40. Khris Middleton
Middleton is what the Basketball Jesus would describe as the perfect third banana. He can shoot well, knows his role and makes a reasonable amount of money. It’s a shame he’ll be overpaid in two years by some stupid team (likely Milwaukee).
39. Eric Bledsoe
Bledsoe is an excellent two-way player who can do it all. The only problem is he can’t stay on the court at all. He’s only had really one healthy season. It’s also a bad sign when the Suns can’t get anything for you at the deadline. Still, Bledsoe is an excellent player who is on an excellent contract.
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38. CJ McCollum
On a four-year, $106 million dollar deal, but McCollum is an essential piece to Portland’s success. It’s not his fault that Portland believed after beating the Clippers in the postseason two seasons ago that their core was good and could only get better. It’s not his fault that the Trail Blazers signed Evan Turner and Myers Leonard to deals that even Billy King would go “oh that’s a bad deal” to.
37. Brandon Ingram
Fun fact Ingram and I share the same birthday. I am exactly one year older than him. Last season, Ingram played in the beginning of the year how I would play if Ingram and I switched bodies Freaky Friday style. Ingram is still very young, but still how hard is it average more than 10 PPG on a terrible Lakers team. Still, Magic Johnson called him the only player untouchable in a Paul George trade, which shows how valuable the Lakers view Ingram.
36. Kyle Lowry
His contract is secretly awful, three years around $100 million. However, Lowry means a ton to the city of Toronto. He is the catalyst of the best stretch of Toronto basketball. He has led the Raptors to their only conference finals appearance, something that not even Vince Carter can say he accomplished in Toronto. For that reason, the Raptors will never trade him unless they get someone from 35-1 on this list. He means too much to the franchise and he’s one of the few stars that enjoy playing there.