The 2024 NBA Offseason has nearly wrapped up with teams releasing their respective 2024-25 schedules. While this particular offseason hasn’t seen many of the fireworks of seasons past, many moves had an under-the-radar impact on the NBA championship picture this season and beyond. 

In this article, I will go over six of the signings teams made during the 2024-25 NBA offseason that I believe will end up being bargains for them down the line. Each of these contracts has unique aspects that should benefit teams on the court and their future financial goals. 

Magic Renegotiate-and-Extend Jonathan Isaac

Contract: 5 years, $84,000,000 ($66,600,000 in New Money)

Signed via: Renegotiation-and-Extension

2024-25: $25,000,000 (17.78% of Cap)

2025-26: $15,000,000 (9.70% of Cap)

2026-27: $14,000,000 (8.52% of Cap) ($8M Guaranteed)

2027-28: $15,000,000 (7.75% of Cap) (Non-Guaranteed)

2028-29: $14,000,000 (7.29% of Cap) (Non-Guaranteed)

After signing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope from the Nuggets, the Magic prioritized the remainder of their cap space on locking down their own players. $7.4M of that remaining space was spent on renegotiating and extending Jonathan Isaac’s contract. In what may very well end up being the most team-friendly contract in the NBA, Isaac’s new 5 year deal starts at $25M this season and decreases down to $15M in ‘25-’26, $14.5M in ‘26-’27, $15M in ‘27-’28, and $14.5M in ‘28-’29. The valuable aspect of this contract is the team control in the back half of the deal. There is only $8M guaranteed over the last three years, giving Orlando serious financial flexibility due to Isaac’s troubled injury history. For a player who is among one of the most underrated defensive players in the league, finishing in the top-10 in Defensive Statistical Impact (DSI) this past season (per Cerebro), this contract could be well worth it in the next few years.

Bucks sign Gary Trent Jr. 

Contract: 1 year, $2,613,120 ($2,087,519 against the cap)

Signed via: Veteran Minimum Exception

2024-25: $2,019,706 (1.48% of Cap)

The Bucks were extremely limited in their ability to improve their roster this offseason due to the implications and restrictions of the second apron and were almost certain to lose starting SG Malik Beasley in free agency, as the team only had his non-bird rights. Given the limited amount of resources the Bucks had, getting a player of Gary Trent Jr.’s caliber as a replacement should be seen as an absolute steal. Trent Jr. was expected to garner a deal with a starting salary near or even above the Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception, coming off a 3 year, $51.84M deal with Toronto. With the market of NTMLE teams drying up fairly quickly, Trent elected to rebuild his value as a starter on a contender much like another signing which made this list. Other minimum signings for Delon Wright and Taurean Prince also deserve some mention here as solid veteran pickups for a thin second unit. 

Kings re-sign Malik Monk

Contract: 4 years (3 years + Player Option), $77,975,307

Signed via: Bird Rights

2024-25: $17,405,203 (12.38% of Cap)

2025-26: $18,797,619 (12.16% of Cap)

2026-27: $20,190,035 (11.87% of Cap)

2027-28: $21,582,451 (11.53% of Cap) (Player Option)

The Kings cleverly used timing and new CBA rules to retain Malik Monk at a price that could very well have been less than what the runner-up for sixth man of the year would’ve gotten in the open market. One of the new rules that were implemented this year was an exclusive negotiation period teams would have with their own pending free agents that began immediately following the conclusion of the NBA Finals. Monk was expected to receive offers starting in the $20M salary range from teams with cap space but elected to stay with Sacramento at a potential discount. Using these new rules to their advantage, Sacramento maintained their ability to make more improvements (i.e. DeMar DeRozan), while avoiding the luxury tax entirely.

Thunder re-sign Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins

Isaiah Joe Contract: 4 years (3 years + Team Option), $48,000,000

Signed via: Bird Rights

2024-25: $12,991,650 (9.24% of Cap)

2025-26; $12,362,338 (7.99% of Cap)

2026-27: $11,323,006 (6.66% of Cap)

2027-28: $11,323,006 (6.05% of Cap) (Team Option)

Aaron Wiggins Contract: 5 years (4 years + Team Option), $45,000,000

Signed via: Bird Rights

2024-25: $10,514,017 (7.48% of Cap)

2025-26: $9,672,897 (6.25% of Cap)

2026-27: $8,831,776 (5.19% of Cap)

2027-28: $7,990,655 (4.27% of Cap)

2028-29: $7,990,655 (3.88% of Cap) (Team Option)

I may be cheating here but the Thunder made two very quiet re-signings to maintain two key role players over the long-term. While they could have retained Joe and Wiggins at lower numbers this season by picking up their team options, they elected to decline both options in order to lock them for up to 4 and 5 years, respectively. Both contracts have a similar descending structure with team options in the final year, giving the Thunder more financial flexibility as their spending increases via extensions for SGA, Chet Holmgren, and Jalen Williams. Locking down Wiggins for up to five years at an average of 5.4% of the Salary Cap is especially huge for a player who shot almost 50% on three-pointers last year while also being 95th percentile in steal rate, according to Cleaning the Glass. 

76ers sign Caleb Martin

Contract: 4 years (3 years + Player Option), $35,040,704 ($5,256,106 in Unlikely Incentives)

Signed via: Cap Space

2024-25: $8,149,001 (5.80% of Cap) ($1,222,350 in Unlikely Incentives)

2025-26: $8,556,451 (5.53% of Cap) ($1,283,468 in Unlikely Incentives)

2026-27: $8,963,901 (5.27% of Cap) ($1,344,585 in Unlikely Incentives)

2027-28: $9,371,351 (5.01% of Cap) ($1,405,703 in Unlikely Incentives) (Player Option)

After making a couple larger-scale moves, the 76ers were able to grab a key starter from an Eastern Conference rival in Caleb Martin at a below-market rate. Martin reportedly passed on a 5 year, $65M extension with the Miami Heat, subsequently declining his $7.1M player option, with hopes of getting Non-Tax Mid-Level Exception money from either the Heat or another contender. As the market quickly dried up, Martin elected to sign with a contender in Philadelphia, with a chance to potentially start, albeit at a much lower number than expected. Martin’s potential as a solid glue guy for the Sixers is a huge win for them, especially being able to lock him down for up to three years.

Wizards sign Saddiq Bey

Contract: 3 years, $19,000,000 ($1,000,000 in Unlikely Incentives)

Signed via: Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception

2024-25: $6,440,678 (4.58% of Cap) ($317,461 in Unlikely Incentives)

2025-26: $6,118,644 (3.96% of Cap) ($333,333 in Unlikely Incentives)

2026-27: $6,440,678 (3.79% of Cap) ($349,206 in Unlikely Incentives)

One of the more underrated role players over the last few years, Saddiq Bey averaged 13.7 PPG and 6.5 RPG in 63 games for Atlanta last season. The downside of the Villanova product is that he is coming off a torn ACL that he suffered in March which should keep him out of at least the first half of this season. That really shouldn’t matter for a Wizards team that hopes to put themselves in a position for a guy like Cooper Flagg in this year’s draft. When he comes back, Bey can be a reliable complement to the Wizards young core or could potentially be used as a valuable trade chip at the deadline or beyond due to his economical contract.