The Most Underrated NBA Players of the 2019-2020 Season

The NBA media coverage is dominated by the top superstars of the league. The NBA is driven by elite top level talent. Players like Lebron James, Kawhi Leonard and Stephen Curry bring in countless amounts of revenue and fans for the league. However, lots of very talented basketball players go under the radar. These players play in the shadow of the top NBA players. Role players are very underappreciated, but they hold significant value in determining a team’s success. Lots of players who aren’t the first option on their team, are actually very talented and better than most people give them credit for.

Today we will be looking at the most underrated players in the league. Being called underrated can mean something different for every NBA fan. This list will be made with players that are very good but go unnoticed by the average NBA fan. For example, these players can be great role players on winning teams that are in the shadows of the star players on their team and don’t get enough credit for contributing to winning. They can also be great players on bad teams or a team that doesn’t get enough media attention. These players will be ranked in no particular order as we believe they are all equally underrated.

Christian Wood

Christian Wood is a player who recently broke out this season. Most people didn’t even know who Christian Wood was before the season. He’s been bounced around the league since 2015 but started to establish himself as a great player with the Pistons this season.

This season Wood has played 62 games with the Pistons. In these 62 games, he’s averaging 13.1 points per game and 6.3 rebounds per game. He also shot 56.7% from the field and 38.6% on 3’s this season. Wood already showed promise in the league last year with the Pelicans. He played 8 games with the Pelicans last season and averaged almost 17 points per game.

This season, Wood has showed a greater sample size of his greatness. After the Andre Drummond trade, Wood became a full time starter for the Pistons. In his 13 games he played after Drummond was traded, Wood averaged 20.3 points per game. The team went 1-12 without Drummond but Wood is not to blame for the lack of success towards the end of the season. The Pistons did not have a winning roster around Christian Wood.

Wood is a very skilled player with a very valuable and versatile skillset. He is the perfect modern day power forward. He can stretch the floor and shot 40% in catch and shoot 3’s this season. Most big men struggle with shooting mechanics and usually have awkward and uncomfortable shooting forms. Wood doesn’t have this same struggle and he has a smooth and fluent jump shot. He can also create for himself due to his great athleticism and explosive first step.

The most impressive part of Christian’s game may be his finishing ability. He has a soft touch around the rim and is a very talented finisher. He also has incredible dunking abilities and is a deadly lob threat. Wood is also starting to master one of the most common plays in basketball. The pick and roll.

He has been one of the best players in the pick and roll this season. Wood is one of the most efficient players in the pick and roll. He averages 1.5 points per possession as the roll man and ranks in the 96th percentile as a pick and roll man. Next season Wood needs to be used more in the pick and roll as he only had 2.2 pick and roll possessions per game. To put this stat into perspective, there were 40 players this season who averaged more pick and roll possessions per game than Wood.

Christian Wood is still very unproven. He has proved that he can put up impressive scoring numbers in a short period of time. Wood has yet to prove if he can consistently put up high scoring numbers over a long period of time. He also hasn’t had much team success in the NBA, which creates the question of does Christian Wood put up these impressive stats because he is on teams that lack scoring and talent?

It also makes you question, would Christian Wood be playing this good on a winning team? I believe Wood can have a great contribution to a winning team. He just hasn’t had any structure on an NBA team and hasn’t been incorporated into a team’s scheme. Wood is an upcoming free agent, so this can be his chance to unlock his full potential on a successful team. A lot of teams can use a player with Christian Wood’s skillset.

Wendell Carter Jr

The Chicago Bulls have a promising young core that gets a lot of attention. Players like Zach LaVine and Coby White have their scoring abilities highlighted in social media and the general NBA media. What doesn’t get a lot of attention is Wendell Carter and his overall impact for the Chicago Bulls.

Wendell is the main locker room leader on the team and has displayed maturity and a high I.Q early in his NBA career. He plays like an NBA veteran. Wendell is also very impactful on the court and is the glue that holds the team together. Carter missed significant time this season due to an ankle injury. He only played in 43/65 games for the Bulls. Wendell had the second highest net rating for the Bulls this season.

The Bulls were better with Wendell on the court, especially defensively. Wendell is one of the team’s best defenders and without a doubt their best interior defender. Carter is an undersized center who stands at 6″9 but makes up for his lack of height with his wingspan. His long wingspan helps him contest shots and helps him provide great rim protection. He doesn’t average a lot of blocks but has excellent defensive positioning.

His defensive style is comparable to Al Horford. Both are very high I.Q defenders who are always in the right place at the right time. Both are also undersized centers who have a great defensive impact. They both also get more steals than most centers do. Wendell has the potential to be a defensive anchor on a good defensive team.

Carter is also a great rebounder. He averaged 9.9 rebounds per game this season and led his team in rebounds. He also ranks top 5 in box outs per game with 5.7 box outs per game. Carter is a great offensive rebounder and ranks 8th in offensive rebounds with an average of 3.2 offensive rebounds per game.

Wendell Carter also does stuff that goes unnoticed and doesn’t appear in the box score. He ranks top 15 in screen assists and sets great screens that are effective and free his teammates up. Another part of his game that goes unnoticed is his playmaking. Some may argue this is the most underrated aspect of Carter’s game. On the surface, it may not seem like he is a great playmaker because he only averages 1.2 assists per game. However, once you look beyond the surface, you realize how good of a playmaker Wendell is. If you watch him play you see how good of a passer he is. He’s unselfish and can find the open man, it’s just that the Bulls struggle to hit jump shots.

Wendell is also a very good post playmaker and has great court vision. There is still some untapped potential in this category as the Bulls don’t have Wendell playmake from the high post too often. If the Bulls can utilize his playmaking more, especially from the high post, then the Bulls offence may be more fluid. The sudden drop in assist from last year can be due to his teammates not scoring off his passes. If the Bulls surround more shooters around Wendell, then we can see his assists numbers spike.

Wendell still needs to improve his post game, as he is not an athletic rim runner like most big men his size. He needs to improve on his touch around the rim. He also needs to keep working on expanding his range. He’s a decent shooter from the free throw line but had his free throw percentage drop this year. This previous season he shot 80% from the line on 2.5 attempts per game and this season he only shot 74% on 3.5 attempts per game.

He is a decent midrange shooter and shoots 40% from the midrange area on 2 attempts per game. Wendell still needs to grow in this area but he can still work on expanding his range. He especially needs to work on his 3 point shooting to space the floor for his teammates. He shoots only 21% from 3 on 0.7 attempts per game. This is still an improvement from last year and he’s proven he can improve his shooting.

Wendell Carter is a great young player with lots of potential. He gets overshadowed by other young big men taken in his same draft class as him, such as Deandre Ayton, Jaren Jackson Jr and Mitchell Robinson. Wendell doesn’t do anything that will show up on highlight reels, but he has a great impact on the court and is good at making the right play. He will serve to be even more valuable once he’s surrounded by more talent and playing on a winning team.

Derrick Favors

On the surface, Derrick Favors basic stats aren’t eye popping. He averaged 9.2 points, 9.9 rebounds and averaged 1 block per game this season. It’s easy to forget about Favors when he plays on the same team as Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, Jrue Holiday and Lonzo Ball. Once you look more into the advanced stats you start to realize how good Favors is. Favors provides more impact to the team than the on the surface stats would suggest.

Favors is a beast on the defensive end. He brings great rim protection for the Pelicans. Favors may only average 1 block a game, but that leads his team in that category. He ranks top 30 in blocks per game this season. He averaged more blocks this season than guys like Al Horford, Serge Ibaka and Deandre Jordan. Favors averaged more blocks this season than these established great rim protectors. He was also tied with Giannis Antetokounmpo this season in blocks with both players averaging 1 block a game. Favors ranks top 15 in contested 2 point shots per game. He averages 8.8 contested 2 pointers per game. This ranks him ahead of players like Joel Embiid and Anthony Davis. He also has a block percentage of 37.3%. This ranks him ahead of Giannis, Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka and many other great rim protectors.

Derrick is not only an effective defender, but he’s also a great rebounder, especially on the offensive end. He averages an impressive 3.3 offensive rebounds per game. Derrick Favors leads his team with offensive rebounds per game and ranks 6th in the entire NBA in offensive rebounds per game. He is in elite company and almost averages the same amount of offensive rebounds as Rudy Gobert and Steven Adams, players that are notorious offensive rebounders. Favors even has an offensive rebounding percentage of 12.4%. This is the best on his team and ranks him top 10 in the league in offensive rebounding percentage. He ranked above Rudy Gobert and Hassan Whiteside in offensive rebounding percentage this season.

Favors also ranks highly in defensive rebounding. He averages 6.6 defensive rebounds per game, which ranks him top 20 in defensive rebounds per game. Favors also ranks top 15 in defensive rebounding percentage with a defensive rebounding percentage of 24.8%. Favors led his team in defensive rebounds and defensive rebounding percentage this season. The Pelicans as a team ranked as the 5th best rebounding team in the league and 1st in contested rebounds. Favors has helped make the Pelicans an elite rebounding team.

We now know how good Favors is as a rebounder and on the defensive end, but how does he help his team on the offensive end? Favors may not have great floor spacing ability but he is one of the most efficient scorers in the NBA. He shoots 62% from the field which ranks him 6th among the entire league. Favors is great around the basket and even excels tremendously in the pick and roll. He is efficient in the pick and roll, while also setting effective screens to gain separation for his teammates. Derrick Favors ranks top 25 in screen assist per game.

Derrick Favors doesn’t get enough recognition for his work on the court. He is a very capable starting center that every team would like to have. He’s efficient on offence, a great rebounder and good defensively. When discussing the Pelicans most people bring up Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram or Jrue Holiday but Favors is a player that also has a great amount of impact on the team.

Dejounte Murray

When discussing the best young point guards in the league, Dejounte Murray’s name is rarely mentioned. Dejounte is only 23 years old and has shown great promise. He missed the entire 2018-2019 season which hindered his development. Dejounte missing a whole season also made people forget how good he really is. People also forget that Dejounte made an all-defensive team in his second season in the league. This made Dejounte the youngest player ever to make an all-defensive team.

His biggest strength is on the defensive end. Dejounte is a 6″4 point guard with good length, great defensive instincts and decent athleticism. His defence has also somehow improved from his all-defensive team season. This season he averaged a career high 1.7 steals per game. This ranks him 6th in the NBA for steals per game. He also leads the entire league in steal percentage with a steal percentage of 43.7%. He also gets a lot of deflections. Dejounte ranks top 10 in the NBA for deflections per game with an average of 3.2. Dejounte also ranks 3rd in the NBA for steals per 36 minutes.

The eye test also shows how great of a defender Dejounte is. He also has the tools to guard the 1-3 positions. Dejounte has a chance to make another all-defensive team this year. His elite defensive play will make him a very valuable player for many years to come.

Most people know how good Dejounte is at defence because that’s his primary area of expertise. What goes unnoticed is how good Dejounte is on the offensive end. He had a career scoring year this year averaging 10.7 points per game. Dejounte also improved his shooting percentages from his last season. He raised his field goal shooting by 4%, his 3 point shooting by 11% and his free throw shooting by 9%.

The biggest weakness in his game has been his shooting but this season he made massive improvements. Last season he wasn’t even comfortable taking 3 pointers consistently, but this season he has improved his volume. He went from 0.4 3 point attempts per game to 1.6 attempts per game. He’s a decent pull up shooter from the midrange area, but he rarely attempts this shot. Murray shot 42% on catch and shoot 3’s this season. He still needs to improve his 3 point attempts and take more 3 pointers.

Murray needs to develop his outside shot if he wants to take the next jump. Murray is a decent finisher but he’s not an explosive athlete with elite finishing abilities. He has the ability to be a great shooter and floor spacer but he needs to be more comfortable taking that shot.

Another aspect of his game that gets overlooked is his playmaking abilities. He has a good assist to turnover ratio and is good at finding open teammates. He’s a smart passer and has a very high basketball I.Q. He excels with playing for Gregg Popovich. Dejounte is a great floor general who has displayed maturity and leadership abilities. He has shown signs of being a great playmaker that can lead an offence. Murray is smooth off the dribble and is a great ball handler. Dejounte has shown potential to be good in the pick and roll but he needs better rollers to better utilize his pick and roll abilities. Having more shooting around Dejounte would also improve his assist stats and make Dejounte a more lethal playmaker.

Dejounte is a great young point guard who has shown lots of promise, while still showing lots of room for improvement. The Spurs are most likely going to rebuild very soon and Dejounte would likely be their new franchise player. He can take a big jump in his game next season and could potentially be a most improved player candidate. Dejounte still has lots of potential and could possibly be a future all-star caliber player.

T.J Warren

Contrary to what Jimmy Butler believes, T.J Warren is not trash. Warren may very well be the most underrated player on this list. He gets underrated in rankings of the best players in the league and doesn’t get talked about because he plays for the Pacers. The Pacers got an absolute steal in Warren after acquiring him in the 2019 draft for cash considerations.

Warren has stepped up in the absence of Victor Oladipo this season. He’s been the leading scorer on a playoff team this season. He is averaging 18.7 points per game this season with a very impressive 53% from the field. T.J is a very good midrange shooter and a decent 3 point shooter. Early in his career, he was a below average 3 point shooter and now he can hit the 3 consistently. He has also been essential for the Pacers winning in the clutch. He has had many clutch moments this season that has propelled the Pacers to a win. The most notable clutch moment from the season being his clutch block against the 76ers to win the game.

Warren has also had many high scoring efficient games this season to help his team win. Warren had 4 games this season where he scored over 30 points. He shot over 60% from the field in each of his 30 point games this season and he even had a game where he went 15/18 from the field.

The most underrated part of Warren’s game has been his defence. Throughout his career, Warren was known as a player who wasn’t very good on the defensive end. Warren ranked just 11th in plus minus and defensive rating among all of the Phoenix Suns players last season. It helps that Warren is surrounded by better defenders and in a system that focuses heavily on defence. Despite this, he has still found a way to stand out on defence. He ranks 4th on the Pacers in defensive win shares. Warren also looks more aware on the defensive end and is better at making plays on defence. He has shown more switch ability on defence and showing that he can be a good defender when he puts in the effort. Warren still isn’t an elite defender, but at least he isn’t a liability anymore.

Lots of players on the Pacers don’t get talked enough as much as they should, but Warren is the most underrated of the bunch. He was a top 10 small forward this season and has improved significantly from last season. The Phoenix Suns should be scratching their heads as to why they traded away T.J Warren for no return.

OG Anunoby

When the Raptors lost Kawhi Leonard in the 2019 NBA offseason, most thought that they would struggle with their wing position. This season, OG has stepped up to be the starting small forward and be the defensive stopper the team needed. He didn’t get much playing time last season playing behind Kawhi and Danny Green but this season he has made the most of every opportunity.

The best part of OG’s game is his athleticism and defence. He has great athletic tools that he utilizes to perfection. OG is listed at 6″7 and has a 7″2 wingspan. He has elite length which heavily benefits him defensively. He is also quick and has a great leaping ability.

OG playing behind Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard last season helped his development. He wasn’t ready to be a full time starter yet and he was being mentored and learning from Kawhi and Danny. He has arguably been the team’s best defender this season on a team with many great defenders. The Raptors have the best defence in the league this season and OG Anunoby is a huge reason why.

The most underrated part of Anunoby’s defence is how he defends in isolations. OG is only 22 years old and is already an elite isolation defender. He ranked in the 94th percentile in isolation defence and has shown he can consistently stop his opponent from scoring in isolation situations. He is rapidly becoming the best isolation defender in the NBA. The NBA has lots of offensive threats who thrive in isolation and OG’s ability to defend in isolations is proving to be very valuable and overlooked.

OG Anunoby may also potentially make an all-defensive team this season and should definitely receive some recognition. He’s only 22 years old and can still improve on the defensive end. He has potential to be one of the best perimeter defenders in the league and can be in all-defence team discussions for the next decade.

Most people consider OG to be a defensive specialist, but he’s made great improvements on the offensive end this season. He’s been making improvements with his shooting this season. Last season he shot 33% on three 3 point attempts per game. This season he’s shooting 38% on 3.4 3 point attempts per game. The majority of his 3 pointers are wide open assisted 3’s. He averaged 3.2 open 3 pointers this season and shot 38% on open 3’s. OG is a good catch and shoot shooter but he needs to improve on shooting while contested. OG also needs to increase his shooting volume to be a bigger threat on the court. He has potential to be a good shooter but can’t consistently create shots for himself.

OG has potential to be a good slasher due to his great athleticism but he needs to attack the basket more. He only averaged 3.5 drives per game but shot 50% when driving to the basket. He needs to be aggressive and attack the basket more, as well as improve on his finishing while off balance.

OG is a sneakily good offensive player but needs to increase his volume and be more aggressive on offence. He also needs to be more consistent offensively. He went through stretches throughout the season where he struggled to score the basketball. Despite this, OG Anunoby is still an amazing defender and has played a huge part in Toronto’s success this season. He is one of the best young defenders in the league and is a huge part of the Raptors future. He may not have superstar potential but he’s an elite role player that every team would love to have.