The Nba has been gone for about six days now. Even though I miss it, the shutdown has given me a lot of time to create my list of the top 10 current players. Some honorable mentions who didn’t make this list are Nikola Jokic, Russell Westbrook, and Luka Doncic.
10.Damian Lillard. There have been six series-ending shots in nba history. Damian lillard has two of them. Damian lillard is the clutchest player in the nba who also happens to average 28/4/8.He has established himself as the second best point guard in the league behind Steph Curry. Last year he carried a mediocre trailblazers team to the conference finals in a stacked western conference. On top of all this, he also had a legitimate case for mvp this season before he got hurt.
9. Joel Embiid. Joel Embiid is arguably the best center in the league. In all four seasons he has played so far he has averaged 20+ points per game, and his past three seasons he has averaged 11+ rebounds per game. He also is one of the best defenders in the league down low, making two all defensive teams so far. The most impressive thing about him to me is that he is doing this at age 26, his potential is crazy high.
8. Paul George. PG13 is probably a top three defender in the entire Nba. He has been first team all defense twice in his career, and besides Kawhi and Robert covington is probably the most lock down small forward in the Nba. On offense he averages 20-6-3 per game his career, solid for a lockdown defender. Last season he came in third for mvp, but would’ve finished first almost any other year. He averaged 28/8/4, led the league in steals, and was first team all defense. When he fully recovers this season i expect him to be this good again.
7. Steph curry. Steph Curry is the greatest shooter of all time. His three point percentage for his career, 44%, is the second highest all time behind his coach, steve kerr. He also has the highest free throw % of all time, 91%. Before he got hurt he had a four season streak going where he averaged 25+ points per game, five rebounds per game, and six assists per game every season. The final reason for him being this high is he has three rings, even if two of those were kinda carried. If he didn’t have such a serious injury right now he would probably be higher.
6. Kevin Durant. This might seem kind of low for KD, but he is dealing with a serious injury, a ruptured achilles, and is 31 years old. Although 31 isn’t that old, coming off a achilles injury at this age is tough. Before the injury he was arguably the best scorer in the league, averaging 27 for his career and 32 in the playoffs last season. He is one of the most efficient scorers in the league, and is a great three point shooter. Even though i don’t think he’ll be the same after this injury, i still see the four time scoring champ as a top six player in the league.
5. Anthony Davis. It’s crazy to think that AD isn’t even the best player on his team, but it’s true. Somehow the seven time all star, two time olympian, and three time block champ is the second best player on the Lakers. AD is still the best big man in the league, averaging 25 and 10 every season while being a defensive player of the year candidate every season. He is a efficient shooter and is a automatic free throw shooter, which is rare for a big man. If the season doesn’t get cancelled you can probably add a ring to his resume.
4. James harden. You can call him a stat padder if you want, but this dude is the best scorer stat wise since wilt. He has averaged over 29 points per game for five straight seasons, including last season where he averaged 36.1, the second most in a season ever. He also somehow does this with great rebounding numbers for a shooting guard, around 7 rebounds per game in the past five seasons, and great passing numbers. He averages 6.3 assists per game for his career, including 2016 when he led the league with 11.2. An underrated part of his game is his amount of steals. He averages 1.6 for his career.
3. Kawhi leonard. Kawhi is basically Paul George if Paul George could lead a team to a championship. Kawhi is a lockdown defender who can score at will. The two time defensive player of the year is arguably the best defensive player from this past decade, and has also made huge strides offensively. In his last three healthy seasons he has averaged 25 points per game while being the best defensive player in the league. Not to mention he has already taken down two dynasties in the finals, The KD warriors and Lebron heat. In those finals he won finals mvp twice, impressive considering he had to guard the two greatest players of the last decade.
2. Lebron james. Lebron might not be the best player in the league now, but he’s still probably the greatest player ever so it’s cool. So far i’ve mentioned that some players have averaged 25+ points per game for a few seasons, Lebron has averaged that for 16 straight seasons. He has done this while being the greatest passing big man in the game, averaging at least 7 assists almost every year of his career. He also averages a solid amount of rebounds for his career, 7.4. He’s been an all star 16 times, a all nba player 15 times, and an mvp four times, but he’s even better in the playoffs. Every single one of his stats go up when it comes to the playoffs, where he performs best. He also had arguably the greatest finals performance ever in 2016.
1. Giannis Antetokounmpo. There are only two weaknesses when it comes to Giannis- no jumpshot and hasn’t got far in the playoffs. That’ll change this season when he makes the finals. Even though he has only been elite for three years, he has been the most dominant player in the Nba by far in those three years. He has averaged over 27 points per game with 10+ rebounds and almost six assists. He does this without a jumpshot and playing way less minutes per game than most superstars. He also happens to be one of, if not the best defensive player in the league. He carries a good but not great Bucks team to a high seed every season in the playoffs, and this year i expect him to carry them to the finals, where they could win for sure. Giannis is only 25 years old, and i wouldn’t be suprised if he goes down as the goat.
Tygibby 