Home-court advantage has rescued several teams during these NBA playoffs, most notably the regular-season top dog Boston Celtics.

Home cooking will be on the minds of just as many teams come July 1, when the NBA's annual summer free agent frenzy kicks off.

Teams like the Hawks, who have restricted free agents Josh Smith and Josh Childress, will have the right to match any offers made to their players.

Whether it will be as easy as simply matching remains to be seen, what with teams having all sorts of creative ways to navigate the league's salary cap and luxury tax thresholds.

Phoenix had the same right with Joe Johnson three summers ago but parted ways with him because of a front-loaded contract the Hawks put on the table that forced the Suns into a sign-and-trade deal. Johnson went on to become the Hawks' captain and a two-time All-Star.

This summer's crop of quality restricted free agents will be unusually large because only six first-round picks from the 2004 draft were signed to extensions last fall. Atlanta native and Orlando Magic All-Star center Dwight Howard is the only player from the class to receive a max (five years and $85 million) extension.

The five hottest names on the (restricted) free agent market this summer (in alphabetical order):

Jose Calderon

Toronto point guard

Stats: 11.2 points, 8.3 assists and 3.6 rebounds

Few players did more to aid their cause this season than Calderon, who flourished for the second consecutive season with T.J. Ford missing significant time because of injury. Calderon proved this season that he could run the team as a starter (56 of the Raptors' 82 games).

Josh Childress

Hawks swingman

Stats: 11.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists

Childress finished sixth in the voting for the league's Sixth Man award. His value is much higher to NBA executives than it is to fantasy leaguers. The NBA's elite teams make a living plucking players like Childress (character guys who can play in any system and who can be effective without being featured in the offense) away from teams like the Hawks with surprisingly lucrative offers.

Luol Deng

Chicago small forward

Stats: 17.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists

Injuries caused Deng's uneven season and production, which dipped from his stellar numbers from a season ago. And when the Bulls were in the playoffs, Deng was their leader and best player —- sorry, Ben Gordon, but there is more to the game than just scoring.

Monta Ellis

Golden State shooting guard

Stats: 20.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.9 assists

Ellis is poised to recoup all the money that slipped through his fingers on draft night three years ago, when questions about his knee meant he wasn't selected until the second round. The one benefit of falling is that Ellis is a free agent after his third season and not his fourth. And with Baron Davis and the Warriors unsure if they want to continue their partnership, Ellis is poised to take over.

Josh Smith

Hawks power forward

Stats: 17.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.8 blocks

Non-offensive game-changers remain the toughest players to evaluate and, subsequently to acquire. The Hawks lucked into Smith outside of the lottery (17th pick) four years ago and can't afford to lose him now. That's why they'll have to ante up far more than the $45 million that was offered (and turned down) before the season. Smith's eye-opening efforts in the Hawks' playoff run proved that he could carry his game-changing ways into the postseason as well, which was the one legitimate question about his game before the season.

> Five more who will keep things interesting for their teams: Andre Iguodala, Philadelphia; Andris Biedrins, Golden State; Emeka Okafor, Charlotte; Louis Williams, Philadelphia; J.R. Smith, Denver.