NBA TOP 25 Players

 

        "He's a top 15 player." How often do we hear that? Quite often, right? "This guy is definitely a top 25 player." We hear that all time from the media.  How many people that be making those statements in the media actually sit down and do their own player ranking? Probably not many. Well, I decided to do my own top 25 player ranking in the NBA. Try this exercise after reading this. It's fun but also a little nerdy. Hey, I am a basketball nerd.  So, who is the 25 best players in the NBA, according to me? 

    Before I start the ranking, I want to share on how I do my ranking and what do I value. Basically, this is my criteria when I be ranking players. I have three major criteria that I look for. 

• Statistics but mainly the advanced metrics.
• The player overall impact during the game. The eye test. 
• Can I trust this guy to step up and make winning plays in the last five minutes of a playoff game?

    The NBA is deep with talented players. I believe this is the most talent that the league has ever had currently. The talent level is still growing with more promising young players coming to the NBA in this years draft. Listing a top 25 players was not easy at all. Here's the players who just miss the cut: 

• Jrue Holiday 
• Khris Middleton
• CJ McCollum 
• Ben Simmons 
• De'Aaron Fox
• Deandre Ayton 
• Klay Thompson (only because he has not played in almost two years)
• Brandon Ingram 
• Rudy Gobert (I am still a believer)
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
• Ja Morant 
• Pascal Siakam 
• Jaylen Brown 
• Russell Westbrook
• Kyle Lowry
• Draymond Green
• Julius Randle (he finished 26th)

    Around this time next year, I believe Klay Thompson and Deandre Ayton will be in my top 25. Mo Bamba and Frank Kaminsky are sleepers pick to be on my list next year.... I smell a breakout season for both of those players. I'm just fucking around. Do not come for my throat. Anyway, lets begin.  

    

    25. Jamal Murray

    24. Bam Adebayo 

    23. Zach Lavine 

    22. Karl Anthony Towns 

    21. Zion Williamson 

    

    What Murray did in the bubble last postseason was special. He was started to play at that level again before he unfortunately torn his ACL. If he was healthy, I believe the Nuggets would have been in the finals this year. Hot take: Zion will not sign the max when he is eligible, and will leave the Pelicans in three years. 

    20. Bradley Beal

    19. Devin Booker

    18. Paul George

    17. Donovan Mitchell

    16. Chris Paul 

   I was going back and forth with this one. If you want to argue that Beal is better than all of these guys, I can understand that argument. He has ONLY average 30.5 and 31.3 PPG over the last two seasons. Beal is a scoring machine, especially in the midrange. I took Booker, Mitchell and George over Beal because I have seen them put up great performances and have huge moments in big playoff games when their team needed them the most. Yes, Beal does not have the supporting cast that those players possess, but Beal have not been in that stage enough for me to put him over those guys. Hopefully, we will see that soon. Beal getting traded to the Nuggets is my dream trade.  

    15. Trae Young

    14. Kyrie Irving

    13. Jimmy Butler 

    12. Jayson Tatum

    11. Damian Lillard 

    Trae Young had a fantastic postseason. He shut up a lot of critics (I was one of them) with his performance in his first go around in the playoffs. Kyrie Irving is my all time favorite player. His skill set with the ball in his hand is probably the best in the league. Jimmy is the most underrated great player in the league. Tatum has a chance to be in the top 10 after next season.  Lillard can easily be in the top 10 right now. His three point range is just behind that superhuman that plays in San Francisco. I do not believe Lillard gets traded this offseason. I hope I'm wrong. Lillard to the Warriors will be almost unfair for NBA defenses, but that will be fun to see. 

    10. Anthony Davis

    9. Luka Doncic

    8. Giannis Antetokounmpo

    7. James Harden 

    6. Joel Embid 

    I believe the ten best players are in their own pyramid. Lillard deserves to be in the pyramid too, but someone had to be left off. All of these players have a case to be in the top 5. I put Harden seventh because I trust his durability over Davis. He is a better overall shooter and free throw shooter over Giannis and Luka. The only issue with Embid is health. Without that, he might be top 3. 

    5. Stephen Curry

    4. Kawhi Leonard

    3. Lebron James

    2. Nikola Jokic

    1. Kevin Durant 

    I thought it was beyond asinine that people really question can Steph carry a team, I believe he quiet those critics with his MVP level play this season. When he puts his mind into it, Kawhi Leonard is still the best perimeter defender in the league. Offensively, he is so efficient. What he did in that game 6 against Dallas is one of the greatest two way performances I have ever seen. 

    I know I raise some eyebrows on who I got 2 and 3. Lebron is still great. He is at the very least a top 3 all time player. His credentials is impeccable. He still has the highest basketball IQ in the league. But I finally started to see decline in his game. He does not overwhelm teams like he use to. For example,  Lebron normally imposes his will at some point in a playoff series. He never did against Phoenix and it was a little surprising, especially with no Davis in the last two games. Maybe the short offseason played a factor, and Lebron was fatigue. Maybe the ankle played a part of why he didn't dominant. Who knows, except for Lebron. 

    Nikola Jokic is the second best player in the league now. According to Basketball Reference, Jokic was first in PER, Win Shares, BPM (box plus/minus) and VORP(value over replacement player) in the regular season. This guy is fucking unreal. Normally a guy his size and that plays the center position is more a dependent player. They need a good to great perimeter player to be fully effective, Shaq, Giannis and Davis are a perfect example. Nikola Jokic does not need that--he is the point guard-- He might be the best passer in the league. He shoots close to 40% from three. Jokic does not bully teams in the post like Embid, but he is just as efficient. He develop the Dirk like one leg fadeaway this season. Offensively, Nikola Jokic is unguardable. He is not the rim protector as Embid or Gobert, but he is not bad as people make it seem. He gets to the right spots, and he does not make mental mistakes that can potentially cost his team. What Jokic did this season was remarkable. The Nuggets stayed as a contender and even won a playoff series in the western conference through all of the injuries they suffer through. Jokic deserve to win MVP. 

    Kevin Durant is the best player in the league. We have been heading towards that direction for a while now, but injuries to Durant and Lebron beating father time delayed the passing of the torch. I believe the torch has been pass. Durant is the best player now. Durant is the most versatile player in the league on both ends. He can be in any system and be the most dominant player on the floor. He is the greatest scorer in NBA history. Durant was coming off an Achilles injury, and he look like this in year 1? That is scary for the rest of teams in the league. If he did not have big feet, his shot would have been a three and the Brooklyn Nets will be playing the Phoenix Suns in the finals this week. Durant show us from his tremendous postseason that he is now the best player in the world. 

                                                                            Sources

                                                “Basketball Statistics and History.” Basketball-Reference.Com, 4 July 2021, www.basketball-reference.com.