We brought you the NBA’s seven worst contracts of the summer, so what would we be if we did not bring you the seven best? We would be the worst. And we obviously are not the worst. We are the best at this.
Listen: It is hard being right about every contract. It makes every general manager around the league uncomfortable how right we are. “Why do they have to be so right all the time?” they say. It is humbling.
Seriously, though, this is just, like, my opinion, man.
And I wanted to talk about some good deals. Not in the sense that these seven players just guaranteed themselves a combined $489.8 million. Good on them, but that is not what I am talking about. I want to talk about who changed his team’s fortunes, how much and in what ways. Let us talk some basketball.
THE 2024 OFFSEASON’S 7 BEST CONTRACTS
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Contract: 4 years, $212 million
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Percentage of the 2024-25 salary cap: 35%
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2023-24 (74 games): 22.6 PTS (47/41/91), 5.2 REB, 3.5 AST, 33.8 MIN
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Advanced: 19.3 PER, 61.3 TS%, .140 WS/48, 3.2 BPM, 3.3 VORP
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Cost Per Win: $7,246,059.59
No other move in free agency transformed a team from a pretender to a contender.
The Sixers created maximum salary cap space this summer, and then some, almost all of which was going to disappear once Tyrese Maxey signed his five-year, $204 million rookie-scale contract extension. They desperately needed another dimension, as their first-round playoff exit laid bare, and this was their only chance to find it. They did not have the assets to outbid other trade suitors for an All-Star-caliber player.
The presence of Maxey and Joel Embiid meant that player better be a wing — a two-way one at that. The question was not whether the Sixers should sign George. He fit their description exactly. It was what they would do if they could not sign him. There was DeMar DeRozan and Klay Thompson and … who else exactly changed teams? The Sixers might have been left picking up the pieces of Tobias Harris, Nicolas Batum, Buddy Hield and De’Anthony Melton — the same guys who participated in that first-round playoff exit.
There was significant risk to whiffing with this cap space, chief of which was Embiid’s unhappiness. Fail to land a paradigm-shifting talent — or even the veil of one, which may be all George is for Philadelphia —and the 76ers could easily have lost Embiid’s confidence. This was a team on the precipice of dissolution.
Now, Philadelphia at least has hope. George is no superstar, but he does not need to be one, so long as Embiid stays healthy. And that is the way he likes it. George needs to complement Embiid and Maxey, and the entirety of his production — an efficient 23-5-4, plus stout defense — fits between them. He needs to make no sacrifices for them, and they need to make no sacrifices for him. He just has to be Paul George.
And that is pretty good, certainly better than any other option the Sixers had available to them. When the choice is between adding George — even a 34-year-old version who compounds injury concerns — or losing Embiid’s faith in Philadelphia, it is clear: This signing swung fortunes, even before the games begin.
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Contract: 3 years, $87 million
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Percentage of the 2024-25 salary cap: 21.3%
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2023-24 (75 games): 7.8 PTS (64/33/71), 8.3 REB, 2.5 AST, 25.3 MIN
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Advanced: 18.9 PER, 67.0 TS%, .204 WS/48, 3.5 BPM, 2.6 VORP
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Cost Per Win: $3,580,246.91
That is a lot of money for Isaiah Hartenstein — he of the eight points per game.
Then again, the Thunder had a lot of money to spend, and they needed only a center.
The swap of Josh Giddey for Alex Caruso shored up one problem. They had a 21-year-old, 6-foot-8 point forward whose shortcomings as a shooter made him an awkward fit on a team built for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. So they swapped him for a 30-year-old All-Defensive guard who shot 41% from 3 last season.
More than anything, that deal signaled the Thunder had officially graduated into win-now mode. And if they were serious about winning now, they had one more weakness to solve — optionality at center. Chet Holmgren was the only playoff-caliber big in the rotation, and he weighs 208 pounds. Holmgren is better suited as either a small-ball center or a roaming rim protector and floor spacer in lineups with more size.
The arrival of Hartenstein, the best center on the market, means the Thunder can play multiple ways. When they are getting pounded on the boards, as they were in their second-round playoff loss to the Dallas Mavericks, they can play both Hartenstein and Holmgren. They can play five-out with Holmgren. They can play traditionally with Hartenstein. Either way, they have 48 minutes of high-level center play.
As far as centers go, Hartenstein is good at everything but shooting, and that is harder to find than you think. He was one of the league’s most underrated defenders this past season. He can kill you around the rim. And he can really pass — a skill that separates him from the brutish bigs that will earn less than him.
Is it a lot of money for Isaiah Hartenstein? Sure, but when you have it to spare, and he unlocks the final piece to serious championship contention, you do it every time. And it weakens another contender in the process. Do not think for a second the Knicks were glad to see him go. Hartenstein unlocked them, too.
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Contract: 3 years, $76 million
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Percentage of the 2024-25 salary cap: 16.6%
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2023-24 (79 games): 24 PTS (48/33/85), 5.3 AST, 4.3 REB, 37.8 MIN
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Advanced: 19.7 PER, 58.4 TS%, .147 WS/48, 1.8 BPM,…
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