"It's just impossible to say," said the agent Mark Bartelstein, whose client David Lee will be a free agent, when asked to forecast what could happen with free agency this time.

Carmelo Anthony has been the face of the Denver Nuggets since 2004, but on the brink of free agency, he's made it clear that he's ready to leave.

And there is also the matter of next week's draft before the intensity of free agency can be fully uncorked.