10) Blake Griffin Way too high. His D is still not there, and he still can't anchor an entire offense yet. On potential, he will be a top 5-10 player. But not after 1 year. 9) Deron Williams About right. He kind of struggled last year, but that was largely due to his injuries. Last year to him was like Paul's injured year a few years back. 8) Derrick Rose About right. He needs to learn how to impact a game without scoring. But the guy is amazing to watch. 7) Kobe Bryant About right. Couldn't get to the basket at all in the playoffs last year. Defense is vastly overrated. But the reason he's still a top 10 player is b/c his offensive arsenal is still the best in the L. Most would still pick him for one single game to win, and I can't disagree. 6) Kevin Durant A little too low. He's a surefire top 5 player. He's the best offensive player in the league. I think the reason he's out of this ranking was his lack of playmaking (still, it can be non-existent at times) and inconsistent defense. But I still put him top 5 b/c he's just too good of an offensive player. 5) Dirk I would have put him higher after that ridiculous playoff showing last year. The guy just wasn't dominant for ONE series, he was lights out for the entire playoff run (except for a few games here and there). But I think the justification here is he doesn't defend at a high level enough to be higher, which is reasonable. 4) Chris Paul. A little too high. If completely healthy, he's a top player no doubt. We saw what he did v. the Lakers. He was way better than Kobe in that series easily. But consistency is a huge thing for greatness. Paul has to do it over a regular season. 3) Wade Perfect. Best SG in the league. Top 3 clutch player in the league. Only knock still is inconsistent jumper, and inconsistent defense. When he's on, he's arguably the best player in the league though. That 06 finals series was one of the most dominant individual performances I have seen still. Updating as it goes.
Blake Griffin isn't a top 10 player in this league. I've never taken much stock in what the talking heads at ESPN have to say, and this doesn't really help to quash those feelings. I can just see it now, their top 5 will have Lebron & Wade (deserving) and Amare & Melo (undeserving). Dirk may be the other guy in the top 5, and I'm not really gonna argue against him being up there. EDIT: I forgot about Dwight Howard. He'll undoubtedly be in the top 5. Now that I think about it more, Carmelo and Amare might not be in their top 5.
Amare was #13, Melo was #12. The top 5 will be James/Wade/Howard/Dirk/Paul. Just don't know which order yet. The only iffy top 5 is Paul. If fully healthy for an entire year, no doubt b/c he impacts a game moreso than Durant. But he hasn't been fully healthy and dominant for an entire year. Durant should have been #4 or 5.
Offensively Melo and Amar'e beat Blake handily. And Blake is not any better defenively so I dunno how he's ahead of them. I would also take Z-Bo over Kevin Love all day every day
LOL no one deserves to be in the top 10 list if they can't even bring a talented team to the playoffs. Deron gets a pass though since he was traded and the Jazz weren't doing all that bad before he left. Blake Griffin however... I'd take Amare over him if I wanted a guy who can score but can't play defense for life. So unless Amare is in the top 5 list, Blake has no business being in the top 10 list. The only person who doesn't play defense but deserves to be in the top 10 list is Dirk.
Blake Griffin is lightyears better than Kevin Love. The guy that is consistently underrated is Lamarcus Aldridge.
LeBron James Dwight Howard Dwyane Wade Kevin Durant Dirk Nowitzki Kobe Bryant Chris Paul Carmelo Anthony Deron Williams Derrick Rose Amar'e Stoudemire LaMarcus Aldridge Zach Randolph Chris Bosh Would be something like that for me. Maybe flip and flop a guy here and there. Tough for me on those last four forwards(Stoud, LA, ZBo, Bosh).
Ah, okay. Agree with you that Paul would be an questionable choice for the top 5 due to how often he's injured.
That is pretty solid. I would have CP3 over Kobe. I would also have LMA over Amar'e (defense, rebounding). Seperating Z-Bo, Amar'e and LMA is ridiculously hard. While typing I feel like putting Z-Bo in front for the playoff run. But one position here are there doesn't mean much.
The remaining 5 are LeBron, Wade, Dirk, CP3 and Howard. Melo and Amare definitely aren't top 5. My guess is they will finish with Dirk at 5, CP3 at 4, Wade at 3, Howard at 2 and LeBron at 1. If you consider how players were last season, Blake Griffin is questionable top 10. If it's about how you think they will perform next season, he belongs there. I have no doubt Griffin has worked hard on addressing the big holes in his game. The improvement may shock people. He has an intense dedication to basketball and with a season to gauge himself, watch out. I agree Kevin Love over Z-Bo was crazy. When Kobe came out at #7, some folks on Twitter flipped out he was "so low". Guess they forgot this is a snapshot of right now instead of a resume. Glad someone finally started this thread. I'll list my top 15 in order tomorrow.
That worked out rather well. Basically the top player at each position in the league. I think 5. CP3 4. DH12 3. LBJ 2. Dirk 1. Wade
Melo is a "borderline" top 10 player to me b/c he doesn't even try to play defense and can't create for his teammates. I think Pau Gasol should be top instead of Blake and that is a more solid list (ESPN has Pau as #11). Can't believe you don't have Pau Gasol on that list. Before his meltdown in the playoffs, the guy was considered the 2nd best big man after Howard (and more skilled). And he was arguably the Lakers' MVP in their championship run in 2010. My ranking would be: 1) Lebron 2) Howard 3) Wade 4) Dirk 5) Durant 6) Paul 7) Kobe 8) Rose 9) Pau 10) Deron In terms of the LA/Zbo/Amare debate, I would take Zbo first b/c he's a load down there in the post. And he's a much better rebounder than both of them. Amare just sucks at defense so much for me though; it's unfathomable how a player with his skills can suck at defense even when he tries. My top 11-20 11) Melo 12) Blake Griffin (year 3 will be his year to be top 10) 13) Randolph 14) Aldridge 15) Westbrook 16) Amare 17) Bosh 18) Paul Pierce - underrated 19) Nash 20) Love Cant put Rondo up there b/c he can't shoot a wide open 10 footer to save his life. We'll see if he addresses that issue next year and I'll put him up there.
Nice list. I would put Deron over Melo but it's close. Melo is really only good on one side of the ball and I feel Deron can do a lot more for a team. I'm glad you didn't overrate Rose. LMA, Amare and Randolph are all so good that is tough. I might put Randolph 1st of the three, since Amare and LMA are not great on the boards, and Randolph is easily a top 5 rebounder. Ya they are both on my team I know.... objectively speaking though, this is how I feel, and why I targeted those players to begin with.
@tmac1: Maybe just my bias against Pau. He's good, not top 14 for me though. Maybe lucky #15 there Maybe it's all that screaming he does, I don't know. Thanks Spooner, VBG, & A_3PO Agree with what Knote said above. I think LA comes away as underrated. JMO though.
Very good list. I'll make just a few changes. 1 LeBron James 2 Dwight Howard 3 Dwyane Wade 4 Chris Paul 5 Dirk Nowitzki 6 Kevin Durant 7 Kobe Bryant 8 Derrick Rose 9 Pau Gasol 10 Deron Williams 11 Carmelo Anthony 12 Zach Randolph 13 Amar'e Stoudemire 14 Blake Griffin 15 Russell Westbrook
LeChoke top five? I think not. And it's a pity that ESPN doesn't have the balls to rank Pippin 2.0 where he deserves, instead of where the media wants him to be.
