5 Undrafted Free Agents to Watch in 2016-17 NBA Training Camp
Not all NBA careers begin the same way.
For some, the path to a guaranteed paycheck and role starts on draft night. Others aren't so lucky. They go unselected—missing out on even the slightest security that comes with being a second-round pick—and begin chasing a roster spot.
Most of these players will amble in and out of the D-League or recognize their earning potential overseas, often while waiting for NBA call-ups that never come or seldom last.
A select few, however, shed the stigma and avoid that fate.
T.J. McConnell, while hardly a household name, caught on with the Philadelphia 76ers last summer and finished as one of their eight most-used players in the regular season. Tyler Johnson went undrafted in 2014, made the most of his D-League stint and is now on a four-year, $50 million contract with the Miami Heat. Langston Galloway followed a similar route with the New York Knicks and is entering the first season of a two-year, $10.7 million pact with the New Orleans Pelicans.
Whether they boast underrated skill sets or are entering a situation conducive to stability, the following five players should get a chance to pen their own success story.
Ron Baker, New York Knicks
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Ron Baker's Orlando Summer League stint with the New York Knicks unfolded a lot like his four-year career at Wichita State: There were plenty of highs, followed by some lows, sandwiched between a whole bunch of what-the-hell-does-that-mean scenarios.
The 6'4" guard has NBA shot-making abilities. He buried just 40 percent of his looks in summer league, but he swished 37 percent of his triples and saw his accuracy increase along with his volume. He tallied 42 points on 15-of-27 shooting (8-of-15 from deep) over his final two games in Orlando.
It is Baker's above-average playmaking and defense, though, that make him most useful to New York past training camp and into the regular season.
The Knicks have 14 guaranteed contracts on the books—shoutout, Marshall Plumlee—and more than enough scorers thanks to the imbalanced trio of Carmelo Anthony, Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick Rose. They may be more inclined to hand their final roster spot to another point guard behind Brandon Jennings and Rose, such as Stanford's Chasson Randle.
But Baker can assume lead-guard responsibilities in a pinch—much like Sasha Vujacic, only with more defense. His assist percentage topped 20 in two of his final three collegiate seasons, and he is enough of a threat at the rim and on the move to break down defenses out of the pick-and-roll. What he lacks in size on the defensive end, he makes up for in strength, timely traps and responsible steal-chasing.
A strong preseason showing from Justin Holiday could depreciate Baker's value to New York, but the Knicks, like most other teams, are in no position to turn away guards who can contribute on both sides of the floor. If he doesn't make their roster, he'll latch on somewhere else.
Anthony 'Cat' Barber, Philadelphia 76ers
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Believe it or not, the Sixers have roster spots available. This is good news for point guard Anthony "Cat" Barber, who played for the New Orleans Pelicans' Las Vegas Summer League team and has since joined Philly's dance party.
Including the 6'10" Ben Simmons, the Sixers have three floor generals under guaranteed contract leading into next season. The other two, Jerryd Bayless and Sergio Rodriguez, aren't assured of specific roles. Bayless often spends time as an off-ball guard, and Rodriguez is an overseas flier who hasn't played in the NBA since 2009-10.
In other words: The Sixers aren't married to a combination of point guards. Barber, along with T.J. McConnell (non-guaranteed), can make the roster and crack the rotation. He'll just need to accentuate non-scoring aspects of his game.
Pumping in 23.5 points per contest as a junior at North Carolina State was nice—nearly double Barber's scoring average as a sophomore (12.1). But his field-goal percentage at the rim was worse than Michael Carter-Williams' at Syracuse during 2012-13, according to Hoop-Math.com, and Philly needs someone with a pass-first mentality to make sense of its frontcourt logjam.
"The assist numbers are a bit of a concern. On the surface, 4.5 dimes per game look decent, but when you consider how much Barber had the ball in his hands, that's not so great," Bleacher Report's C.J. Moore wrote. "He had a 25.2 percent assist rate for the year, and that number dropped to 21.6 percent during ACC play, per KenPom.com."
That's not to say Barber's case is hopeless. He is a spectacular ball-handler, which he combines with nifty footwork to get around defenders. If he can use his dribble drives to create shots for others more often than in college, odds are he'll stick with the Sixers as more than an end-of-bench novelty.
Yogi Ferrell, Brooklyn Nets
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Yogi Ferrell will get a chance to make good on his progression at Indiana—with the caveat he may be unofficially trying out for another squad or vying for D-League dap.
The Brooklyn Nets already have 15 guaranteed deals on their ledger. While just two of those are wrapped up in actual point guards—Jeremy Lin and Greivis Vasquez—the Nets have a host of other backcourt playmakers: Randy Foye, Sean Kilpatrick, Caris LeVert and Isaiah Whitehead. Only one of them (LeVert) can survive at small forward, increasing the likelihood Ferrell gets sent packing ahead of the regular season.
Still, the undersized point man remains an intriguing prospect, despite a lackluster summer league and Brooklyn's contractual pileup.
Ferrell's scoring output, field-goal percentages and assist rate improved in his senior campaign. He is the ninth player this side of 2009 to collect 600 points, 195 assists and 75 made three-pointers in the same year, and he did so with the second-best three-point percentage (42) of the group.
Getting stops will always be Ferrell's biggest obstacle—he gives up inches (6'0") and, more importantly, weight (180 pounds) pretty much every night. He needs to bulk up in hopes of playing a physical brand of defense that won't see him get brutalized off screens and inside the arc by larger guards.
In the meantime, Ferrell will have to make the most of his speed and ball control to earn a roster spot. He is a solid finisher around the rim for someone his size and offers a jolt of offensive lightning as a passer and attacker. Producing in measured doses will get him a regular-season look somewhere.
Gary Payton II, Houston Rockets
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Gary Payton II's NBA journey may have to begin in the D-League. The Houston Rockets have a ton of guaranteed contracts and deploy enough ball-handling guards with James Harden now flanked by Eric Gordon and Pablo Prigioni.
If Payton does sneak onto a regular-season roster, it will be as a tweener guard. He isn't oversized for floor general duties at 6'3", but the concept is relatively new to him, since he profiles as a ball-dominant 2.
Improved control and creativity during his last season at Oregon State bode well for Payton's future. He remains a point guard-in-training but saw his assist percentage explode past 30 without suffering an uptick in his turnover rate.
And yet, the onset of Payton's career is firmly affixed to defensive intensity. He isn't much of a shooter and won't enjoy enough usage to hone his handling and vision. But he can swarm opposing scorers without being torched off the dribble, and there are few guards who rebound and block with comparative aggression.
Payton is the only guard since at least 2009-10 to match his defensive rebounding (18.0), steal (4.3) and block (1.7) percentages from last season. And he cleared those benchmarks in 2014-15, his first year at Oregon State, as well.
New teammate Patrick Beverley is a decent role model for Payton. They play with the same tenacity and disregard for fatigue and physical well-being. If Payton can emulate even part of Beverley's shooting, he won't be fringe-roster bait forever.
Jarrod Uthoff, Toronto Raptors
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The consensus on Iowa's Jarrod Uthoff was divisive ahead of the NBA draft. ESPN.com's Chad Ford thought he could go in the first round, but scouts questioned almost everything about him.
Here's what one told Campus Rush's Seth Davis in June:
"Physically skilled. Needs to get stronger. He's like Gumby with his ability to contort himself around the rim. Such a weird game. Can he rebound just enough to play four? I don't think he can guard threes. NBA guys will eat him up in the post. I just picture him going up against [Wizards forward] Markieff Morris. He's a good shooter but it takes a little time for him to get it off.
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Uthoff's shooting should translate to the NBA, even as he tries expediting his release. He shot 38.3 percent on 358 long-range attempts in college and incorporated more post moves and scoring off the bounce during his last season.
Switching from small forward to power forward did wonders for his blocking totals. He sent back almost as many shots in 2015-16 (83) as he did through his first two years at Iowa (91). The rub: He was more of a jump-shot swatter than rim protector—impressive, but problematic if his team needs him to become an interior deterrent.
That's why the Toronto Raptors look like a good landing spot for him. Their defense hasn't been founded around paint-policing in recent seasons, not even when Bismack Biyombo was in the fold. Uthoff gives them a great option as a catch-and-fire 4, a role they've tried to fill with Patrick Patterson and now Jared Sullinger to mixed results.
With the exception of DeMarre Carroll, who will soak up time as a small-ball power forward, Uthoff has a higher two-way ceiling than any other "big" on the Raptors.
Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com, Sports-Reference.com, DraftExpress.com and NBA.com unless otherwise cited. Salary information via Basketball Insiders.
Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @danfavale.
