FA Day 1, 2 and 3 Grades 2028

[Joe]

FA Days 1, 2 and 3 Grades

Not a ton of studs on the market this year, but papa still needs that sweet first article bonus. Let us discuss.

DAY 1

2028 181 Bulls Sign PG De'Aaron Fox for $80,500,000 over 4 years.

Grade: C+. Was Fox one of the lone jewels in an otherwise drab FA class? Perhaps. He’s a solid starter on the backend of his prime (although his stats are a bit rosy given his time spent playing the 2 last year). Is this too much money for a 31 year old non-star when the league is rich with good young PGs and Markelle Fultz is on the block? Also perhaps.

2028 181 Pacers Sign SG Josh Okogie for $131,250,000 over 6 years.

Grade: A. Okogie is coming off his best season in nearly every statistical category and everybody and their grandma was bidding on him, so it was going to take a full max to snag him. He’ll be overpaid when the 150 Potential he clearly started with runs out at age 36, but until then he should fetch a pretty penny on the trade market.

2028 181 Lakers Sign PG Stephon Castle for $37,500,000 over 3 years.

Grade: C. Nothing wrong with taking a flier on a highly drafted point guard at age 24, I’m just not sure what Castle has done so far in his career to deserve max money (even if it’s not a 6 year deal). He’s OK in most places but his sketchy efficiency has me concerned – likely could have gotten this guy for quite a bit less.

2028 181 Nets Sign SG Mikal Bridges for $17,500,000 over one year.

Grade: Filler I think? Bridges sure ain’t worth $17.5M and I’m not sure there are going to be a ton of teams willing to fork over the contracts to match that number in order to get his slightly above average production. Hopefully a big trade in the works for the young upstart Nets.

2028 181 Bucks Sign C Bam Adebayo for $11,000,000 over one year.

Grade: Filler. At least I hope so. Sad development story for Bam.

2028 181 Celtics Sign SG Donte DiVincenzo for $11,275,000 over 2 years.

Grade: A-. Not to break my arm crankin my own hog here, but I think this was a pretty solid get. I have it on good authority Indiana offered twice as much for DDV so I’m glad he’s loyal. Let’s be honest, he LOOKS like he would be a Celtic, am I wrong?

2028 181 Suns Sign PG Marcus Sasser for $4,500,000 over one year.

Grade: A. Marcus Sasser is goddam elite…I am devastated to see him go. While Reed was out he was a borderline star, getting him on the MLE is highway robbery. Thought I might sneak a 1.4X2 offer through…no dice.

2028 181 Hornets Sign SF Kevin Durant for $90,000,000 over 6 years.

Grade: B? Really hard to grade this one. Durant was still good this past year, but will he survive camps? The assumption from Jack is clearly that he’ll retire tout suite when this season ends and this 6 year deal was just a strategy to secure him. However, with Lebron out there still kicking at age 44, there’s a possibility KD sticks around past his point of usefulness and whoever is paying him will do so until Durant’s grandkids are in AAU.

2028 181 76ers Sign SG Collin Sexton for $5,400,000 over one year.

Grade: B-. You can’t say DMo isn’t loyal to his guys. Sexton was moderately useful offensively last year, and on this shmedium expiring he should be a flexible trade chip.

2028 181 Nuggets Sign SF Ron Holland for $12,500,000 over one year.

Grade: Filler. Unless he pops in camps and then a rookie max is an underpay???!!!! Justice for Ronald!

2028 181 Jazz Sign SF Ziaire Williams for $12,500,000 over one year.

Grade: Filler. Although I actually tossed an MLE his way, he put up not bad numbers on a horrifically bad roster last year.

2028 181 Clippers Sign SF Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot for $4,500,000 over one year.

Grade: B. TLC seems to be running low on escargot these days. Still can put in some passable defense and rebounding minutes, though.

2028 181 Hornets Sign SG Matas Buzelis for $15,000,000 over 3 years.

Grade: D+. Jack believes in Buzelis! Once a sought-after lottery pick in the 2024 draft, Matas has failed to do anything but suck humongous ass in his first 4 seasons in the league. Offering him a 3-year deal is a vote of confidence in this feller that I think few would make.

2028 181 Hawks Sign SG Vit Krejci for $2,800,000 over 2 years.

Grade: B+. Feet! This is about what he’s worth.

2028 181 Pistons Sign SG Cam Thomas for $1,200,000 over one year.

Grade: C-. I hadn’t looked closely at this guy until now…holy hell does he stink. Passable offense with atrocious defense and TO rate. I know it’s just an LLE, but still.

2028 181 Suns Sign C Jared Sullinger for $5,400,000 over one year.

Grade: C. The ratings whore for which all future ratings whore awards will be named. I’m sure someone will overpay for him this season like they do every year.

2028 181 Nuggets Sign C Sandro Mamukelashvili for $4,500,000 over one year.

Grade: C+. He’s an A- rebounder I guess? He’s not nearly competent enough for me to ever figure out how to pronounce his name out loud.

2028 181 Bucks Sign PF Naz Reid for $10,800,000 over 2 years.

Grade: A-. Team friendly deal for a fun and interesting weird-ratings-combo guy. Does he belong at SF?

2028 181 Rockets Sign SG Pacome Dadiet for $24,000,000 over 5 years.

Grade: A-. The homeless man’s Thybulle. Nice find by the Rockets in the draft and nice job to lock him up. Was he one of the unsung prizes of this FA class? Should he have gotten more money?

2028 181 Nets Sign C Onyeka Okongwu for $11,340,000 over 2 years.

Grade: B. When we crown the first winner of the Jared Sullinger Ratings Whore Award, this guy will at least be an honorable mention.

2028 181 Suns Sign SG Shaedon Sharpe for $1,200,000 over one year.

Grade: B+. He might be OK? Fine for an LLE, that’s for sure.

2028 181 Trail Blazers Sign C Nathan Knight for $1,200,000 over one year.

Grade: B. His ratings are kinda fun to look at but who knows if he can play basketball worth a lick.

2028 181 Magic Sign SF Patrick Williams for $1,200,000 over one year.

Grade: B. Your emergency depth’s emergency depth.

2028 181 Jazz Sign SF Tristan Da Silva for $5,000,000 over one year.

Grade: Filler.

2028 181 Trail Blazers Sign C Nic Claxton for $1,200,000 over one year.

Grade: A! Now this is the kinda snag I like to see on the LLE. Based on who all got an MLE this year, Claxton is well underpaid.

2028 181 Hornets Sign C Nerlens Noel for $5,000,000 over one year.

Grade: A. Awesome snag on this value deal by the hornets. Noel is still fantastic big butt – should he make it through camps alive, this will look like one of the best deals of Day 1.

2028 181 Pacers Sign C Daniel Jacobsen for $7,800,000 over 6 years.

Grade: A-.. This guy flew under the radar big time but had a great per-36 year. Tong locks him up for a real long time – if he can get some camps and become a passable rebounder, Jacobson could garner real minutes.

2028 181 Nuggets Sign SG Matisse Thybulle for $12,500,000 over one year.

Grade: Filler. Will Matisse retire a Nugget?


DAY 2/3

2028 182 Pacers Sign SG Julian Champagnie for $5,000,000 over one year.

Grade: Filler? Actually good per 36 numbers last year….in 5 minutes a game for 23 games. People seem to give a lot of credit to players drafted by the Kings (with good reason).

2028 182 Warriors Sign SF Chuma Okeke for $5,000,000 over one year.

Grade: A-. Not sure what direction the Warriors are going, but Chuma is a fun piece (especially when he starts at SG).

2028 182 Pistons Sign SF Patrick Baldwin Jr. for $2,000,000 over one year.

Grade: B+. Negative offense on this guy, although he’s got solid defense and rebounding. Could be a good depth piece, I like the move by Detroit to retain him.

2028 182 Kings Sign SF Keldon Johnson for $1,200,000 over one year.

Grade: A. Kind of insane that a guy with A-/A- scoring and solid per-36 stats went for the LLE. He’s shouldn’t have gotten a max, but maybe an MLE somewhere?

2028 182 Trail Blazers Sign C Quinten Post for $8,000,000 over one year.

Grade: Probably filler, but I would love to see what this guy can do at SF.

2028 182 Trail Blazers Sign C Thomas Bryant for $7,000,000 over one year.

Grade: Definitely filler.

2028 182 Trail Blazers Sign SG Ajay Mitchell for $5,000,000 over one year.

Grade: Filler trifecta.

2028 182 SuperSonics Sign SF Chris Boucher for $1,200,000 over one year.

Grade: A-. If he’s got any gas left in the tank at all, Boucher can log some useful minutes defensively on the wind.

2028 182 Magic Sign SG Colby Jones for $1,430,160 over 2 years.

Grade: ?? Bizarro rating set and production and F potential at age 26…but dare I say, I like this deal? Definition of a weirdo.

2028 182 Timberwolves Sign PF DaRon Holmes for $10,000,000 over 4 years.

Grade: B-. OK stock to TO on him but that C+ rebounding ain’t gonna put food on the table for these hungry WOLVES. Lotta years, not a lot of funny.

2028 182 Pacers Sign PF Tidjane Salaün for $6,000,000 over one year.

Grade: Filler.

2028 182 SuperSonics Sign C Neemias Queta for $1,785,000 over 2 years.

Grade: B+. I offered RP for this guy at one point and he literally could not be being paid less, so I’d say this is a solid value

2028 182 Spurs Sign C Bruno Fernando for $1,200,000 over one year.

Grade: B. Perhaps the most one-dimensional skillset player in the whole file.

2028 183 Lakers Sign SG Donovan Mitchell for $27,000,000 over 3 years.

Grade: A-. Finally Mitchell is on a deal more representative of what he’s actually worth. Can still score in bunches, but the steal numbers for him seem to have cratered and he’s still chasing the efficiency we saw in years 2 and 3 of his rookie deal. Still very useful on this number! The only moderately notable get from Day 2/3 really.

2028 183 Celtics Sign PG Dalano Banton for $1,200,000 over one year.

Grade: B. A sad consolation prize for losing Sasser.

2028 183 Nets Sign PF Zion Williamson for $5,500,000 over one year.

Grade: B-. Bust still doesn’t adequately describe this guy, but I guess it would be kind of criminal for a former number 1 overall pick at age 28 to not be on an active roster.

[GX.]

Definitely could have gotten castle for less but bids on Fox and okogie didn’t go so I’m happy with a 3 year flyer on a young guy, didn’t feel like coming out of this with nothing

[Merv]

These grades are way too nice. No D’s no F’s and only 1 ?? Which I assume means

[Joe]

Nobody spent any money! Tough to give bad grades when lots of the leagues cap space was spent on 1 year expiring filler deals

[pacers]

Definitely could have gotten castle for less but bids on Fox and okogie didn’t go so I’m happy with a 3 year flyer on a young guy, didn’t feel like coming out of this with nothing

Castle wanted to be in Indy

[Tyler]

Jared Sullinger being on basically the MLE and expiring getting the worst grade in free agency is something lol

[Merv]

Definitely could have gotten castle for less but bids on Fox and okogie didn’t go so I’m happy with a 3 year flyer on a young guy, didn’t feel like coming out of this with nothing

You get an A from me which is hard to give to an Arsenal fan

[pacers]

Definitely could have gotten castle for less but bids on Fox and okogie didn’t go so I’m happy with a 3 year flyer on a young guy, didn’t feel like coming out of this with nothing

You get an A from me which is hard to give to an Arsenal fan

Would rather have Castle at striker than Madueke

[Merv]

Definitely could have gotten castle for less but bids on Fox and okogie didn’t go so I’m happy with a 3 year flyer on a young guy, didn’t feel like coming out of this with nothing

You get an A from me which is hard to give to an Arsenal fan

Would rather have Castle at striker than Madueke

Would rather have Rob Dillingham at striker than Madueke

[GX.]

You get an A from me which is hard to give to an Arsenal fan

Would rather have Castle at striker than Madueke

Would rather have Rob Dillingham at striker than Madueke

Thank the lord we have victor then