2024 NBA Free Agency Way Too Early Grades

Fast and furious is insufficient to describe the blastoff into NBA free agency on the first day of open bidding on players with expired contracts. 

The Philadelphia 76ers spent $416 million in guaranteed deals to extend the contract of point guard Tyrese Maxey and add unrestricted free agent Paul George, grabbing headlines and giving Philly a purported “Big Three” with Joel Embiid. 

Without George, the Clippers are perceived to be taking a step back, but they moved quickly to add Derrick Jones Jr., a free agent the Mavericks hoped to bring back.

And Oklahoma City scored another big goal—and another defender—in Isaiah Hartenstein while bringing back sharpshooter Isaiah Joe on a $48 million pact. 

Here are the grades for the first wave of free agency:

Chicago Bulls

Signed C Jalen Smith, three years, $27M

Active bigs were a serious need for Chicago, and the Bulls have a potential diamond in the rough without overpaying. Smith played a reserve role behind Myles Turner with the Pacers, but he produced at a level that spells upside. He’s a new-age 5-man and shot 42 percent from 3-point range last season. 

Grade: B+ 

Los Angeles Clippers

<Re-signed PG James Harden, two years, $70 million
<Signed F Derrick Jones Jr., three years, $30 million
>Lost UFA Paul George (Clippers)

The PG-Kawhi pairing turns in a final tale of disappointment. What might have been never was with the Clippers, and George found green pastures again with the 76ers. It’s not an addition-by-subtraction move, but more defined roles for Harden and Leonard with the active and agile on-ball defense of Jones Jr. might not be the losing trade-off some are implying.

Grade: B

Oklahoma City Thunder

<Re-signed SF Isaiah Joe, four years, $48 million
<Signed C Isaiah Hartenstein, three years, $87 million

Joe is a knockdown perimeter shooter and defends one-on-one, and Hartenstein likely provides a tremendous lift to the Thunder defense and rebounding metrics without being as much of a consideration as a scorer. Hartenstein is an underrated passer and does more than clog the lane in halfcourt defense. Oklahoma City has been deliberate with its approach to being near the top of the league defensively and rigidly defining roles on the roster. It’s working. 

Grade: A

Philadelphia 76ers

<Signed F Paul George, four years, $212 million deal 
<Signed RFA PG Tyrese Maxey, five years, $204 million deal
<Re-signed F Kelly Oubre, two years, $16.3 million 

It’s the summer Philadelphia has been waiting for, and team president Daryl Morey found a max-level free agent to take the 76ers’ cap excess. It’s the latest attempt to appease Joel Embiid, who has yet to prove capable of playing co-star on a championship team. 

Tyrese Maxey was in the in the top 20 in assists and scoring (25.9 points per game) last season and carried the team into the playoffs while Embiid nursed another knee injury. Given George’s age (34) and Embiid’s durability, this has crash-and-burn potential on the order of Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant, and Devin Booker in Phoenix. Keeping Philly’s stars on the court consistently and available in peak postseason crunch time will determine the pass-fail nature of this series of moves, but the 76ers had to take another swing at a third star. 

Grade: B-