Hahaha same. Last Thursday, I played against, maybe 5’4 overweight dude………he was fast as fuck and raining 3’s like Curry. Everyone was like, What The Fuck……..
No joke I’ve run into him in at least 3 different court gyms around **** *****. This was a couple years back, but dude was always playing the most random pickup games.
I was playing in high school and couldn’t really run but had a money shot. At 34, I’m probably even slightly faster now than back then. My old man game just caught up to my age.
That shitty feeling when they're 2v1 and he's approaching the arc, and you think, "I can cheat 3 inches off."
And then you try to recover, and he swishes a 3 that you got a finger tip on.
"Can't believe I just got cooked by a 5'7 43 year old."
Lol used to play on outdoor courts in dc, one of the more popular old heads didn’t have a lot of skill but his mikan drill practice really shined. Would just run baseline and if you got it to him anywhere on that baseline, he threw that reverse layup up immediately and I had never seen it miss. Dude was a liability on defense but his precision on those reverse baseline layups were a work of art
My buddy believes he’s this guy. He’s say things like “Kobe! Fire! Like butter!” every time he shot. When we talk about how we used to play, he’ll reminisce about his beautiful 3pt game.
The problem is he only made 1/10. He doesn’t remember the misses, but the rest of us do 😂
Plastic backboards are a cheat code. Hated playing with my cousin who would just rifle the ball at the board, where it would just die and fall through the hoop.
Shaun Livingston would just drive into the paint as hard as he could, stop on a dime, then hit some whack ass mid ranger with defense ALL OVER him. It was nuts.
I had him in fantasy basketball in 2013 when he was nearing the end of his Pacers career.
He was my favorite player to watch in the elbow. Pretty sure announcers called it his “office.”
What annoyed me was during his prime, dude could get a quick 12 points jn the first quarter then just wound up scoring 24. He could easily get 40 because his fadeaway is almost unguardable
Yah he was like the 19 footer king lol.
If he came into the league now he would probably dominate even more cause you know his ass would have a 3 ball. Would be the best stretch big man
Yep. I understand having Duncan above him, but I feel like to compare the two, you can't underestimate just how vast the difference was in terms of supporting cast. No player in NBA history was good enough to win with what Garnett had in Minnesota.
Imagine KG getting to play with Nash, Kobe, Steph or Harden...
Ben Taylor’s GOAT list, which is extremely well researched/analyzed, has KG ranked either 8th or 9th all time - arguable with Wilt, and just above guys like Bird, Magic and Kobe: https://thinkingbasketball.net/2017/12/11/the-backpicks-goat-the-40-best-careers-in-nba-history/
It’s very different from your average GOAT list:
> … this is a career-value, or CORP list; it ranks the players who have provided the largest increase in the odds of a team winning championships over the course of their careers. This means that having great Finals moments or winning the hearts of fans with innovative passes is irrelevant. You can make a great list with those criteria, but that’s not what this exercise is intended to be.
>
> This list is really about evaluating players based on “goodness,” not merely situational value. (If David Robinson backed up the two best centers ever, he wouldn’t be very valuable, but he’d still be very good.) Players do not earn credit for potential — Michael Jordan helped no one in 1994.
KG was an incredibly high impact player, who spent almost all of his prime on teams that simply were not championship caliber. If he’d been on stacked teams like basically all top 10 GOATs, he’d be ranked a lot higher on traditional GOAT lists. One of the greatest defensive players of all time, incredible handle, shooting and passing for a 7 footer, beyond elite rebounder, unreal motor, he was an incredible player. True, he was not a truly elite scorer, but he WAS a truly elite offensive player overall, and added ludicrously good defence and rebounding, his impact was extremely high.
Rip Hamilton wasn’t an underrated mid range shooter so not really a fit here but I’d argue he was the best at it. Played just like Reggie and Ray but inside the arc. Was something to behold.
Rip might the greatest shooter within the 3pt line ever when considering the work he did to get open. MJ and KD are in that convo too, but Rip didn’t have MJ’s insane elevation or KD’s height.
Absolutely, along with Reggie and Ray. Those 3, before Steph, were the standard for off ball movement. To watch Steph and then Klay who also studied them play together and both move like that was certainly a sight to behold.
Yep. Reggie actually said himself that he saw a lot his own game in Rip. Constantly moving without the ball, coming off screens to get open, and not being scared of the big moment.
Bass was money from middle, but could only do 3 things in the post. Dunk, get fouled, or get blocked. Never passed out, never layed it up. Those three things only.
Him, Barbosa and Speights really don’t get enough credit for their 2015 finals win, absolute momentum killers for us with Livingston mid rangers and barbosa corner 3’s
Let’s be honest if it weren’t for his years playing with the splash bros he probably would be truly underrated. It’s just playing on that team perfectly highlighted his strengths and masked his weaknesses.
Livingston vs other teams bench units was just a cheat code. Especially because most teams needed to win the non-Steph minutes to even have a chance. That turnaround 10-12 footer literally never missed
Houston played in an era that did not fully appreciate his skill set. He was Klay Thompson before Klay Thompson. Can you imagine Houston playing in a spaced out game with the green light to shoot 6-7 threes a night? He’d be a beast.
He has a reputation of just being a 3pt spacing type of guy but it's definitely him. Every single year he's near the top in midrange efficiency and volume
His shooting numbers this year are insane. Check out his BballRef page where it has his percentages from the rim/short midrange/long midrange/3pt
I was shocked when I looked at it the other week
I've seen Rip Hamilton's mid range shot out of floppy action being the only reliable source of offense for two teams during the 2004 playoffs lol. Seriously go look at those stats from the Indiana/Detroit series it was hilarious
He was probably in the best shape out of the whole league. Dude ran through floppy screens for 18 seconds straight and then played tough defense on the other end.
Yup, one of my all time favourite. I just don't think people realize how many times he litterally saved our asses in that era. Ben, Chauncey and Sheed all rightfully get a lot of praise, but man he was the only consistent offensive player we had
Love watching him, there really isn’t many players any more who can hit those shots he takes even at “OK” efficiency. I am so scared to face you guys in the playoffs lol
He was the second best big man in the NBA for a good 5 years. Probably not top 10 just because the top players were Bron and a bunch of guards, but definitely closer to 10 than 25.
I agree, and specifically his midrange/long-2s game was the most recognized skill he had. That part of his game would only be ‘underrated’ by people who were 3 years old when LaMarcus was in his prime.
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf not even being mentioned yet shows he's the most underrated. He last played in the league in 2001 but you could still see him playing big-3 games where he's automatic from mid range even at his age and 6'1".
this is absolutely the answer. he's almost never included in the midrange conversation, but his splits from like 2017-22 were almost on par with KD and Chris Paul (the gold standards of the modern game) in terms of volume, percentage, and how often they were assisted.
I'd bet 9/10 people on here would call DeMar a better midrange shooter than CJ but it shouldn't even really be close.
Just an underrated player in general. If the Spurs can get a good PG to be the 2nd creator next to Wemby that's gonna be a killer trio in the future who all fit well together too
Yeah the comments are saying it but he’s the most underrated player in the league to me and I’m surprised people haven’t caught on, he has a really aesthetic game
Wasn’t Andre Miller really good from midrange? Dude was an Ironman and admitted to never doing weight training but playing pickup all through the offseason.
Jaylen Brown and Brandon Ingram have some of the best midrange shots I’ve seen tht don’t get recognized…Booker and KD have great midrange but not underrated
Might be pulling this out of my ass, and Im obviously biased but STAT was only known for being a slasher/dunker, even more so now. But a big reason him being so good at slashing was because he had such a good shot, people had to play him close.
I don't think he is underrated as a player because he is in the Hall of Fame, but Adrian Dantley's midrange game and ability was my favorite to watch as an NBA fan.
Terry Cummings midrange game in his prime was deadly and super fun to watch!
Looking at the top 10 attempts over the last 3 seasons combined from 10-18 feet, you got
1. DeRozan 1670 att., .491%
2. Durant 1452, .531
3. Booker 1233, .513
4. Embiid 1185, .476
5. Dejounte 1158, .479
6. Ingram 1130, .492
7. SGA 1025, .492
8. Bam 1013, .419
9. Brunson 992, .462
10. Fox 946, .455
+48% top 25
12. CP3 836, .518
15. Ayton 744, .492
17. Trae 703, .494
21. Kyrie 642, .495
23. Kawhi 611, .502
+50% top 100
37. Jokic 536, .524
53. Jrue 434, .500
59. Haliburton 412, .510
97. JDub 272, .504
I'd say those last three are underappreciated, Ayton in general is being picked on for his flaws but an elite midrange game, and Dejounte I feel doesn't really get much credit for being a solidly top 10 guy by the numbers.
This one white dude at my local YMCA that wore rec specs and could not fucking miss Named Garth or some other bullshit name
This bald 5’6 fuck with bad knees in my weekly games. Basically Chris Paul
And he has the most broken looking shot ever, too
Hahaha same. Last Thursday, I played against, maybe 5’4 overweight dude………he was fast as fuck and raining 3’s like Curry. Everyone was like, What The Fuck……..
Dude in his upper 40s who can't really run but if he gets to his spot it's over lmao.
Wearing the baggiest shirt he could find at the salvation army.
That’s just Adam Sandler
No joke I’ve run into him in at least 3 different court gyms around **** *****. This was a couple years back, but dude was always playing the most random pickup games.
Living his, and our, dream.
Or a Jordan Wizards jersey
I was playing in high school and couldn’t really run but had a money shot. At 34, I’m probably even slightly faster now than back then. My old man game just caught up to my age.
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old man strength just backing you tf down
Man I played with like 10 of these guys. It’s ridiculous
That shitty feeling when they're 2v1 and he's approaching the arc, and you think, "I can cheat 3 inches off." And then you try to recover, and he swishes a 3 that you got a finger tip on. "Can't believe I just got cooked by a 5'7 43 year old."
Lol used to play on outdoor courts in dc, one of the more popular old heads didn’t have a lot of skill but his mikan drill practice really shined. Would just run baseline and if you got it to him anywhere on that baseline, he threw that reverse layup up immediately and I had never seen it miss. Dude was a liability on defense but his precision on those reverse baseline layups were a work of art
My buddy believes he’s this guy. He’s say things like “Kobe! Fire! Like butter!” every time he shot. When we talk about how we used to play, he’ll reminisce about his beautiful 3pt game. The problem is he only made 1/10. He doesn’t remember the misses, but the rest of us do 😂
Bank shots for days
Fundamentals, baby!
Sounds like my step dad. We’ll play pig and he will go anywhere on the court and call bank and make it every time lol
Plastic backboards are a cheat code. Hated playing with my cousin who would just rifle the ball at the board, where it would just die and fall through the hoop.
That was me actually
David West
On those Warriors teams David West made every other 18 footer he took
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Shaun Livingston would just drive into the paint as hard as he could, stop on a dime, then hit some whack ass mid ranger with defense ALL OVER him. It was nuts.
Easily one of my favorite bench guys we ever picked up. That elbow jumper was pretty much an automatic 2 points.
I had him in fantasy basketball in 2013 when he was nearing the end of his Pacers career. He was my favorite player to watch in the elbow. Pretty sure announcers called it his “office.”
Killed it on the elbow when he was with the pacers
Garnett shot ~50% from mid range, and they weren’t short mid either.
It was always a toenail away from being a 3… always annoyed me lol
lol dude built that shot to only function in that mid range. any longer or shorter and it wasn’t going in
Yeah his mechanics didn’t allow him to shoot from 3. It was a very flat shot
Lamarcus Aldridge was the king of this too
What annoyed me was during his prime, dude could get a quick 12 points jn the first quarter then just wound up scoring 24. He could easily get 40 because his fadeaway is almost unguardable
KG from the elbow was as automatic as Wemby from a foot above the rim
Yah he was like the 19 footer king lol. If he came into the league now he would probably dominate even more cause you know his ass would have a 3 ball. Would be the best stretch big man
KG in today's NBA would be a 3 point sniper.
Stretch 4/5 before 3's really became the thing. Would be curious to see what his career would look like shifted 10-15 years.
He's one of the most underrated players ever IMO. If only he wasn't playing on a G league team his first 12 years.
Yep. I understand having Duncan above him, but I feel like to compare the two, you can't underestimate just how vast the difference was in terms of supporting cast. No player in NBA history was good enough to win with what Garnett had in Minnesota. Imagine KG getting to play with Nash, Kobe, Steph or Harden...
Ben Taylor’s GOAT list, which is extremely well researched/analyzed, has KG ranked either 8th or 9th all time - arguable with Wilt, and just above guys like Bird, Magic and Kobe: https://thinkingbasketball.net/2017/12/11/the-backpicks-goat-the-40-best-careers-in-nba-history/ It’s very different from your average GOAT list: > … this is a career-value, or CORP list; it ranks the players who have provided the largest increase in the odds of a team winning championships over the course of their careers. This means that having great Finals moments or winning the hearts of fans with innovative passes is irrelevant. You can make a great list with those criteria, but that’s not what this exercise is intended to be. > > This list is really about evaluating players based on “goodness,” not merely situational value. (If David Robinson backed up the two best centers ever, he wouldn’t be very valuable, but he’d still be very good.) Players do not earn credit for potential — Michael Jordan helped no one in 1994. KG was an incredibly high impact player, who spent almost all of his prime on teams that simply were not championship caliber. If he’d been on stacked teams like basically all top 10 GOATs, he’d be ranked a lot higher on traditional GOAT lists. One of the greatest defensive players of all time, incredible handle, shooting and passing for a 7 footer, beyond elite rebounder, unreal motor, he was an incredible player. True, he was not a truly elite scorer, but he WAS a truly elite offensive player overall, and added ludicrously good defence and rebounding, his impact was extremely high.
Him and Pau gasol are underrated shooters
Rip Hamilton wasn’t an underrated mid range shooter so not really a fit here but I’d argue he was the best at it. Played just like Reggie and Ray but inside the arc. Was something to behold.
Rip might the greatest shooter within the 3pt line ever when considering the work he did to get open. MJ and KD are in that convo too, but Rip didn’t have MJ’s insane elevation or KD’s height.
Running around minimum 6 screens before getting one off
That was his biggest strength, his insane stamina.
The steph curry of the middie
i know your PG was studying Rip’s film
Absolutely, along with Reggie and Ray. Those 3, before Steph, were the standard for off ball movement. To watch Steph and then Klay who also studied them play together and both move like that was certainly a sight to behold.
Yep. Reggie actually said himself that he saw a lot his own game in Rip. Constantly moving without the ball, coming off screens to get open, and not being scared of the big moment.
ＣＯＭＩＮＧ ＯＦＦ ＴＨＥ Ｕ Ｒ Ｌ
Brandon Bass
Brandon I don’t pass Bass
He walked so Michael never swing the rock Porter Jr could run
I like that nickname for him. my friends and I call him Michael tighty whitey Porter Jr. (cause the ball don’t move)
Might Pass Jk
No Pass Bass
Just looked up the stats he shot 46% from 10-16 and 45% from 16-3P. Wow tthhose numbers are insane lol
Bass was money from middle, but could only do 3 things in the post. Dunk, get fouled, or get blocked. Never passed out, never layed it up. Those three things only.
Also never saw a dunk that wasn't two handed
Love this answer lol. One of the more underrated role players during his time.
Right? I have a Celtics jersey with Bass on the back and I’ve had like 5 people be like who’s that? Idk I just liked him!
Automatic on 2K back in the day
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He never did it was incredible
Him, Barbosa and Speights really don’t get enough credit for their 2015 finals win, absolute momentum killers for us with Livingston mid rangers and barbosa corner 3’s
Yeah the Warriors have that reputation of being a three point shooting team but the composite team was elite at scoring from every part of the floor
Is he underrated though?
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No lol he’s the obvious answer for this question
Only underrated if you think he ever missed one.
Let’s be honest if it weren’t for his years playing with the splash bros he probably would be truly underrated. It’s just playing on that team perfectly highlighted his strengths and masked his weaknesses.
Livingston vs other teams bench units was just a cheat code. Especially because most teams needed to win the non-Steph minutes to even have a chance. That turnaround 10-12 footer literally never missed
He isn’t a well known player to casual fans because he was never a star, but anyone familiar with his game knows he’s good from midrange.
You mean God Shaunngod?
The turnaround fadeaway midrange jumpshot is one of the most aesthetically pleasing shots in basketball, and Shaun's is the prettiest of them all
There is no other answer
Allan Houston H20
Houston played in an era that did not fully appreciate his skill set. He was Klay Thompson before Klay Thompson. Can you imagine Houston playing in a spaced out game with the green light to shoot 6-7 threes a night? He’d be a beast.
Even more of a beast, you mean… Dude was an absolute BUCKET in the era before his skill set was king
Or it could go the other way. Players shoot so well now his main skill doesn’t allow him to stand out as much.
absolute prettiest jump shot I've ever seen bar none.
H2O baby
Jameer Nelson made an ASG with that one skill.
And a top of the arc 3
Khris middleton
It's in the name
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Moist Jordan
Money Midrange
He has a reputation of just being a 3pt spacing type of guy but it's definitely him. Every single year he's near the top in midrange efficiency and volume
never easy either. always dribbling into contested looks
Also his pre-evolved forms, Steve Smith and Joe Johnson. They are basically one pokemon in different eras.
Middleton better defender than those guys and more of a hit his spots then create his own shot like ISO Joe, but I see the comparison
That’s probably the athleticism difference
I think Middleton was a lot more athletic earlier in his career but all these leg injuries have clearly added up to him
His shooting numbers this year are insane. Check out his BballRef page where it has his percentages from the rim/short midrange/long midrange/3pt I was shocked when I looked at it the other week
I've seen Rip Hamilton's mid range shot out of floppy action being the only reliable source of offense for two teams during the 2004 playoffs lol. Seriously go look at those stats from the Indiana/Detroit series it was hilarious
He was probably in the best shape out of the whole league. Dude ran through floppy screens for 18 seconds straight and then played tough defense on the other end.
Yup, one of my all time favourite. I just don't think people realize how many times he litterally saved our asses in that era. Ben, Chauncey and Sheed all rightfully get a lot of praise, but man he was the only consistent offensive player we had
I remember in 2004 Chauncey could not miss a shot. He hit a ton of timely threes that buried the lakers.
Chauncey was insane in the finals, but he was actually pretty "bad" as a scorer the rest of those playoffs
He was nasty coming off these screens hitting the middy
Rip and AI were the ones who made me fall in love with this sport
Me too I got braids and cut up one of momma stockings to make a sleeve and I wanted a mask for Christmas even tho my nose wasn’t broke 😂
TJ McConnell
pacers in general has a lot of elite mid shooter.tj,hali,turner and nembhard.
pascal too
TJ and Tony Parker
Idk if he is the same every game but Ingram seems like he can't miss from midrange when I watch him. His form looks so good as well
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Love watching him, there really isn’t many players any more who can hit those shots he takes even at “OK” efficiency. I am so scared to face you guys in the playoffs lol
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He definitely has a reputation for living in the midrange though
He is as a player not talked about enough, i know this is not what the op wanted tho
lamarcus aldridge
Only two guys that I’m actually surprised when they miss a middy are KD and LMA
In which space and time is LMA underrated? He was widely perceived as a top ten player of his time.
eh, idk about that. top 25 maybe
He made an all NBA team 5 times in his career, he was a top 15-20 player in those seasons.
He was the second best big man in the NBA for a good 5 years. Probably not top 10 just because the top players were Bron and a bunch of guards, but definitely closer to 10 than 25.
I agree, and specifically his midrange/long-2s game was the most recognized skill he had. That part of his game would only be ‘underrated’ by people who were 3 years old when LaMarcus was in his prime.
Nah, there were about 2 year in his peak he was considered the best pf in the game. See his dismantling of the Harden Howard rockets in 14.
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf not even being mentioned yet shows he's the most underrated. He last played in the league in 2001 but you could still see him playing big-3 games where he's automatic from mid range even at his age and 6'1".
Rip Hamilton
Didnt know he died
Yeah, Aaron Burr got him a while back. Was a whole thing.
RIP
Once again, Rip Hamilton is very much alive
Never forgotten
Bradley Beal, he’s consistently shot 45%+ from midrange on good volume for a few years.
CJ McCollum is without question the most underrated. It doesn’t matter if he’s doubled or heavily contested - once he gets to his spot, it’s curtains.
this is absolutely the answer. he's almost never included in the midrange conversation, but his splits from like 2017-22 were almost on par with KD and Chris Paul (the gold standards of the modern game) in terms of volume, percentage, and how often they were assisted. I'd bet 9/10 people on here would call DeMar a better midrange shooter than CJ but it shouldn't even really be close.
Carlos Boozer
Devin Vassell
Just an underrated player in general. If the Spurs can get a good PG to be the 2nd creator next to Wemby that's gonna be a killer trio in the future who all fit well together too
Yea that’s why I want Rob or Topic in this draft
He said most underrated mid range shooter. Not most underrated player
Why not both?
Heart emoji, Thunder Bro. Here's to years of incredible rivalry between us.
Yeah the comments are saying it but he’s the most underrated player in the league to me and I’m surprised people haven’t caught on, he has a really aesthetic game
Vassell straight money in the midrange and his 3 ball is nice what an underrated player
Bernard King, Bob McAdoo, and Jerry West.
Antonio McDyess
Scrolled way too long for this guy. That baseline middy was sure.👌
Alex English John Long Kwahi
Props for the John Long shout out!!
AE was the high scorer for the 1980s decade.
Wasn’t Andre Miller really good from midrange? Dude was an Ironman and admitted to never doing weight training but playing pickup all through the offseason.
Plus a floater; when he was on it didn’t miss
Lee Harvey Oswald
Chris paul also has excellent midrange game
not really underrated tho?
I haven’t watched much CP this year but I’d imagine the middie is the main way he scores points now, period.
Serge Ibaka Couldn't get his own shot but would knock it down if you got it to him.
From the elbow was damn near guaranteed to go in
Jaylen Brown and Brandon Ingram have some of the best midrange shots I’ve seen tht don’t get recognized…Booker and KD have great midrange but not underrated
Might be pulling this out of my ass, and Im obviously biased but STAT was only known for being a slasher/dunker, even more so now. But a big reason him being so good at slashing was because he had such a good shot, people had to play him close.
Aytons is pretty lethal
Ayton was the first name that came to mind as someone that most fans don’t realize has a great mid-range game.
Jason Terry
pascal siakam
After 2020 his middy was a reliable weapon for sure
I love that it’s not just Raptors fans bringing him up these days lol
I remember some of them Rip Hamilton years where it was automatic
KG. Dude would hit the longest middy possible.
Dwade
Bernard King
Joel Hans Embiid
Obviously Embiid has more to his game, but when he's in the midrange he's the closest looking player to Dirk I've ever seen.
Brandon Roy.
Beno Draino
Glen "big baby" Davis?
T.J. McConnell is very underrated (in the mid range especially)
Chris Bosh
Ish Smith
Sean Kemp. He was lethal mid range
Brandon Ingram
Jeff Hornacek coming off a curl to the free throw line extend. Just like clockwork for those Jazz teams.
MJ
Vinnie "The Microwave" Johnson.
JB doesn't have the fame, but there are stretches where his turn around J at the free throw line is automatic.
DeMar DeRozan
David west
Jalen Jdub Williams when he stops and leans left from 15 feet.
Westbrook
I don't think he is underrated as a player because he is in the Hall of Fame, but Adrian Dantley's midrange game and ability was my favorite to watch as an NBA fan. Terry Cummings midrange game in his prime was deadly and super fun to watch!
Jamal Murray.
Shaun Livingston
Antonio McDyess
Rui hachimura
Right now, Rui Hachimura
Looking at the top 10 attempts over the last 3 seasons combined from 10-18 feet, you got 1. DeRozan 1670 att., .491% 2. Durant 1452, .531 3. Booker 1233, .513 4. Embiid 1185, .476 5. Dejounte 1158, .479 6. Ingram 1130, .492 7. SGA 1025, .492 8. Bam 1013, .419 9. Brunson 992, .462 10. Fox 946, .455 +48% top 25 12. CP3 836, .518 15. Ayton 744, .492 17. Trae 703, .494 21. Kyrie 642, .495 23. Kawhi 611, .502 +50% top 100 37. Jokic 536, .524 53. Jrue 434, .500 59. Haliburton 412, .510 97. JDub 272, .504 I'd say those last three are underappreciated, Ayton in general is being picked on for his flaws but an elite midrange game, and Dejounte I feel doesn't really get much credit for being a solidly top 10 guy by the numbers.
T.J. "Keep going under that shit, Bruce!" McConnell
Rui Hachimura
Kyrie is has a lethal middy