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Imagine a free agent class that included Paul Pierce, Chauncey Billups, Mike Bibby, Dirk Nowitzki, Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis. Now that'd be something to save some salary cap space for, eh?

Well, all of those players can become free agents 18 months from now by exercising early termination clauses in their contracts, making the summer of 2007 shape up, at least potentially, as one of the greatest free agent classes in NBA history.

But for now, we have the summer of 2006 to look forward to, and let's just say that this year's class wouldn't do all that well in a pickup game against the 2007 class. What's more, there's very little chance that the No. 1 player on the 2006 list will even go on the market.

But there still are some intriguing players, and we'll take an early stab at a top 25:

1. Ben Wallace, Detroit Pistons (Unrestricted)
Don't expect Big Ben to tower over the market. Pistons president Joe Dumars and Wallace will quietly work out a four-year contract (anything longer would bring the dreaded "over-36" rule into play) likely starting somewhere in the area of $11-12 million per year. Wallace will be eligible to earn much more -- as a 10-year veteran he can get a deal with a starting salary equal to 35 percent of the salary cap ($18.2 million if the cap comes in at $52 million) -- but all indications, including his plans to have an attorney rather than an agent do the contract, point to his staying with the powerhouse Pistons.

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