It's been a tough opening month for the Portland Trail Blazers' bench, but Neil Paine of Basketball-Reference.com writes on ESPN.com (Insider) that forward Jared Jeffries is one of the most underrated players in the NBA.

A former lottery pick (11th overall in the 2002 draft), Jeffries could be seen as a total bust if viewed through the prism of his career 9.7 PER and 5.0 PPG average, but his career Regularized Plus/Minus is plus-1.8 as well, mainly due to his defensive mobility, length, versatility, and willingness to draw charges. Coaches know all about this -- there's a reason Jeffries has stuck around for 11 seasons and logged more than 13,000 career minutes.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter