Giannis is the best player in the league

[game3524]

Overall I think he's the best which was proven in the past two Finals.

He's the best scorer in the league and makes it look effortless, can guard 1-5 on switches effectively, and now he's one of the best passers at his position (behind only Lebron).

There just isn't anything on the court that he doesn't do at an elite level and the scary thing is that he is still getting better and he's on a team that wasn't built around him like Curry's teams were.

A team built for Durant is one with speed, quickness, and length. So put him on the current Thunder and swap out PG for him and take out Westbrook for a point guard like Mike Conley and it'd be a match made in heaven for him.

Agreed.

KD is the perfect modern day basketball player. He can shoot, play make, play off the ball, defend every position. I still say LeBron is the best player, but if I am building a team from scratch, KD may be the guy I pick since he is the easiest guy to build around. Everyone else has a noticable flaw, but Durant really doesn't.

-LeBron-Can't play off the ball as well and shooting is inconsistent
-Curry-Durability, size, and is just not an elite athlete
-Harden-I am not sure his game translates in the playoffs.
-Westbrook-Broken shot and can't play off the ball.
-Giannis-Could get there, but shooting is a question.
-AD-I am not sure big guys are that impactful in todays game.
-Kawhi-Great two way player, but I think his scoring is limited.

[SamuraiSWISH]

Agreed.

KD is the perfect modern day basketball player. He can shoot, play-make, play off the ball, defend every position. I still say LeBron is the best player, but if I am building a team from scratch, KD may be the guy I pick since he is the easiest guy to build around.

The biggest factor is his portability and ability to play off the ball.

He

[tontoz]

Giannis is a beast but he needs to do something in the playoffs to be considered better than Lebron/KD/Steph.

[game3524]

[QUOTE=SamuraiSWISH]The biggest factor is his portability and ability to play off the ball.

He

[SamuraiSWISH]

Yup.

KD's portability and ability to dominate while playing off the ball is what makes him special. Like I said, I think LeBron is better, but I think what KD brings to the table is more valuable if you want to build a legit all-time caliber level team.

Quality basketball analysis and totally agreed

[AlternativeAcc.]

February hot takes

So bad.

[FKAri]

KD has a solid argument. But on GS his weaknesses aren't really put to the test like they were on the Thunder. I agree with his "portability" but I'm not really valuing that much for this.

It's hard to tell with LeCoast. We just don't know what his top gear looks like until and if he gets into the playoffs.

Steph, Harden, and AD? I don't see it. We'll see in the playoffs.

[Pointguard]

I think he is. He doesn't have off games because his aggression is always consistent. He doesn't have the convenience that all the other top tier have minus AD. And Giannis is on a losing team without him and they have the best record in the league. Harden is the only other player I would say that could pull that off right now. btw, Harden went into the Golden State alone and beat the three best shooters in the game by himself - he out shot all of them during the game and at the end. Its disgusting that you guys rarely mention him in these discussions. What does he have to do? If he has to do that in the playoffs then its not even up for discussion who is the best player. If the question is "who is" that just means now, today...

Durant is on arrested development. He joined a team and they never came close to their win total before him. So-be-it, if he proves himself outside of an obvious advantage situation I would probably have him as the best. Another strike against Durant is that OKC looks really good without him too. Nobody is going to say that about a Giannis or Harden team. Giannis on GS is a God so it becomes very hard to compare KD to others in this situation. Harden sees more triple and double teams than all the other players with Giannis as the only other player near that level.

Giannis is a lot like Jordan before Jordan really developed his J. He could go at the basket all night long with continued aggression. Kobe was similar. Giannis is a lot taller without their range.

[90sgoat]

Giannis is a beast but he needs to do something in the playoffs to be considered better than Lebron/KD/Steph.

Yes.

He is a beast tho and plays both sides of the court. Should probably also be a DPOY candidate.

I was very surprised to watch him vs Dallas for first time this year. Legit 7 foot monster.

[fsvr54]

I agree about KD, he's the best in the world right now.

Then its any order of Kawhi, Lebron, Curry, Giannis.

Thats the top 5 right now. It's not debatable.

After that I'd throw in AD and PG13 to round out the top 7.

[game3524]

I think he is. He doesn't have off games because his aggression is always consistent. He doesn't have the convenience that all the other top tier have minus AD. And Giannis is on a losing team without him and they have the best record in the league. Harden is the only other player I would say that could pull that off right now. btw, Harden went into the Golden State alone and beat the three best shooters in the game by himself - he out shot all of them during the game and at the end. Its disgusting that you guys rarely mention him in these discussions. What does he have to do? If he has to do that in the playoffs then its not even up for discussion who is the best player. If the question is "who is" that just means now, today...

Durant is on arrested development. He joined a team and they never came close to their win total before him. So-be-it, if he proves himself outside of an obvious advantage situation I would probably have him as the best. Another strike against Durant is that OKC looks really good without him too. Nobody is going to say that about a Giannis or Harden team. Giannis on GS is a God so it becomes very hard to compare KD to others in this situation. Harden sees more triple and double teams than all the other players with Giannis as the only other player near that level.

Giannis is a lot like Jordan before Jordan really developed his J. He could go at the basket all night long with continued aggression. Kobe was similar. Giannis is a lot taller without their range.

The 2016 Warriors had a SRS of 10.38 and the 2017 Warriors with KD had a SRS 11.35. I don't care that the Warriors didn't come close to winning 73 games (if they really cared, they could have broken their own record in 2017). The 2017 Warriors were significantly better then the 2016 Warriors. Without Durant, they are a great team. With KD, they are perhaps the greatest team of all-time.

Also bringing up how OKC is doing without Durant and comparing it to Harden and Giannis is disingenuous. When KD left, OKC still had another top 10 player in Russ and then the following year replaced him with another all-star player in Paul George. Of course the team isn't going to fall off the map when that happens. However, the fact that OKC isn't seen as a serious contender since Durant left says it all about his value.

[StrongLurk]

He is the least skilled player out of the top 10 players in the league. That's for sure.

[bison]

I

[k0kakw0rld]

Giannis is a beast but he needs to do something in the playoffs to be considered better than Lebron/KD/Steph.

Kawhi, AD, Paul George (they actually won playoffs series) are all better in this case?

[Marchesk]

I agree about KD, he's the best in the world right now.

Then its any order of Kawhi, Lebron, Curry, Giannis.

Thats the top 5 right now. It's not debatable.

After that I'd throw in AD and PG13 to round out the top 7.