The most overrated player on every Eastern Conference NBA team going into 2022-2023 season

This past week, Bleacher Report published their yearly “Most Underrated Player On Every NBA Team” article. While reading it, I could not help but try to think of the flip slide for each team; the most overrated player. So, I have gone through each roster (as of July 24th) and compiled a list of one player on each team who I feel is the most overrated going into the season. To start, I will be listing a player from each Eastern Conference team only. Then, next week, I will make my Western Conference picks. However, before I get going, I want to say that obviously being overrated means people think higher of you than your performance suggests they should. This is not a list of the worst player on every team, which a lot of people tend to get confused about when reading through lists like these. Now, let’s start. 

Boston Celtics: Marcus Smart. It’s extremely difficult to pick an overrated player from a team who just made the NBA Finals, but Smart is my pick. This is mainly because I do not believe he should’ve been the Defensive Player of The Year over Mikal Bridges. Smart let Stephen Curry single handedly win the NBA Finals while being extremely inefficient on offense. He’s still a solid role player, but should not have some of the honors he’s received.  

Brooklyn Nets: Joe Harris. A lot of the recent opinions I’ve seen from people on Harris have come due to the trade talks between the Lakers and Nets involving him and superstar Kyrie Irving. Many people, especially Laker fans, described him as an elite shooter with great size and good enough defensive ability Is he an elite shooter? Yes. Does he have great size? Yes, but he doesn’t use it. Is he a good enough defender? Absolutely not. There are many shooters like Harris who can do the same thing as him and maybe even better considering how Harris choked in the 2021 playoffs with the season on the line. Harris is just another great shooter, but nothing more. 

New York Knicks: Jalen Brunson. The Knicks get so much hate it’s almost impossible to say anyone is overrated. So, I simply had to go with the man they played 20 million dollars a year for. Brunson is good, but he’s never been the #1 option, and will most likely struggle with the opposing defense now locked onto him. 

Philadelphia 76ers: Matisse Thybulle. The average NBA fan will tell you Thybulle is a valuable asset as a defensive specialist that can guard anybody. However, his defense may be a bit overrated. Thybulle often tends to gamble and want to play behind the man he’s guarding, which often leads to free driving lanes. If Joel Embiid wasn’t his center, he’d look a lot worse. Not to mention his inability to do anything but dunk on offense.

Toronto Raptors: Gary Trent Jr. There seems to be this narrative going around that Trent Jr is a good defender because he gets a lot of steals, but steals aren’t the only way to defend. Trent actually ranked bottom 10 in defense last year when you account for points given up and matchup difficulty. He’s not an asset on that end, he’s a liability. 

Chicago Bulls: Nikola Vucevic: Vucevic is viewed by most people that aren’t Bulls fans as a good scorer thanks to his All Star season a few years ago. But, in reality, he’s slowly but surely become extremely inefficient for a big man, not to mention how he can’t defend anything coming at him.

Cleveland Cavaliers: Lauri Markkanen. Markkanen has continued to show no effort on the defensive end despite getting starter minutes in Cleveland last season. Some people like him because he can shoot, but even then he only does it at around a 35% clip. 

Detroit Pistons: None. This Pistons team is genuinely so young there is no overrated label to put on any of them. However, this time next year, there may be one. 

Indiana Pacers: Buddy Hield. Hield is the same story as Joe Harris from the Nets. He can shoot with the best of them, but that distracts you from the fact he does nothing else positive for his team. 

Milwaukee Bucks: Thanasis Antetokounmpo. This is for one reason and one reason only. Thanasis has an NBA job because of his brother, Giannis. Without that, he’d be in the G-League or overseas. I still enjoy watching the Antetokounmpo family thrive, though. 

Atlanta Hawks: Clint Capela. Capela gets paid 20 million dollars a year to rebound, set screens, and block shots. Javale McGee can do the same for you on a minimum contract. That automatically makes Capela overrated and overpaid. 

Charlotte Hornets: Gordon Hayward. Hayward has played well under some fans definition in Charlotte. However, he still, like Capela, is extremely overpaid and doesn’t defend.

Miami Heat: Kyle Lowry. Lowry came to the Heat last season on a big contract expected to give them a boost to the finals. Instead all he did was struggle to stay on the court due to injury and, when he was on the court, played bad. 

Orlando Magic: N/A. The Magic are the same as the Pistons. All their players are simply too young and inexperienced to put an overrated tag on. 

Washington Wizards: Rui Hachimura. Hachimura gets a lot of support from fans due to his likable personality, and that often distracts people from the fact that he hasn’t met the hype he’s gotten since being drafted.

There it is, the most overrated player from each Eastern Conference team. I will be back next week to produce the same list, but for the Western Conference.