NBA teams
Bradford Doolittle, ESPN Staff Writer 10y

Non-stars who must step up

NBA, Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Clippers

When we rolled out Real Plus-Minus last year at ESPN, I quickly realized that the stars of the system weren't the usual super-celebs we all know about, but the glue guys we've always known are important, but never have quite been able to quantify. Of course year-in, year-out RPM leaderboards are dominated by the one-name guys. But sprinkled among all those media darlings were some less-known performers, like Andre Iguodala, Amir Johnson, Anderson Varejao, Nick Collison and DeMarre Carroll.

Players like these make a major impact on the floor by contributing in ways other than scoring, which is typically the category that earns the huge contracts and endorsement deals. Contending teams need role players who effectively fill the gaps left by cornerstone players, and the better a player is at his specialty, the more it's going to help that team.

With that in mind, let's look at three role players from contending teams who won't be the subject of many preseason previews, but will have a major impact in their projected role.

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