List your top 5 NBA players.

Coinstartled

Not career, but this season only.

Justacommeman

James
Durant
Westbrook
Antetokoumpo
Harden
Davis

Those are the six that comes to mind off jump street

m

keets

Mark, it would be hard to argue with that choice or order of names. two things that come to my mind is how much better I think Kevin Durant could be --- and --- how much longer Lebron James can play at this level??

DIMEMAN

@Justacommeman said:
James
Durant
Westbrook
Antetokoumpo
Harden
Davis

Those are the six that comes to mind off jump street

m

Pretty good list of "current" players. Although I have never heard of #4.

Justacommeman

@DIMEMAN said:

@Justacommeman said:
James
Durant
Westbrook
Antetokoumpo
Harden
Davis

Those are the six that comes to mind off jump street

m

Pretty good list of "current" players. Although I have never heard of #4.

He could be the second best. The Greek Freak. Plays for the Bucks

m

keets

Mark, you posted an interesting list for the present, the near future and the 5-10 year future.

James --- he is currently having what could arguably be one of his best seasons with maybe three left at the pinnacle. he tends to need more rest now to keep his legs fresh.
Durant, Westbrook and Harden --- these three are all around the same age and probably in the prime of their careers. kept injury free any one of them could rise to the top.
Antetokoumpo --- probably 1-2 in a few years.
Davis --- challenged by Giannis for the top spot pretty soon.

two other points:
1.) who will the new faces of the NBA be coming into the League during that time, challenging the list???
2.) two other players, for all their BS hype and talent --- Steph Curry will never challenge that list and Kyrie Irving will always be outside looking in. at 29 years old, Curry already gives me the impression that he is starting to fade, that his best years are behind him. Irving is younger and may not have peaked yet, but I don't see him affecting the NBA the way the other players do.

if he ever recovers I wonder where Kawhi Leonard will fit into the picture??

Coinstartled

1.) who will the new faces of the NBA be coming into the League during that time, challenging the list???

Tainted season aside, look for Ayton to become a top 5 player.

larryallen73

I was a huge Westbrook fan since his sophomore year at UCLA. Not his freshman year because he was horrible. He is an amazing tail of what hard work and determination can do. He was very lightly recruited until UCLA became interested his senior year of high school. He SUCKED his freshman year but his development during his sophomore year was truly phenomenal. I remember early mock drafts around January he was second round and as the season wrapped he moved up the mocks... and eventually was drafted top 5. His continued growth in the NBA is that of legend. Hard work, determination, hustle, etc....

BillyKingsley

@Justacommeman said:
James
Durant
Westbrook
Antetokoumpo
Harden
Davis

Those are the six that comes to mind off jump street

m

I agree with this but would rank Harden first. LeBron second, Anthony Davis third. Would not rank Antetokounmpo in the top 5. He has much potential but it's just that, potential. All the others can single handedly win games for their teams on a regular basis, and to be honest he can too...but he doesn't as much. I am not even convinced he will be leading the Bucks to to the playoffs this year.

Harden has considered himself the MVP for several years, this year he actually is, with LeBron being the only real competition.

Giannis has, however, shown great improvement every year, so in a few seasons he may be there. If Joel Embiid can stay healthy I think he could be there in a few years also.

I still expect a Warriors-Cavaliers final despite the fact that neither team has shown much signs of caring very much about the season.

keets

Bill, the Cavs will be fortunate to make it past the first round. they have played almost the entire season without a true center and the League has it figured out. this is a problem they had last year and it goes like this: Tristan Thompson is the starting center without a legitimate backup, when he hits the bench for a rest Kevin Love moves to center and someone else enters at forward. when Thompson comes back in, Love rests.

Thompson has been injured almost all season which meant that Love needed to play center and he did an adequate job --- until he was injured. now, with both players injured the burden at center has fallen to Larry Nance, jr. and Jeff Green along with Ante Zizic who lacks experience.

they are beaten in the lane as a matter of routine.

BillyKingsley

I expect them to turn it on when playoff time comes though. While this season is more than usual, I've seen them coast during the regular season before, and then kick it up when it was needed. I will be curious to see how it plays out. Whatever happens I will get to see some great basketball and that's all I can ask for.

erikthredd

@keets i wouldn't worry too much about the center position hurting the Cavs come playoff time. This isn't 20 or even 10 years ago when there were centers that could actually dominate games like Shaq,Duncan & Yao Ming with guys like Dwight Howard & Amare Stoudemire who were in the prime of their career. These days the majority of centers hangout at the 3pt line jacking up threes and quite a few teams play small-ball to finish out games. I'd say there are really only two centers in the East who can take over a game,Embiid & Porzingas. Embiid if he's not missing time in a series could be a potential problem and Porzingas is on IR with his Knicks probably not making the playoffs. Andre Drummond could be a potential problem but the Pistons are 5 games out of the 8th seed.
Cleveland will probably end up playing either the Wizards,Sixers,Bucks or Heat in round one. Washington has Wall,Beal & Porter to worry about not Gortat,I already mentioned Embiid, Bucks center position isn't all that good and Miami has Whiteside,who is decent but you're getting the same type of production from Nance right now.
Round two & beyond might have Boston,Toronto or Indiana. Aaron Baynes can rebound & play decent defense for Boston but Horford slides to center in crunchtime. He's at his best out by the 3pt line with his passing abilities but I honestly don't think the Celtics will go far come playoff time. Too many injuries right now and some look to be season ending.
I wouldn't worry about Toronto's bigs and Indy gets decent play from their starter & backup but i'd take Love & Nance over those 2 anyday. Larry Nance Jr started the past 5 games and in 4 of those starts he had great games,three of which were double doubles. Love if healthy is an All Star and a double double machine himself.

keets

Eric, my point with a center is that the Cavs get killed on the boards and it results in too many second shots for the opponent and lost second shots for the Cavs. add to that no one to clog up the lane to stop drives and you'd see what I mean.

SanctionII

The NBA Playoffs should be very competitive this year (unlike last year when Cleveland and GS steamrolled through 3 teams each to reach the finals). At this point in time there is no certainty that either Cleveland or GS will make it back to the finals. It would be quiet the story if both of these teams lost in Round 1.

Should be fun to watch the playoffs this year

SanctionII

As far as the 5 best players this year, Harden, Davis, James would make my list.

The other two spots are yet to be filled.

erikthredd

@keets said:
Eric, my point with a center is that the Cavs get killed on the boards and it results in too many second shots for the opponent and lost second shots for the Cavs. add to that no one to clog up the lane to stop drives and you'd see what I mean.

The rebounding will take care of itself once Love comes back not to mention Nance is averaging 10 a game as starter while Lebron can get 10+ on any given night. The biggest threats in the East (probably Wizards & Raptors) & the West (GS & Houston) are all perimeter based offenses and all those players Cleveland added had this in mind so I wouldn't worry about it,every single playoff team has flaws including GS & Houston.

galaxy27

in order:

Harden (league MVP, but this accolade will prove fruitless if he comes up smaller than Mini-Me in the playoffs)
James (without him, the Cavs might not even be a playoff team in a perennially weak Eastern Conference)
Davis (putting up Wilt Chamberlain-esque numbers since Boogie went down. similar to LBJ, his team is nothing without him)
Curry & Durant (they cannibalize each other, so i'm including them together)
DeRozan (unheralded star who is the key cog for a team surprising everyone. when the Raps need him to score, he does. when he is called upon to be a team player, he is happy to oblige)

I love me some Giannis, but until he develops a consistent mid-range jumper and elevates the play of his cohorts (NO excuse for the Bucks to be on the fringe of the playoffs), he will be a step below Anthony Davis. he's only 23, so there's plenty of time for that. i said a year or so ago that he will one day be the best player in basketball, and i'm sticking to it.

i think a lot of people are expecting the Warriors and Cavs to turn it up come playoff time. that could very well happen, but i sense a different outcome this time around. with Steph and Klay ailing in a loaded Western Conference, they will be battered and bruised like never before if they happen to make it to the Finals. but if i were a betting man -- and i am -- i would put my money on Houston before i'd put it on Golden State. a 7-gamer between those two, if it comes to fruition, will be epic..............and will be the de facto finals.

erikthredd

You pretty much can't go wrong with anyone on these lists,my five would be:
Lebron- still the best player in the world
Harden- probably having the best season
Durant- its hard not putting him in the top 3 let alone top 5
Giannis- who looks like he might be the 2nd coming of Lebron real soon
but if i had to choose one player to play for my favorite team going forward its definitely Anthony Davis. Its pretty crazy to think this kid only just turned 25 a few days ago and i'm holding out hope that Boston somehow finds a way to trade for him in the near future. But if that doesn't happen i hope for his sake he finds a way out of New Orleans to a team that can put other stars around him not named Demarcus Cousins.