Top 50 NBA Players Right Now

[G.O.A.T]

Honorable Mention: Deron Williams, Josh Smith, Klay Thompson, Monta Ellis, Chandler Parsons, Aaron Afflalo, Bradley Beal, Rudy Gay, Isaiah Thomas, Lance Stephenson, Joe Johnson, Jeff Green, Andre Iguodala, Andrew Bogut, Brandon Jennings, Loul Deng, Taj Gibson

50. Kyle Lowry - 28 years old

49. Paul Pierce - 36 years old

48. Kenneth Faried - 24 years old

47. Nikola Pekovic - 28 years old

46. Eric Bledsoe - 24 years old

45. Greg Monroe - 24 years old

44. David West - 33 years old

43. Paul Millsap - 29 years old

42. Ty Lawson - 26 years old

41. Mike Conley - 26 years old

40. DeMar Derozen - 24 years old

39. David Lee - 31 years old

38. Zach Randolph - 32 years old

37. Rajon Rondo - 28 years old

36. Serge Ibaka - 24 years old

35. Al Horford - 28 years old

34. DeAndre Jordan - 25 years old

33. Roy Hibbert - 27 years old

32. Chris Bosh - 30 years old

31. Brook Lopez - 26 years old

30. Pau Gasol - 33 years old

29. Marc Gasol - 29 years old

28. Al Jefferson - 29 years old

27. Kwahi Leonard - 23 years old

26. Andre Drummond - 20 years old

25. Kyrie Irving - 22 years old

24. John Wall - 23 years old

23. Dwyane Wade - 32 years old

22. DeMarcus Cousins - 23 years old

21. Goran Dragic - 28 years old

20. Damian Lillard - 23 years old

19. Tony Parker - 32 years old

18. Joakim Noah - 29 years old

17. Dirk Nowitzki - 36 years old

16. Kobe Bryant - 35 years old

15. Tim Duncan - 38 years old

14. Derrick Rose - 25 years old

13. Carmelo Anthony - 30 years old

12. LaMarcus Aldridge - 28 years old

11. James Harden - 24 years old

10. Blake Griffin - 25 years old

9. Dwight Howard - 28 years old

8. Anthony Davis - 21 years old

7. Kevin Love - 25 years old

6. Paul George - 24 years old

5. Russell Westbrook - 25 years old

4. Steph Curry - 26 years old

3. Chris Paul - 29 years old

2. Kevin Durant - 25 years old

1. LeBron James - 29 years old

[MellowYellow]

Hope this isn't in order, cuz your list is would be way off base

[Cone]

Monta should be on here, imo.

[moe94]

Lowry is painfully underrated. smh @ a lot of the names before him. What's even funnier is your love for point guards in the top 5. WTF.

[G.O.A.T]

Monta should be on here, imo.

One of the last one's I left out along with Lance Stephenson, Isaiah Thomas, Afflalo, Parsons and Klay Thompson.

Who would you take out?

[Duggrr]

50. Josh Smith - 28 years old

49. Kyle Lowry - 28 years old

48. Paul Pierce - 36 years old

47. Deron Williams - 30 years old

46. Ty Lawson - 26 years old

45. Nikola Pekovic - 28 years old

44. Eric Bledsoe - 24 years old

43. Greg Monroe - 24 years old

42. David West - 33 years old

41. Paul Millsap - 29 years old

40. Mike Conley - 26 years old

39. DeMar Derozen - 24 years old

38. David Lee - 31 years old

37. Kenneth Faried - 24 years old

36. Zach Randolph - 32 years old

35. Rajon Rondo - 28 years old

34. Serge Ibaka - 24 years old

33. Al Horford - 28 years old

32. DeAndre Jordan - 25 years old

31. Roy Hibbert - 27 years old

30. Chris Bosh - 30 years old

29. Brook Lopez - 26 years old

28. Pau Gasol - 33 years old

27. Marc Gasol - 29 years old

26. Al Jefferson - 29 years old

25. Kwahi Leonard - 23 years old

24. Andre Drummond - 20 years old

23. Kyrie Irving - 22 years old

22. John Wall - 23 years old

21. Dwyane Wade - 32 years old

20. DeMarcus Cousins - 23 years old

19. Goran Dragic - 28 years old

18. Damian Lillard - 23 years old

17. Tony Parker - 32 years old

16. Dirk Nowitzki - 36 years old

15. Kobe Bryant - 35 years old

14. Tim Duncan - 38 years old

13. Derrick Rose - 25 years old

12. Carmelo Anthony - 30 years old

11. LaMarcus Aldridge - 28 years old

10. James Harden - 24 years old

9. Dwight Howard - 28 years old

8. Anthony Davis - 21 years old

7. Kevin Love - 25 years old

6. Paul George - 24 years old

5. Russell Westbrook - 25 years old

4. Steph Curry - 26 years old

3. Chris Paul - 29 years old

2. Kevin Durant - 25 years old

1. LeBron James - 29 years old

Bolds are overrated, and I think you forgot Blake Griffin?

And maybe i'm biased because the Knicks are 2nd favorite team, but I would consider Carmelo top 5 or 6.

[Legends66NBA7]

@ G.O.A.T.

Is this a projection for next season or based off last seasons results ?

[G.O.A.T]

Bolds are overrated, and I think you forgot Blake Griffin?

Thank you, I must have erased Blake when I transferred the list of names...Also lost Noah

edited now.

[BuffaloBill]

Blake Griffin so underrated. Not even top 50?

[20Four]

50. Josh Smith - 28 years old

49. Kyle Lowry - 28 years old

48. Paul Pierce - 36 years old

47. Deron Williams - 30 years old

46. Ty Lawson - 26 years old

45. Nikola Pekovic - 28 years old

44. Eric Bledsoe - 24 years old

43. Greg Monroe - 24 years old

42. David West - 33 years old

41. Paul Millsap - 29 years old

40. Mike Conley - 26 years old

39. DeMar Derozen - 24 years old

38. David Lee - 31 years old

37. Kenneth Faried - 24 years old

36. Zach Randolph - 32 years old

35. Rajon Rondo - 28 years old

34. Serge Ibaka - 24 years old

33. Al Horford - 28 years old

32. DeAndre Jordan - 25 years old

31. Roy Hibbert - 27 years old

30. Chris Bosh - 30 years old

29. Brook Lopez - 26 years old

28. Pau Gasol - 33 years old

27. Marc Gasol - 29 years old

26. Al Jefferson - 29 years old

25. Kwahi Leonard - 23 years old

24. Andre Drummond - 20 years old

23. Kyrie Irving - 22 years old

22. John Wall - 23 years old

21. Dwyane Wade - 32 years old

20. DeMarcus Cousins - 23 years old

19. Goran Dragic - 28 years old

18. Damian Lillard - 23 years old

17. Tony Parker - 32 years old

16. Dirk Nowitzki - 36 years old

15. Kobe Bryant - 35 years old

14. Tim Duncan - 38 years old

13. Derrick Rose - 25 years old

12. Carmelo Anthony - 30 years old

11. LaMarcus Aldridge - 28 years old

10. James Harden - 24 years old

9. Dwight Howard - 28 years old

8. Anthony Davis - 21 years old

7. Kevin Love - 25 years old

6. Paul George - 24 years old

5. Russell Westbrook - 25 years old

4. Steph Curry - 26 years old

3. Chris Paul - 29 years old

2. Kevin Durant - 25 years old

1. LeBron James - 29 years old
Nah mang, since he lost and disappeared in the finals he's not number 1 anymore.... :no: :no: :no:

[RoundMoundOfReb]

Irving too high but other than that surprisingly decent

[Duggrr]

My personal top 10:

1. LeBron James
2. Kevin Durant
3. Chris Paul
4. Russell Westbrook
5. Carmelo Anthony
6-9 (All tied, IMO.) ---> Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge, Dwight Howard, Steph Curry
10. Kevin Love

[Jameerthefear]

Nah mang, since he lost and disappeared in the finals he's not number 1 anymore.... :no: :no: :no:
Quiet stumpy. Go crawl back under your rock.

[russwest0]

Westbrook just demolished Chris Paul in a playoff series but people still rank Paul as the best PG?

LeBron over Durant after Durant outplayed him last season and it appears LeBron may decline from here on out?

[G.O.A.T]

Blake Griffin so underrated. Not even top 50?

I deleted him and Noah when I transferred the main list, added now.


Nah mang, since he lost and disappeared in the finals he's not number 1 anymore....

Someone has to come take that spot. Durant didn't play at the same level in the playoffs and IMO didn't do quite enough to overtake James.


Irving too high but other than that surprisingly decent

Nice backhanded compliment. Which guards would you place above Irving?

[moe94]

Westbrook just demolished Chris Paul in a playoff series but people still rank Paul as the best PG?

LeBron over Durant after Durant outplayed him last season and it appears LeBron may decline from here on out?


How did Westbrook "demolish" Chris Paul?

In one, you're talking about the regular season to say player x is better than player y, and then in the other you're talking about a playoff series. Have some consistency. :lol

Did Durant perform better in the playoffs than LeBron?

[Legends66NBA7]

Going into next season, I would figure DeRozan would continue to improve and possibly surpass Lowry, but even then I can't really see Lowry dropping his level of play too much if he resigns with the team.

The only PG's for sure that are over him last season were:

Tier 1

Paul
Westbrook
Curry

Tier 2

Lillard
Wall
Lowry
Dragic

Tier 3
Irving
Conley
Lawson
Bledsoe
Williams


I would think he was certainly Top 25 last season. Perhaps he would continue that next season if he stays healthy again ?

[SouBeachTalents]

Wade & Bosh too low, dey superstars

[G.O.A.T]

Westbrook just demolished Chris Paul in a playoff series but people still rank Paul as the best PG?

I wouldn't call it destroying him, thats for sure.

Westbrook - 26-6-9-2 on 49/35/88 with 4 turnovers a game

Paul - 23-4-12-3 on 51/46/75 with 2 turnovers a game

I'd call that a push honestly, slight edge to Westbrook because his team advanced and I feel the two teams have comparable talent levels.


LeBron over Durant after Durant outplayed him last season and it appears LeBron may decline from here on out?

LeBron had a better playoffs and considering that James had been to three straight finals and and won 4 of the last 5 MVP's I feel like Durant had much more motivation in the regular season. It's close but I still got LeBron.

To me he is only showing signs of fading on the defensive side of the ball, he is the best offensively he's ever been IMO.



Wade & Bosh too low, dey superstars


Where would you have them?

[SouBeachTalents]

Where would you have them?

Lol, I was just kidding, where you have them is good

[ralph_i_el]

Lol, I was just kidding, where you have them is good
Wade might be lower due to durability

[Sarcastic]

Do you honestly think teams would be bending over backwards to get Aldridge, George, or Harden the way they are doing now for Melo? Do you think SportsCenter will be giving updates every 15 minutes on which cities they are going to next?

I think they wouldn't. So how can they be better than Melo if they aren't as coveted?

[Legends66NBA7]

Do you honestly think teams would be bending over backwards to get Aldridge, George, or Harden the way they are doing now for Melo?

2 are tied up to big contracts already, with potential to improve. Aldridge got offered the max, 5 year/$108 million.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11142908/lamarcus-aldridge-portland-trail-blazers-offered-max-extension

[G.O.A.T]

Do you honestly think teams would be bending over backwards to get Aldridge, George, or Harden the way they are doing now for Melo? Do you think SportsCenter will be giving updates every 15 minutes on which cities they are going to next?

I think they wouldn't. So how can they be better than Melo if they aren't as coveted?

It's an interesting point, other than the SportsCenter part. Aldridge and George really just arrived in the last 12-14 months, and Harden has only been an elite guy for two years. I do think when the time comes for them to hit the market there will be similar attention paid.

If the Knicks hadn't been such a disaster, I would probably have Melo over Harden, George passed Carmelo in last years playoffs in my mind, being a two-way player is huge. Aldridge is arguably the best PF in the game, or at least had a season to put him in that discussion. Sometimes I wonder if he isn't more Elvin Hayes than I like though with the lower percentage shooting for a big.

[NuggetsFan]

You won't find a single Nuggets fan who thinks Faried is a better player than Lawson. Lawson is quite clearly the best Nuggets player and has been ever since he was slotted into the starting role. Completely controls the tempo of the team.

He's pretty underrated. Averaged 18/9 this season banged up with a hurt Nuggets roster and while they never made the playoffs, they weren't complete garbage. Averaged 17/7 the year before on a super deep 57 win team, and 21/8/3 in the playoffs. 19/6 the year before.

[G.O.A.T]

You won't find a single Nuggets fan who thinks Faried is a better player than Lawson. Lawson is quite clearly the best Nuggets player and has been ever since he was slotted into the starting role. Completely controls the tempo of the team.

He's pretty underrated. Averaged 18/9 this season banged up with a hurt Nuggets roster and while they never made the playoffs, they weren't complete garbage. Averaged 17/7 the year before on a super deep 57 win team, and 21/8/3 in the playoffs. 19/6 the year before.


I liked Lawson a lot more last year, though I admit I didn't watch nearly as many Nuggets games once they started to fade. When I did watch, I felt as if Lawson's shot selection had gotten worse and I though he's better than I thought he'd be, I still wish he was a better three point shooter. I love Faried's production and the fact that he gets everything on his own, but his defense as a big does bother me. I looked at those two a lot to decide who I wanted to put above who.

I appreciate you're perspective being a Nuggets fan and having heard from more Nuggets fans and seen more action. I'll look at those two again compared to the field and reevaluate.

[Sarcastic]

It's an interesting point, other than the SportsCenter part. Aldridge and George really just arrived in the last 12-14 months, and Harden has only been an elite guy for two years. I do think when the time comes for them to hit the market there will be similar attention paid.

If the Knicks hadn't been such a disaster, I would probably have Melo over Harden, George passed Carmelo in last years playoffs in my mind, being a two-way player is huge. Aldridge is arguably the best PF in the game, or at least had a season to put him in that discussion. Sometimes I wonder if he isn't more Elvin Hayes than I like though with the lower percentage shooting for a big.


Forget about the SportsCenter part. Why are teams putting up billboards in every city that Melo goes to, if he is only the 12th or 13th best player in the NBA?


Either those teams are extremely dumb, or your list is flawed. One or the other.

[Sarcastic]

2 are tied up to big contracts already, with potential to improve. Aldridge got offered the max, 5 year/$108 million.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11142908/lamarcus-aldridge-portland-trail-blazers-offered-max-extension


I know about their contract situations. Many players get max contracts. Joe Johnson got a max contract. Not all max contract players are equal.


My question was: do you think Aldridge will get a billboard in every city he goes to when he is an unrestricted free agent?

[G.O.A.T]

Forget about the SportsCenter part. Why are teams putting up billboards in every city that Melo goes to, if he is only the 12th or 13th best player in the NBA?

Either those teams are extremely dumb, or your list is flawed. One or the other.

I'm just not following the logic. Not every player is a free agent right now who has expressed interest in being courted.

He's the best free agent teams feel they have a shot to get. If you notice though, the teams trying to get him have other players in my top 25 so that might suggest that they see Carmelo as a 2nd or 3rd option. (i.e Houston and Chicago) or at the least, one part of a big three like Miami has.

Explain to me basketball reasons why Carmelo is definitive better than any guys above him and we can have a good conversation, but I'm not convinced the way you are that all the attention for Carmelo means he's a top five or ten guy.

[NuggetsFan]

I liked Lawson a lot more last year, though I admit I didn't watch nearly as many Nuggets games once they started to fade. When I did watch, I felt as if Lawson's shot selection had gotten worse and I though he's better than I thought he'd be, I still wish he was a better three point shooter. I love Faried's production and the fact that he gets everything on his own, but his defense as a big does bother me. I looked at those two a lot to decide who I wanted to put above who.

I appreciate you're perspective being a Nuggets fan and having heard from more Nuggets fans and seen more action. I'll look at those two again compared to the field and reevaluate.

Yeah I obviously have bias with Lawson vs other PG's but with Faried I don't. Honestly don't even think Faried would be considered are 2nd or 3rd best player now with AA + a potentially healthy Gallo. He took some big steps the 2nd half of this season and went on a tear so maybe that's a sign of things to come but besides that he doesn't have much of a post game & no jumper. Excellent motor, great rebounder and great at finishing plays Lawson usually creates. Defense is probably the thing most Nuggets fans want him to work at but Lawson is nothing special there himself.

Lawson's FG% took a hit this year, got the line more and shot almost 36% from deep so was still only taking 13 shots to score almost 18 a game. 55% TS which is actually higher than last year I believe. 3rd in the league in assists as well. I think he'll get his dues next season with Denver being more competitive and him putting up similar numbers.

[Legends66NBA7]

My question was: do you think Aldridge will get a billboard in every city he goes to when he is an unrestricted free agent?

You stated hyperbole about how teams wouldn't bend over for George, Aldridge, and Harden. Tracy McGrady got a mini-parade from Chicago when he UFA in 2000. He wasn't even an all-star by that time. McGrady at the time wasn't better than any of the players mentioned above. I'm sure Blake Griffin would get similar treatment and some don't even think he's better than Aldridge.

Stay on topic and discuss their production from last year and project them going forward.

[MellowYellow]

Melo 27.4/ 8.1/ 3.1 1.2 stl .7 blk on 45/40/85 played much better defense the last couple years, certainly not a lock-down defender but he isn't a negative on that end either as the Knicks were a much better defensive team when he was on the floor.

George 21.7/ 6.8/ 3.5 1.9 stl .3 blk on 42/36/86 elite defender, but playing with a great defensive team I think he gets overrated a bit on that side of the floor.

Only way I see someone putting george ahead of Melo is if they expect a significant leap from him next year in a lot of areas and I just dont see it happening.

[Sarcastic]

I'm just not following the logic. Not every player is a free agent right now who has expressed interest in being courted.

He's the best free agent teams feel they have a shot to get. If you notice though, the teams trying to get him have other players in my top 25 so that might suggest that they see Carmelo as a 2nd or 3rd option. (i.e Houston and Chicago) or at the least, one part of a big three like Miami has.

Explain to me basketball reasons why Carmelo is definitive better than any guys above him and we can have a good conversation, but I'm not convinced the way you are that all the attention for Carmelo means he's a top five or ten guy.


Better scorer than all. Better rebounder than all except for Aldridge, but probably better per position. Defense is extremely underrated. He finished 7th in PER last year, ahead of Aldridge, George, and Harden.

[ZaaaaaH]

Where is LeBron?

[dabigbaws]

westbrook is the best PG.

[RoundMoundOfReb]

Nice backhanded compliment. Which guards would you place above Irving?
It was a legit compliment. Most people on this forum are morons. Was expecting far worse. And Lowry for one.

[BuffaloBill]

Noah is 29 years old? wow

[Yankstar]

Blake @ 10? :facepalm
Guess that is what third in MVP voting get you :rolleyes:

[kennethgriffin]

dumb list

kobe healthy = top 5 player

kobe injured = not even top 100


to rank him this low is dumb because hes either gonna average 25/5/5 or not play at all


just as silly as espn

[G.O.A.T]

Blake @ 10? :facepalm
Guess that is what third in MVP voting get you :rolleyes:


Why aren't you even more outraged about Noah?

[Yankstar]

Why aren't you even more outraged about Noah?

Blakes my boy :pimp: