Who are among the most underrated teams in NBA History?

[1987_Lakers]

These are the teams that pop into my head, not ranking them in order...

1983 Sixers - Not many teams have been as top heavy as this one, they basically had 5 All-star caliber players on their roster (4 hall of famers), one of them was the MVP. They only lost 1 game in the playoffs, the dominance of the Lakers & Celtics in that era kinda overshadows this team, heck even the bad boy pistons get more attention.

2002 Kings - This team to me has been somewhat forgotten over the years, they played basketball the same way the Warriors did with their teamwork. Great ball-movement and very little holes as a team, Great front court and a nice backcourt combo of Bibby/Christie/Jackson. People raved about their offense, but their defense was pretty good too.

2018 Rockets - Almost took down the KD/Curry Warriors. 65-17 record. Harden in his peak with CP3 playing great ball, role players featured nice 3 and D players. this team was build to beat the Warriors, their concept was to play as much ISO ball as possible to limit turnovers and their defensive versatility allowed them to switch everything

2019 Raptors - Yes, with a healthy KD, this team probably loses vs the Warriors, but I don't think people appreciate how stacked this team was. Kawhi who was a legit superstar, Lowry & Siakam was are solid #2 & #3 options, then you have Gasol, Ibaka, Green, Van Fleet? You are not gonna find a better 7 man rotation than that. They were top 5 in both offense & defense and continued to have success the next season without Kawhi which shows how good they were.

Any other teams that come to mind?

[ArbitraryWater]

The classic unlucky losers.


Most more invested will remember them, but forgotten among the casual mass.


2003 Mavericks
2007 Suns

[ArbitraryWater]

1988 Pistons

sheer robbery

[NBAGOAT]

these are the good ones. i'm the only one who likes early 90s blazers i guess. theyre almost as good defensively as the sonics later and were super athletic goat lvl in transition. 1 all-nba 1 all star and 3 other good starters. also people know okc is good but idk if everyone will remember how good they were some years like 13 pre westbrook injury or 16

[1987_Lakers]

these are the good ones. i'm the only one who likes early 90s blazers i guess. theyre almost as good defensively as the sonics later and were super athletic goat lvl in transition. 1 all-nba 1 all star and 3 other good starters. also people know okc is good but idk if everyone will remember how good they were some years like 13 pre westbrook injury or 16

OKC was obviously extremely talented, they gave the Spurs major fits even with San Antonio playing smarter basketball.

But the thing that bugged me about OKC is how dumb they would always play down the stretch in crucial 4th quarters, like wind down the clock to 3-4 seconds in the shot clock with little ball movement then take a dumb shot. Scott Brooks got clowned alot for how predictable the offense was, but when you have Durant, Harden, & Westbrook you can get away with that at times, they for sure deserve a mention. They took out one of the most polished teams I've ever seen in the 2012 Spurs.

[SouBeachTalents]

I really don't think the 76ers or Kings are underrated at all. One always gets mentioned among the greatest teams of all time, the other always gets mentioned among the greatest teams to never win. I completely agree on the Rockets though. The 76ers team I think gets underrated is the '67 team, they won 68 games and had peak Wilt.

[NBAGOAT]

OKC was obviously extremely talented, they gave the Spurs major fits even with San Antonio playing smarter basketball.

But the thing that bugged me about OKC is how dumb they would always play down the stretch in crucial 4th quarters, like wind down the clock to 3-4 seconds in the shot clock with little ball movement then take a dumb shot. Scott Brooks got clowned alot for how predictable the offense was, but when you have Durant, Harden, & Westbrook you can get away with that at times, they for sure deserve a mention. They took out one of the most polished teams I've ever seen in the 2012 Spurs.

a better coach than brooks wins a title

[Full Court]

1992 Trailblazers. They were an incredibly talented team.

[1987_Lakers]

I really don't think the 76ers or Kings are underrated at all. One always gets mentioned among the greatest teams of all time, the other always gets mentioned among the greatest teams to never win. I completely agree on the Rockets though. The 76ers team I think gets underrated is the '67 team, they won 68 games and had peak Wilt.

You could also throw the '71 Bucks in there. Won 66 games and had the #1 offense & defense. They outscored their opponents by 12 ppg that season.

[John8204]

Philadelphia Warriors, they had a pretty good squads in the 50's with Neil Johnston, Joe Fulks, Paul Arizin, and Tom Gola

[Kawhi_Why_Not]

If raptors were so stacked. How come kawhi had to average 44% usage in closeout games vs Philly and bucks

[tpols]

Mid 2000s suns. Amare averaged 37 ppg against prime Duncan. Think about that. And they had MVP Nash and Shawn Marion. That was a powerhouse team that got screwed out of a chip due to a technicality.

[Round Mound]

96 Sonics

[Johnny32]

2017 cavs beat any team in nba history besides the 2017 gsw.

[Cold soul]

1996 Sonics

[ClipperRevival]

2000 Blazers

2002 Kings

Early 1990s Blazers - They went to the 1990 and 1992 finals when the WC was ultra stacked and might've been 3 in a row in 1991 if Magic didn't go God mode against them and upset them. They were a very deep team. They faced 2 GOAT tiers team in the finals too.

[L.Kizzle]

2000 Blazers

2002 Kings

Early 1990s Blazers - They went to the 1990 and 1992 finals when the WC was ultra stacked and might've been 3 in a row in 1991 if Magic didn't go God mode against them and upset them. They were a very deep team. They faced 2 GOAT tiers team in the finals too.
Call me crazy but they beat the Bulls in 91 (the Blazers that is) of they get past Magic and the Lakers.

[ClipperRevival]

Call me crazy but they beat the Bulls in 91 (the Blazers that is) of they get past Magic and the Lakers.

Blazers were 63-19 that year while Bulls were 61-21.

But I think it was just MJs time in 1991. 28 yrs old, at his absolute peak and on a mission. Maybe it goes 7 but still gotta side with MJ.

[L.Kizzle]

Blazers were 63-19 that year while Bulls were 61-21.

But I think it was just MJs time in 1991. 28 yrs old, at his absolute peak and on a mission. Maybe it goes 7 but still gotta side with MJ.
91 Blazers had a better record than the 90 and 92 Finals teams. They had 3 All-Stars and beat Bulls both times during the regular season. Compare to the 92 team, the Blazers lost both regular season games to Chicago.

Another interesting tidbit. Won 19 of their first 20 games. And ended the season on an almost 16 game win streak (lost their last game.)

If they beat Magic in the Conference Finals they're going all the way.

[Norcaliblunt]

The Suns team that gets underrated is the 95 team before Danny Manning went down. That team was riddled with injuries but still was a only game shy of 60 wins in the regular season and were up 3-1 on the eventual champs in the playoffs.

[Wally450]

I always thought the 2009 Magic get overlooked because they got steamrolled in the Finals. They could shoot the ball well and prime Dwight was a problem for most teams. Hedo and Rashard Lewis were key pieces to that team as well. Shame Jameer Nelson went down that season with the shoulder injury.

[SouBeachTalents]

I always thought the 2009 Magic get overlooked because they got steamrolled in the Finals. They could shoot the ball well and prime Dwight was a problem for most teams. Hedo and Rashard Lewis were key pieces to that team as well. Shame Jameer Nelson went down that season with the shoulder injury.
Those Finals were actually a lot closer than they'll be remembered. The Lakers began and ended the series with blowouts, but the Magic lost Game 2 on a blown GW layup by Courtney Lee at the buzzer, then lost Game 4 when Dwight missed two FT's with a chance to clinch the game followed by Fisher hitting a 3 to send the game into overtime, where the Lakers would go onto win and essentially end the series. If the Magic win either of those OT games, we're looking at a very different series.

But those Magic had a penchant for losing close games that entire postseason, the Glen Davis GW, the LeBron GW, 2 against Philly in the first round, then those two in the Finals.

[pandiani17]

The 2004 Pacers. If Prince doesn't make that block on Reggie in game 2, they probably go 2-0 against the Pistons in the ECF and then they would face an injury-plagued Lakers roster in the finals. By the way, they won 61 games in the regular season.

[Axe]

2004 wolves were the best in their franchise history with then-league mvp kevin garnett but came up short in the wcf against the lakers because sam cassell was plagued with back spasms.

[Manny98]

2017 cavs beat any team in nba history besides the 2017 gsw.

For once I agree with you

The 2017 Cavs were the greatest offensive team ever and the best LeBron team

[TheGoatest]

The 2019 Raptors had the luckiest run of all time:
In 2017 and 2018 LeBron has to duke it out with the 73-9 + Kevin Durant Warriors, aka the most stacked team of all time. Completely healthy. Not a single scratch on any of their big 4.
The first season LeBron goes to the west, not only does Durant go down, but Klay tears his ACL. It was obvious that the Raptors would've lost had the Warriors only had a healthy Klay, let alone Durant.
And don't even get me started on that lucky bounce shot against Philadelphia. On that one replay angle from the side, if you pause the shot halfway and asked someone who didn't know how the shot ended whether it would go in, 90% of the people would've said that it was about to be an airball. :roll:

[gonzaldo]

1996 sonics. seattle were chokers untill they werent, but then they met arguably the goat team and lost the finals

[NBAGOAT]

I don’t get the Sonics answer. They’re the most popular choice for best bulls opponent. I would say if the Sonics are underrated the late 90s Jazz are underrated too maybe even more so(yes I think they have a slight edge)

[SouBeachTalents]

I don’t get the Sonics answer. They’re the most popular choice for best bulls opponent. I would say if the Sonics are underrated the late 90s Jazz are underrated too maybe even more so(yes I think they have a slight edge)
I always felt the Shaq/Penny Magic were the most talented team the Bulls faced. I know Jordan always gets the rust excuse, but they were still factually the only team to beat the Bulls during their championship years. Then in '96 the won 60 games despite Shaq missing 1/3rd of the season. I know the complete destruction in the conference finals really hurts my argument :lol But of all their opponents in the 90's, I'd want to face that Orlando team the least.

[1987_Lakers]

I don't get people picking the Sonics either, to me I see them as similar to the '12-'14 Clippers in terms of talent and production and when do you ever hear people talk about those Clippers teams?

We are talking about a team that in '94 & '95 lost back to back in the first round to inferior teams.

The '12-'15 Grizzlies to me are more deserving in the underrated discussion. People forget how good they were.

[JBSptfn]

91 Blazers had a better record than the 90 and 92 Finals teams. They had 3 All-Stars and beat Bulls both times during the regular season. Compare to the 92 team, the Blazers lost both regular season games to Chicago.

Another interesting tidbit. Won 19 of their first 20 games. And ended the season on an almost 16 game win streak (lost their last game.)

If they beat Magic in the Conference Finals they're going all the way.

Agreed. Heck, people forget that they had a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter of Game 6 the next year in Chicago. And, that was the weakest of the 90-92 Blazer teams, while the Bulls were better than the year before because they finally broke through.

[JBSptfn]

1979 World Champion Seattle Supersonics. Had a good coach in Lenny Wilkens, and players like Dennis Johnson, Gus Williams, Jack Sikma, and Fred Brown. The next year, they lost to the first year of Showtime 4-1 in the WCF, but won game one, and were up by 20 points in another. Then, they traded away Dennis Johnson for Paul Westphal, and never went back to the WCF until 1987 with a new crew (X-Man, Dale Ellis, and Torcher Chambers).

Here is a 40th anniversary special about that team: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8auNTWFLI0

[BigShotBob]

I don't get people picking the Sonics either, to me I see them as similar to the '12-'14 Clippers in terms of talent and production and when do you ever hear people talk about those Clippers teams?

We are talking about a team that in '94 & '95 lost back to back in the first round to inferior teams.

The '12-'15 Grizzlies to me are more deserving in the underrated discussion. People forget how good they were.

No. Defensively no team in the West could compare to them and they became a lot better at executing their offense down the stretch of games which was their problem before.

'12-'14 Clippers doesn't compare to them sorry

[1987_Lakers]

No. Defensively no team in the West could compare to them and they became a lot better at executing their offense down the stretch of games which was their problem before.

'12-'14 Clippers doesn't compare to them sorry

https://c.tenor.com/OujKPDpopHAAAAAC/uncut-gems-disagree.gif

How do you explain them losing in the first round to 40+ win teams with pretty much the same cast?

[Mask the Embiid]

2019 Sixers. Took a miracle shot and joel embiid being sick as a dog to knock the team off and everyone in the starting 5 averaged over 15 ppg in the regular season i think. something crazy like that. The next year, Jimmy would go and take a nonexistent miami heat team to the Finals..... People forget that yes, we couldnt stop Kawhi but the Raptors couldnt stop Jimmy also. Kawhi just gunned and Jimmy had to share the ball on that team...That was the only difference between the 2 players in that series. Jimmy was daddy dicking the raptors everytime he had the ball


08 Nuggets should of beat the Lakers but kept turning the ball over in the clutch. Team was super-stacked. Chauncey's last year in his peak and peak carmelo anthony. Who was unstoppable that year and the lakers had no one to check him. Paul Pierce Vs Carmelo would of been an epic battle then. Paul Pierce was considered a top 3 SF then.


09-10 Suns swept Spurs(finally got over the spurs wall) and gave the lakers hell. Amare was at the peak of his powers and was the best big man in the game that year....over KG...over Duncan... over Dirk. That suns team just played the most stacked lakers team of that era



edit

Thats cavs team that loss to the warriors 1-4 (kyrie last year)was probably the most dominant team ive ever seen get destroyed in the playoffs. I always wonder who would of won between the Rockets and Cavs that year. That rockets team was like the greatest offense of all time i believe statiscally to that point.

[NBAGOAT]

I always felt the Shaq/Penny Magic were the most talented team the Bulls faced. I know Jordan always gets the rust excuse, but they were still factually the only team to beat the Bulls during their championship years. Then in '96 the won 60 games despite Shaq missing 1/3rd of the season. I know the complete destruction in the conference finals really hurts my argument :lol But of all their opponents in the 90's, I'd want to face that Orlando team the least.

I like them but would say their defense isn’t good and they have some of the worst depth ever for a great team. Starting 5 is loaded

[Charlie Sheen]

I don't get people picking the Sonics either, to me I see them as similar to the '12-'14 Clippers in terms of talent and production and when do you ever hear people talk about those Clippers teams?

We are talking about a team that in '94 & '95 lost back to back in the first round to inferior teams.

The '12-'15 Grizzlies to me are more deserving in the underrated discussion. People forget how good they were.

Sonics traded Gill for Hawkins in that period you're talking about and it really solidified their backcourt. The Clippers didn't have a player as dynamic as Schrempf either. I think you are underrating them here with that comparison. Or overrating the Clippers. They weren't in the same class.

[1987_Lakers]

Sonics traded Gill for Hawkins in that period you're talking about and it really solidified their backcourt. The Clippers didn't have a player as dynamic as Schrempf either. I think you are underrating them here with that comparison. Or overrating the Clippers. They weren't in the same class.

I can argue and say prime CP3 is better than anyone on those Sonics teams and Blake is better offensively than Kemp.

I agree, the Clippers didn't have 3rd option like Schrempf, but you can easily counter and say the Clippers with Jordan actually had a dependable center. If you compare their role players it actually isn't much of a difference.

[NBAGOAT]

I can argue and say prime CP3 is better than anyone on those Sonics teams and Blake is better offensively than Kemp.

I agree, the Clippers didn't have 3rd option like Schrempf, but you can easily counter and say the Clippers with Jordan actually had a dependable center. If you compare their role players it actually isn't much of a difference.

Jj redick is also not a typical role player. Problem with clippers is not as great defensively and their 5th starter was usually trash and they had no bench

[8Ball]

I think the 2020 Lakers were one of the most versatile teams of all time.

That was Bron's best supporting cast as a team he ever had.

They were defensively amazing due to their size and length, mobile, and AD was a monster that year.

[LeCola]

2018 Cavs.

[HoopsNY]

I don't get people picking the Sonics either, to me I see them as similar to the '12-'14 Clippers in terms of talent and production and when do you ever hear people talk about those Clippers teams?

We are talking about a team that in '94 & '95 lost back to back in the first round to inferior teams.

The '12-'15 Grizzlies to me are more deserving in the underrated discussion. People forget how good they were.

The Grizzlies maxed at 56 wins during that stretch whereas the Sonics were a 64 win team in 1996 and 63 in 1993. In addition, the Sonics were 8th in offense to match their elite defense in '96, something Memphis was unable to do.

The deepest Memphis got was the WCF where they were swept by the Spurs. The Sonics at least went to the finals.

The Clippers are even worse. They never won 60 games and made the WCSF twice at best. I get the allure given CP3/Blake being somewhat similar to GP/Kemp, but GP/Kemp were honestly a better duo.

The '96 Sonics and the '96 Magic would have been a fun matchup had it happened. Btw that Magic team was and still is very underrated IMO, maybe even more so than the '96 Sonics.

[1987_Lakers]

The Grizzlies maxed at 56 wins during that stretch whereas the Sonics were a 64 win team in 1996 and 63 in 1993. In addition, the Sonics were 8th in offense to match their elite defense in '96, something Memphis was unable to do.

The deepest Memphis got was the WCF where they were swept by the Spurs. The Sonics at least went to the finals.

Well obviously the Sonics would be favored if they played those Grizzlies teams, but this thread is about "underrated" teams. To me I feel like people have forgotten those Grizzlies teams, mainly because they didn't have any superstar talent, but at their peak they were giving every western conference team some real issues.

[HoopsNY]

Well obviously the Sonics would be favored if they played those Grizzlies teams, but this thread is about "underrated" teams. To me I feel like people have forgotten those Grizzlies teams, mainly because they didn't have any superstar talent, but at their peak they were giving every western conference team some real issues.

Gotchu. Yea, I agree with you then.

[La Frescobaldi]

a better coach than brooks wins a title

Only way those teams would ever win was if brooks could take a framing nailer on the court and air nail westbrick to the bench. Arguably the stupidest player of talent in the last thirty years and easily the most selfish until kobe went nuts at the end

[Charlie Sheen]

I can argue and say prime CP3 is better than anyone on those Sonics teams and Blake is better offensively than Kemp.

I agree, the Clippers didn't have 3rd option like Schrempf, but you can easily counter and say the Clippers with Jordan actually had a dependable center. If you compare their role players it actually isn't much of a difference.

CP3 was a legitimate MVP candidate as a Clipper. No argument from me he was the best player on either roster. The Clippers never did shit though. I can't put them on the same level as those Sonics even though injuries played a huge part in their early playoff exits.

For the purpose of this thread, I am with you that they aren't underrated though. I shouldn't have included that you were underrating them in my first post. My issue is more with where you're placing those Clippers. My view on those Clippers is people overrate the team while underrating CP3.