15 Underrated Players on ESPN's NBA Rank

Which players got snubbed from their proper spot in ESPN's NBA Rank?

The ranking system rated every NBA player from No. 500 to No. 1, and each player was revealed with his ranking and average score, as voted on by the panel of 91 experts from ESPN and the TrueHoop Network.

Those experts were asked to rank the players on a scale of 0-to-10 in terms of "the current quality of each player."

The previous slideshow was dedicated toward those players who got far more than the benefit of the doubt, and the follow-up will be for those who didn't get enough love from the panel of voters.

Let's take a look at those who got the shaft.

Dorell Wright, SF

NBARank: 152, 4.81

Before: Hedo Turkoglu, 153, 4.81

After: Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, 151, 4.82

After being a victim of Miami's bench for his first six seasons in the league, Wright erupted for Golden State last year and quickly flashed his potential on the hardwood.

Serving as another spark in an already high-scoring offense, Wright came in and averaged 16.4 points per game, showing little trouble to adjusting into a full-time role for his new team.

Unlike Turkoglu who showed clear signs of regression, Wright displayed consistent progression in his game, and it's hard to fathom how he didn't even crack the Top 150.

Wright has a case to be higher than both Turkoglu and Mbah a Moute, as well as Gary Neal (149), J.J. Redick (143) and certainly Mike Dunleavy (141).

Marcus Thornton, SG

NBARank: 136, 5.01

Before: Brandon Bass, 137, 5.00

After: Darrell Arthur, 135, 5.03

I'm not sure where all of the love gets lost for Thornton, because anyone who saw him play for Sacramento last season can't deny that the kid can flat out ball.

He rarely saw the action that he deserved in New Orleans because of a failure to commit himself at the defensive end the way Monty Williams would have liked, but his offensive skills simply cannot be ignored, and it's insane to think that he's ranked behind a declining Richard Jefferson (130).

Dropping 20 points or more with regularity during his initial go-around with the Kings, Thornton was dropping buckets from a variety of spots on the floor, and his impact on the club was obvious.

I could make a strong case that Thornton is better than J.R. Smith (110).

Jeff Green, F

NBARank: 124, 5.19

Before: J.J. Hickson, 125, 5.18

After: Tyrus Thomas, 123, 5.19

There's no doubt in my mind that Green's initial season with the Boston Celtics had a direct impact on his rating being far too low.

After looking every bit like a Top 100 player during his time in Oklahoma City alongside Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, Green struggled to adjust to his new role with the C's, and that inability to acclimate immediately was something that was apparent to anyone watching.

Having said that, Green is just 25 years old and had previously shown an uncanny ability to contribute across the stat sheet, so it's far too early to write him off completely.

It's ridiculous to put him behind Michael Beasley (109), an aging Antawn Jamison (107) as well as Kenyon Martin (102).

DeMar DeRozan, SG

NBARank: 101, 5.60

Before: Kenyon Martin, 102, 5.54

After: Wesley Matthews, 100, 5.64 

DeRozan proved last season that he's a promising young player in the making after shining for an otherwise sorry Toronto Raptors team.

To rank him just one spot ahead of Martin is not only foolish, it's flat-out wrong.

It's comical to see names like J.J. Barea (92), Kendrick Perkins (95) and Anderson Varejao (85) getting considerably more appreciation from the voters than he did.

In just his second season in the league, DeRozan was asked to shoulder the load for Toronto, and literally doubled his scoring output from his rookie season.

Roy Hibbert, C

NBARank: 96, 5.67

Before: Metta World Peace, 97, 5.67

After: Kendrick Perkins, 95, 5.67

Despite Hibbert having the same average grade as the players that came both before and after him, he deserves to be ranked higher than both and is getting short-changed here.

A legitimate seven-footer (7'2", 280 lbs), Hibbert continued to show signs of improvement last season, registering the best numbers of his career, posting 12.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game despite averaging just under 28 minutes of playing time per contest.

There's no doubting that Hibbert still has some work to do, especially in terms of approving his efficiency from the floor and ability to stay on the court without committing a plethora of fouls, but I've got quite the gripe with just how low he came in.

It's tough to rationalize his position as 11 spots behind Anderson Varejao (85), and if Andrea Bargnani is going to come in at 81, Hibbert deserves to be elevated to well inside the Top 100.

Stephen Jackson, SF

NBARank: 77, 5.92

Before: Arron Afflalo, 78, 5.92

After: Jamal Crawford, 76, 5.97

Jackson consistently gets overlooked when people discuss the top players in the game, but he's been productive no matter where he's landed throughout his career.

A former second-round selection in 1997, Jackson played on an awful Charlotte Bobcats team last season and still put up respectable numbers (sans his field goal percentage) despite everybody knowing he was one of the sole sources of offense for his team.

I don't agree with the choices that Marcus Camby (74) and Jameer Nelson (73) should be currently ahead of him, even if it's just by a few spots.

There's no question that his rank would be higher if he had been playing on better teams since departing from San Antonio.

Al Jefferson, C

NBARank: 52, 6.67

Before: Luis Scola, 53, 6.66

After: Brook Lopez, 51, 6.69

This one isn't too far off from where I would've put Jefferson, but I still think people are underrating him after coming off of reconstructive knee surgery.

He played in all 82 games with Utah in his first season with the team, proving that his knee woes are in the rear view mirror, and his impressive performance throughout the season went largely unnoticed by many.

A big man who averages nearly 20 points and 10 rebounds and shoots over 75 percent from the line don't exactly grow on trees, and Jefferson's rank behind Carlos Boozer (50) and Jason Kidd (49) is embarrassing.

Gerald Wallace, F

NBARank: 48, 6.82

Before: Jason Kidd, 49, 6.71

After: Tyreke Evans, 47, 6.82

It's nice to see Wallace rank inside the Top 50 because he often goes under appreciated by most, but he certainly deserves to be higher than 48.

The fact that he swings along the front line between forward positions undoubtedly hurts his rating, and I still have a hard time believing how others don't see the obvious influence he has on a game at the defensive end of the floor.

A true professional who always gets it done on the court, Wallace should get a little bump in the rankings, and I'd like to see how his rating would've differed if he had finished last season with a different club.

Luol Deng, SF

NBARank: 46, 6.89

Before: Tyreke Evans, 47, 6.82

After: David West, 45, 6.89

It's obvious that Deng is still recovering in the public eye from his 2008-09 campaign when he played just 49 games, because his influence on Chicago last season was great.

Fully healthy and not holding back a single thing, Deng averaged 17.4 points per game while serving as the secondary (and sometimes third) option in the offense on a team that went to the Eastern Conference Finals.

I'd put him ahead of West (45), in front of Lamar Odom (44) and several others who were elected ahead of him in the rankings.

Monta Ellis, SG

NBARank: 41, 7.05

Before: Kevin Martin, 42, 6.98

After: John Wall, 40, 7.07

Depending on who you ask, Ellis is either sorely underrated or drastically overrated, and by his inclusion on this list, I think it's clear to see what side of the fence I'm standing on.

For some reason, the appreciation for a pure scorer has seemingly disintegrated over the years, but that doesn't mean that Ellis should be undervalued to the point where he's rated behind players who simply don't deserve to be in front of him.

Based off of "current quality," I'd put him ahead of Martin (42), Wall (40) and Eric Gordon (39).

Andre Iguodala, SF

NBARank: 34, 7.29

Before: Ray Allen, 35, 7.27

After: Andrew Bogut, 33, 7.31

Iguodala's game just isn't appreciated to the same extent where it used to be, and that's a shame considering he's arguably the best point forward in the game.

Too often, the emphasis on scoring blinds us from seeing what type of true value a player can add to his team, and I believe that's exactly what has happened in the case of Iguodala.

Joakim Noah (29) ahead of Iguodala is absolutely something that should have never happened, and I'll take an athletic, versatile forward with a 3:1 assist-to-turnover ratio on my team any day of the week.

Rudy Gay, SF

NBARank: 27, 7.48

Before: Tony Parker, 28, 7.47

After: Marc Gasol, 26, 7.51

If Gay hadn't endured a season-ending shoulder injury that put a damper on his breakout season, there's no question that he would have been even higher on this list.

We have yet to see the best of what Gay can offer to the Grizzlies, and I'm excited to see what he's capable of doing now that he's back to full strength.

Before getting hurt, Gay was on pace to post career-high marks in several categories, and his improvement from the perimeter is something that shouldn't go unrecognized.

His versatility is the most under-appreciated element of his game, and I'd have no trouble putting him ahead of Gasol (26) or Chris Bosh (24).

LaMarcus Aldridge, PF

NBARank: 23, 7.98

Before: Chris Bosh, 24, 7.97

After: Kevin Garnett, 22, 8.01

You knew this was coming.

Admittedly, it's taken some time for me to give Aldridge his proper due as a top-flight option at his position, but after carefully examining the comparisons and watching continued tape from last season, there are no longer any questions remaining in my mind.

Aldridge will need to continue to improve and show that his breakout season was not a fluke, but nothing from what I've seen suggests that his performance was merely a blip on the radar.

Taking 17.5 shots per game and leading Portland's offensive charge, Aldridge shot 50 percent from the floor and posted an impressive all-around line for the season.

Based on the "current quality" criteria, Aldridge deserves to be ahead of Garnett (22), Duncan (19) and is comparable to both Kevin Love (16) and Blake Griffin (10).

Paul Pierce, SF

NBARank: 21, 8.12

Before: Kevin Garnett, 22, 8.01

After: Zach Randolph, 20, 8.12

Are you kidding me?

Pierce not even being in the Top 20, in a word, is egregious.

His game isn't a thing of beauty, and some have even called it reminiscent of something we might see in a pick-up game between older men at the local YMCA, but "The Truth" always gets it done, and it's baffling to see him outside of the Top 15, let alone the first 20 up top.

Unlike some other veterans ahead of him on this list, Pierce actually improved last season, notching better marks in field-goal and free-throw percentage, as well as rebounds and assists from where his numbers previously stood.

He can beat you from anywhere on the court, and that's not something many others in the league can say.

There are not 20 players currently better than Pierce.

Kobe Bryant, SG

NBARank: 7, 9.40

Before: Derrick Rose, 8, 9.27

After: Kevin Durant, 6, 9.62

This is absolutely ridiculous.

There are not five players I'd take ahead of Bryant right now or at any other juncture in recent memory, and now he's slipped all the way down to No. 7 overall?

Please.

I know what some are going to say about his play against Dallas in the postseason, and my counter-argument to that is simply if anyone is going to judge his place on this list by a playoff series, that's an incredibly shallow way to assess where he actually belongs.

Behind Kevin Durant (6), Dirk Nowitzki (5) and Chris Paul (4)? Perhaps in the future that's a feasible idea.

But right now?

No way.