NBA Today: 5 Most overrated players in the league right now
Every season player salaries seem to rise to new heights. Unfortunately, not all the players receiving the riches play to a level their contract dictates. Notable underperformers who have received rich paydays and then failed to live up to them are Allan Houston in New York, Joe Smith, and Josh Smith formerly of Atlanta and Detroit.
In Houston’s case, he signed a 6-year $100 million contract in 1999 after a great playoff. However, by 2001, knee problems derailed his usefulness to the Knicks and they were stuck with that awful contract until the CBA allowed them to waive an unwanted contract under the “Allan Houston Clause” without it counting against the salary cap.
Sports and the NBA, in particular, is a "what have you done for me lately" industry. However, the players are always getting rewarded greatly on past honors and merits. Here is a quick look at 5 overrated players in the NBA right now.
#5 Draymond Green
Draymond Green is a three-time NBA Champion. He is also a 3-time NBA All-Star and the 2017 Defensive Player of the Year winner. Draymond Green is also a very braggadocious player which either means he is super self-confident or he is making up for deficiencies in his game. Green does a lot of trash-talking during games to opponents but let that slip over to teammates and had a now-infamous spat with teammate KD on court, during a game in November 2018.
However, it's not just Draymond Green doing the talking. The Athletic published a poll in this past season in which 47 anonymous NBA players ranked Green and Russell Westbrook as the two most overrated players in the NBA.
It's not just his peers and colleagues who make the case for Green being overrated it's also the stats. Green has shot less than 31% from 3-point range each of the last three seasons dipping to a career-worst, since his rookie season, in 2018/19 at 28.5%.
There has also been no demonstrable improvement in his offensive output as he averages 9.1 ppg for his career. Once again in 2018/19, he saw that number decline to just 7.4 ppg. His lack of production cannot be attributed to a decline in minutes played as he played over 31 minutes a game this past season.