Kyrie Irving Is Now The 2nd Best Player In The Eastern Conference!

[fairweatherfan]

Active players who have made an All NBA First team, by conference:

West - Damian Lillard, James Harden, Anthony Davis, Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Kawhi Leonard, Steph Curry, Deandre Jordan, Marc Gasol, Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, Dirk Nowitzki.

East - Dwyane Wade, Joakim Noah.

And Dwight Howard is currently without a team.

Wade's a free agent too though I doubt anyone expects him to leave Miami.  But yeah, pretty striking how the talent's become even more lopsided. West got the top 4 lottery picks too.

Half of that listed talent isn't very good anymore.

None of the guys in the East are; Wade's a shadow of himself, if Dwight stays in conference he's a guy who still gets numbers but nobody wants on their team. Noah's just a contract at this point.

It'd be neat to see how many future 1st teamers are in the East right now - Giannis and Embiid seem like the likely breakthrough candidates - but who'll remember by then.

[Moranis]

Giannis is clearly 1, but I think 2 is very much in debate.  This past year 5 players from the East made the All NBA Teams, Lebron on the 1st team, Giannis, DeRozan, and Embiid on the 2nd team, and Oladipo on the 3rd.  Irving certainly had a shot at making one of the teams if he had stayed healthy (as did Wall and Porzinigis) and Hayward obviously we hope has that potential.  So to definitively say that Irving is better than all of those players seems a bit strange to me. 

[Big333223]

Active players who have made an All NBA First team, by conference:

West - Damian Lillard, James Harden, Anthony Davis, Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Kawhi Leonard, Steph Curry, Deandre Jordan, Marc Gasol, Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, Dirk Nowitzki.

East - Dwyane Wade, Joakim Noah.

And Dwight Howard is currently without a team.

Wade's a free agent too though I doubt anyone expects him to leave Miami.  But yeah, pretty striking how the talent's become even more lopsided. West got the top 4 lottery picks too.

Half of that listed talent isn't very good anymore.

Both the 2 guys in the East are well past their primes / cooked.  Makes it extremely lopsided.

Exactly. It's nuts how much better the West is going to be next season. The Celtics should win a lot of games in the regular season.

[johnnygreen]

Giannis is clearly 1, but I think 2 is very much in debate.  This past year 5 players from the East made the All NBA Teams, Lebron on the 1st team, Giannis, DeRozan, and Embiid on the 2nd team, and Oladipo on the 3rd.  Irving certainly had a shot at making one of the teams if he had stayed healthy (as did Wall and Porzinigis) and Hayward obviously we hope has that potential.  So to definitively say that Irving is better than all of those players seems a bit strange to me.

Are these the same people that voted for Dwane Casey as coach of the year, or Daryl Morey for executive of the year? And you want me to believe the players that made an All NBA Team should define the top players in the league?

[SparzWizard]

Skip Bayless said Joel Embiid is the best player in the East, not Giannis.

 

[Phantom255x]

Skip Bayless said Joel Embiid is the best player in the East, not Giannis.

 

Skip and basketball. The two don't go together. Never have. 

PROOF:

https://mobile.twitter.com/realskipbayless/status/984894181549080576?lang=en

[gpap]

This feels like trolling. And regardless, is presented in a way that is as subjective as it gets.

What do you mean trolling? I think Kyrie is easily the 2nd best player in the East and I am not even sure who #1 is. Giannis? Embiid? Both of those guys didn't do themselves any favors in the playoffs vs the Celtics.

If anything, I think Oladipo should now be in the conversation.

[johnnygreen]

Skip Bayless said Joel Embiid is the best player in the East, not Giannis.

 

At least Embiid has made it to the second round of the playoffs, which is something Giannis can't claim. I'm sorry, but you can't be considered the best player in your conference if you can't make it out of the first round in the playoffs.

[Big333223]

I think Giannis is the clear #1.

Then you've got guys like Embiid and Oladipo (who have only been this good for a single season, really, for different reasons), Lowry and Derozan (who both crumble in the playoffs), and Kemba Walker and Brad Beal who are both good but I'd take Kyrie over any of them.

[Celtics4ever]

think Giannis is the clear #1.

You mean the guy who can only draw a straight line at the bucket or he can't create offensively?   I don't think so!

[ETNCeltics]

Freak is good at everything, other than 3 pt shooting. IMO, he's the clear #1. In what aspect of the game is Embiid significantly better than Freak? Stephen A., off base as usual.

I think Kyrie's the clear #2. Embiid is very talented, but he's had just over one season worth of play, and he isn't half the defender he thinks he is.

No way Durant should have been ahead of Freak on the all-nba team (and it was a joke to omit Kyrie).

[incoherent]

Ummm... what?

Is this serious or satire? I dont know. Not sure how to process this claim.

The only way I think I can agree to this is if the OP adds the words "Regular Season".  Giannis can arguably be the best regular season player in the East.  Sure I could buy that.  His team heavily depend on him and his minutes and numbers will reflect that.

But who cares? With Lebron gone, Kyrie is by far the most deadly playoff player in the East. It's really not that close.

You have one guy who carved up the 72 win warriors, shot 44% from three for an entire playoffs, and hit the shot to win the ring with a playoff average of 25ppg.

The other guy got completely set off course by a 6'7 rookie with a wide base and quick feet picked in the 2nd round.

Giannis cant shoot, and it's always going to be a problem for him.  Someone like Semi will always be able to slow him down for stints and it's going to cost him. 

Of course Giannis will improve and will likely be the best player in the East pretty soon, but he's not right now and he hasn't done anything at all to prove that he is.  Someone said this is a trolling thread and of course it's a trolling thread look who made it.

[Moranis]

Freak is good at everything, other than 3 pt shooting. IMO, he's the clear #1. In what aspect of the game is Embiid significantly better than Freak? Stephen A., off base as usual.

I think Kyrie's the clear #2. Embiid is very talented, but he's had just over one season worth of play, and he isn't half the defender he thinks he is.

No way Durant should have been ahead of Freak on the all-nba team (and it was a joke to omit Kyrie).

Kyrie missed too many games and Boston wasn't much different when he didn't play (only like 4 less win pace without Irving and that obviously includes the unsustainable 15-2 start with Irving) and then of course was 1 win away from the NBA Finals. 

Irving isn't the player many on this board thinks he is.  He is an absolutely great scorer, but he isn't a playmaker for others, makes terrible decisions with the ball, and is an absolutely atrocious defender.  He is not the 2nd best player in the conference.  That just isn't him.  Frankly, I think you could legitimately argue that a healthy Gordon Hayward is better than a healthy Kyrie Irving.  Much more complete offensive player and a significantly better defender.  He doesn't excel at any one aspect like Irving does, which is the only reason it is even a debate.

[Big333223]

think Giannis is the clear #1.

You mean the guy who can only draw a straight line at the bucket or he can't create offensively?   I don't think so!

No, I mean Giannis Antetokounmpo.

[CelticsJG]

Kyrie assist percentage the same as Curry's, but he not a playermaker
Kyrie have an low turnover rate
Plays average defense and an elite offensive threat, but he isnt the player we think he is.