We know NBA careers are finite, but several players seem to have been pushed toward the end of the line too hastily this offseason. Here, we'll highlight the ones who deserve a chance to prove they've still got plenty to give.

Every one of the players we'll feature is currently unsigned and available. Their origin stories run the gamut from top overall pick to undrafted free agent, but all of them were full-time starters at one point or another. That they're featured here isn't an argument that these players deserve a return to prominence as first-unit contributors. Instead, we're simply saying each of them has enough of a track record—even recently—to justify a roster spot.

Age or specific skill deficits may be turning teams off, but these guys aren't done just yet.

Markelle Fultz

Despite their need for offensive facilitation, the Orlando Magic have yet to bring back free agent and former No. 1 overall pick Markelle Fultz. That's a pretty strong indictment of the point guard's shaky shooting and spotty health record, and it raises the possibility that Fultz is in danger of falling out of the league entirely.

He shouldn't.

Though his career mark of 27.4 percent from three-point range basically precludes Fultz from ever featuring in a closing lineup on a big-time winner, it's not as if he can't help in other ways. Remember, it was only 2022-23 when Fultz averaged 14.0 points and 5.7 assists while shooting 51.4 percent from the field in 60 starts for Orlando.

Plenty of teams could use production like that in a backup role, even when pricing in the likelihood that Fultz will miss significant time. He's played fewer than 50 games in five of his seven NBA seasons.

Though he hasn't graded out as a positively impactful defender since his rookie year, Fultz has good length for his position and has posted steal rates high enough to rank in the 88th percentile or better across the last three seasons. If a team were to take him off the ball more and slot him into a slashing and finishing role, perhaps Fultz could redirect the energy savings to more consistent defensive work.

Young teams in need of steadying facilitation should be interested, as should more established squads who might gamble on a once-prized prospect. We've seen those types of talents—Shaun Livingston, Dante Exum, Kris Dunn—reinvent themselves as role-players later on in their careers. Fultz, still just 26, could do the same in the right environment.

Robert Covington

Robert Covington finished fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2016-17 and backed it up with a top-10 finish in 2017-18. Though he's not the same disruptive force he was nearly a decade ago, Covington's defensive instincts and 7'2" wingspan still cause plenty of trouble for opposing offenses.

Between stints with the LA Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers last season, Covington averaged just 16.8 minutes across 29 total games. Despite changing squads and moving deeper into his 30s, the 6'7" forward didn't lose his ability to muck up possessions. He averaged 6.5 deflections per 36 minutes last season, which was the highest rate of any player who logged at least 400 minutes.

That's not a massive chunk of playing time, but small-sample caveats don't really apply in this case. Covington has always been an ace off-ball defender. It stands to reason that even now, ahead of his age-34 season, the veteran will create similar problems for opponents whenever he's on the floor.

Offensively, Covington also retains some value. He shot 33.9 percent from three-point land last season, but that was his lowest figure since 2019-20. He hit 39.7 percent of his triples in 48 games with the Clippers in 2022-23. Anything in between those knockdown rates would be enough to justify handing Covington a rotation spot.

Danilo Gallinari

Danilo Gallinari has a pair of ACL tears on his medical record and has played for six teams in the last six years. At 36, the sweet-shooting forward is pretty clearly nearing the end of the line.

But maybe he's not quite done.

Gallo's most recent torn ACL cost him the entire 2022-23 season, and given his age it's fair to assume the recovery process compromised his performance in 2023-24. That's why it's important to note that in the seasons leading up to that knee injury, Gallinari was still an excellent offensive player who shot 43.3, 40.5, 40.6 and 38.1 percent from 2018-19 to 2021-22. Maybe now that he's two years into the recovery process, Gallinari will return to form as a shooter.

Even if the 6'10" forward only settles in as an average perimeter marksman, history suggests he'll find ways to generate efficient offense overall. Aided by crafty foul-drawing and consistently high free-throw percentages (87.6 percent for his career), Gallinari has posted true shooting percentages above the league average in every season of his career but one, when he logged only 21 games in 2017-18.

Defensive mobility was never a strength and isn't now, but Gallinari deserves a chance to prove he can contribute as a floor-spacing, offense-first reserve.

Justin Holiday

Jrue Holiday just won a title with the Boston Celtics in his 15th season, Aaron fought his way to quality-backup status with six years under his belt, and Justin remains worth a look even after a dozen journeyman seasons as a three-and-D wing.

Justin Holiday appeared in 58 games for the Denver Nuggets last season, hit 40.4 percent of his threes and snagged 2.1 steals per 100 possessions. Those numbers came in a meager 14.9 minutes per game, mainly against backups, but they still mark the veteran wing as a player who makes contributions few others can.

Just 11 other players matched or beat Holiday's three-point percentage and steals-per-100 figures in 2023-24. Even if those are cherry-picked, they represent the three-and-D profile so many teams covet.

Holiday hasn't been a regular starter since 2021-22, and he's nearing the end of the line at 35. But per-minute production and experience like his still matter in a rotation.

Hand him a role as an eighth or ninth man, and Holiday will produce reliable break-even play.

Dennis Smith Jr.

Dennis Smith Jr. has no place among these other "last shot" candidates.

Forget the draft pedigree attached to the No. 9 pick in the 2017 class, and ditch the fixation on his ridiculous athletic gifts, and Smith still deserves to be in somebody's rotation on the strength of his defense alone.

As a member of the Charlotte Hornets in 2022-23, Smith ranked in the 99th percentile in Defensive Estimated Plus/Minus. Last year with the Brooklyn Nets, he checked in at the 98th percentile. Whether on the ball mirroring his matchup's movements and denying access to the paint or lying in wait for strips and pick-six steals as a helper, DSJ is an absolute menace defensively.

The highlights support the advanced metrics that say Smith is chaos incarnate on D, and yet he remains unsigned ahead of his age-27 season.

Smith hasn't averaged double-figure scoring since his sophomore season split between the Dallas Mavericks and New York Knicks, and he's a hair under 30.0 percent from three for his career. Even with elite bounce and speed, Smith has also struggled to score efficiently inside the arc, topping 50.0 percent on two-point looks for the first time in his career just last season.

Still, it's impossible to accept there's not a team out there who'd love to have Smith rocketing off the bench to wreck the opposing offense's plans for a few minutes a night.

Stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference and Cleaning the Glass. Salary info via Spotrac.

Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@gt_hughes), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report's Dan Favale.