With all the big free agents locked up, the NBA off-season is slowly coming to a close and the start of another season is quickly approaching. Here are the NBA top players 10-1.
NBA Top Players: The Top Ten
10. Demarcus Cousins
Cousins is undoubtedly the league’s best center. The things this man can do around the rim is simply incredible. Even with all the questions surrounding him with his coaching staff, and his off-court antics, there is nothing that stops Cousins once he hits the court. Surround Cousins with some talent and the Sacramento Kings will be a dominant team.
9. Paul George
George averaged 23.1 points along with seven rebounds and 4.1 assists this past season after coming off of a broken leg. An injury like that can ruin someone’s whole career and potentially make them never play again. It was just incredible seeing him come back to play at the level he did, especially in the playoffs against the Toronto Raptors. An Indiana Pacers team without Paul George is not very good. A Pacers team with Paul George will always be a playoff contender. They can even be a team that can make some noise in the playoffs. It’s as simple as that.
8. James Harden
If this top 10 was based purely on offence than Harden would in the top three, but it’s not. He is not as bad defensively as his reputation seems to state. Television media likes to capture the really bad moments, and as a result sometimes he can appear to be really lazy. Harden is a superstar and nothing can change that. As former teammate Kevin Durant said: “Anybody that can put up 29 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and not make the All-NBA team, that’s like a sin to even think about not putting a guy like that on the All-NBA team.”
7. Chris Paul
Chris Paul is an absolute workhorse, even at just six feet tall. This past season, the main contributor of “Lob City” averaged 19.5 points, 10 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game. Not bad for one of the smaller guys in the league. The video of Deandre Jordan and Blake Griffin’s reaction when the Clippers got Paul in a trade in 2011 is all you need, to see how good he is. At 31 years old, it doesn’t look like he is slowing down any time soon.
6. Anthony Davis
Watching Davis take the basketball court is an absolute thrill. That 59 points, 20 rebounds game is one the best games any player has had in the past century. However, it is just one of many examples of how good he is. On the other hand, he needs to stay healthy and hit the court going forward. In his first four seasons in the NBA, Davis hasn’t played more than 68 games in a single season. His lowest total of 61 games coming just this past season. He has endless amounts of potential and can be one of the league’s top scorers for years to come if he manages to stay healthy.
5. Kawhi Leonard
Kawhi, the best defensive player in the league, is just so amusing to watch night in and night out. His speed and athleticism is a very hard combination to find, and he makes it look quite easy. His defensive may be unbelievable but his offence isn’t too shabby either, as he averaged 21 points per game. At only 24 years old, he’s already won two defensive player of year awards and there may be many, many more to come.
4. Kevin Durant
It’s been almost a month since Durant signed with the Golden State Warriors, but it is still very weird to actually picture him in that jersey. Luckily for the Warriors, they are getting one of the best all-around players in the world. Durant averaged 28.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and five assists per game last year. If the Warriors are down by one with possession and three seconds left in the fourth quarter, is it Curry or Durant taking that final shot? Will Durant’s offensive numbers go up or go down playing with three other stars this upcoming season? There will are so many questions that will be answered in the upcoming months.
3. Steph Curry
The fact that Steph Curry had more than 400 three pointers this year, while no other player even had 300 shows just how incredible he is. The Warriors go as far as Curry takes them. Last year showed that when Curry started playing poorly, the Warriors started playing bad basketball. They would end up blowing the 3-1 series lead to the Cavs. The most dominant shooter in NBA history is still the main key to success for the Warriors, even with Durant entering the picture.
2. Russell Westbrook
Now that Durant is out of the picture, Westbrook is going to truly show what he is made of and how far he can take this Oklahoma City Thunder team. This past season he put up a staggering 18 triple doubles (yes, you read that right, 18). He also averaged 23.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 10.4 assists per game. With Durant gone, Westbrook is the odds-on favourite to win MVP next season. He is the greatest player to ever suit up for Oklahoma City (sorry Durant).
1. LeBron James
This one is just too obvious. It’s crazy to believe that James has been the best player in the league now for a decade, and he is clearly not going to slow down any time soon. Down 3-1 to the Warriors with Kevin Love struggling, LeBron James did exactly what he had to do, which was be LeBron James. He almost single-handedly brought the Cavs back and finally gave the city a championship. He may very well be the best player of all time.
CLEVELAND, OH – JUNE 09: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers goes to the basket against the Golden State Warriors during Game Three of the 2015 NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena on June 9, 2015 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Cem Ozdel/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
