The NBA's Most Overrated Players
Reputation is a fickle beast in the NBA.
It's driven by various factors, ranging from on-court production to flashiness of playing style to media attention to fan-created narratives. And, most importantly for our purposes, it doesn't always align with actual quality of play—sometimes not by a wide margin.
These eight players employ vastly different styles on the hardwood, line up at different positions and are at dissimilar stages of their respective careers, but they all have one thing in common. Their level of play is misaligned with the general perception of their games.
And not in a good way.
Deandre Ayton
1 of 7
Reason for Value Disconnect: Physical tools don't translate
A 7-footer with a chiseled 250-pound frame who can overpower defenders when he's not showing off his delicate touch around the basket, Deandre Ayton has all the physical tools you could ask for in a big man operating within the confines of the modern NBA.
But the aggression isn't there. The same is sometimes true of his apparent passion, or lack thereof, for playing high-effort, winning basketball, as demonstrated by a viral play in which he decided to just...not even attempt to hustle and gather possession in a three-point game late in the fourth quarter. (That's not the first time his effort level has been scrutinized, either.)
Ayton wore out his welcome with the Phoenix Suns, and his public stock fell accordingly. But the general perception hasn't caught up with his continuing decline as he seems to avoid taking high-leverage touches and rarely asserts himself against overmatched defenders, averaging per-36-minute scoring figures drastically below his career averages for the Portland Trail Blazers as he fails even to set the hard screens necessary to elevate the performance of the youngsters around him on the floor.
"He played extra hard tonight. I seen that, and my challenge for him is to play like that every night," former teammate Devin Booker said after their first head-to-head matchup, which pretty much explains it all.
Dillon Brooks
2 of 7
Reason for Value Disconnect: Bravado-based headlines
Dillon Brooks so desperately seems to want to make Dillon Brooks a thing.
He refers to himself in villainous fashion, calls out big-name opponents, plays with no shortage of look-at-me flair and seems to generate a strange level of headline ubiquity for someone who actually hasn't been particularly effective on either end of the floor.
To his credit, the Houston Rockets have indeed been better with him on the court, and he's played arguably the best basketball of his career since leaving the Memphis Grizzlies for a squad undeniably on the rise. That's all well and good, but it still doesn't mean the on-floor efficacy matches the level of play that should be paired with a player generating this level of ink.
Even with his shot falling at an unsustainable 45.3 percent clip from beyond the arc (his career three-point percentage heading into 2023-24 was 34.2), Brooks doesn't get to the stripe frequently enough, create enough positive off-script plays or elevate his teammates enough to function as a distinct positive on the scoring end.
And while he's a pest on defense who can get under the skin of opposing players, he also fouls frequently and can get caught up in individual matchups at the expense of high-quality team defense to a degree that prevents him from emerging as a should-be All-Defensive candidate.
Eric Gordon
3 of 7
Reason for Value Disconnect: Role redundancy
Though Eric Gordon can rain down three-pointers, serve as a capable secondary playmaker and put constant pressure on the rim, he's no longer at a stage of his career in which those skills matter quite as much. He's not effective enough to demand the requisite touches to maximize his abilities, but he needs touches to have an impact since he's a poor defender who doesn't exhibit the same degree of off-ball gravitational pull he once did.
Plus, he's on the Phoenix Suns.
At full strength, the desert dwellers should always have at least one of Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Devin Booker on the floor. That leaves Gordon either serving as a tertiary offensive option, operating alongside a singular star or leading an entirely overmatched bench unit with the primary goal of not hemorrhaging away a lead.
For all the attention Gordon has drawn on the trade market during his shockingly long stint with the Houston Rockets, he hasn't posted a positive box plus/minus since 2017-18. Set to turn 35 on Christmas Day, he's not likely to change that or emerge as a role player with value befitting his reputation anytime soon.
Jalen Green
4 of 7
Reason for Value Disconnect: Tantalizing per-game numbers and scoring upside
Still just 21 years old, Jalen Green is coming off a season in which he scored 22.1 points per game, and he's now pouring in 19.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists per contest for a Houston Rockets outfit firmly in the mix of the Western Conference playoff picture.
Except...Green's 53.8 true shooting percentage and inability to play palatable defense made him a net negative as a sophomore. That story has rung true once again in the early stages of his 2023-24 campaign. His true shooting percentage has stagnated, both because he's shooting 45.8 percent on two-pointers and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc, and he's posting a worse assist-to-turnover ratio while continuing to struggle—albeit a bit less—on the preventing end.
This is not a long-term concern. Green is immensely talented, and he's adjusting to not being the top option every night. Just as that alpha role brought pros and cons for a young, developing player, so does taking a back seat. He's learning how to pick his spots more efficiently on the fly, but he's also erred too far on the side of passivity alongside Fred VanVleet and Alperen Şengün.
He should figure it out, but he's currently light-years away from the expected third-year burst to prominence.
Jordan Poole
5 of 7
Reason for Value Disconnect: No Stephen Curry buffer anymore
Jordan Poole could get away with a lot while playing for a squad featuring Stephen Curry—and, to a lesser extent, Klay Thompson's gravitational pull and Draymond Green's (pre-whistle) basketball savvy. But on a lowly Washington Wizards outfit that often doesn't feel capable of getting out of its own way, that's no longer even close to true.
Poole often operates with a seemingly omnipresent green light, but he's now slashing just 39.5/29.3/85.4 while putting on his pass-first hat even less frequently. Though he can dazzle opponents with ball-handling wizardry and make the occasional shot that 93 percent of NBA players wouldn't even attempt during a meaningless game at the local YMCA, pizzaz and highlight-reel material matter less when paired with frequent plays that show off a fundamental ignorance of basketball fundamentals.
(See: Poole "walking the dog" to preserve the shot clock without remembering he was bleeding away the game clock while operating with a deficit.)
He's a painful inclusion here because his style is beyond entertaining when the shots are falling. But even those buckets often come on less-than-ideal shot selection that seems to frustrate open teammates. At some point, a change in style is necessary for the 24-year-old on the first leg of a four-year rookie-scale extension worth up to $140 million.
Klay Thompson
6 of 7
Reason for Value Disconnect: Nostalgia
Klay Thompson still plays with the same swagger. He has the same picture-perfect shooting stroke. He fills the same role for the Golden State Warriors.
However, he's not hitting his shots at the same rate. Not nearly the same rate, in fact.
Enough prominent talking heads have started to shine a harsh spotlight on Thompson's struggles that popular perception of his game is catching up to the more limited value he's put on display since returning from his seemingly ceaseless string of injuries. But the nostalgia factor and his lengthy tenure as a sharp-shooting specialist have made it difficult for the masses to accept the steepness of his career denouement.
Thompson is taking shots from inside the arc at a more limited rate than ever before, which is problematic when he's only hitting 36.6 percent of his threes and rarely making his way to the stripe. He's a relative non-factor as a rebounder and passer, and his diminished lateral mobility has made it increasingly difficult for him to live up to the "D" portion of his "three-and-D" reputation.
For the first time since his rookie season, which came all the way back in 2011-12 when his most frequent five-man lineup involved Charles Jenkins, David Lee, Jeremy Tyler and Dorell Wright, the Warriors have actually been on the wrong end of the scoring margin with Thompson on the floor.
Andrew Wiggins
7 of 7
Reason for Value Disconnect: Incapable of elevating role when not supported by stars
Andrew Wiggins has never quite lived up to the hype associated with his No. 1 overall draft slot in 2014, though he's settled in nicely as a high-end role player after leaving more of a featured role with the Minnesota Timberwolves. He's accepted his limitations and played within the flow of the offense en route to an (admittedly questionable) All-Star selection in 2021-22 and a title with the Golden State Warriors.
But between the name recognition and exorbitant salary ($24.3 million in 2023-24, rising to a $30.2 million player option in '26-27), Wiggins' reputation is currently outpacing his production by a significant margin.
Wiggins is fine as a tertiary—sometimes even quaternary—scorer for the Dubs who can crash the boards and play intelligent defense, but he's proved utterly incapable of elevating lineups that don't feature Stephen Curry. Or, for that matter, ones that do.
The Warriors have been outscored by 8.7 points per 100 possessions with Wiggins on the floor in 2023-24, a far cry from the plus-5.3 net rating posted in the same situation last year. Worse still, the Warriors are 18.9 points per 100 possessions better when Wiggins is off the floor.
The 28-year-old is mired in an ugly shooting slump, but his missing stroke has also affected other elements of his game, imbuing him with even more passivity and affecting his focus and ability on the defensive end. Even if he bounces back to a level more akin to his 2022-23 efforts, that would still leave his production looking up at his reputation.
All stats, unless otherwise indicated, courtesy of NBA.com and Basketball Reference and accurate entering Friday's games.
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