NBA Draft 2019: Top 25 undrafted players since 2000

Chuck Hayes has been undersized his entire life at the center position. Yet it still didn’t matter. He was an All-SEC player at Kentucky in his final two seasons and won Defensive Player of the Year in his conference in 2005.

But at just 6-foot-6 and unable to spread the floor, it wasn’t a surprise at all that Hayes didn’t get drafted. But he was given a chance with the Houston Rockets on a 10-day contract in 2006 and was able to stick with them shortly thereafter. He went from the end of the bench to a starter in no time, starting 87 games in the next two years for Houston.

Despite the height disadvantage, Hayes still carried over his defensive skills, known as one of the best individual defenders in the NBA from 2007 to 2010. He was particularly important because of the constant health issues with their big man Yao Ming at the time.

The big man was never an offensive juggernaut with career-high averages of just 7.9 points and 8.1 rebounds per game in 28 minutes per contest. But he played his role of being a solid center well and was never a liability on the court overall.

Hayes got his big payday when he signed a $20 million deal with the Sacramento Kings in 2012. He never lived up to the signing, playing less than 20 minutes per game off the bench each season before getting traded to the Toronto Raptors. He came back to Houston in 2016 before retiring after an 11-year NBA career.

Besides having a true impact for several years on a contending team, Hayes made the list due to the rarity of someone his size not only making it to the NBA no matter which way it was done, but basically thriving at a high level for over a decade.

Career stats (644 games): 5.0 rebounds, 3.7 points, 1.2 assists per game