As we approach the 2017-18 NBA season, here’s a look at 10 notable players who could be approaching their last chance to remain relevant in the league.
More than perhaps any other sports league, the NBA is cyclical. Championship contenders normally don’t last beyond a 3-5 year window, bottom-feeders can rise to prominence with smart drafting and savvy moves in free agency, and middle-of-the-pack teams can either join the elite with a smart navigating or quickly fall off the map with a single bad investment.
It’s an endless pattern. The tanking teams of today stand a good chance of being the title contenders of tomorrow, and vice versa.
A big part of that is the natural embrace of Father Time as he turns rising superstars into living and eventually, into respected but washed up names whose talents are all but diminished before calling it a career.
Unfortunately, not all NBA players get to follow that preferred path from rising star to retiring legend. Many careers flame out long before then, while others never come close to those same heights before they abruptly find themselves out of the league.
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Whether it’s due to injuries, getting older, young talents never panning out or crowded rotations draining their confidence, plenty of NBA players drop out of the league every year, either signing a contract overseas or unwillingly committing to retirement as they permanently fade from teams’ radars.
Heading into the 2017-18 NBA campaign, here’s a look at 10 notable players who could be approaching their last chance to be relevant players in a team’s rotation…or possibly approaching their last chance to be on an NBA roster at all.
10. James Young
After being cut by the Boston Celtics to make room for their grand free agency plans, James Young quickly latched on to the Milwaukee Bucks on a one-year, “prove it” deal worth the minimum ($1.5 million).
Young is still only 22 years old, so someone will continue to take chances on him after this season. However, he’s also been in the league for three years now, failing to show any sign of progress in a crowded Celtics backcourt.
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That situation doesn’t figure to get any better in Milwaukee though, with Khris Middleton, Malcolm Brogdon, Matthew Dellavedova and Rashad Vaughn all in the backcourt — and that’s without even mentioning point forward Giannis Antetokounmpo.
With career averages of 2.3 points per game on .367/.276/.548 shooting splits, this former 17th overall pick is teetering dangerously close to losing his place on an NBA roster.
9. Mario Chalmers
The Cleveland Cavaliers needed a backup point guard for almost all of last season, and despite LeBron James‘ very public lamentations over that fact, his former Miami Heat teammate Mario Chalmers never got signed.
That wasn’t a great sign for a player coming off an Achilles injury, especially since he was ready to return in November. On a one-year, minimum contract with the Memphis Grizzlies, at least Rio will get his chance to salvage his NBA career on a team he’s familiar with.
Chalmers averaged 10.8 points and 3.8 assists in 22.8 minutes per game over 55 appearances down on Beale Street in 2015-16. However, if he can’t stay healthy or definitively establish himself as a superior option to Wade Baldwin as backup point guard, the 31-year-old veteran could find himself struggling to find work in the near future.
8. Derrick Rose
This is probably premature. Derrick Rose will get his chance to revive his value playing on an Eastern Conference contender, especially as long as Isaiah Thomas remains sidelined by his hip injury. Even so, he’s still too big of a name to not find work after the upcoming season no matter how it turns out, right?
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Yes and no. While finding a backup point guard like Rose who will agree to a minor contract could make him an attractive option next summer when his one-year deal runs out, keep in mind that his contract this summer didn’t come until three and a half weeks into free agency, as a last resort for the Cleveland Cavaliers, for the veteran minimum.
He’s not a good player anymore, and no, his 18.0 points, 4.4 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game last year don’t make him a good player again in the wake of another knee injury, non-existent defense, poor perimeter shooting, his need for a starting role and all the off-court distractions that come with him. There are plenty of reasons to question his fit in Cleveland.
Is it really so unreasonable to wonder if D-Rose would be playing in China right now if not for Kyrie Irving‘s trade request? And is it really so brash to wonder if he’s one more injury or one poor season alongside LeBron away from that being his fate next summer?
7. Kris Humphries
Kris Humphries is currently unsigned, so the odds are already stacked against him in 2017-18. The 13-year journeyman has played for eight different teams in his NBA career, most recently averaging 4.6 points and 3.7 rebounds in 12.3 minutes per game over 56 appearances for the Atlanta Hawks.
Though he shot an encouraging 35.2 percent from 3-point range, he can hardly be considered a stretch-4 since he was only taking one long range attempt per game. He’s a stout rebounder, but is undersized for his position and cannot be relied upon on the defensive end.
At age 32, Humphries could easily become a candidate to play for more money overseas if he’s unable to land a minimum contract in the next few weeks. His best shot may be a team in need of frontcourt depth picking him up midseason.
6. Pat Connaughton
The Portland Trail Blazers guaranteed the third year of Pat Connaughton‘s rookie contract when they decided not to waive him before the Aug. 31 deadline. It’s a $1.5 million investment in a player who’s shown very little through his first two seasons and has a potential MLB career waiting if the NBA doesn’t work out.
Holding career averages of 1.8 points and 1.2 rebounds in 6.3 minutes per game, Connaughton’s only redeeming stat is his 40.7 percent shooting from 3-point range…on 54 total attempts. The Allen Crabbe trade could open up some minutes for him on the wing, and with restricted free agency on the horizon, making the most of them will be key for the former Notre Dame star.
Since Connaughton is only 24 years old and possesses tremendous athleticism, someone will probably take a flier on him next summer if the Blazers move on. But at what point does the possibility of a career in professional baseball outweigh the same old struggles in the NBA?
5. Josh McRoberts
Suffice it to say Josh McRoberts did not work out as planned for the Miami Heat, suiting up in only 81 games over three seasons while posting 4.1 points and 2.8 rebounds in just 15.7 minutes per game. His sub-40 percent shooting didn’t help matters either.
After dumping him to the Dallas Mavericks, McBob is one season away from unrestricted free agency and possibly slipping off the NBA’s radar altogether. The Mavs are not being picked by many to make the playoffs, which means any contributions McRoberts can provide will be welcomed.
Perhaps a change of scenery and a little injury luck is all he needs to approach the 8.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game and 36.1 percent shooting from 3-point range he put up in his last non-Heat season. If that’s not the case though, the 30-year-old journeyman could be approaching his last stop in the NBA.
4. Michael Carter-Williams
It’s a bit alarming how fast the 2013 Rookie of the Year has gotten to this point, but as he enters his fifth NBA season playing for his fourth team, Michael Carter-Williams is already having to settle for a one-year, $2.7 million deal with the Charlotte Hornets.
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It’s been a long, injury-riddled downward spiral for MCW since he put up 16.7 points, 6.3 assists and 6.2 rebounds per game as a rookie for the Philadelphia 76ers. But the early Jason Kidd comparisons never panned out, and through his first four seasons, the 25-year-old has missed 12, 16, 28 and 37 games.
From bone bruises in his knee to wrist sprains to a torn labrum, MCW has had terrible injury luck over the last few years, preventing him from brushing up on the still-glaring flaws in his game like his complete lack of a 3-point shot.
Perhaps playing backup for Kemba Walker will help MCW re-establish himself before being an unrestricted free agent next summer, but after averaging 6.6 points 3.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 18.8 minutes per game last year — all career-lows — he’s getting dangerously close to falling out of favor with the league.
3. Deron Williams
Deron Williams‘ performance in the 2017 NBA Finals may have effectively ended his NBA career, cutting off one of his few remaining lifelines with the Cleveland Cavaliers when he shot 2-for-16 from the field in the championship series and they chose not to bring him back.
At 33 years old, the 12-year veteran hasn’t reached the 70-game threshold since 2012-13. He can still be an effective backup for a competitive team, but if the expectation is holding down important minutes off the bench in a playoff series, D-Will’s Finals meltdown isn’t exactly reassuring.
Still unsigned to a deal as an unrestricted free agent, Williams only has a few more weeks to latch onto a team for a veteran minimum deal. More than likely though, he may need to wait until a team in need of backcourt depth gets desperate and signs him midseason.
2. Roy Hibbert
It was only 2013-14 that Roy Hibbert was the defensive centerpiece of the top-seeded Indiana Pacers. Three seasons later, he’s played brief stints for three new teams, and each new stop has been more disappointing than the last.
In 2015-16, he played 81 games for the Los Angeles Lakers and did nothing to prevent their defense from ranking dead last in the association in defensive rating. His numbers shrank to 5.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game, but that was only the beginning.
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In 2016-17 he signed with the Charlotte Hornets, and despite a promising debut, he’d post 5.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in only 16 minutes per game over his 42 appearances. He was traded to the Denver Nuggets in February, and only suited up in six games behind Nikola Jokic and Mason Plumlee.
Currently unsigned, there doesn’t appear to be much interest in the former Defensive Player of the Year candidate. Maybe someone desperate for a backup at center will consider him at some point in 2017-18, but as he approaches his 31st birthday in December, it doesn’t appear as though there’s a place in the modern NBA for Hibbert.
1. Andrew Bogut
It was a cruel twist when Andrew Bogut‘s Cleveland Cavaliers tenure was cut down in less than a minute by a fractured tibia, almost as though whatever basketball gods had ordained the Golden State Warriors as the new rulers of the NBA were reaching down from the heavens to make sure that pairing never came to be.
In any case, Bogut has been cleared for full basketball activities, but as an unrestricted free agent, there hasn’t been much reported interest in the 32-year-old seven-footer. Given how bad he was with the Dallas Mavericks in 26 games last year and how injury-prone he is, it’s not hard to understand why.
Last season, Bogut averaged just 3.0 points and 1.0 blocks per game, though he also chipped in 8.4 rebounds. He looked nothing like the two-way force he was just a season prior with the Dubs. Dating back to the 2016 NBA Finals, Bogut has sustained a knee injury, a minor knee injury, a hamstring strain and then the fractured tibia.
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At this point, the unsigned Aussie probably won’t be signed to a minimum salary before the start of the new season, and it’d take a surprisingly strong performance in 2017-18 to ensure his NBA career lasts beyond it.