Pre-2021-22 Rank: #47, Pre-2022-23 Rank: #43, Pre-2023-24: #40

Peak Period: From 2016-17 to 2023-24.

Every team wants a player like Jrue Holiday.

Jrue Holiday was an All-Star in 2013 (his last season in Philadelphia), and it took another ten, which coincidentally was his last year in Milwaukee, to earn a second trip.  In between, Holiday joined a particular group that won an NBA Championship (with Milwaukee) and an Olympic Gold Medal (with the United States) in the same year.  

How do you top that?

You do it again.

Last season, his first in Boston, Holiday played a substantial role in the Celtic’s record-breaking 18^th Title, and months later, he again won Gold for the United States. 

Holiday may never be a superstar, but he is one of the most coveted roster players of the last ten years.  That could be worth a look from the powers that be in Springfield.

A former MAC Defensive Player of the Year as a Defensive Lineman at Kent State, Roosevelt Nix converted to Fullback in hopes for a chance in the National Football League.  It worked, but it took a while.

Nix was not invited to the Combine, but was invited to the Atlanta Falcons in 2014 after going undrafted.  He didn’t make the team, but the Steelers gave him a look the following year, and Nix would have a five-year career in Pittsburgh, where he played 60 Games, and was a pure Fullback, one of the few in the NFL.  

Nix will never be considered for the Hall of Fame, but the fact that he made it to the NFL for five years based on revising his skillset is worth celebrating.

Demaryius Thomas was a 2010 1^st Round Pick who struggled as a rookie and in his second pro season due to injuries, but he was healthy in his third year where he showed off over the next five years what was expected of him.  Thomas went to the Pro Bowl in 2012 with a 1,434 Years and 10 Touchdown season, and in 2013 he had similar yardage (1,430) with a career-high 14 Touchdowns.  It was another Pro Bowl year, and he would set a then record 13 Receptions in their Super Bowl loss to the Seattle Seahawks.  

2014 would see him go to his third Pro Bowl with career highs of 111 Receptions and 1,619 Receiving Yards, but it was 2015, a season where he was not chosen for the Pro Bowl (but still hit 1,304 Receiving Yards) where he won the Super Bowl.  Thomas had his last Pro Bowl in 2016 with his final four digit Receiving Yard campaign.  Before he was traded to the Houston Texans midway through the 2018 season, he finished his career at Mile High with 9,055 Yards for 60 TDs.

2021-22 Pre-Season Rank: #42, 2022-23 Pre-Season Rank: #27, 2023-24 Pre-Season Rank: #14.

*Peak Period: 2018-19 to 2023-24.  Doncic has only played six seasons and is still in his peak period.

Luka Doncic was the 2019 NBA Rookie of the Year, and since then, he has embarked on a five-year run during which he has been an All-Star, a top-ten MVP finisher, and a First-Team All-NBA Selection. Last season, the Slovenian superstar won his first Scoring Title (33.9) and brought the Mavericks to a surprising NBA Final, his second.

Doncic continues to improve and looks like a future MVP.  Can he also be a future NBA Champion?  2025 could bring both.