I don't know about #1 guys. I didn't really say anything about being a #1 guy, it's just my feeling that to be a top 30 guy you should be able to either be a very good low post scorer or a guy on the wing who can score consistently off the dribble 1 on 1. I think all the guys ahead of him so far fit that criteria and I don't think Leonard is that kind of guy right now. He's a really good, probably the best, glue guy in the league right now and like I said I would still have him in the top 40, but I think 28 is too high.
Agreed. I just don't think guys who draw a lot of their value on the defensive end are top 30 players unless they are centers.
+/- is antiquated and, on the whole, not a great way of measuring the value of players. His All-Defense appearance this year was a fluke because the guy has a lot of hype around him, derived from his juxtaposition with Harden and his below-average defensive intensity. Liking Beverley has effectively become a subtle critique of Harden in the media (and is a popular idea amongst many of the talking heads in basketball), and the media voted on all-defensive teams this year for the first time.
You can make that argument (great system) against Tim Duncan being a great player too then. I wouldn't be surprised if Kawhi Leonard is the #1 option on the Spurs as soon as next year. He is a decently versatile player and his defense is very good. Iguodala is also a tremendous defensive player. Seems like most people see rankings of NBA players as only offensive abilities only. Defense wins championships and Kawhi Leonard is at least as responsible for the Spurs last title as anyone else on the team.
He won finals MVP, so I'd say he was THE main factor. I mean holding Lebron is no easy task. But holding Lebron while being efficient and effective? That's worthy of praise to say the least.
I don't rank players based solely on offensive ability. I already said I believe wing defenders just aren't as much of a game changer. We saw in that king of the hill game that Paul George, one of the best wing defenders in the league, really didn't have much of a chance stopping elite wing scorers. Duncan has been great his entire career. The Spurs have not played the same style every year of his career. Doesn't matter how they played he was dominant. Back in the day they just dumped it down low and let him go to work and he could do that. I don't think Leonard would look anywhere near as good if they just gave him the ball and said beat your man and score. He is a good, efficient shooter, but a lot of his shots are assisted. The system they run makes him look better offensively than he would look in other systems. Again I'm not trying to argue that he is a bad player by any means. I just think he belongs closer to 40 than what he was ranked.
20. Dwyane Wade 19. Serge Ibaka 18. Chris Bosh 17. Joakim Noah 16. Marc Gasol 15. Tony Parker 14. Dirk Nowitzki 13. James Harden 12. Lamarcus Aldridge 11. Carmelo Anthony
Seeing as Paul George is being excluded from the list, who does that leave in the top 10? (In no order) LeBron Durant Westbrook Paul Griffin Love Curry Duncan? Davis Dwight That sounds about right? Am I missing anyone?
I wouldn't have him in my top 10. Honestly I'd have a hard time taking him over Harden. He's a low efficiency, jump shooting big man. A perfect #2 guy. The first 2 games of that playoff series have somehow made people think he is consistently that awesome when those were actually 2 of the best games of his entire career.
He averaged 23 and 11 last year during the regular season. It's not like he came out of nowhere in those first two games. His PER was 21.84 so I don't see how that's low efficiency. That said, this is a ranking about next season and I think he will be better next year than last year.
His TS% is his efficiency, compare it with Blake and Love (and Duncan and well, everyone in the top 20), he's quite literally the epitome of volume shooter
