The NBA’s Most Overrated Players of the Last 10 Years
The NBA’s Most Overrated Players of the Last 10 Years: The players listed below were all among the top NBA performers during the previous ten years. They have shown their greatness by signing many contracts and frequently appearing in clubs’ rotations.
There are compelling arguments to suggest that each player was overrated compared to how the public and the media saw them.
This undertaking is wholly subjective. There is no sophisticated formula that assesses whether a player is correctly rated, overrated, or in between. Even the perception of players cannot be accurately measured.
The five players shown below have significant statistical flaws during the past ten years (2012–13 to 2021–22), but teams nonetheless continued to pay and use them.
There isn’t any debate that they shouldn’t have clocked a lot of minutes in a select few instances—you’ll recognise them when you see them. They have All-Star potential or are on the cusp. They just failed to live up to the hype that has around them for the past ten years.
Avery Bradely
The two All-Defensive selections for Avery Bradley are undoubtedly merited. On that part of the floor, it’s challenging to gauge impact precisely.
Bradley was last named to the All-Defensive team in 2016, and it appears that he has been riding that reputation ever since. His teams have often given up more points per 100 possessions while he is on the floor throughout his career.
Low block and rebound percentages have led to Bradley’s below-average defensive box plus/minus. That figure should be regarded with caution, though.
Jamal Crawford
For twenty years, Jamal Crawford was a fan favorite. He received three Sixth Man of the Year Awards, and he is still a representative of the sport today. Along with ranking seventh all-time in three-pointers made, 19th in games played, 58th in points scored, and 86th in assists, he earned more than $100 million in compensation throughout the course of his career.
Crawford had a career in the NBA that was very successful by any standard. Numerous statistics from the past ten years, however, refute the claim that he was a valuable player.
Since 2012–13, when he won two Sixth Man of the Year honors, Crawford’s teams have averaged plus–0.3 points per 100 possessions while he was on the floor and plus–7.5 points per 100 possessions when he wasn’t. The swings were minus-3.1 and minus-7.0 in his award-winning seasons, respectively.
DeMar DeRozan
This prologue ought to sound quite similar to the one for Jamal Crawford.
Even by the standards of the NBA, DeMar DeRozan is an excellent basketball player. You don’t average more than 20 points for more than a decade and make five All-Star teams without having a tonne of talent.
Since he joined the San Antonio Spurs in 2018, DeRozan’s more well-rounded play has better reflected the reputation he has built through time. However, he was negatively impacted by inefficiency, a lack of defense, and a refusal to adjust to the ongoing three-point revolution throughout the most of the previous ten years.
DeRozan’s teams have gained 1.6 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor and 3.8 points per 100 possessions without him since the 2012–13 season began. The only season from that sample in which he had a positive swing was his most recent one with the Chicago Bulls.
DeRozan has recorded a below-average effective field-goal % in nine of the previous ten years, in part because he is so dependent on the mid-range, one of the most difficult areas of the floor for efficiency.
DeAndre Jordan
DeAndre Jordan was one of the league’s most influential centers in the middle of the 2010s. The Los Angeles Clippers were plus-9.5 points per 100 possessions from 2012–13 to 2016–17 while he was on the court and minus-1.3 points per 100 possessions when he wasn’t.
But a closer examination of those numbers reveals interesting information.
L.A. was minus-1.9 points per 100 possessions during the same time when Jordan played, sans Chris Paul. That figure is more in line with Jordan’s performance during the previous five years.
Since 2017–18, when Jordan plays, his teams average 3.4 points less per 100 possessions and 1.8 points more. Jordan’s raw plus-minus of minus-576 ranks 966th among the 1,002 players who have appeared in at least one NBA game over those five seasons.
A lack of offensive effort beyond finishing spoon-fed dunks or the rare putback, carelessness on defense (particularly off the ball), and a laughably poor free-throw % (48.2 over the previous 10 years) are all factors in those scores. Yet he keeps being signed year after year.
Julius Randle
Julius Randle joined an exclusive group of just six NBA players in 2020–21 who averaged at least 24 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists per game. The other ones are Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, Nikola Jokic, Russell Westbrook, Oscar Robertson (who did it twice), and Oscar Robertson (who did it three times).
Being one of six players on a list with five future Hall of Famers is an incredible accomplishment, but Randle’s statistics declined to career averages in 2021–22. That can make people think that his breakout was unusual.
In 2020–21, Randle had a 3.8 box plus/minus. Prior to then, his highest point in his career was 1.5, and in three of the seven seasons in which he played at least 1,000 minutes, he had performed below averagely.
Even after accounting for his All-NBA season, Randle has a career net rating of minus-4.6. When he is off the court, his teams have a more acceptable minus-1.3.
Randle has demonstrated his capacity to rack up raw statistics during the eight years since being selected, but they frequently come with an ineffective shooting profile and subpar defense.
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