Having All-Star and All-NBA performers on your roster definitely makes your team a championship contender, but having reliable players in the second unit is equally as important.

As scoring takes a larger role in the league each year, so does having a solid bench for depth purposes. 

Of the 16 teams that made the postseason last year, 9 of them ranked inside the Top-15 in bench scoring during the regular season and we always seem to see guys step up off the bench into larger roles in the playoffs.

Bobby Portis and Pat Connaughton were huge for the Bucks in their pursuit of a title last season and in 2020, Dwight Howard and Kyle Kuzma were key talents the Lakers had in their bench unit. 

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At the end of the day, this is a superstar-driven league and the team whose star players are playing the best will have the best chance to win a title, but five guys cannot play 48 minutes every single night. 

Every championship contender and every team in this league counts on guys to make a difference off-the-bench, which is why the following three guys could be in store to step up into a much bigger role during the 2021-22 season even though they are not drawing much attention from many around the league right now.