Which Teams Got The Best Bang For Their Buck In FA?

As much as we love to ordain players as “hoopers” or marvel over how “tuff” their game is, basketball is – and always has been – a game of numbers. Scoring efficiently matters. Valuing possessions matters. And in the offseason, spending money wisely matters.

The best teams always get the most value for their dollar, and the worst ones tend to overspend on subpar production. Last season, the two best contracts belonged to the current defending champions (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams).

Therefore, it is essential to assess how effectively money is being spent across the league. That is why, in this two-part mini-series, we are going to look at the best and worst contracts signed in free agency to this point (Monday, July 7). As the title of the article suggests, for this edition, we will be focusing on some of the best financial case studies of this offseason.

Method For Assessing Player Value

As a reminder, we are going to focus on a method inspired by Seth Partnow’s book, “The Midrange Theory.”

In his book, the former Director of Basketball Research for the Milwaukee Bucks discusses a formula that teams use to estimate a player’s monetary value. In its essence, the formula involves multiplying how many points a player is “worth” by the amount a win “costs” in a given season. Unfortunately, Real-Adjusted Plus-Minus (RAPM) — a major component in the formula — is no longer available. So, I’ve revised Partnow’s formula a bit.

The Website Dunks & Threes offers a metric called Estimated Wins (EW). As the name implies, this measure quite literally estimates how many wins a player earned for their team in a given season. Theoretically, by multiplying this number by the amount a win is worth in a given season (3.8 in 2025-26), we can get an idea of how much they should be making next season. From there, we can compare the average annual value of the contract they received to the amount this exercise produced to see the disparity in how much they got paid versus what they are actually worth.

Now, there are some shortcomings to using such a simple method for calculating a player’s value. First, we are limited to the methodology used to compute EW. As is the case with any catch-all metric, EW can only tell you how many wins a player added in their specific role on their specific team.

And second, this sort of method biases against players who struggle with injuries — since they aren’t on the court to help have an impact on winning. In some instances, like with players who are consistently injured, this can be helpful. But in one-off cases, where a player is uncharacteristically unhealthy for a year, this can make a player look far less valuable than they actually are (we’ll talk more about these specific examples in Part Two).

Now, with all the necessary background context laid out, let’s take a look at the best contracts of the 2025 offseason up to this point.

(Sidebar: We are only focusing on contracts signed by restricted/unrestricted free agents, not extensions signed by players with time still left on their current contract.)

The Best Contracts Of The 2025 Offseason

One last little teaser before we get into the top 10 contracts of the 2025 offseason. Much has been made about the problems posed by the new CBA and how difficult the first and second aprons have made life on teams. However, an underrated bright spot is that it is causing teams to make much smarter decisions with their money. Last season, when we did this exercise, only 29 of the 68 (42.6%) contracts we looked at were neutral/positive value deals based on this formula. This year, 33 of 61 contracts (54.1%) fit that description. Quick round of applause for all the front offices out there!

Anyway, here are the top 10 contracts of the 2025 offseason:

Honorable Mentions: Davion Mitchell, D’Angelo Russell, Sam Merrill, Kevon Looney, and Nicolas Batum.

What an offseason for the Houston Rockets. Not only did they win the Kevin Durant sweepstakes, but they also were the only team to have two signings finish in the top 10 on our list. Even more incredible is that Fred VanVleet only played 60 games last season. If he had played 70 games (more in line with his three seasons prior to this one), he’d have a production value of 37.2 million dollars.

Brook Lopez may have looked old and slow against the Indiana Pacers, but he’s still a starting-caliber regular-season center in this league. The fact that the Los Angeles Clippers got him for the price of a backup is insane value, and a huge reason why they own the best contract of this offseason.

Ty Jerome had one of the ten best non-rookie contracts of this past season. However, because of a poor showing in the second round (again, against the Pacers), the market cooled off on him. So, the Memphis Grizzlies were able to get him at a bargain price.

For the second straight year, the Milwaukee Bucks were able to sign Gary Trent Jr. for the veteran minimum, despite him performing like a high-level bench player on paper.

Of these contracts, the one I am most excited about is the New York Knicks’ signing of Guerschon Yabusele. After being one of the feel-good stories of last year, the Knicks were able to bring him in at a figure that was less than half his projected production value. Yabusele is basically a lite version of Karl-Anthony Towns (a very skilled offensive big who struggles on defense). He will provide a solid facsimile of Towns whenever the All-NBA big man is resting or in foul trouble.

To see Part Two of this mini-series (where we discuss the worst signings of the offseason), be sure to visit this link here.