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NBA's Top 20 Players Right Now

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Good bump @The Wizard of Moz .

It's hilarious seeing the posts in this thread and comparing them to the posts of the last few days in S34.

Emotions/feelings should not affect how one evaluates a player, but it very clearly does for many.
 
1.) LeBron James
2.) Durant
3.) Westbrook
4.) Anthony Davis
5.) Leonard
6.) Greek Freak
7.) Curry
8.) Paul
9.) Harden
10.) Kyrie Irving
11.) Damian Lillard
12.) Jimmy Butler
13.) DeRozan
14.) Kevin Love
15.) Karl Anthony Towns
16.) Paul George
17.) LaMarcus Aldridge
18.) Blake Griffin
19.) Kyle Lowry
20.) DeMarcus Cousins

I'd definitely change this. A lot of guys don't even belong. Aldridge sucks. I had Kyrie way too high. Guys like Jokic and Gobert improved in ways I didn't see.

Okay, I was bias. I had Love higher than PG. That was too high, also.

1.) LeBron
2.) Kevin Durant
3.) Kawhi Leonard
4.) Steph Curry
5.) Anthony Davis
6.) Chris Paul
7.) Russell Westbrook
8.) Greek Freak
9.) James Harden
10.) Jimmy Butler
11.) Paul George
12.) Karl Anthony Towns
13.) Rudy Gobert
14.) Nikola Jokic
15.) Kyrie Irving
16.) John Wall
17.) Kevin Love
18.) Demarcus Cousins
19.) Kyle Lowry
20.) Damien Lillard
 
I think a few are over valuing Kyrie and i love his game.

He is probably around 10-13, but he has some holes, especially on defense and creating for other's (although the last few games might change that)

A few reasons why I think we are over valuing Kyrie. 1, he is our player, 2 he is the perfect compliment to Lebron so he is shining, and 3, he might be the best driver to the hole in the entire game becuase he is so stupid crafty with the ball and can score around the basket efficiently from so many angles.

I think this team is well constructed at the top with our big 3 fitting in, but its hard for me to put kyrie ahead of CP3, Curry, Westbrook, and Harden, and that is just the PG's.

Someone on here had an idea that we over valued Kyrie.

Still a great player, but i think some had him near top 5.
 
Someone on here had an idea that we over valued Kyrie.

Still a great player, but i think some had him near top 5.

I had him in the top-10, that was crazy. I think he's definitely a top-20 though. I got him top-15.

I don't know why I put DeRozan in my top-20. He's overrated as fuck, IMO.
 
So here's my list. This is is how I made it: If I were allowed to just pick any player, who would I pick if the only goal was to win a title this season, and only this season. So it's different from an MVP, because certain players might be taking it easier than others (LeBron, Steph, Durant) during the regular season, thus not worthy of the MVP award, but still a better bet to have to win a title.

I'll rank them, but if players are in the same tier that means I pretty much view them as interchangeable, so if someone wants to debate how I could rank player X ahead of player Y in the same tier, just know I don't really care as I find both players to be extremely close.

Tier 1: 1) LeBron James 2) Russell Westbrook 3) Anthony Davis

Tier 2: 4) James Harden 5) Steph Curry 6) Kevin Durant 7) Kawhi Leonard 8) Chris Paul

Tier 3: 9) Giannis 10) Jimmy Butler 11) Kyrie Irving 12) Paul George

Tier 4: 13) Draymond Green 14) DeMarcus Cousins 15) Blake Griffin 16) Kevin Love

Tier 5: 17) Damian Lillard 18) Klay Thompson 19) John Wall 20) Karl-Anthony Towns

EDIT:
Honestly, I feel Durant is getting too much love here. He's scoring barely more efficiently than Curry is. He's hitting 25.7 points a game to Curry's 24.4 on a whopping 1% better eFG (58.9 to 57.8%). Yet, there's this idea that Durant is scoring marvelously efficient and Curry is having a very down year next to Durant. I'm not sure I understand it.

To me, they are having almost identical offensive years and Curry has already proven more, as the man, than Kevin Durant has. So unless Durant makes it clearly obvious he's better than Curry, I'm still going to remember Curry winning a title as the man and Durant not, thus giving Curry the edge.

It's also why neither has a good case as MVP. They are each playing next to a guy who is 25 ppg scorer with extreme efficiency. It makes their lives on offense infinitely easier as compared to, say, Russell Westbrook.


I meant to do this after the playoffs, taking into account what we saw. Biggest change for me is Kawhi. Think he's in Tier 1 and the 2nd best player.

Tier 1: 1) LeBron James 2) Kawhi Leonard

Tier 2: 3) Russell Westbrook 4) Kevin Durant 5) James Harden 6) Steph Curry 7) Anthony Davis

I think those 7 players are clearly the best 7 players in the league, and there's a sizeable gap between them and everyone else. These are what I'd call the 7 franchise players. The guys you trade literally every player on your roster for and however many picks it takes. True number 1s on a championship team. Giannis probably cracks into that group next season.

Tier 3: 8) Giannis 9) Jimmy Butler 10) Chris Paul

Tier 4: 11) Paul George 12) John Wall 13) Kyrie Irving 14) Draymond Green

Tier 5: 15) Gordon Hayward 16) Karl Towns 17) Rudy Gobert 18) Klay Thompson

Tier 6: 19) Kevin Love 20) Damian Lillard

Jokic is gonna be in there. Just want to see more of him.
 
Last edited:
My Updated Top-20 NBA Players List:-

Tier 1:- 1. LeBron James.
Tier 2:- 2. Kawhi Leonard, 3. Kevin Durant.
Tier 3:- 4. Steph Curry, 5. Russell Westbrook, 6. James Harden.
Tier 4:- 7. Anthony Davis, 8. Chris Paul, 9. Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Tier 5:- 10. Jimmy Butler, 11. John Wall, 12. Paul George.
Tier 6:- 13. Kyrie Irving, 14. Karl Anthony Towns.
Tier 7:- 16. Nikola Jokic, 17. Klay Thompson, 18. Damian Lillard.
Tier 8:- 19. Draymond Green, 20. Kevin Love.


This was my original list:-

Tier 1:- LeBron James.
Tier 2:- Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis.
Tier 3:- Kawhi Leonard, Chris Paul, Steph Curry, James Harden, Russell Westbrook.
Tier 4:- Paul George, Marc Gasol, Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler, Damian Lillard.
Tier 5:- Klay Thompson, DeMarcus Cousins, John Wall, Kevin Love, Blake Griffin.
Tier 6:- Draymond Green, DeMar DeRozan.

Hadn't included the likes of KAT, Giannis, Embiid and Porzingis etc!
 
I feel like I'm still being a little homerish. If someone asked me if I'd trade Irving for Hayward or Draymond straight up, I'd do it.

Same with Love, though it's harder to gauge if a player like DMC is better than him. One guy plays the third wheel and the other guy has spent his whole career being the only offensive factor on his team.
 
I love Leonard's game but I have no idea why I go back and forth on him being the 2nd best player and like the 7th best player?
 
I love Leonard's game but I have no idea why I go back and forth on him being the 2nd best player and like the 7th best player?

I have Kawhi locked into #2, but he doesn't have the ball in his hands as much as the other mainstays of the top 5. I think he gives up a lot of his individual stats to have the offense as a whole flow well. He's the defensive MVP of the league in my book.

It's been about a season and a half since these lists we're initially made, so it's fair that some players would go up or down in that time. A lot can happen in two postseasons.
 
I love Leonard's game but I have no idea why I go back and forth on him being the 2nd best player and like the 7th best player?

Probably down to him playing for the greatest NBA coach ever?
 
My Updated Top-20 NBA Players List:-

Tier 1:- 1. LeBron James.
Tier 2:- 2. Kawhi Leonard, 3. Kevin Durant.
Tier 3:- 4. Steph Curry, 5. Russell Westbrook, 6. James Harden.
Tier 4:- 7. Anthony Davis, 8. Chris Paul, 9. Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Tier 5:- 10. Jimmy Butler, 11. John Wall, 12. Paul George.
Tier 6:- 13. Kyrie Irving, 14. Karl Anthony Towns.
Tier 7:- 16. Nikola Jokic, 17. Klay Thompson, 18. Damian Lillard.
Tier 8:- 19. Draymond Green, 20. Kevin Love.


This was my original list:-

Tier 1:- LeBron James.
Tier 2:- Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis.
Tier 3:- Kawhi Leonard, Chris Paul, Steph Curry, James Harden, Russell Westbrook.
Tier 4:- Paul George, Marc Gasol, Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler, Damian Lillard.
Tier 5:- Klay Thompson, DeMarcus Cousins, John Wall, Kevin Love, Blake Griffin.
Tier 6:- Draymond Green, DeMar DeRozan.

Hadn't included the likes of KAT, Giannis, Embiid and Porzingis etc!

I actually really like your list. I would swap Durant and Leonard, and would put Jokic a little lower but that's a damn good list.
 
Just asking why some have Kyrie over KAT still?

The dude is definitely without question better than Kyrie right now. The fact he's just 21 years of age, and already fucking better is insane to me.

I'd take KAT over Anthony Davis. Not being better right now, but going forward.

I wouldn't trade him for a single player in the league for him. No one. He's already the best center in the league.

Just 21. That's scary as fuck.
 
Just asking why some have Kyrie over KAT still?

The dude is definitely without question better than Kyrie right now. The fact he's just 21 years of age, and already fucking better is insane to me.

I'd take KAT over Anthony Davis. Not being better right now, but going forward.

I wouldn't trade him for a single player in the league for him. No one. He's already the best center in the league.

Just 21. That's scary as fuck.

He is still in the phase of his career where he has proven he can put up big numbers while losing games as a team. Kyrie was doing that four seasons ago, but won gold with the Olympics and went to three meaningful finals since... even if he has his short comings. It's a question of time for KAT, but assess him on what he has done not what he might do in the future.
 
He is still in the phase of his career where he has proven he can put up big numbers while losing games as a team. Kyrie was doing that four seasons ago, but won gold with the Olympics and went to three meaningful finals since... even if he has his short comings. It's a question of time for KAT, but assess him on what he has done not what he might do in the future.

But KAT is playing as the best player on his team. Kyrie isn't.

Kyrie as the best player, or hell, even leading a unit when LeBron is sitting. He's still not really shown he can do a whole lot.

I am assessing on what he's done. And he definitely is better than Kyrie after the season he had.

If we traded KAT and Kyrie. KAT would be going to the finals and Kyrie wouldn't.

This was Kyrie's best season, and KAT was still better than him. In every category. Even KAT's value over replacement higher than Kyrie.

KAT as an offensive player was actually better, while also making a much better contribution by far in other areas that Kyrie doesn't.

It actually wasn't even close. If you compare them side-by-side in every measurement KAT has him beat.

The only difference is one plays on a much more talented team.
 
  1. LeBron James
  2. Kevin Durant
  3. Anthony Davis
  4. Russell Westbrook
  5. Kawhi Leonard
  6. James Harden
  7. Stephen Curry
  8. Chris Paul
  9. Giannis Antetokounmpo
  10. Jimmy Butler
  11. Kyrie Irving
  12. DeMarcus Cousins
  13. Damian Lillard
  14. Paul George
  15. Marc Gasol
  16. Karl-Anthony Towns
  17. Blake Griffin
  18. Kevin Love
  19. John Wall
  20. Klay Thompson
  21. Draymond Green
  22. DeMar Derozan
  23. Gordon Hayward
  24. LaMarcus Aldridge
  25. Carmelo Anthony
NC = No Change in Ranking
NA = Weren't on list before
  1. LeBron James (NC)
  2. Kawhi Leonard (+3)
  3. Kevin Durant (-1)
  4. Anthony Davis (-1)
  5. Russell Westbrook (-1)
  6. James Harden (NC)
  7. Stephen Curry (NC)
  8. John Wall (+11)
  9. Giannis Antetokounmpo (NC)
  10. Chris Paul (-2)
  11. Jimmy Butler (-1)
  12. Karl-Anthony Towns (+4)
  13. DeMarcus Cousins (-1)
  14. Paul George (NC)
  15. Kyrie Irving (-4)
  16. Damian Lillard (-3)
  17. Rudy Gobert (NA)
  18. Draymond Green (-3)
  19. Marc Gasol (-4)
  20. Kevin Love (-2)
  21. Klay Thompson (-1)
  22. Blake Griffin (-5)
  23. Nikola Jokic (NA)
  24. Isaiah Thomas (NA)
  25. Gordon Hayward (-2)
Biggest Rise: John Wall (+11)
Biggest Fall: Blake Griffin (-5)
New Faces: Rudy Gobert, Nikola Jokic, Isaiah Thomas
Kicked Out: Demar DeRozan, LaMarcus Aldridge, Carmelo Anthony
Just Missed: DeAndre Jordan
 

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