NBA Draft - Top 5 undrafted players in the league

Toronto Raptors v Brooklyn Nets - Game Three
Toronto Raptors v Brooklyn Nets - Game Three

#3 Seth Curry - Undrafted in the 2013 NBA Draft

Dallas Mavericks v Washington Wizards
Dallas Mavericks v Washington Wizards

Seth Curry's path to the NBA was long and extremely hard. After playing four years at college (one for Liberty and three for Duke), Steph's brother went undrafted in the 2013 NBA Draft.

After bouncing around in the then-named NBA Development League, Curry played two games in the 2013-14 season, two in the 2014-15 season for the Memphis Grizzlies, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Phoenix Suns.

Curry averaged 22 points, five assists, and four rebounds per game on 46/42/90 shooting splits across 81 games in two seasons of the D-League (now G-League), for the Santa Cruz Warriors and the Erie BayHawks.

Curry then found his big NBA break with the Sacramento Kings and played 44 games in the 2015-16 NBA season. He shot 45% from three in the 2015-16 season and signed with the Dallas Mavericks for the following campaign.

Curry averaged 13 points per game in 70 appearances with Dallas on 43% from the three-point line. A tibia injury forced him to miss the entire 2017-18 season, Curry returned the following year to play with the Portland Trail Blazers and helped them reach the Western Conference Finals in the 2019 NBA Playoffs.

He returned to Dallas last year and averaged 12 points per game after shooting 45% from three.


#2 Wesley Matthews - Undrafted in the 2009 NBA Draft

Milwaukee Bucks v Washington Wizards
Milwaukee Bucks v Washington Wizards

For a senior (four years at Marquette) who went undrafted in the NBA Draft, Wesley Matthews has had a solid NBA career.

The Utah Jazz picked up Matthews for the 2009-10 NBA season and gave him his first shot at the NBA. Right from the start, Matthews played at a good level and averaged nine points per game.

Then, he spent five years at Portland, averaging 15 points on 39% shooting from the three-point-line. His 3-and-D abilities are highly regarded in this era, and he has maintained his level in his 11-year NBA career.

Matthews played for the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2019-20 season and helped them reach the first seed in the Eastern Conference Finals and gain NBA's best regular-season record.

Even though his numbers are not the same from earlier in his career, his defensive game and three-point shooting skills remain efficient.

Three shooting guards selected in the 2009 NBA Draft did not play a single NBA game.


#1 Fred Vanvleet - Undrafted in the 2016 NBA Draft

2019 NBA Finals - Game Two
2019 NBA Finals - Game Two

Fred VanVleet went undrafted in the 2016 NBA Draft after four good seasons at Wichita State. He was 22-years-old at the time.

VanVleet later signed with the Toronto Raptors after participating in the NBA Summer League with the team.

He played just eight minutes per game in his first year (37 games) and averaged three points per game. In the 2017-18 NBA season, VanVleet played 76 games and shot 41% from the three-point line, which helped him average nine points per game.

During the Raptors' 2019 NBA championship run, VanVleet played a huge role. After averaging 11 points per game in the regular season across 64 games (28 starts), he averaged 14 points per game in the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors. He even earned an NBA Finals MVP consideration.

As a full-time starter, VanVleet averaged 17.6 points and seven assists per game on 54 starts in the 2019-20 NBA season.

In the 2016 NBA Draft, four point guards were selected and eventually did not play a single NBA game.


Also read: NBA Draft 2020: Sources indicate Orlando Magic might look to move up in the lottery, Detroit Pistons targeting a playmaker to lead their rebuild

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