NBA Draft 2013: Most Underrated Player at Each Position

The 2013 NBA draft has received ignominy for its weakness. The lack of a bona fide No. 1 pick and the general dearth of sure things in the top 10 has given 2013 its label as a brutally down year.

But that might be a misnomer. True, the top of the draft is weaker than it's been in years, but that doesn't speak to 2013 as a whole. This class might just be an iceberg: unimpressive above the surface, but vast and dangerous where the common eye can't see.

It doesn't speak well of a prospect to be "underrated" in a class where the highest rated prospects are underwhelming. But the depth of this class shouldn't be neglected without due diligence being done.

Here's one guy from each position who could surprise at the next level.

Point Guard: Dennis Schroeder, Germany

Schroeder is probably more underrated with fans than he is with executives. After all, after dropping out of the NBA combine in Chicago, most in the know assumed he'd been given a promise by some team in the mid-first round. Someone feels strongly enough in his ability that they demand he be hidden from workouts, scared that he'll put on a clinic and rise above their current spot.

And they're probably right.

Schroeder dazzled at the 2013 Nike Hoop Summit, putting up 18 points, dishing out six assists and catching the eye of every NBA scout in the building. The company that evening included Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker, but Schroeder was the name on the tip of all tongues come postgame.

So while not underrated, per se, in a high-level evaluation sense, Schroeder makes this list as a plea to casual NBA fans everywhere. Don't boo when your team takes some anonymous German dude over that Shane Larkin kid you saw dominate at Miami. Take a deep breath, watch the video above and applaud your general manager on a deft acquisition.

Shooting Guard: Seth Curry, Duke

Writing this makes my typically red blood curdle into a pitiful shade of royal blue. But seriously, how many times do Dell Curry's boys need to be overlooked before people learn their lesson?

Steph and Seth, despite their NBA pedigree, were forced to enroll at Davidson and Liberty coming out of high school. Steph put on the greatest NCAA tournament show of our generation and still managed to fall below Jonny Flynn in the draft. What indignity must the Curry name endure next?

Listen, I'm not crazy: Seth is by no means at all the same prospect as his older brother. But he's certainly a similar one. I watched him single-handedly shoot my beloved MSU Spartans out of the tournament this year—if that wasn't a "Curry" performance, I don't know what is.

Right now Seth is projected as a mid-to-late second round pick. His pedigree and his track record both suggest he belongs in the first.

Small Forward: Deshaun Thomas, Ohio State

Thomas isn't built like a "traditional" NBA small forward, but the bounds of NBA convention are growing weaker each year. Draymond Green—a likewise built prospect with a similar college resume—fell to the second round for the same reason; he ended up playing crunch-time minutes in the Western Conference semis as a rookie.

Thomas doesn't play defense like Green does (at least not yet), but he does do one thing Draymond struggled to do at the NBA level: score the basketball. No player on an elite college team was counted on to do more scoring last season, and for the most part—as he did throughout his whole career—Deshaun Thomas delivered.

Thomas could also be compared to his former teammate, Jared Sullinger, who fell (in part) due to concerns about his size and athleticism. His rookie season was marred by the injury bug, but when he saw the court, he certainly looked the part of a steal.

Shot-making is hard to quantify, but equally hard to find. Thomas is simply a guy who puts the ball in the basket; no matter what his combine measurements say, that's never going to change.

The Big Ten is no stranger to producing undersized bargains. Thomas could be the next in that proud tradition.

Power Forward: Cody Zeller, Indiana

Moronic talking heads will tell you Cody Zeller was "exposed" against Syracuse. He wasn't. It stinks to play your worst on a massive stage, sure, but Cody Zeller wasn't "exposed"—he just had a bad game.

There's a reason Zeller was so highly regarded coming out of college and a reason he earned such plaudits as a freshman. He didn't take a step back in his sophomore season; he just didn't conform to the lofty—probably unrealistic—expectations we bestowed on him.

Five ESPN analysts were asked about the most underrated prospect in the draft. Here's a sampling of two answers:

"

Amin Elhassan: Indiana's Cody Zeller. He's kind of gone through the wormhole in the sense that he has become underrated because of the rush to call him overrated. Zeller is 6-11 with good athleticism and great feel, and can play inside or out. He's the type of player who falls on draft day, then a few years later everyone wonders how he could have lasted that long.

Dave Telep: Zeller. Every Zeller has been better than the next, and that bodes well for Cody. Love the size and feel, and he's tougher than he's given credit for. I didn't need combine numbers to fall for him. So he's not the No. 1 guy, but he is a reliable, intelligent and a skilled low-post player. Some ask why? I ask why not.

"

If the (undeserved) Zeller backlash drops him toward the bottom of the lottery, a lot of contending teams could be in trouble. Just imagine how good Oklahoma City, drafting 12th, would be with Zeller playing Kendrick Perkins' minutes.

Center: Mike Muscala, Bucknell

Much like Zeller, Muscala played his worst game of the season in the NCAA tournament. After averaging 18.7 points and 11.1 rebounds on 51 percent shooting as a senior, he ended his college career with a 4-for-17 dud in the first round against Butler.

But Muscala quelled those concerns with an NBA combine that validated his larger body of work. At 6'11'', he shot the ball extremely well from mid-range and managed to catch the eye of ESPN's Jeff Goodman (formerly of CBS Sports):

Muscala is a tough, savvy defender with a college rebound rate akin to lottery picks like Kevin Love and Andrew Bogut (h/t DraftExpress). Athleticism be damned: Those are attributes that can't be taken for granted.

As a lifelong Sonics/Thunder fan, I don't take this comparison lightly, but there's a lot of Nick Collison in Mike Muscala's game. And that should be enough to warrant a definite first-round pick.