Collin Gillespie named 1 of ESPN’s 6 underrated NBA free agents

Collin Gillespie made quite the impression in what was his first season as a full-fledged NBA player, not under the restrictions of a two-way contract.

The 26-year-old’s impact on the court for the Phoenix Suns last year is why ESPN’s Zach Kram lists him as one of his six underrated free agents this offseason.

Gillespie made 58 starts in his 80 appearances, along with three starts in the first round of the postseason, and he cashed in on quality minutes (28.5 per game) to average 12.7 points, 4.6 assists and 4.1 rebounds.

The young point guard has already been in talks with the Suns about a potential stay, as has Jordan Goodwin, with NBA insider Jake Fischer writing “rival teams are already operating under the assumption that the Suns will strike new deals to retain both of them.”

Kram said the Suns were better off on both ends of the floor with the guard out there, specifically pointing to Gillespie’s “efficiency” with the ball in his hands.

He doesn’t waste possessions — he averaged three assists to one turnover — and he’s an excellent 3-point shooter. He was one of six players who made at least 40% of his 3s on at least seven attempts per game this season. And he was all the way up at 46% on catch-and-shoot 3s, which ranked third among 121 players with at least 200 attempts.

On Gillespie’s deep ball prowess, the 6-foot-1 player out of Villanova rewrote Phoenix’s single-season 3-point record, passing Quentin Richardson (226 makes) with 232 made baskets in the regular season on 40.1% shooting. He drained at least four 3s in 29 games.

This sharpshooting upside goes along with Gillespie’s “per-possession impact,” with Kram emphasizing his high marks in plus-minus, an all-encompassing statistic that measures how the overall team performs when a given player is on the court.

Gillespie’s per-possession impact ranks in the 91st percentile among all players in the league and estimated plus-minus places him in the 88th percentile.

Kram estimated Gillespie could make “an eight-figure annual salary” on a championship-contending team, whether that be Phoenix or elsewhere.

Gillespie signed with the Suns on a standard contract worth $2.3 million in July 2025, according to BasketballReference.com.

The other five free agents that Kram thinks should be top commodities this offseason are forward John Collins (played for Los Angeles Clippers in 2025-26), guard Matisse Thybulle (Portland Trail Blazers), center Sandro Mamukelashvili (Toronto Raptors), guard De’Anthony Melton (Golden State Warriors) and forward Dean Wade (Cleveland Cavaliers).

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