Every NBA team has one player on the roster who does not get the proper love he deserves — one player who provides good hustle on both ends of the floor and also does the little things.
For the Philadelphia 76ers, that guy is veteran Danny Green. The three-time champion does not get the most attention, which goes to Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, but he is essential to their success.
He can knock down the 3-pointer at a high clip. He plays defense out on the perimeter. And when his shot is not falling, he finds other ways to contribute. They badly missed him when he went down with an injury against the Atlanta Hawks in the second-round playoff series loss.
Bleacher Report named Green the most underrated player on the team’s roster for these reasons:
There is a reason — plenty of them, actually — why he’s been on three separate championship teams. He’s good. He plays defense. He’s shooting 40.1 percent from deep for his career in the regular season and 37.8 percent from long range in the playoffs.
Recent postseason cold spells are fair game to criticize. He converted just 33 percent of his triples in the four postseasons prior to 2021. He still defended. And then he shot 37.8 percent during the Philadelphia 76ers’ 2021 playoff push. He defended then too.
Just so we’re clear: “Danny Green couldn’t guard Trae Young” is not an adequate barometer for his stopping power. Scant few can authentically disrupt Young. Green may be older, at 34, and slower than he used to be. He still defends. And hits threes.
Green acknowledges he believes things would have been different against Atlanta if he had not gotten hurt. He started the series shooting 1-for-9 from deep, but he did so many other things out on the floor to contribute. His defense was there. He led the team with eight assists in its Game 2 win, and he is an extension of coach Doc Rivers on the floor. He is a big asset to this team.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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