We’re barely a week into NBA free agency, but the dust has largely settled on the biggest signings of the offseason. The real evaluations will take place on the court this year, but it’s never too early to judge the contracts handed out by teams with money to blow.
The obvious winners and losers of free agency are the teams that improved or declined on the court. Some teams look more like contenders and others look more like pretenders, particularly for the upcoming season.
NBA Free Agency: Top 5 best contracts this offseason
But as NBA fans (and front offices) know all too well, that’s only half the equation. The other half comes in the form of the financial deals doled out, some of which leave money on the books of teams for a long time, preventing them from executing other deals down the road.
We’re going to take a look at the other side of the spectrum – the deals that are the most shrewd for teams. These contracts either allowed teams the flexibility to keep other maneuvers alive or involved signing a good player to a deal that is probably below what the talent is actually worth to the team or when considered in terms of the larger market.
Not all of these deals will ultimately prove to be bargains. If a player signed to a team-friendly contract ends up underperforming, then it’s still a bad deal, no matter how good it looked on paper. Those determinations may be years away, though.
That said, here are the five best contracts doled out during this summer’s free agency.