4 Most underrated players on New Orleans Pelicans current roster

Every NBA team has players that the rest of the league underrates/misunderstands. Let’s face it. With so much basketball to be consumed, no one is watching 82 games of a team that they are not a fan of (unless you are me, and you’re weirdly addicted to mediocre Chicago Bulls basketball).

The New Orleans Pelicans are no different in this regard. For this article, we’ve identified four players on the team’s current roster who are underrated by the rest of the league. The diehard Pelicans fans know how good these players are. But casual fans may be underselling their value toward winning. Now, without further ado, here are the four most underrated Pelicans are their current roster.

4. Naji Marshall

After seeing Caleb Martin help guide the Miami Heat to an NBA Finals appearance, you’d think that people would understand the value of having a wing/forward who plays with confidence and conviction, defends well, and can maintain/capitalize on advantages by putting the ball on the floor.

Marshall brings a lot of the same skills to the table for the Pelicans that Martin brings for the Heat (Martin is the better shooter, though). On top of that, Marshall finished last season in the 73rd percentile in Passer Rating (per Thinking Basketball). On the surface, casual fans may see Marshall as just a defensive-centric energy guy. However, he has a lot more offensive skills than most people think.

The reason he’s not higher on this list is because the gap between where the casuals see him and where he actually is isn’t as severe as some of the other players on this list. Most people likely see him as a fringe rotation piece, whereas he’s actually more of a solid top-8/9 contributor on a good NBA roster.