Overrated & Underrated NBA Players

[Andrew]

"Overrated" and "underrated" can be tricky terms at times. Generally speaking, if the consensus is that a player is overrated or underrated, they've probably ceased to be overrated or underrated. With that being said, who do you feel are the most overrated and underrated players in the NBA right now?

[Valor]

Most Overrated: James Harden
While his non-existent defense is finally being noticed, he still plays for empty stats and people are still going all over him as though he's some superstar savior. Biggest ball stopper in the league, and unlike former greats who were also ball stoppers, Harden's stats often looks pretty but doesn't mean anything because his teams aren't going to win.

Most Underrated: Gordon Hayward
Just doesn't get any love outside of Utah, ever. I'll stop short of calling him a future superstar but he could very well become a perennial all star in 2-3 seasons.

[Sauru]

ok its hard to call the current nba mvp overrated but imo he is. people talking like he is the greatest and shit is ridiculous. because of that i am naming him for my overrated player


as for underrated i will agree with gordon hayward

[Lamrock]

Most Overrated: James Harden
While his non-existent defense is finally being noticed, he still plays for empty stats and people are still going all over him as though he's some superstar savior. Biggest ball stopper in the league, and unlike former greats who were also ball stoppers, Harden's stats often looks pretty but doesn't mean anything because his teams aren't going to win.

Gotta disagree with you here. Defense and turnovers are an issue, but he led the Rockets to the WCF just a year ago. His game is hard to watch, and the Rockets had a bad season, but it's silly that he didn't make an all-NBA team this year. Dude is downright unstoppable at times.

[Valor]

Most Overrated: James Harden
While his non-existent defense is finally being noticed, he still plays for empty stats and people are still going all over him as though he's some superstar savior. Biggest ball stopper in the league, and unlike former greats who were also ball stoppers, Harden's stats often looks pretty but doesn't mean anything because his teams aren't going to win.

Gotta disagree with you here. Defense and turnovers are an issue, but he led the Rockets to the WCF just a year ago. His game is hard to watch, and the Rockets had a bad season, but it's silly that he didn't make an all-NBA team this year. Dude is downright unstoppable at times.

Yes his offensive game is top notch, but just like with Rondo's top notch passing skills, he uses it to put up stats instead of playing to win. Having great ability =/= great player, you gotta use it right and he doesn't.

He'd be very low on my list if I was choosing a guy to build a team around. I really think he didn't deserve making All-NBA this (last) year too, it'll be like calling Rondo one of the most unselfish players in the league when he's clearly the opposite.

EDIT: Though, if D'Antoni could make Harden more Nash-like this opinion will be rendered invalid. As of now though, he's exactly who I perceive him to be...

Harden shot just 41.2 percent on shots that were attempted after seven or more dribbles. These attempts accounted for 25.7 percent of his overall attempts. These possessions overwhelmingly carried the Rockets into late shot clock situations where Harden took nearly 18 percent of his shots at a roughly 35 percent rate. Harden is far and away the league’s worst high volume shooter in these situations.

..a detriment to his team

[Andrew]

Harden's an interesting case. He's pretty frequently criticised as far as All-Stars/prominent players are concerned, and he's also quite frequently called overrated. In fact, he's probably called overrated so often that he can't really be overrated, since if that's the consensus, then the majority of people aren't actually holding him in higher esteem than they should be.

To that end, he's arguably a little underrated at times, since there are vocal critics who call him complete garbage, which he certainly isn't. He does have considerable talent and good athleticism, but the problem is that he's not always efficient, and to borrow Jeff Van Gundy's line on him, he's a "disinterested defender". He's got a touch of Derrick Coleman Syndrome, where he has a lot of talent, but isn't using it to its full potential. I'd say that Harden is more driven than Coleman was, but he could be utilising his talents and physical gifts better. As much as it seems like a contradiction in terms, I'd say that he's both overrated and underrated at times.

[Valor]

Harden's an interesting case. He's pretty frequently criticised as far as All-Stars/prominent players are concerned, and he's also quite frequently called overrated. In fact, he's probably called overrated so often that he can't really be overrated, since if that's the consensus, then the majority of people aren't actually holding him in higher esteem than they should be.

To that end, he's arguably a little underrated at times, since there are vocal critics who call him complete garbage, which he certainly isn't. He does have considerable talent and good athleticism, but the problem is that he's not always efficient, and to borrow Jeff Van Gundy's line on him, he's a "disinterested defender". He's got a touch of Derrick Coleman Syndrome, where he has a lot of talent, but isn't using it to its full potential. I'd say that Harden is more driven than Coleman was, but he could be utilising his talents and physical gifts better. As much as it seems like a contradiction in terms, I'd say that he's both overrated and underrated at times.

That's fair. Like I said he has the ability but just doesn't use it properly/in the best interest of his team so I don't really rate him. If he changes that then obviously he has enough talent to live up to the high praises that some give him and overturn criticism from guys like me.

[Sauru]

the way people shit on howard he might have a real case for being underrated now

[Andrew]

Agreed, Howard's another player who's probably called overrated to the point of being slightly underrated at times. I'd put Melo in that category as well.

[NovU]

Most Overrated to me is DeMarcus Cousins. This guy's a massive fuck up. He's a liability on defense and is not as good as advertised on offense. What really kills the deal though is his lack of effort on the court. You will easily spot him just walking around and watching. His involvement off the ball is minimal and he's slow footed on off-ball defense. Opponent also easily get into his head. His endless technical fouls and bickering against refs constantly affect team morale. Yet each year we list him as one of the best centers in the league with potential to grow. I say we've seen enough of him and it wasn't much. The guy's a loser and a stat padder.



Can't say the most but Isaiah Thomas has been underrated for so long. He is still underpaid and underappreciated imo.

[Andrew]

Thomas definitely does fly under the radar. If the Celtics continue to get better and become a postseason mainstay for the next few years, that probably won't happen for much longer.

[Valor]

Most Overrated to me is DeMarcus Cousins. This guy's a massive fuck up. He's a liability on defense and is not as good as advertised on offense. What really kills the deal though is his lack of effort on the court. You will easily spot him just walking around and watching. His involvement off the ball is minimal and he's slow footed on off-ball defense. Opponent also easily get into his head. His endless technical fouls and bickering against refs constantly affect team morale. Yet each year we list him as one of the best centers in the league with potential to grow. I say we've seen enough of him and it wasn't much. The guy's a loser and a stat padder.



Can't say the most but Isaiah Thomas has been underrated for so long. He is still underpaid and underappreciated imo.

To be fair, DeMarcus Cousins' involvement off the ball being minimal last season was in large due to Rondo keeping the ball until he has a pass to get an assist on, ie he will never pass to you if you aren't going to score immediately. Kinda hard for a big man to be engaged when your point guard only worries about padding stats; but yeah, I do see where you're coming from. He needs to clean up his act and just play ball.

[NovU]

Valor, just a question out of real curiosity.

Wouldn't u have to reconsider your Harden pick for most overrated? We have seen Harden leading his team to multiple successful seasons, playoffs run, sometimes singlehandedly, and to wcf at the best. Each time that was as him being best player on the roster sans thunder years. Compare that to DeMarcus, his best winning season was last year with Rondo for 33 wins. Lets not forget he's a coach killer too. To me, this hate Harden gets makes him look sometimes underrated while Cousins gets a free pass because of being a kings and unique skillet for a big man which in actuality does not translate well into winning. Harden though his game may look ugly time to time, he has been very valuable to a winning cause.

I think players like Melo and Cousins actually have to be 3rd best player on ideal contenders. Like in Olympics, Melo actually was useful with attentions diverted.

[Andrew]

Blake Griffin's another player I'd throw out there as an example of a player who's sometimes called overrated to the point of being slightly underrated. He's improved his skillset, raised his free throw shooting, and he averages a pretty healthy amount of assists for more of a traditional power forward. He's not a franchise player or team leader, but he's well-suited to being the second star in a duo with someone who is cut out for that role, like Chris Paul.

[Sauru]

is it possible to say lebron is both one of the most overrated and underrated players in the nba? current and all time. really just a matter of who you ask

[Andrew]

Perhaps, arguably.

[Valor]

Valor, just a question out of real curiosity.

Wouldn't u have to reconsider your Harden pick for most overrated? We have seen Harden leading his team to multiple successful seasons, playoffs run, sometimes singlehandedly, and to wcf at the best. Each time that was as him being best player on the roster sans thunder years. Compare that to DeMarcus, his best winning season was last year with Rondo for 33 wins. Lets not forget he's a coach killer too. To me, this hate Harden gets makes him look sometimes underrated while Cousins gets a free pass because of being a kings and unique skillet for a big man which in actuality does not translate well into winning. Harden though his game may look ugly time to time, he has been very valuable to a winning cause.

I think players like Melo and Cousins actually have to be 3rd best player on ideal contenders. Like in Olympics, Melo actually was useful with attentions diverted.

Fair question and again, legit points. I would have to say for now (before the start of this season) I would consider him to be one of the most, if not the most overrated players in the league. Whether or not he is able to buy into D'Antoni's system (which of course, consists of no D, but we all know Harden doesn't do any of that anyways) and plays more efficient team basketball instead of putting up what I call empty stats, may change my opinion of him entirely. Perhaps I am being a bit harsh, but considering the fact that this guy was hyped up (by himself, then supported by fans and some parts of the media) as a guy robbed of the MVP in 2015, i don't believe "overrated" as being too much of a label to pin on him. Granted the praise has died down a bit this past season (since they were, you know, dreadful) and the media has finally picked up on his deficiencies, but it's only been one year since he was the poster boy for having been "robbed". The fact that there's even heated discussions (and a very biased opinion from KD saying it's a sin) about him deserving to be on the All-NBA team this year means he's still being rated highly, while I believe him to do more harm than good to his team. He doesn't play to win, he plays for the stats and to "look good".

On the DeMarcus point....it's hard to win more than 33 games a season when you're on the Kings, with the kind of teammates he's had (hard for a big guy to change the outcome of the game when he needs someone to pass the ball to him), and an owner that wants to play 4 on 5 defensively with a cherry picker because he coached his daughter's juvenile basketball team (who knows what other shit he's made the team do?). But of course, it's his fault too, they did George Karl dirty.

Melo's tremendously underrated imo, they call him not a winner but he's won at both the college level and has been arguably the best performer in international competition. Knicks are just horrible.

Just my two cents anyways.

[Mandich]

I don't get why people call Harden overrated. He is an amazing all-around offensive player. Nobody is calling him the best player on the planet. His defensive effort is questionable, but the guy led the Rockets to the WCF, and they were down 3-1. He should have made the All-NBA team.

Imo Cousins is a victim of being an All-star player on a horrible team in a stacked conference. Best center in the league isn't quite the praise it used to be.

[air gordon]

Didnt Isiah Thomas make the all star team?

Hayward got a fat contract last year or the year before Just saying

4 games in 5 nights is underrated

[Valor]

Didnt Isiah Thomas make the all star team?

Hayward got a fat contract last year or the year before Just saying

4 games in 5 nights is underrated

Hayward makes minimum wage compared to the contracts handed out to scrubs this off-season but yeah, he's underrated and underappreciated anywhere outside of Utah. They love him there.

[Andrew]

Even with big contracts and an All-Star appearance, I'd say that Hayward and Thomas still fly under the radar to some extent. In that respect, I think it's fair to call them underrated, or at least somewhat overlooked.

[air gordon]

I can agree they are not the forgotten middle child lol

[big-shot-ROB]

I will not say this players are underrated in the way they are not considered stars when they are. But I'd say people overlook them, when they contribute more than a regular "role player".

Here goes my list: Marvin Williams, Patty Mills, Courtney Lee, Patrick Beverly, Victor Oladipo, Alec Burks, Myles Turner, Shabazz Muhammad, Steven Adams, Khriss Middleton.

[Andrew]

When it comes to Marvin Williams, I think he's always going to have the stigma of being drafted way too high, taken in front of a few other players who have had much more success (most notably Chris Paul). His career hasn't lived up to the expectations of a second overall pick and the ship has sailed on that possibility, so anything he does is probably going to seem like a letdown, even if it's pretty OK on the whole. He's been moderately successful, and is coming off what is probably one of his best all around seasons. You could probably say that he's a bit underrated since he does seem to be written off as complete garbage, and he's better than that.

[air gordon]

to me it's like beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Williams isn't garbage. formerly just a great mid range jumper, now he's a threat to make 3pters. 40% from 3 this year is pretty damn good. now i will say his play in the playoffs was garbage esque