Idk, I feel the spirit of the question is guys who think they’re still 2nd options on a contender good and have only been in bad situations or unlucky to explain the poor season(s). Mike Conley in 2026 comes across as a guy who knows he’s a bench guy who’s at most averages the 7th most minutes on whatever team he plays in and is more of a lockerroom vet than an on-court performer these days.

Or maybe not, haven’t heard a word out of his mouth since he left Memphis so what do I know.

Bro he’s like senior assisted living in NBA years. I think OP means like JA or Lonzo -without Gelo knee replacement surgery.

Mike is worth it for his presence, even if he can’t give you minutes.

Jimmy is an afterthought because of the combo of contract and timing of coming back from injury. Right now he’s dead weight that adds to why the warriors are irrelevant. This next summer if he’s fully healthy and wants to play still, he’s not getting a max but he’ll get a contract if he wants one.

Exactly we gotta get brave here, something like Ja Morant blowing out his knee and it’s over for good or maybe like Grayson Allen who has sneakily been on a major decline health wise but seems mid career.

Edit: maybe you edited and added guys or I missed but cool we agree on Ja

“Ayton: …Doesn’t seem to love the game from all accounts.”

Have you considered his NBA 2K26 account? I bet he loves the game from that one!

We’re YEARS from seeing KJ retire. He and the rest of our team just got their first taste of the playoffs and MADE the finals. KJ is reigning 6th man of the year. Relax.

Ayton seems like the most likely here

Don’t get how you say Horford and Conley don’t count because they are obviously going to be out of the league soon, but then bring Butler.

Bro is going to be 37 years old heading into the season. Coming off a torn ACL.

I feel like anyone with an ACL level injury is barred by default from “without knowing it”

I would say the first two don’t really qualify either as neither one has ever been considered a star. Maybe you can sneak Ayton as a no. 1 pick, but yeah. It’s a tough list with the criteria given being pretty specific.

I think Ja is probably the best answer here.

Keldon has never been labeled as a Star

Heat got ripped into for how that deal went down and I feel like it has only aged well for us.

Wasn’t perfect, but getting a half-decent return for him right as he slowed down was a win.

Jimmy Butler will be 37 in a month. Shouldn’t we figure he’s going to be out the league soon lmao?

After him making the finals this past year, I could see Keldon staying to ring-chase with Wemby and the Spurs.

Ja for sure. Undersized guard with a weak outside shot, does not playmake very well and who relies almost entirely on his athleticism. He is definitely gonna hit a wall soon.

OP named Duncan tho it wasn’t at all surprising he left

I think Brandon Miller** is a good candidate. His skills aren’t as valued as his difficiencies (defense, playmaking). He’s on a big cap number, but if turned loose somehow, I don’t see him signing a minimum to be a 9th guy. Best with the ball in his hands unless you have someone better, and there might be 30-40 guys who are more efficient.

**Edit: Ingram. I commented right after I woke up and had an epic brain fart then didn’t reddit all day. Brandon Miller is a terrible answer.

Would this really be shocking

I’m honestly pretty tired of AD pretending he can still play in the NBA. Dude gets hurt too often. It’s obvious he’s on the Post OKC Westbrook track of getting passed around to teams who think it’s not that bad.

Embiid is on borrowed time, as is

This seems like the right answer. A player with as much hype and upside as Blake Griffin who might be forced out of the league.

Came here to say, “whichever one gets injured,” so you are correct.

I think that’s up to him. If he’d be willing to come off the bench as a plug n play 3 point shooter on a vet minimum contract, he’d certainly find a spot somewhere.

Yeah I was gonna say Klay or Horford

don’t you put that evil on me ricky bobby

Nah. He’s washed but he could also play for another few years if he wants to.

This is a good one BUT the mitigating factor is he has no wife or kids and genuinely seems to love/appreciate the game of basketball. So why hang em up? Teams are always looking for shooters and that seems to be the one thing he can still offer

DJ already signed a 2 year deal

Horford already has a contract covering 2027-28

Lopez is done after this year. He signed two year deal to retire at home in LA. I did not list him here because it is obvious he wants to move on with life so it’s not the case that he “doesn’t know”

Horford just signed a contract for ²⁷⁄₂₈ lol

Westbrook is still unsigned right now.

Don’t Eva talk like that

Bogdan is a great call.

We mighta seen him play his last game last season. I haven’t heard that anyone is interested in him.

Might be, sadly

DeMar seems like he’d be fine anywhere as long as there’s a ball and hoop.

Russ should sign in China, grab a massive bag, have some fun being first option, and be universally beloved for a minute. 

I think you may be correct. Playoff P seems like the type of guy who will never work for the vet minimum. Once he’s done making huge money, he’s out.

Probably why OP specifically said this post doesn’t apply to Tim Duncan.

Reading comprehension is important.

And especially not him.

Nowitzki did it two years after Duncan. No farewell tour.

Timmy in particular seems like the kind of guy that would not want one.

Yep, he was still super-good like 4 years ago. Had a couple of injuries as he got in his mid-30s, it’s amazing how quickly aspects of the game can drop off.

As a dubs fan that wanted to draft him and was pumped once we did, this should be the answer. He might be a nice guy like a lot warriors players said, but he’s still a cancer. He would have been a really good player in early 2000s style basketball, though

No shot harden is gone after this year

Barnes is still relatively young,

Holy cow, I didn’t realize Jeff Green or Nicholas Batum were still in the league. I had to Google them both. Batum played last year for the Clippers and had a way better year than Beal, I see. Jeff Green was in his 18th year last year and still got 6 points a game.

I think if either Steph or Draymond decided to retire, it would get announced beforehand. And depending on how Steph’s knee holds up this season, I could see both deciding to ride into the sunset after this season. I can see him deciding he doesn’t want to continue if he can only play 40 to 50 games max, which is a possibility with the runners knee. It is obviously way too early to be talking about that, but this is a hypothetical, after all.

I hope DeRozan goes out he way he wants to. Zach Lavine, best of luck, but I hope he’s off the Kings soon. At that salary we have to play him, but he doesn’t add enough, specifically on defense.

Not sure how you look at bronny and think Dalton knecht will last longer than him

Thought he retired years ago

CP3 did announce he would be retiring shortly into that final season. But I also think that would have been his last season regardless.

No because he announced his retirement beforehand.

Agreed. Especially since, beyond the correlation to height and commonality of reoccurence, he seemingly was granted an exception to the rule that those with blood clots have to go through the Fitness to Play panel before returning (ie. Ausar/Bosh). Something that doesn’t bode well for how thorough they ensured he could safely return, or the possibility that they did realize in the FtP or just general monitoring that he was doomed for imminent danger/retirement so hid it.

Shocked I had to scroll this far. He’s a great candidate sadly

Lowry already retired. Signed a one-day deal to retire as a Raptor this summer. But he didn’t play a game in the jersey so no one really noticed

Lowry knew his retirement was coming.

Lowry announced his retirement this summer. He knew his last contract was his last

He’s doing a farewell tour

He signed a 2 year contract 

No shot. If this is his last season, he will have chosen that. Look how virtually every team wanted him this offseason. There’s no way he declines that dramatically that fast. The only way would be a season-ending injury which, while he’s indeed older, could hypothetically happen to anybody