Introduction

This project analyzes five of the NBA’s most underutilized players from the 2025–26 regular season. Players will be evaluated and given an “opportunity score” using an overall score combining measures of scoring efficiency, on-court impact, and current opportunity. Statistics alone cannot fully determine a player’s value because injuries, team roles, lineup fit, and coaching decisions may not be reflected in the data. However, this analysis can identify players whose performance suggests they may deserve more minutes, more shot attempts, or a larger offensive role.

1. Setup

This analysis was completed in R using packages from the tidyverse along with tools for importing the data and labeling the visualizations.

2. Data

This analysis uses 2025-26 regular-season player statistics from Basketball Reference. The per-game and advanced-statistics tables were downloaded on August 11, 2026, and are stored in the project’s data folder so the analysis can be reproduced without downloading the files again.

The main performance measures are true shooting percentage (TS%), which estimates scoring efficiency while accounting for two-point shots, three-point shots, and free throws; usage rate (USG%), which estimates the share of team possessions a player uses while on the court; box plus/minus (BPM), which estimates a player’s overall contribution per 100 possessions relative to a league-average player; and win shares per 48 minutes (WS/48), which estimates wins contributed at a per-48-minute rate. Minutes and field-goal attempts per game are used to represent a player’s current opportunity.

3. Cleaning and Joining

The per-game and advanced-statistics tables were reduced to the columns needed for the analysis. Players who appeared for multiple teams were kept as one combined-season row before the tables were joined by player name. Duplicate records, team disagreements, and position information were also checked before the analysis continued.

4. Eligibility

Players were required to appear in at least 40 games, play at least 500 total minutes, average at least 18 minutes per game, and record a positive box plus/minus. To focus on players with room for a larger role, they were also required to average either fewer than 30 minutes per game or fewer than 14 field-goal attempts per game.

5. Exploratory Analysis

The eligible player pool was reviewed across true shooting percentage, box plus/minus, win shares per 48 minutes, playing time, shot attempts, and usage rate. This helped identify how efficiency, impact, and opportunity differed throughout the group before the final score was calculated.

6. Opportunity Score

Each component was converted into a percentile from 0 to 1 so statistics measured on different scales could be combined. The percentiles for minutes, shot attempts, and usage were reversed so players with less current opportunity received higher values in those categories.

7. Results

Final five player statistics
Player Team Position Minutes per game Shots per game True shooting Box plus/minus Opportunity score
Luke Kornet SAS Center 21.0 4.0 0.69 3.6 0.91
Mitchell Robinson NYK Center 19.6 3.4 0.68 3.5 0.88
Isaiah Joe OKC Guard 21.2 7.6 0.66 2.5 0.86
Cam Spencer MEM Guard 23.8 7.7 0.65 2.2 0.81
Ryan Kalkbrenner CHO Center 21.4 4.2 0.76 1.8 0.77

8. Visualizations

Efficiency Versus Usage

Impact Versus Minutes

Why the Finalists Ranked Highly

Scoring Method

The opportunity score weighs proven performance more heavily than limited opportunity. True shooting percentage, box plus/minus, and win shares per 48 minutes each account for 20% of the final score, meaning 60% of the score measures a player’s efficiency and impact. Low usage rate also accounts for 20%, while limited minutes and shot attempts each account for 10%, meaning the remaining 40% measures a player’s lack of opportunity. Each statistic was converted into a percentile within the player’s position group guard, forward, or center to create fairer comparisons between players with different roles.

Final Five

9. Recommendation

The final recommendations distinguish between players whose results support more minutes, more shot attempts, or a larger role in both areas.

Luke Kornet posted the highest opportunity score due to his 68.9% true shooting percentage on only 4.0 shot attempts per game, along with a strong +3.6 box plus/minus. These numbers suggest that he makes a positive overall impact while scoring efficiently in his limited role. However, his efficiency appears to partly depend on his low shot volume and selective attempts near the basket, so giving him more minutes may prove more appropriate rather than significantly increasing his shots. However finding those minutes could be difficult because he plays behind Victor Wembanyama, but his performance suggests he could handle a larger role if the opportunity arises.

Mitchell Robinson is often a darling of advanced statistics, that trend continues here. He has a similar combination as Kornet where he put up 3.4 shots per game while having a 67.6% true shooting percentage. With his shot selection and volume it suggests he should be given more minutes rather than increasing his volume. This will likely come to fruition with his move to the Celtics, where he should be given more minutes as his role looks to increase.

Isaiah Joe is one of the most interesting names on this list due to his recent move to the Pistons. He averaged 7.6 shot attempts per game with a 65.7% true shooting percentage, showing his ability to score efficiently on a reasonable number of attempts. He also had an 18.4% usage rate, which may partially reflect the talented players with whom he shared the ball. However, he still recorded a +2.5 box plus/minus, showing that he remained effective by taking advantage of his opportunities. With a larger role, Joe may be able to provide more value as a secondary or tertiary scorer and should see an increase in both minutes and usage.

Cam Spencer earns an impressive spot on this list, especially because he is still early in his career. He averaged 7.7 shot attempts per game while maintaining a 64.9% true shooting percentage on a relatively low 17.2% usage rate. Arguably, the most impressive part of his statistics is his +2.2 box plus/minus. In only 23.8 minutes per game, he contributed positively while making efficient use of his opportunities. These results suggest that Spencer deserves an increase in both minutes and shot attempts to determine whether he can remain effective in a larger role.

Ryan Kalkbrenner is another impressive name on this list due to the fact that he is still early in his career. He averaged 4.2 shot attempts per game while maintaining an extremely high 76.2% true shooting percentage on only an 11.6% usage rate. He also recorded a +1.8 box plus/minus and .185 win shares per 48 minutes, showing that he was able to positively contribute during his 21.4 minutes per game. While his efficiency likely benefits from his selective shots near the basket, these numbers suggest that he should be given more minutes with a cautious increase in shot attempts to see whether he can maintain his impact in a larger role.

10. Limitations

While the research remains applicable, there are some limitations to be wary of due to the nature of the game and the ways some players achieved their statistics. Some players with high efficiency, especially centers, could see a large drop with higher volume because they may be forced to take more difficult shots rather than only high-efficiency attempts around the basket. Box plus/minus and win shares do not fully capture both sides of the ball or every role played by a specific player. The opportunity-score weights were chosen personally, meaning the rankings could change if the weights were adjusted.