SI's Top 100 NBA Players of 2019

[BitterJim]

30-11 is now out.

Hayward - 25
Irving - 17
Horford - 16

Big jump for Horford who was #30 last year.  Highest he's been since he's been a Celtic.  Actually highest he's been since SI started this list in 2014.

Horford above Irving? I love me some Horford, but (even with the surgeries) I just don't see how someone could think he's the better player

If you took Horford off the team OR Kyrie off the team, you could make a case losing Horford would be worse... but that's because of the rest of our roster and other variables.  Kyrie is definitely 'better', just maybe not more 'important.'

But yeah, they've way overrated Draymond for years.  This is right up that alley.

Agreed. Horford is by far the most important, but that has a lot to do with our depth (Rozier/Smart for Irving, and Brown/Tatum/Morris for Hayward). I feel like they only put Horford right above Irving to drum up a bit of controversy

[tazzmaniac]

so we know their top 10

My predicted order

1. James
2. Durant
3. Davis
4. Curry
5. Giannis
6. Harden
7. Westbrook
8. Paul
9. Embiid
10. Butler

They always surprise me so this'll be wrong, but my prediction:

1. LeBron
2. Durant
3. Harden
4. Curry
5. Davis
6. Westbrook
7. Giannis
8. Embiid
9. Paul
10. Butler

Knowing sportswriters they'll somehow have Paul at like #6 and Davis at #8 or something though.

I'd be quite surprised if Giannis isn't top 5.  I'm half expecting him to be top 3. 

[bdm860]

Top 10:

10 - Butler
9 - Embiid
8 - Paul
7 - Westbrook
6 - Antetokounmpo
5 - Davis
4 - Harden
3 - Curry
2 - Durant
1 - James


Of the 3 of us who made guesses:

Moranis had 6 correct
fairweatherfan had 4 correct
I had only 2.

Listen to Moranis everyone.

But, fairweatherfan was never more than 1 spot off, while Moranis was 2 spots off for a couple of picks, maybe we should all listen to fairweatherfan.

Whatever you do, don't listen to me. 

[Moranis]

Top 10:

10 - Butler
9 - Embiid
8 - Paul
7 - Westbrook
6 - Antetokounmpo
5 - Davis
4 - Harden
3 - Curry
2 - Durant
1 - James


Of the 3 of us who made guesses.

Moranis had 6 correct
fairweatherfan had 4 correct
I had only 2.

Listen to Moranis everyone.

But, fairweatherfan was never more than 1 spot off, while Moranis was 2 spots off for a couple of picks, maybe we should all listen to fairweatherfan.

Whatever you do, don't listen to me. 

Yeah I was pretty confident on the last 4 and the first 2 (though wouldn't have been surprised to see Durant at 1 and James at 2).  I figured with his injuries, age, and overshadowed by Durant, that Curry wouldn't still be up that high, obviously they still really like Curry.  Harden over Davis is a bit surprising to me given the defensive side of the equation.  I probably should have had Giannis at 6, but let some of my own personal preference get in there (I actually have him 4th in my own rankings). 

[smokeablount]

Top 10:

10 - Butler
9 - Embiid
8 - Paul
7 - Westbrook
6 - Antetokounmpo
5 - Davis
4 - Harden
3 - Curry
2 - Durant
1 - James


Of the 3 of us who made guesses.

Moranis had 6 correct
fairweatherfan had 4 correct
I had only 2.

Listen to Moranis everyone.

But, fairweatherfan was never more than 1 spot off, while Moranis was 2 spots off for a couple of picks, maybe we should all listen to fairweatherfan.

Whatever you do, don't listen to me. 

Yeah I was pretty confident on the last 4 and the first 2 (though wouldn't have been surprised to see Durant at 1 and James at 2).  I figured with his injuries, age, and overshadowed by Durant, that Curry wouldn't still be up that high, obviously they still really like Curry.  Harden over Davis is a bit surprising to me given the defensive side of the equation.  I probably should have had Giannis at 6, but let some of my own personal preference get in there (I actually have him 4th in my own rankings).

I could quibble with Curry but I can live with that, but IMO Harden has to be dropped below Davis and Giannis.  I think you could make a case for either of those guys above Curry also.
 
Based solely on winning and not talent, Westbrook at 7 seems dubious, but OKC definitely does have serious upside, IMO top 3 in the NBA upside, and I guess there's no player that's super obvious who absolutely needs to be above him as of today, before the season starts. 

[GreenWarrior]

These are always good for some discussion, and I haven't seen this posted over here yet.  So far they've released up to 31, and will release the rest throughout the week.

Snubs

100-31

30-11

C's listed so far:
Marcus Smart - snub
Terry Rozier - 82
Jaylen Brown - 47
Jayson Tatum - 39
Gordon Hayward - 25
Kyrie Irving - 17
Al Horford - 16

Former C's:
Jae Crowder - snub
Rajon Rondo - snub
Isaiah Thomas - snub
Kelly Olynyk - 93

saw this thread the other day but wasn't able to comment, so here goes...

at first I was really upset about smart's snub, but then I thought about it and i'm glad he keeps getting overlooked.

rozier making the list over smart really makes it seem like a fan made this list instead of a knowledgeable sports person, because imo a knowledgeable sports person would at least be able to acknowledge that smart can have a positive impact on a game without scoring a point. this person seems like they just watched this past playoffs and got all googly eyed because rozier had a handful of good games. the list lost all credit after this, apparently only scoring matters.

with that said I hope nba execs base their opinions on this list because we don't want rozier to lose value as an asset.

then, I saw Olynyk cracking the top 100 over smart and people thought I was stroking because of my repeated eye rolls.

I think Olynyk has turned himself into a serviceable player, but the guy still turns down open shots that lead to a teammate taking a forced contested shot - this is the exact definition of a bad player. he's definitely not the 7 footer with guard skills that was advertised.   

again the credibility of this list is in serious question imo.

[PhoSita]

Embiid top 10 is premature.  Pandering to Sixers fans.

[Moranis]

Embiid top 10 is premature.  Pandering to Sixers fans.

He was 2nd Team All NBA and 12th in MVP voting last year.  He should only get better.

[fairweatherfan]

Top 10:

10 - Butler
9 - Embiid
8 - Paul
7 - Westbrook
6 - Antetokounmpo
5 - Davis
4 - Harden
3 - Curry
2 - Durant
1 - James


Of the 3 of us who made guesses:

Moranis had 6 correct
fairweatherfan had 4 correct
I had only 2.

Listen to Moranis everyone.

But, fairweatherfan was never more than 1 spot off, while Moranis was 2 spots off for a couple of picks, maybe we should all listen to fairweatherfan.

Whatever you do, don't listen to me. 

I was closer than I expected - I just had Curry/Harden, Giannis/Westbrook, and Embiid/Paul flipped.

Also, no one should listen to me, please delete this slander.

[smokeablount]

These are always good for some discussion, and I haven't seen this posted over here yet.  So far they've released up to 31, and will release the rest throughout the week.

Snubs

100-31

30-11

C's listed so far:
Marcus Smart - snub
Terry Rozier - 82
Jaylen Brown - 47
Jayson Tatum - 39
Gordon Hayward - 25
Kyrie Irving - 17
Al Horford - 16

ESPN is such a troll, lol.

They can’t deny the Celtics are good, they just refuse to lead off NBA The Jump with C’s wins in the conference finals, a slap in the face we received repeatedly and no other team experienced once.

Then, they come up with a laughable ‘analytics-based’ formula that determines Damian Lillard is a 9 ‘point’ player and Kyrie is a 2 ‘point’ player.  The trolling evolves.

Now, we have Al at 16, Kyrie at 17, and GH at 25.

How many players make all-NBA? 15, oops, what a coincidence, we have the 2nd best title odds but just missed on All NBA players. How many players are All Stars? 24, oops, wow, look, Hayward is one spot away from All Star territory just like Al is one spot away from All NBA and Kyrie is 2 spots.

Sure looks like a coincidence, except when the same coincidences slight the C’s again and again, ESPN’s biases become obvious. I’m surprised Brandon Ingram wasn’t top 10 

[bdm860]

Embiid top 10 is premature.  Pandering to Sixers fans.

He was 2nd Team All NBA and 12th in MVP voting last year.  He should only get better.

Plus who are the 2 players not named Kawhi (because he's only ranked outside the top 10 due to questions of health/reliability) that you'd take over him to move him out of the top 10?

Butler/George/Green/Gobert/Lillard?

I don't think that's pandering to Sixers fans.  If I had 1 pick to build a team for next year only, and my choices were those 6 players, I'd take Embiid every time.

[fairweatherfan]

Picturing a giant whiteboard at SI headquarters with "fans we love", "fans we hate" and "Milwaukee" written on it, and a series of huge equations and decision trees on how to appropriately rig the rankings to best align with those categories.

Sure looks like a coincidence, except when the same coincidences slight the C’s again and again, ESPN’s biases become obvious. I’m surprised Brandon Ingram wasn’t top 10 

Another coincidence - this list isn't from ESPN. Or at least that's what they want us to think.

[smokeablount]

Embiid top 10 is premature.  Pandering to Sixers fans.

He was 2nd Team All NBA and 12th in MVP voting last year.  He should only get better.

Plus who are the 2 players not named Kawhi (because he's only ranked outside the top 10 due to questions of health/reliability) that you'd take over him to move him out of the top 10?

Butler/George/Green/Gobert/Lillard?

I don't think that's pandering to Sixers fans.  If I had 1 pick to build a team for next year only, and my choices were those 6 players, I'd take Embiid every time.

Yeah, Kawhi and Kyrie if healthy could push Embiid out of the top 10, but even being annoyed with everything Sixers I've still got no problem with Embiid at 9, though I'll readily admit you can't credibly rank him any higher than that atm.  It's the best case, most optimistic scenario.

[smokeablount]

Picturing a giant whiteboard at SI headquarters with "fans we love", "fans we hate" and "Milwaukee" written on it, and a series of huge equations and decision trees on how to appropriately rig the rankings to best align with those categories.

Sure looks like a coincidence, except when the same coincidences slight the C’s again and again, ESPN’s biases become obvious. I’m surprised Brandon Ingram wasn’t top 10 

Another coincidence - this list isn't from ESPN. Or at least that's what they want us to think.

Oh yeah, SI.  Forgive my rant, I think they're more clueless than incendiary. 

[Big333223]

I think it's worth noting that SI didn't put any East players in the top 5 overal and the top 5 players in the East are ranked as follows:

Giannis
Embiid
Kawhi
Al Horford
Kyrie Irving

SI thinks 2 of the East's best 5 players play in Boston. Not bad.