My instinct when seeing the question was to quickly answer yes. But when actually considering names, I'm not so sure. I'm OK with putting KD behind LeBron, Kobe, Wade and Howard. Personal feelings aside, I think Dirk also has the edge over KD but it could go either way. Like with Dirk, I still have a hard time feeling KD is better than Melo but he's about there. As much as I like Brandon Roy, there is no doubt KD surpassed him this season. I'd comfortably put KD at #7 and maybe at #5 based on the regular season. When you consider the Thunder will win 50 games with such a young, unseasoned, not-so-talented roster, it is amazing. I didn't expect him to make such a huge leap this year. During January and part of February, KD was so good it was inhuman. During the last couple of weeks when you might expect him to falter some, KD has actually stepped up his game and carried them. The real test will be the playoffs. If nobody else on their team steps up, the Thunder will be very easy to beat as teams will just remove KD from the Thunder's offense. I can't wait to see what happens. Next season, if KD continues his progression, he should challenge Kobe & Wade for 2nd best player in the NBA. Knowing how dedicated he is to basketball, I suppose that will happen.
My top 5 are James, Kobe, Howard, Wade, & Dirk. They all played in finals at least. Basketball is a competitive sport. If a player cannot prove himself in playoffs, he cannot be called a top 5 player. Durant has a great potential. But, he cannot be called a top 5 player until he leads his team to go deep in playoffs.
CP3 actually plays defense. He turns the ball over much less. He has much higher assist percentages, gets more steals, rebounds at a higher percentage, and has been a more efficient and higher volume scorer over a three-season period. He's also younger. I don't see how you could prefer D-Will honestly... especially since he plays for the hated j*zz...
In a draft for me it would be- 1. Lebron 2. Dwight 3. CP3 4. Durant 5. D Will For 1 season it would be 1. Lebron 2. Dwight 3. Durant 4. Kobe 5. Wade
I don't think he has reached that elite level just yet. Let's see how he does in the playoffs. I think he will eventually get there. I don't think he's better than Melo just yet. He has been better than Roy this year but remember Roy has been banged up all year.
IMO Durant's ceiling tops the NBA, meaning there's no one IMO with more natural talent than him(maybe LBJ), so if his not a top 5 this year he most certainly will be next year.... Lets not forget his only 21yrs old.... --RB
IMO, top 5 will be James, Wade, Durant, Anthony and Williams. Finally wear and tear is catching up to Kobe. He looks so slow especially for the pass couple of months. He manage to hide the signs early in the season with his post game but now........ And until Dwight Howard have a post move and is the go to scorer for his team, I will never sees him the top 5 players in the game.
There is OFFENSE and DEFENSE. Dwight has the highest FG percentage in the whole damn league. One of the highest EFGs and TS. He scores efficiently and gets to the line. He just doesn't get shots but that doesn't mean he sucks offensively. He is by far the best defensive player in the league. Look at his starting line up. Jameer Nelson- Below average defensively Vince Carter- Below average defensively Rashard Lewis- Average defensively Barnes/Pietrus- Good defensively and yet, the Magic are a top defensive team in the NBA. Dwight is the first player EVER to lead the league in blocks and rebounds in back to back years. I'm sick of Dwight sucks offensively because of his low PPG.
GREAT post. Its kinda scary to think that he is only going to get better... look out nba.. I WANT THIS GUY ON THE OLYMPIC TEAM
T-Mac in his Orlando days and his first year with us was easily a top 5 player, so it doesn't matter.
KD is almost the perfect Olympic weapon for Team USA. IMO, he could have the best scoring Olympics of any player in USA history. The international teams will have less of a clue how to slow him down than NBA teams and the other players will obviously be more than good enough to shred defenses if they double & triple KD to stop him. Imagining KD, LeBron, Wade, CP3, D-Will and Dwight Howard on the same team blows my mind. They should be a worthy successor to the original Dream Team. I doubt they will have any close games. Also, some Olympic rules (like the lane and the 3-point line) will be moved to match the NBA. Imagine how good KD will be 2 summers from now. Playing WITH LeBron & Wade and the others.
He's a top 5 player THIS year. Lebron Wade Howard Kobe Durant Chris Paul would be #4 if he played a full season, moving Durant out the list. Really Durant's team got better and Durant's just shooting more. But he has more "command" of what he's doing. More assertiveness, more putting his imprint on the game and carrying the load like a leader. Durant was nails in McGrady's Knicks debut late in the game. Fitting passing of the torch, McGrady going vintage but missing 2 late game FTs. Then Kevin Durant taking it from there tying the game with a 3. Then hits the go head shot and FTs to win in OT.
Nice ranking. However I'd switch Wade over Kobe in terms of their performance this season. Kobe has been the most clutch player this season, however clutch can only take you so far (see Robert Horry, Reggie Miller, Fisher). Even with his post skills upgrade Kobe has done less with more talent this season, considering the talent they have on the roster the fact that the Lakers aren't the number 1 seed is inexcusable. IMHO Wade has definitely been the better player this season at least.
