This March, we have been working diligently on adding to our futures section in the big four sports.  We have our first update to share, with the addition of the 2026 Basketball Futures.

All of the names feature retired players who will first be Hall of Fame eligible for the Class of 2026.  You can now vote and/or comment as to whether you believe these names are (or are not) Hall of Fame worthy.

The new names are:

Andre Iguodala:  Iguodala was a four-time NBA Champion with the Golden State Warriors and was a Finals MVP.  He was also an All-Star and was the Sixth Man of the Year once and twice.

Carmelo Anthony:  Anthony led Syracuse to an NCAA Championship and was on three Olympic Gold Medal Teams for the United States.  A ten-time All-Star, Melo had four Third Team All-NBA, two Second Team All-NBA selections, and won a Scoring Title.

Goran Dragic:  A multi-time champion in Slovenia, Dragic won a EuroBasket Gold for his country.  In the NBA, he was an All-Star, a Third Team All-NBA and Most Improved Player Award winner.

Hassan Whiteside:  For a brief time, Whiteside was one of Miami’s best players and is a former Second Team All-Defensive Selection.

Joe Johnson:  Johnson went to seven All-Star Games and was a Third Team All-NBA Selectee once.  His best years were with Atlanta.

LaMarcus Aldridge:  Aldridge went to seven All-Star Games and was at his best with the Portland Trail Blazers. He earned five All-NBA spots, two Second Team spots, and three Third Team spots.

Lou Williams:  Williams twice won the Sixth Man of the Year Award and holds the record for the most Points off of the bench.

Paul Millsap:  Millsap was a rebounding machine at Louisiana Tech and would become a four-time All-Star in the NBA.

Rajon Rondo: Rondo won an NBA Title with the Celtics early in his career and later with the Lakers, and he was also a four-time All-NBA Selection.

Trevor Ariza:  Ariza played over 1,000 Games and won an NBA Championship with the Lakers in 2009.

You know what we want you to do! 

Cast your votes, and offer your opinions!

As always, we here at Notinhalloffame.com thank you for your support!

Lou Williams was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers in 2005 straight out of high school. Although he didn't start in many games in Philadelphia, he soon became known for his ability to perform well as a bench player and is now considered by many to be the best Sixth Man over the last two decades.

Williams played for the Sixers for seven seasons before signing with the Atlanta Hawks, where he saw an increase in his playing time. In the 2014-15 season, he was traded to the Toronto Raptors, where he had his first season with over 15 points per game (15.5) and won his first Sixth Man of the Year Award. Williams then signed with the Los Angeles Lakers, where he continued to play well, but was eventually traded to the Houston Rockets during the following season.

After his time with the Rockets, Williams returned to Los Angeles, this time with the Clippers, where he won his second and third Sixth Man trophies. Williams exceeded 20 points per game during both campaigns, which is a remarkable feat. He played three more years before retiring, which also included a second run with the Hawks.

As of today, Williams holds the record for the all-time leading scorer with points off the bench, with 13,396. Although he will unlikely be elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, if there were a "Bench Hall of Fame," he would undoubtedly be a unanimous first-ballot entrant.

Days after the Denver Nuggets won their first NBA Championship, we have our first significant retirement of the NBA off-season.

Lou Williams, 36, announced on YouTube that he is calling it a career as an NBA professional and leaves behind a legacy as one of the game’s best bench players, currently holding the record for the most NBA Games for a player coming off of the bench.

Drafted in the 2^nd Round in 2005 by the Philadelphia 76ers as a Georgia High School player, Williams and after a few years, the Guard found his groove in a top bench role. Williams remained with the Sixers until 2012, where he signed with Atlanta. After two seasons there, Williams joined Toronto for one year, where he won his first Sixth Man of the Year Award, the first in Raptors history.

With his higher profile and playing time, Williams joined the Los Angeles Lakers for a year-and-a-half before he was traded to Houston. Williams signed with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2017, winning his second and third Sixth Man of the Year Awards in back-to-back fashion in 2018 and 2019. He closed his career out with two years in Atlanta.

Williams is eligible for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2026, though is unlikely to gain any serious consideration, but any player with 16 years of service is worth honoring on this platform.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to wish Lou Williams the best in his post-NBA career.

In a recent interview with TMZ, Lou Williams was asked if he was a Hall of Famer.  He had this to say:

"Yeah, I've seen guys in the Hall of Fame with less. I've put the work in," 

Is Williams a Hall of Famer?  At this stage he isn’t.  He is a two-time Sixth Man of the Year and has averaged over 20 Points per Game the last two seasons and has advanced numbers that are decent with a career PER of 18.5, with him exceeding the 20 mark the last three years.  At age 32, Williams is playing the best basketball of his career but without an All-Star appearance, an All-NBA selection or a championship he has a long road ahead of him.  College and International accomplishments count for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame but Williams does not have any of those to help.

According to Basketball Reference and their Hall of Fame meter, he has only a 0.0004 percent chance (which we find low) to gain induction but he has a lot of career left and we love to watch him play.  We will be watching!