Magic Missile one of the worst spells in the game? OK, color me intrigued -- I've literally never heard anyone talk down Magic Missile as a bad choice.

I know pound for pound when starting out, especially in earlier editions of the game, your best bet for a single-shot casting is Sleep, since it can potentially knock a whole slew of enemies out of combat. And yeah, it's outclassed at higher levels of play by most cantrips in 5E, but by that point you can swap it out for Mage Armor, Shield, Detect Magic, Protection From Evil, and it still remains in your spellbook in case you want to pick it up again.

But Magic Missile is the 'clutch' spell in your repertoire. There will come a time when you absolutely, positively, 100% MUST take down a target, right now, this round. It's in the middle of combat, where your party is interspersed with bad guys, so things like Fireball and Sleet Storm are right out. Everything else requires either a to-hit roll, or gives the enemy a saving throw to avoid it, or both.

All but Magic Missile. Force damage -- good luck being immune to that, bad guy. Automatic concentration check to break that Dominate Person or other effect the bad guy is running. No save to take half or no damage (sorry Rogue, your Uncanny Dodge is no good here). And by now, you should have an idea of how worn down your target it, so you can upcast it as necessary and send a flurry of lock-on darts screaming across the battlefield to drop that target before he cleaves your Fighter in half or Disintegrates your Cleric. :)

But that all assumes we're talking about the spell itself. A Wand of Magic Missiles in 5E is ridiculously useful: there's no attunement required, it recharges itself over time assuming you don't expend every charge at once, they're extremely inexpensive since Magic Missile is a first level spell, and any class can use it. A fifth level or higher group which doesn't have one for at least half their squad, including the Mage, is foolish. :)