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Rick Bowmer/Associated Press

15. Andre Roberson, Oklahoma City Thunder

Age: 25

2016-17 Per-Game Stats: 6.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 1.2 steals, 1.0 blocks, 46.4 percent shooting

Advanced Metrics: 9.6 Player Efficiency Rating, 1.24 Real Plus-Minus, 0.00 Total Points Added

Andre Roberson shot 25.3 percent on wide-open threes last season, doesn't do much off the dribble, forces the Oklahoma City Thunder to play a man down on offense and blah, blah, blah.

Anyone calling for Dwyane Wade to get this spot needs a miniature reality check. Now that he's joining the Cleveland Cavaliers, per The Vertical's Shams Charania, Wade won't be cycling through the volume necessary to play like a top-15 player at his position. If he does, it'll be as a stand-in point guard until Isaiah Thomas returns from his hip injury.

Also: The Chicago Bulls filed better offensive and defensive ratings without Wade. His built-in chemistry with LeBron James drums up his stock a bit, but he's 35 years old. Something's wrong if the Cavaliers need him to be a top-15 shooting guard.

Anyway, Roberson's defense is legit. He can harass everyone from point guards to certain power forwards and shows little wear when swarming pick-and-rolls without end. He earned a second-team All-Defensive nod in 2016-17, and him snagging some Defensive Player of the Year love isn't out of the question. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist were the only wings to save more points on the less glamorous side, according to NBA Math.

Roberson's role is especially pivotal with the Thunder gunning for the Golden State Warriors. In the wake of OKC's Carmelo Anthony trade, he'll move back to the 2 with Paul George at the 3 and Anthony at the 4. He is the buffer that prevents George from defending power forwards, Anthony from having to match up with explosive wings and Russell Westbrook from exhausting himself versus pick-and-roll maestros.

Expecting anything more out of Roberson on offense is wishful thinking. His three-point looks could mushroom in difficulty since defenses will be away from the basket chasing Oklahoma City's perimeter firepower rather than packing the paint against Westbrook drives.

Yet even without an offensive uptick, Roberson's defensive activity should propel him up the shooting guard ladder.

14. Victor Oladipo, Indiana Pacers

Age: 25

2016-17 Per-Game Stats: 15.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.3 blocks, 44.2 percent shooting

Advanced Metrics: 13.6 PER, 1.66 RPM, -58.86 TPA

Why yes, you should be signing up for an unleashed Victor Oladipo.

This endorsement won't mean much for the Indiana Pacers. Perhaps they contend for a low-end playoff berth in the Eastern Conference, or maybe they plunge to the bottom of the standings. Their roster doesn't allot for much certainty beyond that.

Whatever happens, Oladipo should enjoy something of a bounce-back campaign. Both the Thunder (Westbrook) and Orlando Magic (Elfrid Payton) displaced him from the ball by the end of his tenure with those respective clubs. The Pacers have a wealth of other ball-handlers in Darren Collison, Cory Joseph and Lance Stephenson, but Oladipo is their guy—the crown jewel of the impressively bad George trade.

Given the opportunity to reverse-engineer his declining usage rate, run some more pick-and-rolls and capitalize on a cornerstone's green light, Oladipo should look back at 2017-18 as a career year—even if that doesn't ferry Indiana past the 33-win mark.

13. Danny Green, San Antonio Spurs

Age: 30

2016-17 Per-Game Stats: 7.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.8 blocks, 39.2 percent shooting

Advanced Metrics: 10.1 PER, 1.26 RPM, 85.11 TPA

Picture Roberson, but with a three-point stroke, better vision and a birthday before 1990.

Hello, Danny Green.

The San Antonio Spurs have a way of turning nothings into somethings, but Green is a genuinely good NBA player. He splits a hyperactive defensive workload with Leonard, going toe-to-toe with springy wings and point guards. He is one of the league's best shot-blocking wings and is shrewd in forcing turnovers.

Green shoots gaps when coming around screens on pick-and-rolls, ambushing ball-handlers before release. He'll also front players, deliberately tangling bodies, when dropping back off switches to deny the ball and force turnovers.

Last year marked the fifth time Green cleared two steals and 1.5 blocks per 100 possessions. Just two other guards have ever matched or exceeded that total: Wade and Jerry Reynolds.

Sure, it seems like Green has missed more momentum-shifting three-pointers post-2014 than anyone in the league, and he doesn't offer much creation outside extra passes. But he put down 37.9 percent of his long balls in 2016-17 and is at 40.1 percent since joining the Spurs. He remains the consummate three-and-D specialist.

12. Rodney Hood, Utah Jazz

Age: 24

2016-17 Per-Game Stats: 12.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.2 blocks, 40.8 percent shooting

Advanced Metrics: 12.4 PER, -0.77 RPM, -36.48 TPA

Rodney Hood doesn't land this high if the Utah Jazz don't lose Gordon Hayward. They need a featured scorer, and he fits the bill better than anyone else.

Joe Johnson, 36, is too old to ferry that responsibility. Donovan Mitchell's summer-league exploits won't leak over to the regular season in totality. Alec Burks will still be lucky to see the floor, and Dante Exum needs to find his identity as a passer and jump-shooter before entering this fray.

That leaves Hood, who has the chops to make waves as a leading scorer if he reworks his shot selection. As ESPN.com's Zach Lowe wrote:

"About 30 percent of Hood's shots came in the floater zone between 3 and 16 feet from the rim, a share that ranked in the 90th percentile among wing players, according to research from Ben Falk of Cleaning the Glass. Trade a few of those for drives and 3s, and Utah will have something. Hood could average 20 per game this season, but will they be the kind of points that lead to winning?

"Hood earned only two free throws per game last season; Utah will ache for cheap points, and Hood can supply some if he drives more. He'll have to dodge heavy traffic when both Favors and Gobert are on the floor."

Getting Hood to abandon bad habits will be closer to a cinch when he's guaranteed touches. He seemed to be battling against the grain a bit within an equal-opportunity offense that added Johnson and George Hill while facilitating the breakout of Joe Ingles—not unlike Burks did upon the arrival of head coach Quin Snyder.

Bet on a higher-usage role, along with a healthier right knee, doing wonders for Hood's attention to detail—from the decisions he makes on drives to the time he spends as a secondary pick-and-roll initiator and a greater willingness to let it fly off the catch.

11. Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns

Age: 20

2016-17 Per-Game Stats: 22.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 0.9 steals, 0.3 blocks, 42.3 percent shooting

Advanced Metrics: 14.6 PER, -1.30 RPM, -131.20 TPA

Two players in NBA history have totaled more than 1,500 points and 250 assists during a single season before their 21st birthday: James and Devin Booker.

This shouldn't completely alter your view of Booker. Defensive metrics still hate him. He finished 451st out of 468 players in ESPN's Defensive Real Plus-Minus. His reads as the primary ball-handler aren't great. He shot under 40 percent when running pick-and-rolls, and an expanded offensive role barely nudged his assist rate.

Here's the thing: Booker is still so damn young. He won't turn 21 until after the season begins. Drastically increasing his volume as a sophomore without incurring a demonstrative dip in efficiency is a fairly large victory.

Added efficiency will come with time, even if the defense doesn't. Booker should see his free-throw rate climb as he improves his decision-making off the bounce, and his work out of the pick-and-roll should get a boost as Marquese Chriss works on his rolling and the Phoenix Suns, presumably, strive to place more bodies beyond the arc.

Quarter-season samples come laced with caveats, but after the All-Star break, the Suns nearly scored like an average offense with Booker in the lineup. Unfortunately for them, that's saying something. And while his splits without Bledsoe ruined those feel-good vibes, Booker has the raw offensive pizzazz to make the leap from novelty volume scorer to essential centerpiece.