As the NBA All-Star break approaches once again, it’s the perfect time to hand out love to a few of the players out there that continue to fall short of such achievement.
These players have played at an NBA All-Star level, but haven’t received the recognition they deserve.
We look at the 10 most underrated players in the NBA, and why they deserve praise.
1.Mike Conley, Memphis Grizzlies
For about four or five years now, Mike Conley has been “underrated”. He has never made an NBA All-Star game, and this year he was more deserving than ever. I know he got the biggest contract ever this offseason, but to me he is still underrated. Mike Conley has been the rock for the Grizzlies for years, leading them to the playoffs year after year.
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This year him and Marc Gasol are leading the Grizzlies to a 33-23 record and the sixth seed in the West. Without those two, this team would be picking in the top five of the draft. Conley is averaging a career high 19.1 points per game to go along with 6.2 assists. He is also shooting a career high 40 percent, a previous weakness of his.
His game has approved all around, averaging a career high 4.9 free throw attempts a game, and 86 percent from the charity stripe. Defensively he is still solid as ever, and is averaging a career high 3.6 rebounds per game.
Overall his player efficiency rating (PER) is 21.9, which is 8th among point guards. So how has a player in his tenth season taken his game to new heights? First it’s his three-point shooting, he has gone from good to really good. Defenders still dare to go under screens on him and Conley will simply step into a three at the top of the key and drill it. Go over the screen and he will quickly penetrate into the lane and finish with a beautiful floater over a big.
He may have the best floater in the game, it is very Tony Parker like. Smooth would be the word I would use to describe Conley’s game. He is in complete control of the offense and is always calm. He boasts a 2.7 assist to turnover percentage, which is incredible for a player who has the ball as much as he does. Conley knows when he has to score, and he knows when to get his teammates involved. This guy is what a point guard should be. Someone please get this guy to an all-star game one day.