I have been working on this the last 3 weeks. Taking a deep dive into analytics and player tracking numbers while I'm at work and watching "game tape" when at home.
I love college ball and "scouting" potential draft picks. However this season college ball has been so lame that i start watching ALOT of NBA games.
I'm a little biased towards guards. I think great offense beats great defense and guards are the major focal point, initiators and playmakers in most offenses. I do think bigs are the guys that impact defense the most but you can only impact the game "so much" on that end. Especially with the game becoming more and more about having guys with versatile skill sets on both ends.
Last thing before I post the top 25. Here are some players that didn't make it and the reasons they didn't:
Players that are trash:
Derrick Rose
Kobe Bryant
Bad defense holding these guys back:
Kevin Love
DeMarr DeRozan
Enes Kanter
Almost made it but Karl Towns is just as good and is a 20 year old rookie
Brook Lopez
Dwight Howard
Nikola Vucevic
Past their prime:
Dirk Nowitzki
Tim Duncan
Not quite there but really close:
Kemba Walker
Greg Monroe
Not versatile enough offensively:
Andre Drummond
DeAndre Jordan
Serge Ibaka
Rudy Gobert
Don't play a large enough role on a great team, although probably deserve to be on the list:
Andre Iguodala
Manu Ginobili
LaMarcus Aldridge
Having a down year
Marc Gasol
Possibly next year but not yet:
Jahlil Okafor
Andrew Wiggins
Kristaps Porzingis
Khris Middleton
Derrick Favors
Karl Towns
And the top 25:
1. Steph Curry
2. LeBron James
3. Kevin Durant
4. Kawhi Leonard
5. Draymond Green
6. Kyle Lowry
7. James Harden
8. DeMarcus Cousins
9. Isaiah Thomas
10. Blake Griffin
11. Russell Westbrook
12. Anthony Davis
13. Dwyane Wade
14. Chris Bosh
15. Carmelo Anthony
16. Damian Lillard
17. Chris Paul
18. Paul George
19. John Wall
20. Kyrie Irving
21. CJ McCollum
22. Paul Millsap
23. Jimmy Butler
24. Klay Thompson
25. Paul Gasol
Honorable Mention:
Al Horford
Eric Bledsoe
Final disclaimer: For all intents and purposes this list is based on performance so far this season only. I took into account a little bit of the players performance in previous seasons but for the most part it's all based on how they have fared this season heading into the all star break. So for example Blake has a good ranking but that doesn't take into account the effect his injury may have on his game. I'm not trying to predict the future here just focus on how these guys have played lately.
