Grades for every free agent signing: Powell, Smart, Collins and the latest deals

ESPN’s Zach Kram graded multiple NBA offseason moves as free agency began Tuesday night, including signings for the Chicago Bulls and related context across the league. For July 1, Kram assigned the Bulls a B- for signing Norman Powell, with terms of two years and $45 million, and a C for re-signing Zach Collins on a two-year, $17 million deal. Kram said Chicago effectively used its more than $50 million in cap space after trading for Nic Claxton and then signing Powell and keeping Collins. He noted that treating the Claxton part of a three-team deal as a two-year, $44 million contract leads to a “decent but not overwhelming” value assessment. He described Powell’s fit as supporting the Bulls’ rebuilding era rather than a win-now window, while also pointing to opportunity cost given the short, two-year structures of the contracts.