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Our favorite NBA role players to watch this season

Time for our eighth annual Luke Walton All-Stars -- an ode to bit players who bounce around the fringes of the NBA before landing in new roles where things click. (Read about the origins of the column here.)

Noah finished fourth in MVP voting in 2014. The next four years brought injuries, the death of a beloved Bulls team, infighting in New York, and a 20-game suspension for violating the league's drug policy. The Knicks waived him in July. For two months, Noah was unemployed.

"Memphis was the only team that showed me any consideration," Noah tells ESPN.