that, and more, covered at The Athletic. Get your subscription here to make sure you can read all of our terrific coverage.Join the conversation!Who should your favorite team sign? Are you happy or upset with your team's big trade? Did we get our analysis wrong?We’d love to hear from you about free agency. Get involved with our discussion and send us your thoughts at live@theathletic.com, or check out our Discuss tab to chat with fellow fans.We will take the best contributions and add them to our coverage.My top 25 free agents David Reginek / ImagnHere is my list of this summer’s top 25 free agents, many of whom have already agreed to terms. I developed a player valuation system called BORD$ (short for “Big Old Rating Dollars”) that uses analytics and playing time data from the last two seasons, projects values for the coming season based on a player’s age and performance and then converts the projected performance and playing time into a salary estimate based on the projected cap in 2026-27 of $165 million. (More on the methodology from this story five years ago.)My BORD$ formula values 24 free agents as being worth at least more than the non-taxpayer midlevel exception, projected to be $15 million next season. It doesn’t mean that’s what they’ll get, but it’s a nice starting point for figuring out what might be “fair” in a more even market.Why the free agency part of the offseason isn't what it once was Jason Miller / Getty ImagesHello? Anyone here?NBA free agency starts at 6 p.m. Eastern on June 30, but in the last decade, the prominence of this date has taken a serious nosedive.The reason: Nobody good changes teams this way anymore. Rule changes on unrestricted free agency have incentivized both teams and players to agree to extensions long before they hit the open market, while on the demand side, operating as a cap space team is an increasingly onerous way to live compared to the advantages of using Bird rights and the non-taxpayer midlevel exception (NTMLE). Those two detriments to high-impact player movement are so hard-wired into the league that we barely have time left over to blame the tax aprons.When does free agency begin — and why has it already started? Allen Berezovsky / Getty ImagesNBA free agency does not officially begin until June 30 at 6 p.m. ET. However, as the flurry of activity we've already seen demonstrates, the offseason, in effect, is well underway.Why? For one, teams can (and have) agreed to deals with their own free agents before then. Also, teams can agree to trades involving players under contract and simply make them official once the free-agent moratorium ends in the first week of July. That's how the Bucks can trade Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Hornets can deal LaMelo Ball without officially announcing the transactions. They can also trade anyone already under contract for next season; this is why the Ja Morant trade to Portland is already official.Finally, the idea that teams simply wait until the starting gun at 6 p.m. ET to actually negotiate with free agents is, let's say, not reality in practice. Teams — and players — must get their plans in motion well in advance. Plus, so-called tampering is rampant because it is impossible to fully police. That's one reason why the Jalen Duren sweepstakes have already advanced to this point.Free agency, then, has already begun in practice, even if not officially.