5 NBA Free Agents Who Deserve a Roster Spot | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats & Rumors

Dennis Smith Jr. has parlayed his athleticism into an exhausting defense at the point of attack. Relative to what he would cost on a regular basis, he is actually the player on this list whose continued availability is the most surprising.

Attacking limitations are likely the main reason the 26-year-old is still available.

Expecting him to do basic floor-general stuff and shoot three-pointers on a regular basis, as a ball-handler or spot-up option, is seen as overly ambitious. But the rim pressure he provides is atypical for his size and position, and he has improved his finishing (incrementally) over the past two seasons.

Teams with pristine half-court space can also use his downhill juice to make plays. He threw an assist on a somewhat staggering 15.6 percent of his drives last season, a top-six mark among the 143 players who completed at least 300 such possessions.

Combine this with his defensive activity at the point of attack and you have a useful drive-and-disrupt reserve on your hands. For that reason, Jose Alvarado is the only other player in the past three seasons to maintain a steal rate of at least three and an assist percentage of 20 or higher.

So, uh, yeah. Somebody draw this guy already.