Pelicans Feature 2 Players on Top 25 Most Underrated NBA List

There’s no way of summing up the New Orleans Pelicans season in a way that gets around the fact that the season was a disappointment in the Big Easy.

With the Pelicans failing to clear their preseason win total of 44.5 by 2.5 games (finishing the year with a 42-40 mark) and franchise cornerstone Zion Williamson missing 53 games with injuries, it’s no surprise that the season was a bit of letdown for Pelicans fans.

If you do some digging, you’ll find that there was a sliver of a silver lining for the Willie Green-coached club, however, with a pair of Pelicans finishing in the top-12 leaguewide when it comes to on-court value during the year.

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Most Underrated NBA Players of 2022-23 Season

For this study, LouisianaBets.com utilized Basketball-Reference.com to find the cap hit and point shares of every NBA player during the 2022-23 NBA regular season. After doing the math of the $ per point share for each player in the league, we determined the 25 most value-driven players from this season. Salary and point shares were included for all teams the player was on during the 2022-23 season.

Rank	Player Name	Cap Hit (2022-23)	Point Shares (2022-23)*	$ Per Point Share*
1	Warriors F Anthony Lamb	$694,878	2.4	$289,533
2	Lakers F Austin Reaves	$1,563,518	5.4	$289,540
3	Wizards F/C Daniel Gafford	$1,930,681	6.1	$316,505
4	Knicks G Immanuel Quickley	$2,316,240	6.7	$345,707
5	Rockets F Kenyon Martin Jr.	$1,782,621	4.9	$363,800
6	Grizzlies G Desmond Bane	$2,130,240	5.8	$367,283
7	Jazz F/C Walker Kessler	$2,696,400	7.1	$379,775
8	Pelicans F Trey Murphy III	$3,206,520	7.6	$421,911
T-9	Hornets F/C Nick Richards	$1,782,621	4.2	$424,434
T-9	Grizzlies F/C Xavier Tillman	$1,782,621	4.2	$424,434
11	Pelicans F Herbert Jones	$1,785,000	4.2	$425,000
12	Trailblazers F/C Drew Eubanks	$1,968,175	4.4	$447,313
13	Clippers G/F Terance Mann	$1,930,681	4.3	$448,996
14	Grizzlies F Santi Aldama	$2,094,120	4.6	$455,243
15	T-Wolves F/C Luka Garza	$508,891	1.1	$462,628
16	Knicks G Quentin Grimes	$2,277,000	4.8	$474,375
17	Nuggets F/C Thomas Bryant	$1,968,175	4.1	$480,042
18	Celtics F Sam Hauser	$1,637,966	3.4	$481,755
19	Thunder G Isaiah Joe	$1,836,090	3.8	$483,182
20	T-Wolves F Jaden McDaniels	$2,161,440	4.4	$491,236
21	76ers G Tyrese Maxey	$2,726,880	5.4	$504,978
22	Spurs G Tre Jones	$1,782,621	3.4	$524,300
23	Jazz G Kris Dunn	$1,000,001	1.9	$526,316
24	Heat G Max Strus	$1,815,677	3.4	$534,023
25	Bulls G Ayo Dosunmu	$1,563,518	2.9	$539,144

* — Rounded up for visual purposes.

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Why Murphy and Jones Were Great Values For Pelicans In 2022-23

The Pelicans may have failed to live up to their preseason hype, but they did find a way to land two of their players on the NBA’s value leaderboard.

New Orleans finished as one of five teams to have multiple players in the top-25 of our value leaderboard, along with the Grizzlies, who had three players, and the Wolves, Jazz, and Knicks, who had two players apiece.

Between Murphy — who finished eighth on our list with 7.6 point shares and a dollar per point share of $421,911 this year — and Jones (who finished 11th overall with 4.2 point shares and a $ per point share of $425,500), the Pelicans were well represented on the NBA’s value leaderboard.

On the flip side, 11 NBA teams didn’t have a single player make the top-25, including six that made the NBA Playoffs (Atlanta, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Sacramento, Brooklyn, and Phoenix), showing how far the Pelicans made it with such a youthful roster in 2022-23.

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