Opinion: This NBA Player Is Underrated; He Averaged More Assists Than Nets' Kyrie Irving, More Points Than Grizzlies' Ja Morant, And More Rebounds Than 76ers' Joel Embiid
Domantas Sabonis of the Indiana Pacers might be the most underrated player in the entire NBA.
At least in the Eastern Conference, he's gotta make the top-five most underrated players without question.
The 25 year old (he's not even in his prime yet) averaged 20.2 points, 12.0 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game last season.
He was second on the team in points per game, first in rebounds per game and as a forward led the team in assists per game.
Even more impressive?
He averaged more assists per game last season than Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets (6.0) and Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors (5.8).
Those two players are guards known as elite passers, and pretty well known players.
Curry is a three-time NBA Champion and two-time league MVP, and Irving is a seven-time All-Star and has won an NBA title.
If that wasn't enough proof Sabonis is not given enough credit?
He also averaged more points than Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies (19.1).
In addition, he averaged more rebounds per game than Deandre Ayton of the Phoenix Suns (10.5), Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers (10.6) and 2021 MVP Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets (10.8).
Sabonis has been an All-Star in each of the last two seasons, so he is getting some credit, but imagine if he was on a team with a bigger brand (like the New York Knicks) or a contender (like the Brooklyn Nets), he would be a household name with those kind of stats.
