Pelicans Feature 2 Players on Top 25 Most Underrated NBA List

May 24, 2023 08:31am

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, and less friendly for those using Louisiana sportsbooks.

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 league wide 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 betting odds on places like bet365 Louisiana, 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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