There should be more contract extensions soon, as June 30 is the last day for a player in the final year of his contract to extend that deal. June 30 is also the first day teams can negotiate with free agents outside of their franchise. In other words: That's when you should expect the free agency frenzy to begin.
I'm grading every free agency signing and the most impactful extensions this offseason, breaking down the ramifications for all teams and players involved.
To determine each grade, I'm looking at multiple factors, including the player's on-court impact and age, the contract's financial implications, and the context of the team's short- and long-term outlooks. How risky or certain is the move? And how much does it help or hurt the team's chance to win the championship, next season or beyond?
Let's get into the latest moves:
Quick links: Latest buzz | Trade machine Depth charts | Offseason guides | Draft
June 21: CJ McCollum returning to Hawks on one-year deal
Terms: One year, $21 million
Grade: A
McCollum played an unexpectedly important role in Atlanta last season, as the Hawks surged after the All-Star break. And in retrospect, he might have been the most valuable player in the playoffs because he accomplished something that nobody else in the entire NBA could: With game-winning buckets in the final minute of consecutive games, he managed to beat the Knicks multiple times this postseason.
That wasn't the expectation when McCollum came to Atlanta in the Trae Young trade, where he was seemingly included primarily to help match Young's salary. Any on-court contributions would have been a bonus.
But McCollum meshed well with Atlanta's untraditional positional alignment. The Hawks' five-man lineup of McCollum, Dyson Daniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jalen Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu had a plus-21.4 net rating, per Cleaning the Glass, which ranked second among all lineups with at least 500 possessions. In a larger sample, the trio of McCollum, Alexander-Walker and Johnson -- the veteran guard alongside the Hawks' two best players -- had a plus-14.5 net rating, per NBA Advanced Stats.
Next season, the Hawks will continue using those effective lineups, and McCollum's ability to play both on- and off-ball -- which he has successfully balanced throughout his entire career, starting when he was Damian Lillard's sidekick with the Portland Trail Blazers -- makes him an asset in Atlanta. He can run the offense himself, take a backseat to Johnson (the Hawks' assist leader after Young's departure) and help mentor a young point guard, if Atlanta goes that route with the No. 8 pick in this week's draft.