SI.com's Top 100 NBA players of 2017

[footey]

Bradley should be ranked higher than Crowder.

[Moranis]

is it me or is there a GIGANTIC drop off in talent from say 10 years ago?

less talent from bigs, but way better smalls.

Disagree.  Drop off on smalls.  HUGE drop off on bigs

There is way more guard talent right now than 10 years ago, I don't think that is really a defensible position to take.  I mean Gilbert Arenas was on the 2nd Team All NBA in the 06/07 season, along with McGrady (Arenas was on the 3rd team in 05/06 as well).  The 1st team was Nash and Kobe.  The 3rd team was Wade and Billups.  Those guys collectively don't come even close to the overall talent today.  The forwards and centers were Amare, Duncan, Dirk on 1st team, Lebron, Bosh, Yao on 2nd team, and Melo, Garnett, Howard on 3rd team. 

Looking at 05/06 the guards were Kobe and Nash, Wade and Billups, Arenas and Iverson and the forwards and centers were Lebron, Dirk and Shaq, and Brand, Duncan and B. Wallace, and Melo, Marion, and Yao.

Now let's look at 15/16

Curry and Westbrook, and Paul and Lillard, and Lowry and Thompson

Lebron, Leonard and Jordan, and Durant, Green and Cousins, and George, Aldridge and Drummond

No real comparison on the guards outside of Kobe and Nash (though Nash is no where near as good as his fellow 2 time MVP Curry).  Even the bigs are a fair amount closer then I remembered as it really was Duncan, Garnett, Nowitzki, and Howard (Shaq was way past his prime and fading fast).  Ben Wallace was one of the most dominant big men back then and Yao was still racking up on All NBA teams, but those guys are easily comparable to the bigs today.  I don't think Dwight was appreciably better than a guy like Cousins either.  You get no argument from me on the 3 HOF MVP PF's still in their prime 10 years ago (though KG was nearing the end of his), but let's not over estimate the league 10 years ago. There is far more overall talent in today's game then there was 10 years ago, and I don't think it is all that close.

[chambers]

Here's my shot at guessing the top 50:

1.  Steph Curry
2.  Lebron James
3.  Russell Westbrook
4.  Kawhi Leonard
5.  Kevin Durant
6.  James Harden
7.  Paul George
8.  Anthony Davis
9.  Chris Paul
10.  Damian Lillard
11.  Demarcus Cousins
12.  Draymond Green
13.  Blake Griffin
14.  Jimmy Butler
15.  Deandre Jordan
16.  Kyrie Irving
17.  Andre Drunmond
18.  Isaiah Thomas
19.  Giannis Antetokounmpo
20.  John Wall
21.  Karl Towns
22.  Paul Millsap
23.  Al Horford
24.  Lamarcus Aldridge
25.  Gordon Hayward
26.  Kyle Lowry
27.  Kemba Walker
28.  Rudy Gobert
29.  Mike Conley
30.  Marc Gasol
31.  CJ McCollum
32.  Hassan Whiteside
33.  Klay Thompson
34.  Demar Derozan
35.  Carmelo Anthony
36.  Dwayne Wade
37.  Serge Ibaka
38.  Jrue Holiday
39.  Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
40.  Tyreke Evans
41.  Danilo Galinari
42.  Pau Gasol
43.  Gorgui Dieng
44.  Otto Porter
45.  Tony Parker
46.  Dennis Schroeder
47.  Rajon Rondo
48.  Andre Iguodala
49.  Harrison Barnes
50.  Rudy Gay

Rudy Gay was #80.  Personally, I think you're missing Brook Lopez, Khris Middleton, and Derrick Favors.  Also I know everyone's down on guys like Love and Dwight Howard, but surely they're still top 100 players, and since they're not 100-51...  Does Bosh get ranked?  Making room for everyone but Bosh, I have to drop some guys on your list.

No way on Gorgui Dieng or Otto Porter, ditto for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope as no way he could be ranked ahead of Reggie Jackson (#54), but not sure who else I drop.  Rondo's probably next off the list.

I'd say LeBron still comes in at #1.  TP for taking a stab at it.

I knew I probably missed some shoo ins.  Howard, Love, Favors, Middleton and Lopez should all be on the list.  Thanks for the input. 

I actually tried it without having any stats lists in front of me to see how I'd do.  Clearly, I missed some.

that was still an amazing effort lol
TP.

[chambers]

If Lebron isn't #1 it's just silly.

Rewatch the finals.  How did curry perform vs lebron?

And the same story year prior

I think you misread what he said.

[bdm860]

Isaiah officially clocked in at #45.  Horford is somewhere in the top 30.

Also surprising they ranked Chris Bosh (#37)  but decided to leave Jrue Holiday off the list due to his indefinite absence.

[GratefulCs]

Isaiah officially clocked in at #45.  Horford is somewhere in the top 30.

Also surprising they ranked Chris Bosh (#37)  but decided to leave Jrue Holiday off the list due to his indefinite absence.

45 seems criminally low


Fortunately we all know thomas will bust his behind to prove people wrong

[dreamgreen]

Bradley should be ranked higher than Crowder.

I agree, with the jump he made last year he may be top 50?

[dannyboy35]

I didn't see the list yet but coworker just said reddick was graded higher? Bah. Nonsense.

[bdm860]

I find it interesting the difference between Tony Allen and Andre Iguodala.

They listed Tony Allen as not ranked (for the 4th year in a row), with his faults being:

Unfortunately, Allen misses too many games and surrenders too much as a non-scorer to make a real run at Top 100 standing. The 64 games Allen played last season made for his highest total in three years. At the point where Allen is missing a solid quarter of the campaign, logging just 25 minutes when he does play, and gumming up his team’s spacing every time he steps on the court, even truly outstanding defense isn’t quite enough.

Yet for the last 4 years they have Andre Iguodala in the top 50.  With them saying this year:

Iguodala barely scores but aces nearly every other criteria—leading first and foremost with defense. The most dangerous wings in the league are Iguodala’s purview. He sizes them up and plays to their tendencies as precisely as any defender in the league, beginning with where and when they’d like the ball. Denial from an expert defender imparts disadvantage. Some of the opponents’ possessions are derailed by Iguodala before they even have a chance to begin, all thanks to some single prevented action or stall in the works of a set play. From that point, players operating against Iguodala have to contend with one of the NBA’s best isolation defenders without the aid of play structure. Iguodala wins those one-on-one battles enough to actively discourage opponents from running sets his way. It’s a caliber of coverage that actually seeps into the way opponents call plays and make decisions at the most fundamental levels. Iguodala creates change—all without ever really needing the ball in his hands. (Last year: No. 44)

Then compare the stats last year for the 2.  Both played around 25mpg and 65 games, both scored under 10ppg, and had 4-5rpg.  Stats are pretty similar with Iggy only have the decisive edge in assists, 3PM, and overall shooting %.  Allen on the other hand has been All-Defensive the last 2 years, while Iggy hasn't made the team since 2014.

At this point, they just seem so similar to me, yet there continues to be this huge difference in the rankings.

[Tr1boy]

Isaiah officially clocked in at #45.  Horford is somewhere in the top 30.

Also surprising they ranked Chris Bosh (#37)  but decided to leave Jrue Holiday off the list due to his indefinite absence.

45 seems criminally low


Fortunately we all know thomas will bust his behind to prove people wrong

If you take the "homer" hat off, 45 is about right

IT is not ahead of lowry for example

Yes IT was an all star last year and had a very good year... however he also had the ball attached to his hands and his fg percentage was below avg.   One, well two nice home playoffs performance but it would have been nice to see him silence the crowed for an away game

Im being a little critical ,but he could still be better, more efficient

[GratefulCs]

Isaiah officially clocked in at #45.  Horford is somewhere in the top 30.

Also surprising they ranked Chris Bosh (#37)  but decided to leave Jrue Holiday off the list due to his indefinite absence.

45 seems criminally low


Fortunately we all know thomas will bust his behind to prove people wrong

If you take the "homer" hat off, 45 is about right

IT is not ahead of lowry for example

Yes IT was an all star last year and had a very good year... however he also had the ball attached to his hands and his fg percentage was below avg.   One, well two nice home playoffs performance but it would have been nice to see him silence the crowed for an away game

Im being a little critical ,but he could still be better, more efficient

maybe he shouldn't be way higher, but the next four or five guys i saw on that list did not seem like they're better than thomas.

[bdm860]

Al Horford coming in at an impressive #18, ahead of others bigs like Jordan, Marc Gasol, KAT, Love, Drummond, and Favors.

[Ilikesports17]

Al Horford coming in at an impressive #18, ahead of others bigs like Jordan, Marc Gasol, KAT, Love, Drummond, and Favors.

He's about 15 spots too high and Thomas is about 10 too low

[KGs Knee]

Al Horford coming in at an impressive #18, ahead of others bigs like Jordan, Marc Gasol, KAT, Love, Drummond, and Favors.

Probably too low for Horford. I have him ranked at #13.

[MJohnnyboy]

Al Horford coming in at an impressive #18, ahead of others bigs like Jordan, Marc Gasol, KAT, Love, Drummond, and Favors.

He's about 15 spots too high and Thomas is about 10 too low

Yeah seriously. How the hell are Stephen Adams and Andre Iguodala better than Isaiah Thomas?

Those guys are good, but IT is a star player and does a lot more for the Celtics than those guys do for their teams.

I think Horford's ranking was a little high but I think the reason why he's ranked so highly is because bigs like him are very rare in today's league.