Chad Ford has a good article on this.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=ford_chad&page=FreeAgents-080629Yes there are some big names, but not a ton of money available and only among a few teams; most of those teams are the ones that already have bird rights on the big name free agents opting out of contracts
Philly: 14 mil, assuming they keep Iggy and Louis Williams
Charlotte: 12 if Okafor walks; he's due a minimum of 7 million for a qualifying offer will get quite a bit more as a good young defensive center
Seattle: 7.5 if Swift walks; if Swift stays, subtract whatever he gets.
Washington: around 3 million now that Jamison is signed, so if they re-sign arenas, they'll be over the cap. They have to re-sign him, really, since they can go over the cap to keep him and he's way better than anyone they'd get for the MLE or 3 mil.
LAC looks like they have about 30 mil available now than Brand and Maggette have opted out and if Livingston walks. Of course their roster would be completely stripped if they did that.
Memphis: about 15 under.
Golden State: about 29 mil with davis opting out and if biedrins walks. I'd assume Biedrins will get around 8 minimum, closer to 10 at least i bet.
That seems like a lot, but:
1. Memphis probably won't add salary this year; why else make the Gasol trade just to dump salary? Gasol would have been better and younger than any free agent they could target
2. Charlotte will keep Okafor
3. Washington will sign Arenas
4. Seattle will either sign swift or, if they let him walk, i bet they'll try to keep their budget low for now
So the only real players are Philly, Golden State, and the Clips, with 64 between them (a generous estimate)
Then keep in mind that players opt out to try to get MORE money, and remember that this is what the players were due in 08-09, that the players opted out of:
Brand 16.5 mil
Arenas 12 mil
Maggette 8.5 mil
Davis 17.2
That's about 54 mil right there, just between those four, all of whom will want raises above those amounts.
All in all, i bet most of those players return to their current teams, with maybe one guy headed to Philly (all they'd want is Brand, though, out of those four, unless there is a sign and trade).
Ah yes, the sign and trade. If there is a lot of action and surprises among these free agents, i bet it will be in the form of sign and trades. Let's hope so!
