Three NBA players — with a combined 24 All-Stars and $700 million in career earnings — are still un-signed with 2 weeks until training camp

• Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, and Blake Griffin are all free agents as the NBA season approaches.
• Combined, the trio have 24 All-Star appearances and over $700 million in career earnings and have had recent productive seasons.
• All three could be intriguing late-season flyers for contenders, but they may also fall out of a rapidly changing NBA.

As NBA training camps approach, kicking off on September 24, some notable free agents remain on the market.

In particular, three likely Hall of Famers are still unsigned — Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, and Blake Griffin.

While all three are well into their 30s — Anthony is 38, Howard is 36, and Griffin is 33 — they nonetheless have stacked résumés: a combined 24 All-Star appearances and 19 All-NBA selections. They’re three of the 10 highest-paid players of all-time, with combined career earnings that top $700 million.

Though they are each past their primes, they’ve also had productive seasons recently.

Carmelo Anthony

Anthony was a key cog off the bench for the Los Angeles Lakers last year, at times carrying offensively deficient units. He averaged 13.7 points per game while shooting 37.5% from three on more than five attempts per game.

While Anthony certainly isn’t capable of being a go-to scorer for long stretches, as he was in his prime, his shooting and one-on-one scoring prowess can still buoy bench units.

Anthony started out particularly hot last year, averaging 16 points on 50% shooting, 52% from three over the Lakers’ first seven games. Though he cooled from there, he was still largely a positive force for the team — of the regular rotation players, only LeBron James, Austin Reaves, Stanley Johnson, and Talen Horton-Tucker posted better net ratings.

The Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn recently reported that the idea of Anthony joining the Celtics — who lost reserve forward Danilo Gallinari to a torn ACL — was “gaining traction.”

Anthony, it should be noted, has still been active training and playing in pick-up games with famed NBA trainer Chris Brickley.

Dwight Howard

Howard has certainly lost a step, especially on defense, but he has been a passable backup big man, including for the Lakers in 2020, when they won the championship.

In 2020-21, he averaged 17.5 rebounds per 36 minutes as a backup to Joel Embiid on the Philadelphia 76ers, a sign of his high activity level.

While Howard was less effective last season, he was also perhaps overburdened, having to start 27 games for the injury-riddled Lakers. Howard was also likely left a bit more exposed, thanks to a leaky defense that ranked 21st in defensive rating and gave up the second-most shot attempts within five feet. Still, opponents shot just over 50% on Howard last season, a decent number.

Howard’s rim-running style might not be en vogue in a league that values spacing and playmaking, but he can still give a contending team 10-20 solid minutes of rebounding and defense.

Blake Griffin

While Griffin fell out of favor with the Brooklyn Nets in 2021-22, the year prior, he was praised for his defense on Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo in the playoffs.

Nets head coach Steve Nash did bring Griffin back into the fold during the team’s first-round sweep at the hands of the Boston Celtics. Griffin was a +6 in 25 minutes, a figure that translates to +12 points per 100 possessions. Though it was a very small sample size, it stands out given that the Nets were outscored by 4 points per 100 possessions in the series.

Moreover, Griffin is only four years removed from an All-NBA season. Though he’s not the high-flying, athletic marvel he once was, he is a solid playmaker and rebounder, not to mention a decent three-point shooter (33% on five attempts per game since 2017, though he shot just 26% last year).

While Griffin and the Nets are likely done with one another, his talent makes him an intriguing potential addition for contending teams. Phoenix-area radio personality John Gambadoro reported in late August that the Suns were pursuing a “post-up power forward.” Might Griffin work as a bench-unit big for the team with the No. 1 record in the NBA last year?

A changing of the guard?

While it is striking to see three players with such notoriety and accolades go un-signed for so long, it also might represent a moment of change in the NBA.

Today’s NBA values positional versatility, shooting, and playmaking. One problem for Anthony, Howard, and Griffin is that they’re more traditional players.

Howard is a traditional center, who can’t extend the floor or make plays in pick-and-roll.

Griffin is a traditional power forward. Though he can space the floor and make plays, he’s a bit slow defensively to guard other forwards, and he doesn’t provide rim protection as a small-ball five. Anthony is in a similar position.

As NBA teams target younger and younger prospects, it’s possible that front offices might prefer untapped potential from still-developing players.

Of course, historically, teams have also valued experience and familiarity. As the season approaches, Anthony, Howard, and Griffin could be valuable, late additions that can bolster a team’s roster.

They could also find themselves on the outside looking in of a league they once dominated.