2018 NBA free agency tracker: Grades for every deal so far

Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
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2018 NBA free agency tracker
(Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

Paul George: 4 year, $137 million (Oklahoma City Thunder)

What a win for general manager Sam Presti and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Their luxury tax bill may look worse than Drake after a rap beef with Pusha T, but they had little choice in free agency other than keep the band together. Losing their free agents for nothing wouldn’t have given them the cap space to pursue outside targets, so re-signing them was their best option.

Plus, you know, when you can re-sign one of the best two-way players in the league to a three-year contract (with a fourth-year player option) instead of a one or two-year deal, as many expected, you do it.

Had the Thunder lost PG-13, that would’ve left them with Russell Westbrook, Steven Adams, an over-the-hill Carmelo Anthony and zero cap room to improve. You could argue in that scenario, blowing it up would’ve been their best, only alternative. Instead, the ensured their two franchise pillars are firmly rooted in OKC, rather than sunny California where they both grew up.

George averaged 21.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game last year, shooting 40.1 percent from the field. He’ll probably need a more prominent role this year, and he and Russ need to build some lasting chemistry (especially with Melo). But this can’t be spun as anything less than a victory … even if the prospect of management dishing the largest luxury tax bill in NBA history for the 4- or 5-seed in the West stings after being too cheap to keep James Harden once upon a time.

Bourguet Grade: A
Hoops Habit Grade: A+