OT- NBA top 10 who you got?

[superjohn]

ESPN is ranking the top 100 players in the league and they are down to the top 10. Would love to hear some boneyarders opinions on the top 10.

 

[Huskies4ever]

ESPN is ranking the top 100 players in the league and they are down to the top 10. Would love to hear some boneyarders opinions on the top 10.

Off the top of my head: LBJ, KD, Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, Derrick Rose, Dwight Headcase, Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook, Dirk Novitzski

 

[Brochacho]

1. LeBron
2. Durant

3-10 could be anybody, really. A guy like Kevin Love you could argue that he is the #3 player in the NBA, but at the same time you could argue that he is in the 15-20 range. Everybody joining up with their friends and switching up teams also makes it a bit difficult. Like Bosh. Who is he? He was a top 10 player imo when in Toronto, but now he is a third option. Is it fair to put him ahead of Dirk since he happens to play with two great players, taking into account what he could and what he did do when solo, or do you put Dirk ahead of him because he does it with "lesser" talent? I don't know.

 

[Kitaman]

Was Rondo below the top 10? If not then he belongs.

 

[UConn990411]

You could not argue that Love is in the 15-20 range. He is easily in the top 10, and really should be close to the top 5.

I think the top 3 is right (although there is a slew of players I'd rather start a team with before Howard), but I'm not sure how Rose is ranked ahead of Kobe.

 

[UConn Esq]

Lebron 1, Durant 2 and Howard 3 seems like a lock to me. After that it gets tricky with different positions. How do you compare a Kevin Love to a Chris Paul to Kobe Bryant. All are elite but play different positions.

 

[Scoe]

1. Lebron
2. Durant
3. Kobe
4. Rose (if healthy)
5. Dwight
6. Paul
7. Westbrook
8. Wade
9. Dirk
10. Melo

 

[tzznandrew]

1. Lebron
2. Durant
3. Kobe
4. Rose (if healthy)
5. Dwight
6. Paul
7. Westbrook
8. Wade
9. Dirk
10. Melo

Kobe is too high. He's just not that good anymore. He's an inefficient volume scorer. I'd take LeBron, Durant, Paul, Howard, and a healthy Rose before him. I'd also consider a healthy Wade. You might even be able to convince me to take Love (my qualm--his team sucks...is he one of those players who puts up great numbers for terrible teams?).

That's not to say that he isn't historically better than some of those players, but he's on the downward side of his NBA career. His defense isn't great, and his shooting numbers have been in decline. His numbers last year: 28ppg on 43% shooting (30.3% 3pters) with the highest usage%. Those numbers aren't great. Now maybe he will defer more to Howard and Pau--and allow Nash to run the show. If that happens I assume his usage rate drops and his efficiency rises. But he's still 34 with chronic injury issues.

Just to compare those numbers:
Kobe: 28 ppg (43%/30%), 35.7 usage, 5.4rpg, 4.3apg, 1.2spg, 0.3bpg, 3.5topg, 21.9 PER
LeBron: 27.1 ppg (53.1%/36.2%), 32 usage, 7.9rpg, 6.2apg, 1.9spg, 0.8bpg, 3.4topg, 30.7 PER
Durant: 28 ppg (49.6%/38.7%), 31.3 usage, 8rpg, 3.5apg, 1.2 spg, 1.2bpg, 3.8topg, 26.2 PER
Paul: 19.8 ppg (47.8%/37.1%), 24.3 usage, 3.6rpg, 9.1apg, 2.5spg, 0.1bpg, 2.1topg, 27 PER
Love: 26 ppg (44.8%/37.2%), 28.8 usage, 13.3rpg, 2.0apg, 0.9spg, 0.5bpg, 2.3topg, 25.4 PER
Wade: 22.1 ppg (49.7%/28.6%) 31.3 usage, 4.8rpg, 4.6apg, 1.7spg, 1.3bpg, 2.6topg, 26.3 PER
Westbrook: 23.6 ppg (45.7%/31.6%) 32.7 usage, 4.6rpg, 5.5apg, 1.7spg, 0.3bpg, 3.6topg, 22.9 PER

Howard and Rose from 2010-11 (full, healthy years)
Howard: 22.9 ppg (59.3%/0%) 27.2 usage, 14.1rpg, 1.4agp, 1.4spg, 2.4bpg, 3.6 topg, 26 PER
Rose: 25 ppg (44.5%/33.2%) 32.2 usage, 3.9rpg, 7.4 apg, 1.0spg, 0.6bpg, 3.3topg, 23.5 PER

All of their PERs are higher than Kobe's. I know there's more to the game than this, but I'd put Kobe ahead of Westbrook, Love (gotta produce in big moments), and (due to injuries, chronic in the first case, recovery time in the second) Wade and Rose.

 

[Husk-E]

In my top 10 I would probably have to go with

1.Lebron
2.Durant
3. Love
4. Kobe
5.Rondo
6.Paul
7.Howard
8.Rose
9.Westbrook
10.Rudy

I am personally just thrilled that only one person has mentioned Melo.

 

[UConn Esq]

I am personally just thrilled that only one person has mentioned Melo.

If its a top 10 list of offense players no question hes there. But, overall? Melo isn't close.

 

[superjohn]

Dirk is 10x better than Bosh.

 

[UofCT]

1- Lebron
2-Durant
3-Rose
4-Kobe
5-Paul
6-Dirk
7-Wade
8-Love
9-Deron
10-Dwight