While it's always exciting when your team trades a top-five pick or splashes the cash to sign a key starter, but there are few better feelings than watching as a free agent comes from nowhere to play a key role throughout the season.
As NBA teams look to successfully stay under the salary cap, picking up a player on a non-rookie-scale deal who can impact the team in a positive way can often save a team in more ways than one.
This year's free agency already looks to be one of the strongest in recent seasons, and a host of players will be preparing to begin the process of weighing up offers from throughout the league.
Whether they'll step straight into the starting line-up or have a role to play from the bench, there are a handful of players who you could confidently predict will be able to perform above their pay grade.
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Andrea Bargnani
If you stop thinking of Bargnani as a former No. 1 overall pick, the seven-footer could well be one of the most in-demand players in the free agency.
Often thought of as a draft bust, the 29-year-old is an intriguing prospect for a lot of teams this summer, although a lot will depend on a team's confidence that Bargnani can stay injury-free for a full season.
With only 137 appearances to his name over the past four seasons, the Italian's injury record does make him something of a risk to some teams, although that risk would be substantially reduced with the power forward on a veteran's minimum contract.
At his best, though, Bargnani is a very useful player to have at your disposal, and general managers around the NBA could do a lot worse than snap up the Knicks man.
Aaron Brooks
With a 41.5 percent shooting record for his career, Brooks isn't given anywhere near the sort of credit he deserves for his impressive stats.
Rather than give him props for his eye-catching stats, teams are often put off by his lack of points he sets up for his teammates, averaging just 3.3 assists in 23.5 minutes per game.
He might not be a player you want in your starting lineup, but Brooks' intense attacks make him a very effective scoring player who can step off the bench and have an immediate impact.
While Brooks can expect to be on more than the veteran's minimum contract he was paid last season, the Bulls star is still one of the safest options out there and a player who is well worth the money should Chicago decide to sign him to a new deal or allow him to leave to greener pastures.
Rodney Stuckey
There are more than a few who feel Stuckey was the best value signings last year, establishing himself as one of the Indiana Pacers’ most productive players, and doing it on a veteran's minimum salary.
Despite playing just 26.4 minutes a game, Stuckey ended the season as his team's second-best scoring player with an average of 12.6 points a game, wrapping up a successful campaign as third in total assists and proving he is deserving of a much bigger role next year.
Recording career highs for field-goal percentages and three-point percentages, Stuckey might be entering the final stages of his career but he is still a very decent second-team member, posing an attacking threat that defences can often struggle with.
His 30-point performance against eventual champions Golden State was a real highlight in a sensational season, and whoever wins the race to sign the 29-year-old will be picking up one of the bargains of the summer.
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Bismack Biyombo
On paper, Biyombo is a perfect fit for any team looking for a solid defensive anchor in the middle of the court.
He might still be some way from joining one of those teams at the top of the NBA betting odds with betfair and other betting sites, but the former first-round draft pick is looking like the real deal.
Standing at 6-foot-9, weighing in at 245 pounds and boasting a wingspan of 7-foot-6, the youngster combines his incredible physical talents with a real work-rate and some blistering pace.
Not the most skillful player in the league, Biyombo is slowly beginning to put all his tools together and establish himself as a complete center.
Coming off the back of a season in which he achieved the fourth-highest block percentage from players who spent over 1,000 minutes on court, Biyombo has now recorded at least 11.8 rebounds per 36 minutes in the past two seasons.
The Congolese 22-year-old could still stay with the Charlotte Hornets but Biyombo has been linked with a number of teams since the end of the season, and whoever signs him will be getting a very good deal.
Kosta Koufos
After spending the majority of his career as a starting center in the NBA, Koufos was forced to play a backup role to Marc Gasol during his time in Memphis.
But despite a successful couple of seasons with the Grizzlies, the big man is now looking to get back to a regular starting role, and it's hard to see how there won't be a host of teams keen on signing Koufos when he enters the free agency.
In terms of his brilliance around the basket, Koufos has averaged 1.9 blocks per 36 minutes throughout his career, restricting attackers to 46.9 percent shooting by the rim, the same sort of figures the best defensive players in the league have been recording.
And it doesn't stop there for Koufos, as the 26-year-old more than holds his own in offense, using his quick footwork and remarkable hands to supply a steady stream of points to his team.
New Orleans are just one team looking at Koufos, knowing the big man would be an ideal replacement for Omar Asik, and the former Ohio State star will know he won't be playing off the bench next season.
