Charles Barkley Revealed His Most Underrated Player in the NBA Right Now

The NBA season is only a few weeks away, and several franchises have reasonable expectations that they can contend for the Larry O’Brien Trophy. The superteam era is officially over, and the new salary cap restrictions have brought in an era of parity throughout the league.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are looking to buck the odds and build the NBA’s next dynasty after winning their first championship last year.

Meanwhile, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and company have plenty of teams in both the Eastern and Western Conferences looking to claim their spot atop the mountain.

That includes some of the sport’s greatest icons, such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant, who could be playing their last 82 games of basketball.

In addition, young contenders in the East take a huge step this year, such as the Orlando Magic and Detroit Pistons. There are a lot of uncertainties heading into this basketball year, both on and off the floor.

Charles Barkley, however, offered a relevant take at the end of last season that remains true today and serves as a warning sign to every contender in the NBA. And that is who the most underrated player in the league is.

Charles Barkley named his most underrated player in the NBA

Plenty of teams performed well above their preseason projections last season. The Detroit Pistons went from 17 wins to a playoff team, the Houston Rockets went from missing the play-in tournament to being the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed, and the Cleveland Cavaliers shockingly won 64 games.

But legacies are made and sealed in the postseason. And while the Oklahoma City Thunder lifted the Larry O’Brien Trophy after the last game of the season, nobody expected the Indiana Pacers to be that close to their first championship.

The Pacers went on a historically clutch run throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs, eliminating the likes of the Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers, and New York Knicks.

And during last year’s Conference Finals, Charles Barkley named Pascal Siakam as the most underrated player in the NBA, giving us a take that is relevant to this day.

Pascal Siakam has been a critical player for multiple title contenders

A year-and-a-half ago, Pascal Siakam was traded from the Toronto Raptors to the Indiana Pacers, joining an upstart squad that was thought to at best be capable of winning a playoff round.

Head coach Rick Carlisle’s team was exciting and fast-paced, but still seen as a flawed roster, and far from the contending tier. The Pacers subsequently made a stunning run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2024.

However, Indiana was then swept by the Boston Celtics and seemingly returned to their good-but-not-great status. That offseason, the franchise extended the 30-year-old Siakam to a four-year, $189.5 million contract.

Pascal went on to make a third All-Star team and was Indiana’s leading scorer this past season.

The Pacers earned the No. 4 seed and were once again viewed as a tier below contenders like the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers.

No one can say that Indiana’s 2024 Eastern Conference Finals was a fluke now. Pascal Siakam, alongside superstar point guard Tyrese Haliburton, made it all the way to the Finals in 2025 and pushed the 68-win Oklahoma City Thunder to seven games.

In that final game of the season, Haliburton went down with a torn Achilles during the first quarter when the contest was tied. OKC ended up winning at home 103-91.

The Pacers ultimately earned everyone’s respect during this incredible run, but once again, now with Haliburton out, this team is being written off in a pretty wide open Eastern Conference.

Losing its star point guard to injury and center Myles Turner, in free agency, to the Milwaukee Bucks is a bitter blow. However, even with these setbacks, this team clearly has a mental makeup that very few franchises have.

After all these accomplishments and Charles Barkley’s take, Pascal Siakam and the Indiana Pacers remain underrated and dangerous.