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Five NBA Players to watch in free agency this summer

by Dave Jacober       May 27th, 2012 12:03 PM

As the NBA season inches towards its conclusion, the one area that most NBA fans can look forward for is this summer and its free agent class. Last winter there weren’t too many bad contracts handed out during the lightning round of free agency following the lockout, and while that might seem shocking, the market hadn’t quite yet begun it’s inflationary state. However, now with restricted free agents like Nick Batum, O.J. Mayo, Eric Gordon, Jeremy Lin, and Brook Lopez, get ready for some silly money to get tossed around come July.

Only the Lakers, Heat and Chicago Bulls will be into the luxury tax, leaving roughly 18 teams either right below or well below the soft cap of $58 million. The list of premier free agents looking for max deals are few and far between (namely Deron Williams), yet that doesn’t mean NBA general managers aren’t going to be tempted to overspend on the youthful element of the league’s middle class. Unlike the Summer of LeBron, when Rudy Gay, Joe Johnson, Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer, Amar’e Stoudemire, and Dwyane Wade all saw the max, this summer will be a bit different. Most of the big name players are either restricted free agents or have player options. Therefore, even though there are quite a few teams with plenty of coin to spend, the the acquiring team will have to ask themselves how much is too much.

Here are list of few players who we could definitely see get caught in Instagram-type acquisitions.

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