“He’s A Top 20 Guy”

[Ed Monix]

This phrase is thrown around so much in the media it’s ridiculous. What’s so comical about it is that if you added up every ‘top twenty guy’, the list would be 50 players deep.

In your opinion (chronologically speaking), who are the current 20 best players in the NBA?

* Remember, this is based on TODAY, not on potential growth or regression of a player.

[gouki88]

In no particular order.
1-5:
Jokic
Giannis
Doncic
Durant
LeBron
6-10:
Curry
Tatum
Embiid
Butler
Kawhi
11-15:
Booker
Lillard
Harden
Towns
Morant
16-20:
Trae Young
Beal
PG13
Brown
Siakam

Anthony Davis and Donovan Mitchell are honourable mentions, but have glaring flaws.

[Ed Monix]

My list:

1.  Giannis Antetokounmpo
2.  Luka Doncic
3.  Kevin Durant
4.  Steph Curry
5.  LeBron James
6.  Joel Embiid
7.  Nikola Jokic
8.  Jayson Tatum
9.  Kawhi Leonard
10. Anthony Davis
11. Paul George
12. Chris Paul
13. Jimmy Butler
14. Devin Booker
15. Damian Lillard
16. James Harden
17. Ja Morant
18. Karl-Anthony Towns
19. Bradley Beal
20. Trae Young

[#1P4P]

1st Tier:
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Luka Doncic
Steph Curry

2nd Tier:
Lebron James (Injury Exception)
Kevin Durant
Joel Embiid
Nikola Jokic
Kawhi Leonard (Injury Exception)
Jimmy Butler
Jayson Tatum

3rd Tier
Anthony Davis (Injury Exception)
Paul George
Chris Paul (Injury Exception)
Devin Booker
Ja Morant

4th Tier
Damian Lillard (Injury Exception)
James Harden (Injury Exception)
Anthony Edwards
Jaylen Brown
Khris Middleton

I rate excellent two way players over excellent one way players like Towns, Beal, Kyrie, Mitchell, and Young unless they’re an elite court general. Playoff performers > Regular Season performers. Injury exceptions are one tier below where they’d usually be.

[Moranis]

1. Giannis
2. Durant
3. Jokic
4. Doncic
5. Curry
6. Lebron
7. Embiid
8. Leonard
9. Davis
10. Tatum
11. Morant
12. George
13. Butler
14. Lillard
15. Zion
16. Booker
17. Paul
18. Harden
19. Young
20. Towns

[Csfan1984]

Based on now
Tier one is 1-5
Giannis, Luka, KD, Curry, Jokic

Tier two is 6-15
LeBron, Tatum, Morant, Embiid, Butler, Young, Beal, Towns, Booker, DeRozan

Tier three would be about 16-30 in all honesty but if I had to pick top of that group its
Irving, LaVine, Brown, Mitchell, Bam

Guys that were hurt most the year or keep getting hurt I can't put in the top 20 regardless because availability is a must. So Kawhi, PG, Davis, etc

[MarcusSmartFanClub]

Side note: Luka's stock is very high right now (for good reason). I see him as a top 10 player, but I'm not sure top 5 (or even top 3) is deserved until he picks it up on the defensive side of the ball. He's an offensive wizard, and arguably top 5 on that side of the ball.

Luka is not a great defender. Jalen and Jacoby talk about his defense during the Suns series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJnmrLZRFLA

He definitely needs to get in better shape, but I'm not sure he's going to improve his lateral quickness.

[#1P4P]

Side note: Luka's stock is very high right now (for good reason). I see him as a top 10 player, but I'm not sure top 5 (or even top 3) is deserved until he picks it up on the defensive side of the ball. He's an offensive wizard, and arguably top 5 on that side of the ball.

Luka is not a great defender. Jalen and Jacoby talk about his defense during the Suns series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJnmrLZRFLA

He definitely needs to get in better shape, but I'm not sure he's going to improve his lateral quickness.

Luka’s offensive impact is so great that it takes precedence over the defensive deficiencies that he has.

He’s the best court general since Lebron. He’s elite at either tempo, inside-outside, a mismatch against any defender, and controls the game.

In the clip that you showed, Jalen and Jacoby spoke about the Suns targeting him on every possession and him still having a great game, and outlast the Suns over the series. Being targeted on defense, yet still dropping 35-5-7 on 59% is the definition of being great.

[MarcusSmartFanClub]

Side note: Luka's stock is very high right now (for good reason). I see him as a top 10 player, but I'm not sure top 5 (or even top 3) is deserved until he picks it up on the defensive side of the ball. He's an offensive wizard, and arguably top 5 on that side of the ball.

Luka is not a great defender. Jalen and Jacoby talk about his defense during the Suns series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJnmrLZRFLA

He definitely needs to get in better shape, but I'm not sure he's going to improve his lateral quickness.

Luka’s offensive impact is so great that it takes precedence over the defensive deficiencies that he has.

He’s the best court general since Lebron. He’s elite at either tempo, inside-outside, a mismatch against any defender, and controls the game.

In the clip that you showed, Jalen and Jacoby spoke about the Suns targeting him on every possession and him still having a great game, and outlast the Suns over the series. Being targeted on defense, yet still dropping 35-5-7 on 59% is the definition of being great.

All true. I think the upper pantheon of players in the league generally don't have weaknesses. Giannis, Lebron, KD, etc can lock down when they need to. I'd rather go to battle with guys like Kawhi, Jimmy Butler, Jaylen, and PG13 than Luka.

[MarcusSmartFanClub]

Love that Kyrie hasn't been mentioned.

Bradley Beal?

I think Anthony Davis is prob top 10 again after this season. I'm looking forward to the Lakers coming back to relevancy this year so our wins against them feel even better.

[bdm860]

This phrase is thrown around so much in the media it’s ridiculous. What’s so comical about it is that if you added up every ‘top twenty guy’, the list would be 50 players deep.

That's just the way it is though, because of the debatableness of everything.

If you're talking about Top 3, there's usually like 5-6 guys in the conversation.

If you're talking Top 5, then there's usually 6-7 guys in the conversation.

If you're talking Top 10, then there's usually 13-15 guys in the conversation.

Just look at this thread there's 5 different players in the top 3, and I wouldn't be surprised if some people put Kawhi or Embiid in their top 3, further extending the list.

That's how you end up with more players than available spots.

[Who]

1-10

Jokic
Luka
Giannis
Embiid
Steph

LeBron
Durant
Tatum
Kawhi
AD

11-20

Jimmy Butler
Lillard
Towns
PG13
Booker

Morant
Harden
Jaylen
Trae
Zion

21-30

Donovan Mitchell
Ingram
Bam
CP3
LaVine

Gobert
Middleton
Beal
Siakam
DeRozan

31-40

VanVleet
SGA
Jamal Murray
Anthony Edwards
Jrue

CJ McCollum
Ben Simmons
LaMelo Ball
Garland
Kyrie

41-50

Hayward
Ayton
Lonzo
Mikal Bridges
Anunoby

Smart
Draymond
Micheal Porter Jr
Tobias Harris
Dejounte Murray

[Surferdad]

In case you forgot somebody, lol:
https://www.basketball-reference.com/contracts/players.html

[#1P4P]

Side note: Luka's stock is very high right now (for good reason). I see him as a top 10 player, but I'm not sure top 5 (or even top 3) is deserved until he picks it up on the defensive side of the ball. He's an offensive wizard, and arguably top 5 on that side of the ball.

Luka is not a great defender. Jalen and Jacoby talk about his defense during the Suns series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJnmrLZRFLA

He definitely needs to get in better shape, but I'm not sure he's going to improve his lateral quickness.

Luka’s offensive impact is so great that it takes precedence over the defensive deficiencies that he has.

He’s the best court general since Lebron. He’s elite at either tempo, inside-outside, a mismatch against any defender, and controls the game.

In the clip that you showed, Jalen and Jacoby spoke about the Suns targeting him on every possession and him still having a great game, and outlast the Suns over the series. Being targeted on defense, yet still dropping 35-5-7 on 59% is the definition of being great.

All true. I think the upper pantheon of players in the league generally don't have weaknesses. Giannis, Lebron, KD, etc can lock down when they need to. I'd rather go to battle with guys like Kawhi, Jimmy Butler, Jaylen, and PG13 than Luka.

I respect your opinion, I think there’s a point when the impact is so great that it trumps weaknesses, that aren’t flagrant (like Harden’s past disregard for playing even below average defense), becomes less relevant; which is why Doncic’s been able to duel against teams with Kawhi and PG13.

Aside from what I mentioned previously, his durability and playoff performances really entrench him into my top tier, he averages 33-9-8 in the playoffs against teams with great defenders like the Suns, Clippers, and Warriors with defenses locked in on stopping him. He’s Special.

[Celtics4ever]

1-10

Jokic
Luka
Giannis
Embiid
Steph

LeBron
Durant
Tatum
Kawhi
AD

11-20

Jimmy Butler
Lillard
Towns
PG13
Booker

Morant
Harden
Jaylen
Trae
Zion

21-30

Donovan Mitchell
Ingram
Bam
CP3
LaVine

Gobert
Middleton
Beal
Siakam
DeRozan

31-40

VanVleet
SGA
Jamal Murray
Anthony Edwards
Jrue

CJ McCollum
Ben Simmons
LaMelo Ball
Garland
Kyrie

41-50

Hayward
Ayton
Lonzo
Mikal Bridges
Anunoby

Smart
Draymond
Micheal Porter Jr
Tobias Harris
Dejounte Murray

Brown was > Tatum in the finals