Most Underrated Players Heading Into the 2024-25 Season (2024)

In a league of 450 players, it is difficult to track every guy and know who is providing a winning contribution to their NBA team, versus who is just putting up empty statistics on a bad squad. It is made even harder by the absurd amount of talent in the league today, with every organization having at least a few extremely gifted players on the roster.

Role players are the unsung heroes of each squad, and the hidden driving force of all championship teams. There are so many guys who deserve credit for their production and how much they help their team, and it would take all day to list them all.

With that said, here are the five most underrated players heading into the 2024-25 NBA season.

5 Aaron Wiggins – Thunder

Wiggins carved out a huge role in this deep OKC rotation

Any NBA fan who watched the 2024 playoffs knows that Josh Giddey fell out of favor in head coach Mark Daigneault's rotation, and one of the main beneficiaries was Aaron Wiggins . This was for good reason, as Wiggins had a tremendous two-way campaign under the radar for OKC, setting him up for an even bigger role in 2024-25.

Wiggins averaged 6.9 points in just 15.7 minutes per game on ridiculous 56.2/49.2 shooting splits in 2023-24. That amounts to a staggering 66.4 percent true shooting, one of the very best marks in the league for a guard. Wiggins continued to thrive in his playoff debut, taking advantage of the 15.7 minutes he was offered to put up 6.2 points on 59.8 percent true shooting.

While his statistics look great, Wiggins' winning contributions extend past his counting numbers, as he is a perfect connective piece for OKC. He is solid defensively, attacks closeouts well, makes good decisions with the ball, and keeps the rock moving for this skilled Thunder group.

After signing a four-year extension with the franchise, Wiggins should be an integral part of the rotation for one of basketball's best franchises for the foreseeable future.

4 Miles McBride – Knicks

McBride is now much more than a gritty defender

For his first two NBA seasons, Miles "Deuce" McBride was glued to Tom Thibodeau 's bench because of his lackluster offensive abilities. Frankly, he was a liability on that end of the floor because he was a poor spot-up shooter, had little creativity, and allowed the defense to focus all their attention on New York's stars.

Despite being a ferocious on-ball defender capable of clamping down any ball-handler full-court, Miles McBride played just 10.9 minutes per night in his first two years. Fortunately for New York, McBride came into 2023-24 as a much improved offensive player, and the difference was stark.

Suddenly, McBride was a dead-eye three-point shooter from anywhere on the floor, also able to create his own shot off the bounce occasionally. He quickly became indispensible to Thibodeau during the rash of injuries New York suffered down the stretch of the season, and found himself playing 40-plus minutes in playoff games.

Deuce enters his fourth season on perhaps the best contract in the NBA: three years, $13 million. He is a huge part of New York's championship expectations as an excellent two-way guard, but could benefit from a bigger role elsewhere.

3 Andrew Nembhard – Pacers

Gonzaga product flashed star ability in his first playoff run

Andrew Nembhard spent most of his first two NBA seasons as a quality starting guard next to Tyrese Haliburton in Indiana. Averaging 9.3 points and 4.5 assists on solid shooting efficiency with pesky on-ball defense is good enough in its own right, but Nembhard exploded in the Indiana Pacers ' Conference Finals run, showcasing his upper-level offensive talent.

Getting a chance to run the show a bit with Haliburton sidelined/hampered by injury was huge for Nembhard, as he proved he could handle the workload. He looked like a guy who can at least be a secondary scoring option alongside some playmaking, putting up 14.9 points and 5.5 assists on 56 percent from the field and 48.3 percent from distance.

Nembhard was asked to step up for Indiana in its biggest games of the season, and he did. He now enters 2024-25 with a chance to up his usage and become an elite starting shooting guard at a high volume. Opposing fans should be incredibly worried about the potential of this Pacers' offense if he takes that leap.

2 Collin Sexton – Jazz

Once labeled a draft bust, Sexton has quietly become a great two-way player

Upon entering the league in 2018-19, Collin Sexton immediately showed he belonged as a Cleveland Cavaliers , averaging 16.7 points per game on 40.2 percent from three as a rookie. Over his four seasons in Cleveland, he posted gaudy numbers, putting up 20.0 points and 3.3 assists on 45.8 percent from the field and 37.8 percent from three.

Sexton was a bit erratic at times in his Cavalier tenure, and the team certainly struggled while he was there, going 63-155 with him in the lineup. Despite being a very efficient volume scorer for a young guard, Sexton was classified as a bust, which didn't make much sense at the time.

Well, because he didn't fit next to the also ball-dominant Darius Garland , Sexton was shipped off to the Utah Jazz in the Donovan Mitchell trade, and has reinvented himself as an elite two-way combo guard. The Alabama product has been an extremely efficient scorer, markedly improved his playmaking, and is a tenacious defender capable of guarding the opponent's best ball-handler.

Sexton has started 66 of the 126 games he's played in Utah, and has thrived in both roles for a team who has been surprisingly competitive amidst their impending rebuild. He is quietly one of the league's most productive guards on both sides of the ball.

Sexton will turn 26 during the season, and should be part of the future for the Jazz. However, he is under contract for just two more years, and could be on the trade block if things go south in Utah. His combination of three-level scoring, elite efficiency, competent playmaking, and lockdown defense for 94 feet should appeal to any contender who needs a starting two-guard or sixth man to run the show off the bench.

1 Jrue Holiday – Celtics

Perhaps the best role player of this generation

Jrue Holiday tops this list because he has proven to be the NBA's best chameleon, capable of filling every possible role on a basketball court and doing it at a high level. Some have called him a "superstar role player", and the moniker couldn't be more fitting.

Throughout his career, Holiday has fulfilled several different responsibilities: he's been a second option as a New Orleans Pelicans , a third option but primary ballhandler as a Milwaukee Bucks , and is now a fifth option on a legendary Boston Celtics team that just won the title.

Every step of the way, he has embraced his duties and done them perfectly because of his versatile skillset. Holiday's effect on the game is so profound that he just ranked fourth in minutes on a stacked Team USA roster that has drawn comparisons to the Dream Team.

For the Pelicans and Bucks, Holiday was asked to run the offense, score at a high volume, and defend the opposing team's best perimeter player. He won a championship with Milwaukee, and then transitioned to being a Swiss Army Knife for Boston.

He guards the best ball-handler, can switch onto any position defensively, is a knockdown spot-up shooter, and does all the little things and dirty work that comes with being a champion.

Simply put, Holiday is the best plug-and-play role player of this generation, and should be recognized for that. Not only is he an iconic supporting player, he is an All-Star who can masquerade as anything a team asks him to. Despite relatively low numbers, few guys add more to winning than Holiday.

Honorable Mentions: Derrick White , Ayo Dosunmu , Herbert Jones