The 2024-25 NBA All-Underrated Team

In a breakout year for the Pistons, he’s been a pillar.

3. Deni Avdija

Deni Avdija has quietly blossomed into one of the NBA’s most well-rounded forwards. 

A longtime defensive asset, Avdija has taken significant offensive strides through the past two seasons. His 60.5% true shooting percentage was a career-high, driven by his growth in isolation scoring (1.13 points per possession, 92nd percentile) and smooth pull-up game, which yielded a 57.2% effective field goal percentage.

Avdija also showcased his playmaking capabilities, posting a 19.4% assist percentage that ranked in the 88th percentile among forwards.

Even more impressive is that he’s doing it within the flow of Portland’s young core. Anfernee Simons, Shaedon Sharpe, and Scoot Henderson still have higher usage in pick-and-rolls and isolations, but Avdija has found the perfect niche, doing more without stepping on toes.

His shot profile also reflects a willingness to take on tough looks. Nearly 80% of his threes come from above the break, and he’s converting them at a 39% clip, which puts him in the 73rd percentile among forwards.

Defensively, he remains a multi-positional asset. He led Portland in win shares as the team improved by 14 wins— no coincidence.

Avdija has gone from a solid contributor to a true two-way difference-maker.

4. Rui Hachimura

The Lakers’ lack of a true center should’ve been a glaring hole once they traded Anthony Davis, but Rui Hachimura stepped up to help fill the void.

Hachimura spent about 26% of his minutes this season at center, not in the traditional back-to-the-basket mold, but as a switchable, perimeter-stretching, interior-patching big. 

He held opponents to just 0.72 points per possession in isolation while contributing impactfully on the glass. With him on the floor, the Lakers’ defensive rating improved by 5.5 points, and their opponent’s offensive rebounding rate dropped by 3.3%, per Cleaning the Glass.

He wasn’t locking down elite bigs, but that’s not the ask. He’s played a lot of minutes out of the position, patched a major hole for the Lakers, and made them better in the process.

Offensively, Hachimura doesn’t need to create off the dribble with Luka and LeBron running the show. His role is to be efficient in his touches, which is exactly what he’s done, especially in catch-and-shoot situations where he has an effective field goal percentage of 62.3.

He’s not a traditional big, but in the modern NBA, Hachimura is the ideal glue guy: positionally versatile, low-maintenance, and consistently impactful.

5. Ivica Zubac

While James Harden and Kawhi Leonard are the faces of the Clippers, Ivica Zubac has flown under the radar as the Clippers’ most indispensable piece.

This season, Zubac elevated his offensive game to another level, posting career-highs in points (16.8), rebounds (12.7), and assists (2.7) while maintaining elite efficiency. 

He was devastating in the pick-and-roll (1.25 points per possession, 66.5% FG) and became a go-to post presence. His previous career-high in post-up possessions was 135, where he scored 138 points. This year, he posted up 325 times and scored 345 points, a massive leap in volume with even greater efficiency. 

Zubac has become a true mismatch problem for opponents who try to go small, consistently punishing undersized lineups.

He finished fourth in FG% (62.8%), first in offensive rebounds (300), and first in total rebounds (1,010). His dominance on the glass directly fueled the Clippers’ pace control and helped them allow the fewest rebounds per game in the NBA. 

Zubac played 80 of 82 games, ranked 14th in the league in total minutes played, and was featured in all 12 of the Clippers’ lineups that played over 100 possessions together. That kind of availability and malleability speaks volumes.

Defensively, he’s one of the best drop coverage bigs in basketball. His awareness, positioning and size make him effective in a scheme that tends to get picked on in the modern game. 

He finished the season with a +9.4 net rating, the best mark on the team among players who played at least half of the season.

When talking about this season’s honors, Zubac deserves consideration. His case for the All-Defensive Team is legitimate, and if voters are paying attention to the totality of his impact, an All-NBA nod wouldn’t be far-fetched either.