SI Top 100 Rankings: Tatum 17

[footey]

Sports Illustrated ranked top 100 players.

https://www.si.com/nba/2020/12/14/top-100-nba-players-2021-daily-cover

Of note:

Smart 68
Brown 38
Kemba 31
Tatum 17

Smart a lot lower than ESPN ranking. Brown close to same. Kemba a lot better. Tatum somewhat worse.

Actually I feel these rankings are probably more accurate. For example ESPN didn't have Embiid in top 10, which is ridiculous.

Thoughts?

[Darth_Yoda]

Sports Illustrated ranked top 100 players.

https://www.si.com/nba/2020/12/14/top-100-nba-players-2021-daily-cover

Of note:

Smart 68
Brown 38
Kemba 31
Tatum 17

Smart a lot lower than ESPN ranking. Brown close to same. Kemba a lot better. Tatum somewhat worse.

Actually I feel these rankings are probably more accurate. For example ESPN didn't have Embiid in top 10, which is ridiculous.

Thoughts?

I wouldnt put embiid in the top 10 .

Tatum is too low, IMO.

[GreenShooter]

Nice to see so many foreign players in the top 50. Jokic in top 10 was unexpected. Really like his game.

[PAOBoston]

That seems about right. Maybe Tatum a few spots “too low” but I don’t think it’s really preposterous. Tatum isn’t a top 10 player right now but I’d say he definitely somewhere in that 10-20 range. You can argue whether he’s closer to 10 and than 20 but he’s basically right in the middle of that with I think is pretty fair.

I also think the other Cs players are much more accurately ranked than the ESPN rankings from the other week.

[CelticsElite]

It must be incredibly hard to rank all the hundreds of players

[Roy H.]

I think I’d put Tatum around #12 right now.

You know who is way too high?  Kyrie at #19.  That’s a ridiculous valuation for a guy that plays no defense, is mediocre at passing, and is a giant distraction.

[PhoSita]

For ranking top guys I think it makes far more sense to go with Tiers than specific numbers.

That said, Tatum was All-NBA last year, meaning approximately top 15, and I don't see any reason to not include him in that top echelon again for this season.

Granted, Durant and Curry are back now, which may crowd out some All-NBA spots.  But it remains to be seen if Durant is still an All-NBA caliber player.  I suspect he will be very good offensively if a step slower, and significantly worse defensively.

[jambr380]

For ranking top guys I think it makes far more sense to go with Tiers than specific numbers.

That said, Tatum was All-NBA last year, meaning approximately top 15, and I don't see any reason to not include him in that top echelon again for this season.

Granted, Durant and Curry are back now, which may crowd out some All-NBA spots.  But it remains to be seen if Durant is still an All-NBA caliber player.  I suspect he will be very good offensively if a step slower, and significantly worse defensively.

Agree on Tatum. The dude is seen by many to be one of the next major faces of the NBA. He just made 3rd team last year and now he's rated...lower? A few spots that high in the rankings makes a much bigger difference than say down in the 70s. Clearly SI isn't super-high on Tatum taking the league by storm.

I do understand Durant and Curry are back, but I'd imagine the two biggest candidates to lose their All-NBA honors are Siakam and Paul. Coincidentally, they were both 2nd team so there is even a chance Tatum could slip into the top 10 if he really balls out.

Brown also seems a little low, but not ridiculously so. He was a borderline A-S last year and at #38, that is well out of contention. I guess we'll see how our young guys handle the increased responsibility. I sure hope SI isn't right in their assessment!

[Moranis]

For ranking top guys I think it makes far more sense to go with Tiers than specific numbers.

That said, Tatum was All-NBA last year, meaning approximately top 15, and I don't see any reason to not include him in that top echelon again for this season.

Granted, Durant and Curry are back now, which may crowd out some All-NBA spots.  But it remains to be seen if Durant is still an All-NBA caliber player.  I suspect he will be very good offensively if a step slower, and significantly worse defensively.

Agree on Tatum. The dude is seen by many to be one of the next major faces of the NBA. He just made 3rd team last year and now he's rated...lower? A few spots that high in the rankings makes a much bigger difference than say down in the 70s. Clearly SI isn't super-high on Tatum taking the league by storm.

I do understand Durant and Curry are back, but I'd imagine the two biggest candidates to lose their All-NBA honors are Siakam and Paul. Coincidentally, they were both 2nd team so there is even a chance Tatum could slip into the top 10 if he really balls out.

Brown also seems a little low, but not ridiculously so. He was a borderline A-S last year and at #38, that is well out of contention. I guess we'll see how our young guys handle the increased responsibility. I sure hope SI isn't right in their assessment!

Who you moving him ahead of that is ahead of him.  I don't think you could really make a reasonable case for any of the top 13, but I could see reasonable arguments for him being ahead of Paul, Beal, and Gobert.  Of course I think you could also reasonably argue that he should be behind Towns, Bam, Simmons, Murray, Mitchell, and Booker so I think around 17 is probably correct. 

I do agree with Roy on Irving, but Irving has been overranked on these things for years.  I mean I think he was around 12th one year on Boston, which was ridiculous then as well.  Irving has never been that type of player and just gets all the hype because he when he is on he is such a good scorer.

[footey]

For ranking top guys I think it makes far more sense to go with Tiers than specific numbers.

That said, Tatum was All-NBA last year, meaning approximately top 15, and I don't see any reason to not include him in that top echelon again for this season.

Granted, Durant and Curry are back now, which may crowd out some All-NBA spots.  But it remains to be seen if Durant is still an All-NBA caliber player.  I suspect he will be very good offensively if a step slower, and significantly worse defensively.

Agree on Tatum. The dude is seen by many to be one of the next major faces of the NBA. He just made 3rd team last year and now he's rated...lower? A few spots that high in the rankings makes a much bigger difference than say down in the 70s. Clearly SI isn't super-high on Tatum taking the league by storm.

I do understand Durant and Curry are back, but I'd imagine the two biggest candidates to lose their All-NBA honors are Siakam and Paul. Coincidentally, they were both 2nd team so there is even a chance Tatum could slip into the top 10 if he really balls out.

Brown also seems a little low, but not ridiculously so. He was a borderline A-S last year and at #38, that is well out of contention. I guess we'll see how our young guys handle the increased responsibility. I sure hope SI isn't right in their assessment!

Who you moving him ahead of that is ahead of him.  I don't think you could really make a reasonable case for any of the top 13, but I could see reasonable arguments for him being ahead of Paul, Beal, and Gobert.  Of course I think you could also reasonably argue that he should be behind Towns, Bam, Simmons, Murray, Mitchell, and Booker so I think around 17 is probably correct. 

I do agree with Roy on Irving, but Irving has been overranked on these things for years.  I mean I think he was around 12th one year on Boston, which was ridiculous then as well.  Irving has never been that type of player and just gets all the hype because he when he is on he is such a good scorer.

Kyrie Irving when healthy is a top 15 player at worst.  And based on first two preseason games, he looks very healthy. 

[Neurotic Guy]

These rankings are just for fun not to be taken very seriously, but I see Jaylen as a top 30-ish player and I see Marcus as a top 50-ish player. 

[gouki88]

Lillard behind Butler and Embiid is a funny joke

[tazzmaniac]

Lillard behind Butler and Embiid is a funny joke

Not really.  Butler and Embiid are very good two way players.  Defense still means a lot especially for centers. 

I found this snippet really interesting.  Never would have guessed Embiid or any center would take the most end of the shot clock attempts.  41.5% is pretty good for those shots but you'd rather not take that many late shots. 

Embiid also provides the Sixers with a consistent bail-out option, having taken the most field goal attempts per game with between zero and four seconds on the shot clock last season, making 41.5% of them

[Somebody]

Lillard behind Butler and Embiid is a funny joke

Is it that hot of a take? Butler really isn't far behind Lillard (I certainly wouldn't take him over Lillard in general, but I can see a very good argument for him in specific team configurations) while Embiid was still an amazing two-way anchor last season.