Tier 3 – The valuable rotation players (the vets)
Gordon Hayward, Boston Celtics (Player Option)
Danilo Gallinari, Oklahoma City Thunder (Unrestricted)
Goran Dragic, Miami Heat (Unrestricted)
Derrick Favors, New Orleans Pelicans (Unrestricted)
Paul Millsap, Denver Nuggets (Unrestricted)
Serge Ibaka, Toronto Raptors (Unrestricted)
Marc Gasol, Toronto Raptors (Unrestricted)
Hassan Whiteside, Portland Trail Blazers (Unrestricted)
Kent Bazemore, Portland Trail Blazers (Unrestricted)
It’s no surprise to see that this is the biggest tier. This is where you can get a valuable veteran rotation player, but it’s probably going to cost you. That could vary for each player, depending on where they are in their respective careers, but for the most part, each of these players has seen and done it all.
Perhaps the only thing that’s left for most of these players is to snag another – or perhaps a first – NBA Championship. There is one player on this list that probably has a higher ceiling as the rest and that is Gordon Hayward. He could deserve to be on a higher tier but is coming off a rough season after a pretty gruesome injury.
If Hayward can recover and bounce back this season with the Celtics, and look a little like his old, pre-injury self, perhaps it would be wise to add him to tier 1. However, until we see it, he might be nothing more than a valuable veteran rotation piece moving forward.