NBA: The 23 most underrated players from the 90s to present day

NBA NEew York Knicks Allan Houston Credit: Ezra O. Shaw /Allsport
NBA NEew York Knicks Allan Houston Credit: Ezra O. Shaw /Allsport
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Danny Granger, Forward (2006-15) 

Teams: Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat, Los Angeles Clippers 

Career best stat line: 25.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 40% 3PT (2008-09) 

Following Paul George’s emergence and Granger’s decline, the Pacers decided to trade him away to Philadelphia. But early on in his career, Granger was a 25 points-a-game scorer and the face of the Pacers franchise, following Miller’s retirement.

Though his numbers didn’t really have an impact on the Pacers’ wins, he also never had enough help. If George were around during Granger’s prime, the Pacers might have had great playoff showdowns with the Celtics, Pistons, and Lebron’s Cavs, at the time.

Richard Jefferson, Forward (2002-18) 

Teams: New Jersey Nets, San Antonio Spurs, Cleveland Cavaliers, Milwaukee Bucks, Utah Jazz, Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets 

Career best stat line: 22.2 points, 7.3 rebounds, 4 assists (2004-05) 

Regardless of having a good all-around game, Jefferson was never the primary scoring option on any team he played on but in his New Jersey Net days, despite being the third scoring option behind Carter and Kidd, he consistently managed to produce 18 to 22 ppg seasons.

Many would argue that it helped to play with hall of fame pass-first point guard, Jason Kidd, but that is also a strong correspondence Jefferson shared with James Worthy: Worthy benefited from playing with Magic Johnson. The only clear differences were that his Laker teams won multiple championships and were more mainstream.