Where Do You rank James Harden Among the Top NBA Players Now?

In September of 2012 ESPN updated their top 100 players in the NBA list. At that time they had James Harden as the 26 best player in the NBA which certainly seemed reasonable at the time. We had no idea he was about to be a Houston Rocket and the NBA had no real idea how good Harden could be as a number 1 option.

James Harden has been a number 1 option for the Rockets for two full months and Harden has been either 4th or 5th in scoring almost the whole season with the following averages:

PPG 26.3 PPG
FG% .443
APG 5.3
RPG 4.3
SPG 1.8

With James Harden leading the way on the youngest team in the NBA and no 2nd option and no 2nd All-Star to help, he has lead Houston to an 18 - 14 record. The team has 8 wins against teams with play-off records as well as a win against the Lakers that most believe will end the season in the play-offs. The Rockets are currently number 6 in the western conference and have the look of a play-off team. Las Vegas had Houston down for 31 wins but they are currently on pace for 46 wins which would blow the Vegas prediction out of the water.

Here are the top 25 players from the ESPN list of top 100 from September.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8429392/2012-nba-player-rankings-no-1
1. LeBron James
2. Kevin Durant
3. Dwight Howard
4. Chris Paul
5. Derrick Rose
6. Kobe Bryant
7. Kevin Love
8. Dwayne Wade
9. Russell Westbrook
10. Deron Williams
11. Dirk Nowitzki
12. Rajon Rondo
13. Andrew Bynum
14. Blake Griffin
15. Pau Gasol
16. Tony Parker
17. Carmelo Anthony
18. Chris Bosh
19. Steve Nash
20. LaMarcus Aldridge
21. Kevin Garnett
22. Kyrie Irving
23. Tyson Chandler
24. Marc Gasol
25. Manu Ginobili

My first thought about that list is that Tim Duncan is still better than most of those players but thats a different discussion. I just listed those to show the players considered to be better than Harden (ranked 26). So for this season where do you rank James Harden and why?

Here is my top 10 players and why I think Harden is one of them.

1. LeBron James - No explanation needed
2. Kevin Durant - He is looking like someone that could challenge James for the number 1 spot
3. Carmelo Anthony - He is having an MVP type of season. 2nd leading scorer but more importantly he may be the best closer at this time.
4. Chris Paul - He is a great closer but more importantly is how much better he makes his teammates.
5. Tim Duncan - He is averaging 18 PPG 10 RPG & 2.5 BPG and still effects the game on both sides of the floor. I still think he is the Spurs best player. Putting Tyson Chandler or Marc Gasol above Duncan is just stupid.
6. Kobe Bryant - He is the leading scorer in the NBA and still an assassin with the ball in his hands.
7. James Harden - Some may think that I have him too high but if I were starting a team for this season the previous 6 are the only players I would want more than Harden. On top of the fact that he scores a lot, he is efficient and has shown the ability to close out games and take over 4th quarters.
8. Tony Parker - I hate this guy but he is having a great season plus he plays big in the 4th quarter.
9. Rajon Rondo - He is the best player on the Celtics having surpassed both Pierce and Garnet. He only averages 13 PPG but could average 20 PPG easily in a system like Houston runs. Great defensive player as well.
10. Dwight Howard - He should be higher up on the list but he lacks the offensive dominance that Shaq had that allowed him to overcome his ridiculously bad free throw shooting. We have seen first hand how you can use Dwight against his own team. He is not a guy who can put his team on his shoulders during the 4th quarter but it's impossible to ignore the fact that he is the best defender in the league and the most dominant rebounder in the league when he wants the rebound. He is a decent 2nd option on the offensive end but not a 1st option.

That's my list. I put James Harden so high not just because he scores a lot but because he is so efficient, he gets the other team in foul trouble and he has shown the ability to be dominant in the 4th quarter. When I watch him play I wonder if anyone in OKC wishes the Thunder would have traded Westbrook to Houston instead of Harden because I think Harden is better, period. Personally I think James would be a better sidekick to Durant than Westbrook but I'm glad Sam Presti did not think so.

One of the reasons that I rank Melo so high is because of his ability to close games. I would not have ranked Melo this high last season but he has regained his reputation this season, at least IMO.

Westbrook, Kevin Love (when he regains his shooting touch), Blake Griffin, Zach Randolph, David Lee, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, LaMarcus Aldridge, Stephan Currie and Manu Ginobili would round out 11 thru 20 but in no particular order. Serge Ibalka & Josh Smith are just on the outside but threatening to make this group. Pau Gasol is just outside this group as well but he is moving in the other direction than Serge.

Guys like Tyson Chandler, Anderson Varejao, Omer Asik, Marcin Gartat, Joakim Noah, Mark Gasol, JJ Hickson, Nicolas Vucavic and Roy Hibbert are all guys that are kind of lumped in together IMO. All of those guys are double / double or at least close to being double / double guys. Hibbert should be the best in the bunch but that has not been the case this season. Noah, Asik and Varejao are the best defenders and most consistent rebounders. I personally have an issue with Mark Gasol's lack of rebounding which would be magnified if he did not play next to Zebo. I don't know where I rank any of these guys but they are immensely important to their teams ability to rebound and play defense.

Players that I have not mentioned that would pop up in the top 75 IMO would be Evan Turner, Paul George, Chandler Parsons, Nicalos Batum and Thadeus Young are all young guys that are getting better. Ander Iguodala, Luol Deng and Rudy Gay are who they are, very good players. Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, Kevin Garnet and Paul Pierce are all still very good players but certainly not what they were and all close to the end of their careers.

I didn't mean for this to be so long but what can I say...I rambled. Anyway, back to the main topic, where do you rank James Harden after the first 2 months of the season?

Edit: I completely forgot about Rose. When he comes back from his injury he could be anywhere from top 15 to top 5 or even number 1.

 

You know I completely forgot about Rose! How did I do that?