I like to look at signings by how they shift a team’s ceiling (or floor if bad enough). Let’s look at recent Clippers free agent signings as an example.
All of Paul Pierce, Josh Smith, and Lance Stephenson possess the talent to push the Clippers’ championship into a stratosphere normally reserved for bonafide contenders: last year, that group included the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors. Players like Pablo Prigioni and Cole Aldrich? They do more for keeping a stable floor rather, and even at their hypothetical worse, aren’t bad enough to deeply hurt the ceiling.