 Welcome to my 2016 NBA free agency predictions. So as we all know, NBA teams can begin to talk and negotiate with free agents starting on July 1st, so pretty much in a few hours from this video being uploaded. You're going to see that there will be some unexpected moves happening throughout this free agency, but the salary cap rising from $70 million to $94 million, far more teams than normal will have the cash space to play with, making this summer's free agency frenzy one of the hardest to predict. But I'm going to do my best to predict where I think certain players will end up, and before you guys roast me in the conversation, I'm only human, I'm only going to predict one team that I think that these players will end up going to, so definitely comment down below your thoughts on where you think certain players will end up, because like I said, I'm one, I'm one person, I have one mind, and I can only predict where I think players will end up, but obviously there's 30 teams in the NBA that can only choose one team, so don't blame me if I'm wrong. Anyway, before I get started, I'd appreciate it if you guys could drop a like on the video just to show your support, but here are my predictions for this year's NBA Top Unrestricted, so yeah, we're not going to be talking about restricted free agents, but yeah, NBA Top Unrestricted Free Agents, and this is in no order, but starting at number one, Kevin Durant. Kevin Durant is the ultimate prize of the summer of 2016, along with obviously LeBron James, but I think we all know that LeBron is going to resign with the Cleveland Cavaliers, so yeah, Kevin Durant is the ultimate prize this year. He was the 2014 NBA MVP, and plenty of teams have their eyes set on targeting this year's free agents star. He has meetings with the Warriors, the Spurs, the Heat, the Clippers, the Celtics, and of course the Oklahoma City Thunder. Of those teams however, the three that appear to have the best shot at getting Durant, I think in my opinion are the Warriors, the Thunder, and the Miami Heat. Let's start with the least likely, the Miami Heat. The Miami Heat president, Pat Riley, one of the greatest GMs of all time, has obviously in the past been able to get some pretty crazy talent to Miami. He got Shaq, he's got LeBron, and he's obviously got Chris Bosch. But now he's trying to get Kevin Durant. The only problem for the Miami Heat is that Dwayne Wade, while still playing at an all-star level, is 34 years old, and Chris Bosch, we don't even know if he's going to return to being the Chris Bosch that we know. We don't even know if he's going to play next year, so he's had some serious health problems over the last two seasons with blood clots. Pat Riley might be a basketball genius and a master of persuasion, but selling Durant on Miami is harder than it looks. All indications are that Durant's decision will come down to the Warriors or the Thunder. I don't see him going to Miami. If the Warriors are able to move either Andre Godalla or Andrew Bogut, they'll have the cap space to sign Durant. It's crazy to think that, since they won the championship in 2015, they made it this year to the NBA finals, and Steph Curry, the MVP, Clay Thompson, Dwayne Montgomery, they're not even on big contracts at all. In fact, Steph Curry is pretty crazily underpaid. Is that even a word? I don't know, let's roll with it. The opportunity to play alongside Steph Curry, Clay Thompson, and Dwayne Montgomery and compete for championships year after year might be pretty enticing for Durant, but in my opinion, I just don't see Durant being the type of player to go to a team that he was so close to beating in the Western Conference Finals. That team would be incredible though. The fact that Kevin Durant could be willing to leave OKC for a team he came within one game of defeating in the Western Conference Finals, I just personally can't see that happening. Above all else, you have to imagine that Kevin Durant just wants to win, especially wanting to win by leading a team, not playing behind Steph Curry. In the end, however, coming up just one game short of the NBA Finals, still having Russell Westbrook as his teammate and the acquisition of Victor Oladipo obviously losing Sergei Barker and the rise of players like Steven Adams and Andre Robison should be enough to persuade Durant to come home for at least one more shot this year. And my prediction is that Durant resounds with a Thunder just for one more year to see how he plays with Victor Oladipo and the rest of the crew. But I reckon it will only be for one year max contract and then we'll see what happens in 2017. Number two, Demarda Rosen. Although the Raptor shooting guard, Demarda Rosen, has stated on multiple occasions that he plans on staying in Toronto and he hasn't even organized any meetings with any other teams, there are still some whispers here and there that the two-time Ulster could end up in LA. Derosen, who turns 27 in August, is from LA and he actually played College Bowl at USC. Both the Lakers and the Clippers would certainly be interested in signing Demarda Rosen if he were to make it clear that he truly wanted to leave Toronto, which maybe he will in a few years, you never know. The problem is, as of right now, Derosen only has one meeting planned and that's with the Raptors. All signs point to Derosen re-upping for the max contract with Toronto and I just don't see him going anywhere, especially not this season. So my prediction is that Demarda Rosen resigns with the Raptors. Number three, Mike Conley. Finally, we have a free agent that probably won't sign with his former team. Conley is an Ulster level 4 general that is easily at the top of his position on the market. The Spurs and the Dallas Mavericks though, they appear to be Conley's two most likely destinations at the moment. For the Spurs, they still a pretty good pitch. Come play alongside Kawhi Leonard and Lamarca Soldridge and learn from one of the great point guards in Tony Parker. Compete for a championship in San Antonio for years to come. If the Spurs management can open up a napcast base, it might be enough to sway the 28 year old to San Antonio. A team like San Antonio that doesn't normally get free agents to get Lamarca Soldridge one year and then Mike Conley the next year, that will be pretty crazy for the San Antonio Spurs. That being said, the Dallas Mavericks should be considered the favorites to sign Mike Conley. Mavs owner Mark Cuban has been desperate to sign a high profile free agent for years. And after losing out last summer on DeAndre Jordan, you can be assured that the Mavs will be pushing the hardest for Conley's services. Conley is exactly the type of point guard head coach Rick Carlile loves. And not to mention, they have cat space. So Mike Conley signs with the Dallas Mavericks for the max contract. That would be crazy. And that's my prediction. Number four, Al Horford. Trying to figure out where the former Hawke Santa Al Horford is going to land this summer is a difficult parcel to solve. The full time I was stuck with very well resigning in Atlanta, but it's hard to imagine that the Hawks would be willing to shell out a max contract to a player who is about to turn 31 years old. Not to mention, they just lost Jeff Teague. And Jeff Teague was a pretty vital part to what the Atlanta Hawks were doing this season. So does Al Horford want to come back without Jeff Teague? I don't know about that. The Lakers, the Celtics, the Magic, the Pistons, the Rockets and the Heat are all rumored to be interested in the center. But as of now, there doesn't appear to be a clear front runner. Of all these teams, the Celtics seem the most desperate to sign a star. And Al Horford would fit nicely in the Boston lineup at the five spot. I could also see him joining the Miami Heat if White Side leaves Miami for a max contract summer else. But as we're talking about Al Horford, I think that if the Celtics offer Al Horford a max contract, I don't see Al Horford not taking that deal. And they should be able to bring him to Bean Town. So my prediction is that Al Horford signs with the Celtics on a max contract. And if they don't, Miami should make a huge push to sign Al Horford, especially if they lose the Sun White Side. Number 5, Duane Wade. He might be an unrestricted free agent, but it will be shocking if Duane Wade chose not to stay in South Beach. Maybe I'm a little bit biased towards Duane Wade, but I can't see him playing for any other organization. He's one of those players like Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowiski. He's just a player that doesn't seem like he could play for another organization. Now, I guess if he doesn't like the way that Miami's running, he might leave. But what's really scaring me is that the latest news from Duane Wade is that he is prepared to export offers from other teams after an agreement has failed to be reached with the Miami Heat. Wade has been with the Heat his whole career. So my prediction is Duane Wade does resign with the Miami Heat. Number 6, Hassan White Side. The Heat have stated that they want to keep the NBA's leading shop locker from a year ago. But resigning the 27-year-old, 27-year-old, let me say that again, 27-year-old doesn't appear to be in the team's top priority. Nobody really thinks about this, but he's not a young player by any means. I mean, he's not old, but he's not a rookie either. He's only been in the league for a few seasons. So he's still learning. Drawing the fact that Whiteside clashed at times last season with head coach, Eric Spoltra, and all the signs point to Whiteside leaving Miami, especially since Miami throughout the season didn't even start him for a lot of the games. I like to think that I'm one of the bigger Heat fans, and I pretty much watch all the Heat games. So to see that he wasn't starting at times, like Amari would start over Hassan White Side, it seemed to me like he didn't really love it in Miami, especially coming off the bench. Whiteside himself didn't really love coming off the bench if I had to say so myself. So I think the Lakers, the Celtics, the Mavericks, and the Trailblazers are probably the front runners to sign Hassan White Side, especially if they could sign him on a Max contract. All those teams are obviously interested in signing Hassan White Side, but it would be the purple and gold that seemed to have the inside track on acquiring the center. The Lakers have reportedly made Whiteside their number one target, and with a massive hole at their center position, Whiteside would fit that seamlessly in LA. A Max contract offer should land the Lakers a Whiteside signature. If the Lakers can't get Whiteside, I wouldn't be surprised if the Trailblazers also make a very strong push to get Whiteside. Damian Lillard, CJ McCullum, and now Hassan White Side, that would be a nice three-way team. I would love him to stay in Miami, of course, but I don't think it will happen. Anyway, but my prediction is that Whiteside signs with the LA Lakers on a Max contract. Number seven, Dwight Howard. Howard is one of the wildcasts in this year's free agency. I honestly have no idea where he's gonna end up. With his injury history and his mixed reviews of Dwight Howard as a teammate, he's a pretty risky proposition. Look for the team that signs him to give him a Max contract, but on a one- or two-year deal to minimize the risk that if he doesn't work out. The Boston Celtics and the Atlanta Hawks have emerged at the top two teams that will try and recruit the 30-year-old big man. Howard declined his $23.2 million player option he had for next season with the Houston Rockets, giving him the chance to sign a longer-term deal as the salary cap rises to more than 90 million. According to the report, the Miami Heat have not yet scheduled a meeting with the eight-time All-Star, but could make a strong run at Dwight Howard. My prediction is that Dwight Howard signs with either the Hawks or the Heat. The Hawks have recently lost Jeff Teague to the Pacers, though, so I don't know if that will have a huge impact on Dwight's decision, but if it does, the Celtics are another team that needs a big man, but I just don't see Dwight Howard fitting in their system. So they're better off going after someone like Al Horford, in my opinion. So probably the Heat is my prediction for Dwight Howard. Number eight, Nicholas Batum. Outside of Kevin Durant, Batum is the next best small forward on the open market and will have no shortage of contract offers. The Horners would love to re-sign the French-born wing player, but the general feeling across the NBA is Batum will leave Charlotte. The Rockets, Wizards, Knicks, Lakers, and Warriors are in the running for Batum. It's hard to say if any of those teams can be called a favorite to sign the 27-year-old. The Wizards who are desperate to sign a forward seem to be the most likely to offer Batum a max contract. But if the Warriors miss out on Kevin Durant and they don't re-sign Harrison Barnes, a cross-country move to the Bay Area wouldn't seem that bad for Nicholas Batum. Much will change in the coming days of free agency, but I don't see Nicholas Batum signing immediately to a team. But for now, we'll just follow the money. My prediction is that Nicholas Batum either signs with the Washington Wizards on a max contract or rejoins the New York Knicks at the shooting guard position. But I don't know if he'd love playing at the two. We shall see what happens, though. Other mentions, obviously LeBron James, but I don't see him going anyway, especially not after winning a championship in Cleveland. I don't see Dirk leaving. He's one of those players that just I don't see ever leaving Dallas Mavericks. I think Harrison Barnes will probably chase the money. I think he'd rather chase the money and earn a little bit of cash rather than playing with the Golden State Warriors and trying to win a championship. That's just my prediction. And I think the New York Knicks was strongly overpaid Joachim Noah for a pretty big contract. Probably over 16 to 18 million dollars, which, yeah. I don't know if he's really worth that. Simply because they're the Knicks and Derrick Rose wants him in New York with him. If there are any other free agents that you think we should have a conversation about and a discussion on, let me know your thoughts in the comment section down below. I wanna have a huge discussion during this year's free agency. So keep coming back to this video just to talk about your thoughts in the NBA Free Agency of 2016. Also, let me know where you think the top free agents will go, like Durant, White Side, Dwayne Wade, Al Horford, et cetera. Hope you guys enjoy the video. Please, if you're new around here, I make a whole bunch of NBA videos, what ifs, 2K content. So definitely subscribe for more and leave a like if you enjoyed this video. I'd really, really appreciate it, guys, for dropping a like on the video. Anyway, I'm out. Peace.