Chris Paul

As the 12-time All-Star and future Hall of Famer winds down his career, his present-day value seems underrated. Paul might be 40 years old now, but he's still in good shape, as evidenced by his playing all 82 games last season. He's still a pick-and-roll maestro: Among 52 ball handlers who received at least 1,500 screens last year, per GeniusIQ, Paul ranked ninth in points per play, one spot ahead of Jalen Brunson. And he can still make plays for his teammates, even if his own scoring and usage rate have dipped to career lows: Among qualified players, Paul ranked fourth in assists per 36 minutes, behind only Trae Young, Nikola Jokic and Tyrese Haliburton.

Chris Boucher

Only two players with at least 800 minutes last season averaged at least 20 points, nine rebounds and 2.5 3-pointers per 36 minutes. One was Chris Boucher. The other was Victor Wembanyama. Boucher is too slight to take on heavy minutes at center, but he brings a diverse and valuable skill set to the frontcourt: He can make 3s, rise for dunks and swat opponents' shots on the other end. He's also a prolific offensive rebounder, with 3.5 career offensive boards per 36 minutes, a top-25 mark among active players (minimum 5,000 minutes).

Bruce Brown

Since playing a key role on the 2022-23 title-winning Denver Nuggets, Brown has functionally acted as a walking contract, serving as matching salary in the Pascal Siakam and Brandon Ingram trades en route from Indiana to Toronto to New Orleans. A reunion with the Nuggets would make a lot of sense for both sides. Jokic would bring out the best in Brown, a jack-of-all-trades with a high hoops IQ who developed a strong chemistry with Denver's starters.

Malcolm Brogdon

Brogdon played a central role on a contender in 2022-23, winning Sixth Man of the Year for Boston. For five straight seasons from 2018-19 through 2022-23, Brogdon's year-by-year PER ratings were 17.8, 17.7, 17.9, 18.0 and 18.2. (15 is an average PER.) In other words, he was almost the exact same above-average player every year.

Luke Kornet

The advanced stats darling of the 2025 free agent class is a backup center who has never averaged more than 7 points per game in a season. According to regularized adjusted plus-minus (xRAPM), which measures a player's on/off impact and adjusts for his teammates and opponents, Kornet is top-20 among active players on a per-possession basis, sandwiched between Ivica Zubac and Chet Holmgren.

De'Anthony Melton

Melton was an under-the-radar free agent last summer, too, and he's back in that category after a truncated 2024-25 campaign. The combo guard was off to a hot start in Golden State but tore his ACL six games in; the Warriors then sent him to Brooklyn in exchange for Dennis Schroder. Melton can shoot (38% from distance over the past five seasons), play opportunistic defense (career 1.4 steals per game) and generally stuff the stat sheet.

Gary Trent Jr.

For the purposes of this list, Trent is a stand-in for an entire player type that has flooded the market. Knockdown shooters are readily available this summer, including Trent, Malik Beasley, Luke Kennard, Landry Shamet, Seth Curry, Garrison Mathews, Alec Burks, Taurean Prince and Duncan Robinson. Trent is the best of the bunch, a career 39% 3-point shooter set for a meaningful raise after signing a minimum contract with Milwaukee last year.