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6 NBA Veterans Who’ll Have A Huge Role Again In 2026-27
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- 6 NBA Veterans Who’ll Have A Huge Role Again In 2026-27
Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images
The 2026 NBA offseason moved fast, filled with shocking, blockbuster moves that were poised to change the way we see the league, the teams that will turn into contenders, and many players' choices in the open market.
A bunch of veterans heading into 2026-27 saw their role become increasingly likely to rise, and others got left behind, even waiting in free agency still. Some changed teams this summer; others just got a roster built around them that makes their best skills matter way more. They're probably not turning back into superstars, but all six of these guys should have a bigger impact than people expect.
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From Paul George getting one more massive shot in Boston to Norman Powell becoming one of Chicago's main scoring options, here are six veterans who are about to be relevant again.
6. Kelly Oubre Jr.
Kelly Oubre only played 30 games last season, so it's easy to have lost track of him. Still, he averaged 14.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.4 steals while shooting 46.7% from the field and 36.0% from three, pretty efficient numbers for such a small sample, and the Indiana Pacers clearly saw enough there to hand him a two-year, $16.5 million deal.
I really like where he landed . The Pacers went 19-63 last season with Tyrese Haliburton out the whole year recovering from his Achilles. Now Haliburton is back, and Indiana can go back to building everything around him, Pascal Siakam , and Ivica Zubac , instead of asking everybody else to do too much.
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That's where Oubre fits like a glove. Nobody is asking him to be a star or handle the rock all game. He can run, cut, attack closeouts, guard wings, and knock down the open looks Haliburton creates for him. He's always been at his best playing fast and aggressive, without having to think about running an offense himself.
Wouldn't shock me if he ends up around 25-30 minutes a night, back in that 13-14 point range. Doesn't sound huge, but for a Pacers team trying to go from 19 wins to a real playoff push once again, those minutes matter a lot.
Indiana needs exactly this: athletic wings who can score without needing the ball every possession. Oubre isn't making an All-Star team, but after a season cut short by injuries, he's got a real rotation spot on a team that's actually going to need him every single night. That alone makes him relevant again.
5. Tobias Harris
He is 34 now, so nobody's expecting Tobias Harris to turn back into the 20-point-a-night version from years ago. But the San Antonio Spurs didn't hand him two years and $31 million just to become a bench piece either.
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Harris put up 13.3 points and 5.1 rebounds in 63 games with the Pistons, being a genuinely important veteran on a team that finished first in the East during the regular season. He even dropped 30 points in Detroit's Game 7 win over Orlando, proving there are still nights where he can carry a bigger scoring load when the situation calls for it, ending the playoffs at 18.1 points per game.
Now he joins a Spurs team that literally made the NBA Finals last season. Victor Wembanyama is obviously the whole center of gravity, with Dylan Harper , Stephon Castle , and Devin Vassell bringing plenty of young talent around him. But San Antonio is still searching for that perfect stretch-four next to Wemby, and for the short term, they may have him with Harris.
That could mean starting some nights or being one of the first forwards off the bench if Keldon Johnson or Julian Champagnie get a starting spot. Either way, I expect him to play a lot. He can space the floor, rebound, punish smaller defenders, and give San Antonio another guy who doesn't panic when the game gets tight.
His experience matters too. This Spurs group got good insanely fast, and with a lot of the guys still very young, they really struggled to close games in the Finals. Harris has played over 1,000 NBA games and been through several playoff runs. He knows exactly what his job is at this point, and could be that veteran presence this team needs to finally put away games for good.
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I'd guess something like 27 minutes a game, 12-to-14 points. Doesn't sound exciting until a playoff game gets tense and San Antonio needs somebody besides Wemby to make a simple, winning play. Harris can still be that guy.
4. John Collins
I feel it's been very under the radar, but John Collins had a ridiculously efficient season with the Clippers, even though his role never felt fully settled, bouncing between the starting five and the bench. He finished averaging 13.6 points and 5.3 rebounds while shooting 55.2% from the field and 40.6% from deep. Those efficiency numbers are absurd for a big man.
The Detroit Pistons clearly took notice with their lack of shooting and absurd need for a stretch presence next to Jalen Duren . They signed him to a three-year, $51 million deal right after Tobias Harris walked to San Antonio. That's real money, and it makes it pretty obvious Collins isn't showing up to play a bench role.
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His game should fit well there. Cade Cunningham creates a ton of open looks, and Collins doesn't need a lot of touches to score. He can roll hard, finish lobs, crash the offensive glass, and now punish defenses from outside after shooting over 40% from three last year.
The big upgrade is exactly how Detroit plays him alongside Duren. Collins has logged center minutes before, but he's better when he's not protecting the rim by himself all night. If Detroit keeps Duren long-term after a shaky restricted free agency , Collins can slide between power forward and small-ball five depending on the matchup, and that flexibility should get him plenty of run.
Detroit won 60 games last season with the league's second-best defense, so Collins isn't walking into some rebuild where he can jack up 20 shots a night with no consequence. He has to fit into what the Pistons already do well. Funny thing is, that might actually help him; he's always been most dangerous when someone else is creating for him, and Cunningham does exactly that.
If Collins keeps shooting anywhere near 40% from three, it's going to be hard for the Pistons to keep him off the floor. I could see him back near 15-16 points a night, a much bigger piece on a contender than he ever was with the Clippers. For a guy who looked a little lost in that LA rotation at times, that's a pretty nice turnaround.
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3. Tim Hardaway Jr.
Tim Hardaway Jr. is 34, but his role might end up even bigger than it was last season, when he averaged 13.5 points in 26.6 minutes for the Nuggets, shooting 44.7% from the field and a filthy 40.7% from three. He finished third in Sixth Man of the Year voting, so this isn't about resurrecting a guy who looked cooked.
Now he signs with Miami on a one-year, $6.5 million deal, and the fit is almost too good to pass up. The Heat traded for Giannis Antetokounmpo this summer, which means they need shooters everywhere as the Klay Thompson rumors keep swirling . Giannis is one of the best paint scorers ever, Bam Adebayo also does most of his damage inside the arc, and defenses are going to collapse constantly.
Hardaway's job is dead simple: stand out there and make teams pay for helping off him. He hit 2.8 threes a game last season, and Miami doesn't need him to add anything complicated to his game. Give him 25 minutes, let him run off screens, and if he hits 40% of his open threes, he could turn into one of the most important bench pieces on the whole roster.
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There could be nights he closes games too. If Miami needs extra shooting around Giannis late, there's a real case for keeping him out there instead of another defender that opposing teams can just ignore from outside.
The Heat didn't sign Hardaway because they needed another veteran presence on the roster. They signed him because his one elite skill solves one of the biggest problems on the team. At 34, he probably isn't having the best statistical season of his career. But he could have one of the most important ones.
2. Norman Powell
I think that, by far, Norman Powell is the easiest guy on this list to imagine putting up huge numbers. He just made his first All-Star team at 33, averaging 21.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists with the Heat, shooting 47.0% from the field and 38.0% from three.
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That proves his breakout with the Clippers before that wasn't some one-year fluke, and it made the Chicago Bulls give him a two-year, $45 million deal . That tells you they really plan to use him a lot.
Chicago has an interesting young core with Josh Giddey, Matas Buzelis, and 2026 No.4 pick Caleb Wilson, but none of those guys is a proven 20-point NBA scorer yet. Powell is.
I honestly wouldn't be shocked if he ends up leading the Bulls in scoring. Giddey handling the ball a ton actually makes life easier for Powell, as he doesn't need to stand around dribbling for 15 seconds to create his own shot. He can catch-and-shoot, attack a closeout, or get downhill fast before the defense sets. That's a great pairing next to a pass-first guy like Giddey.
The Bulls won only 31 games last year, so they don't have the same pressure a contender would to cap Powell's touches for other stars. If he's cooking, they're just going to keep feeding him. Could he average 20-21 points again? Easily.
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The only wildcard is how long this lasts. Powell is clearly older than Chicago's young core, so there's always going to be trade chatter if the team struggles. But until that happens, he's got a massive role. After years as an elite sixth man, Powell could enter 2026-27 as one of the actual faces of an NBA offense. Pretty wild at 33.
1. Paul George
The obvious number one here, because Boston needs him producing immediately, is none other than Paul George .
The Celtics sent Jaylen Brown to Philadelphia this summer and got back George , two first-round picks, and two second-round picks. Brown had been Jayson Tatum's co-star for years, so there's now a massive void next to Tatum that somebody has to fill.
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George is 36, and his Philadelphia years definitely weren't what people expected. He played just 37 regular-season games last season, averaging 17.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.7 steals. The good news: he still shot 39.2% from three, so the outside efficiency never really left him.
This rebranded Boston Celtics team doesn't need old, MVP-level Paul George from 2018, because that version would never come back again. The Celtics need him to be a really good second or third option instantly to cover for Brown's departure.
Tatum is still clearly the guy after coming back from his Achilles injury, and Derrick White will keep a big role too. But there are a lot of shots and touches sitting there after trading Brown, and George is easily the most proven guy available to take them. He can play more off the ball, shoot threes, attack weaker defenders instead of creating everything himself, and still guard big wings in crunch time.
There's real risk here since George has struggled to stay on the court, and asking a 36-year-old to suddenly play 75 games and 35 minutes a night wouldn't be ideal, knowing his injury history. But Boston doesn't need that anymore as they boast a wide perimeter depth behind him.
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If George plays around 30 minutes, puts up something like 18 points, five rebounds, and four assists, and stays healthy for the playoffs, this trade could age better than everybody expected, including myself.
He's also got real motivation. His 76ers run never became what he or the franchise expected when he signed that monster four-year, $212 million deal, and now he's got another shot with one of the East's biggest contenders. For a nine-time All-Star who looked like he was slowly fading out of the superstar conversation, 2026-27 gives him one more chance to be part of something big.
