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Every year, the NBA Playoffs are advertised as a showcase of the best players in the NBA leading their teams in the quest for championship glory.
Yet every year, the stars of the playoffs are unexpected figures. Jimmy Butler has willed the Miami Heat to within a game of the NBA Finals. He is backed by an underrated supporting cast, including Max Strus, Gabe Vincent, Caleb Martin, and Duncan Robinson.
In Los Angeles, Austin Reaves surprisingly emerged as the tertiary scorer to LeBron James and Anthony Davis. What does Reaves have in common with the aforementioned role players of Miami? They were all undrafted free agents out of college.
Undrafted free agents have proven to be invaluable pieces in championship quests, and with this premise in mind, who are the best undrafted free agents in the NBA right now?
5 best undrafted free agents in the NBA
5) Max Strus (SF), Miami Heat
2022-23 stats: 11.5 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 2.1 APG, 35.0 3p%
On a Miami Heat roster with so many undrafted free agents, determining the best UDFA was a difficult process.
Duncan Robinson was not the same impact player this year that he had been earlier in his career while Gabe Vincent's poor offensive efficiency (his offensive rating of this season 104 was among the lowest on the Heat roster) eliminated him.
This leaves Max Strus and Caleb Martin. Both have stepped up in the playoffs, improving their scoring and three-point percentage, and Martin has been the better defender during Miami's unexpected championship challenge.
But expanding to a larger sample size, Max Strus has been the better player during the regular season — posting better shooting numbers over the last few years and more consistent offensive production.
4) Naz Reid (C), Minnesota Timberwolves
2022-23 stats: 11.5 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 1.1 APG, 110 DRTG
A physical big man out of LSU, Reid has been a steady interior presence for the Minnesota Timberwolves over the last four years. Reid has increased his two-point shooting from 46.6% to 65.3% during this stretch and has even developed a somewhat consistent three-point shot.
Defensively, his defensive rating of 110 ranked 16th among players who played at least 1,200 minutes this past season — making him an attractive target in free agency this summer.
3) Austin Reaves (SG), Los Angeles Lakers
2022-23 stats: 13 PPG, 3 RPG, 3.4 APG, 39.8 3p%
Austin Reaves exceeded all expectations as an undrafted rookie last year — playing in 61 games including 19 starts —and even received All-Rookie Team votes.
The Oklahoma product was even better in his second year. Reaves nearly doubled his scoring production and increased his three-point accuracy from 31.7% to 39.8%. In the playoffs, Reaves boosted his game again, upping his averages to 16.9 PPG and hitting 44.3% of his threes.
The 24-year-old is also a strong finisher inside the arc, making 63.1% of his two-point shots. Lakers fans will be dreaming of what “Hillbilly Kobe” can do in his third NBA season.
2) Christian Wood (PF), Dallas Mavericks
2022-23 stats: 16.6 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 1.8 APG, 51.5 FG%
It's hard to believe that Christian Wood spent four years bouncing between the NBA and G-League to begin his professional career. Wood averaged 29.3 PPG and 14.1 PPG in his final G-League season, and even that wasn't good enough to earn a promotion to the Milwaukee Bucks roster.
The next season, he was a 13.1 PPG scorer off the bench for the Detroit Pistons. A year after that, Wood was scoring 21 points per game and nearly averaging a double-double for the Houston Rockets after securing a three-year, $41 million contract.
Now with the Dallas Mavericks, Wood continues to improve his offensive efficiency as an elite bench scorer.
1) Fred VanVleet (PG), Toronto Raptors
2022-23 stats: 19.3 PPG, 7.2 APG, 4.1 RPG, 1.8 SPG
As a member of the memorable Wichita State teams of the 2010s, VanVleet led the Shockers to a Final Four and an undefeated regular season during his time in Kansas. Despite all his college accolades, no NBA team picked the 6-1 guard during the 2016 NBA Draft.
Multiple teams wanted to draft VanVleet in the second round, but he turned down the offers because they stipulated he would play in the NBA Development League (now called the G-League).
He latched onto the Toronto Raptors for Summer League and made the final roster for the regular season. VanVleet slowly developed into a key bench player for the Raptors, and was critical during their 2019 NBA Title campaign — shooting 38.8% from deep during the playoffs that year.
VanVleet has only continued to develop in Toronto, first becoming an elite shooter and then transitioning into the point guard role. In 2021-22, he received his first All-Star Game invitation, averaging 20.3 PPG and shooting 37.7% from three.
