The most underrated player on the Boston Celtics is not who you may think

The Boston Celtics have been one of the most surprising teams in the entire NBA thus far into the 2021-22 campaign, and not in a good way.

After enduring one of their most disappointing seasons in recent memory last year, the team’s decision-makers opted to jump into action this past summer and made some moves that, at the time, appeared to have the potential to be some highly impactful shakeups.

Boston needed more depth out on the wing — they traded for Josh Richardson.

They were in desperate need of a spark-plug scorer to have come off the bench — Stevens signed Dennis Schroder.

The frontcourt could have used for some added firepower — they reunited with Al Horford.

With these transactions, it appeared as though the shamrocks had the potential to pull a 180 and, in turn, get themselves back to being legitimate playoff contenders.

Unfortunately, however, this has not proven to be the case as they once again find themselves boasting a sub-.500 record of 18-19 through 37 games played, slotting them down in the ninth seed out in the Eastern Conference standings.

The Jays have not been able to find their rhythm on a consistent basis, head coach Ime Udoka has struggled with rookie mistakes, and their offseason acquisitions have not exactly panned out like many thought they would.

That said, even with this underwhelming season there have still proven to be a few bright spots, one of which coming in the shape of an underused role player by the name of Jabari Parker.

The former second overall selection back in 2014 has struggled mightily since Milwaukee Bucks days, bouncing around from team to team over these past several years and, halfway through 2020-21, he found himself landing in Eastern Massachusetts as he signed a non-guaranteed two-year deal with the Boston Celtics.

His production throughout year one proved to be just enough for the front office to opt into the second year of his deal and now, despite logging just shy of 10 minutes per game, the folks at Bleacher Report believe him to be, not just the most underrated player on the Cs, but one of the most underrated players in the entire association.

Citing the level of play he’s managed to put forth during his short stints of action on the court this season, writer Andy Bailey believes the 26-year-old’s production has truly gone unnoticed by the common viewer, as he’s showcased some impressive improvements in his game, specifically on the offensive side of the ball:

"There isn’t much of a 2021-22 sample size to analyze from Jabari Parker. He’s only appeared in 12 games, and he’s logged fewer than 10 minutes in seven of them. With such limited runs, it’s impossible for a player to gain any sort of rhythm.Still, on the rare occasions that Parker has seen the floor for more than a few straight possessions, he’s looked like a capable offensive big who can stretch the floor a bit. He’s 8-of-16 from three and fifth among Boston Celtics in box plus/minus (minimum 100 minutes).For a team ranked 20th in offense, a little boost in scoring off the bench from Parker (who’s averaged 19.5 points per 75 possessions since the start of the 2019-20 season) could help."

On the year, Jabari Parker finds himself posting 4.4 points and 2.3 rebounds on 47 percent shooting from the floor and 50 percent shooting from deep.

While we at HH certainly feel as though the power forward has been a pleasant surprise since joining the Boston Celtics a year ago, it seems a bit bold of B/R to label him as one of the league’s most underrated players what with his lack of playing time and copious DNPs.

However, should their current skid continue on, we could begin to see more of Parker which, in turn, could make his inclusion on this list much stronger.