5. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Brooklyn Nets
The Brooklyn Nets have quite a few players fitting this category, but none is more on-the-bubble in terms of their upcoming free agency plans than Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. If the team’s goal is to preserve two max cap slots, the upcoming season may be his last chance to prove he should be a part of the core moving forward.
RHJ has already established himself on the defensive end, showing the ability to play the 3 or the 4 in small-ball lineups. The big problem is after three years in the league, he still can’t shoot, and in 2017-18, he showed very little progress on that front. He averaged a career-high 13.9 points and 6.8 rebounds per game on 47.2 percent shooting last season, but only converted 24.1 percent of his 3-pointers, taking a measly 0.8 attempts per game.
Both numbers suggest a glaring weakness in his game, and if he’s unable to spread the floor, he runs the risk of becoming another Tony Allen or Michael Kidd-Gilchrist — useful defenders, to be sure, but not worthy of a nice payday in 2019 free agency with so many other big fish swimming around and the Nets needing to start making moves.