Clippers in Sports Illustrated's Top 100 NBA Players for 2015-16

[Ranma]

With 3 in the latter half of the top 100 and presumably another 3 in the former half, the Clippers basically have their starting 5 and 6th man arguably ranked among the top 100 NBA players for the coming season. We have the talent and the depth, so it's just a matter of putting it together.


p.s. I don't want to see Austin Rivers tweet once he finds out he's not on the list. He's probably holding out hope for the top 50 to be announced before he rants on Twitter.

Ben Golliver & Rob Mahoney, Sports Illustrated (8/31/15)

SI.com's Top 100 NBA Players of 2016

[Ranma]

Talk about an embarrasment of riches, we even have two players on the roster who are noted as snubs albeit a newcomer with risks and a disgruntled impending free agent we're trying to deal away. As a bonus, I included former Clipper and likable trooper, Eric Gordon.

Ben Golliver & Rob Mahoney, Sports Illustrated (8/31/15)

Top 100 NBA Players of 2016: Snubs

[Ranma]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Joshua_Riddell/status/630490708022067200[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/rafael_uehara/status/638776121811668992[/tweet]

Joshua Riddell, BballBreakdown.com (8/9/15)

Where he once struggled to control himself after gathering too much momentum as a young player, he now is able to gather himself after multiple dribbles and attempt a good shot. He’s learned to manage his change of speeds and can contort his body into a viable shooting motion as needed. According to NBA Savant, Griffin made 43.8% of his shots after three dribbles and while this can be an inconsistent measure, the video does support how far he has come.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwmztzrxwnM[/youtube]
...

His assist rate has also skyrocketed to 26.2% this season, which led the league for players of his size, after remaining relatively level since his rookie season around 19%. This may just be a one-season blip, but when you see him make passes like these in transition alongside his pinpoint lobs to DeAndre Jordan, it’s hard not to assume he feels much more comfortable on the ball with his increased offensive tools helping him create for his teammates.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qYwbPt7FM8[/youtube]

With defenders forced to guard Griffin on more areas of the court, his gravity opened up space for his teammates and playing alongside the offensive juggernaut that was the Clippers first unit surrounded him with players able to finish his passes. His vision has also improved on the ball, seeing cutters and open teammates he didn’t always see early on in his career. When two defenders stunt out to him, his lobs to Jordan (76 total assists to Jordan) are always on point and end with a smash. This has turned him into arguably the best passing big man in the game and added more depth to his game by hammering the defense when they overcommit to him.

Tracking Blake Griffin’s Improvement as a Play-Maker

[Ranma]

Ben Golliver & Rob Mahoney, Sports Illustrated (9/2/15)

SI.com's Top 100 NBA Players of 2016

[Ranma]

Ben Golliver & Rob Mahoney, Sports Illustrated (9/3/15)

SI.com's Top 100 NBA Players of 2016

[nickhx2]

cp3 being ranked below harden and blake below westbrook is a complete joke

[Ranma]

Matthew McCreary, Scout.com (8/11/15)

How the West Was Won: L.A. Clippers

[og15]

cp3 being ranked below harden and blake below westbrook is a complete joke

Harden beat CP on age and health history

[Woodsanity]

Matthew McCreary, Scout.com (8/11/15)

How the West Was Won: L.A. Clippers

Thats a lot of green on Chris Paul's shot chart. He has become an even better mid range and 3 point shooter which is crazy!

[Ranma]

He's the biggest personality on the court every night, the president of the players' union and the unquestioned leader of the contending Clippers. But Chris Paul's also listed, generously, at 6 feet, 175.



Sure, Blake can still dunk all over defenders, but the five-time All-Star has transformed himself into a different player since the Clippers drafted him in 2009, adding a variety of new moves.

[Ranma]

i think 55-27 or 56-26 seems pretty fair. that said i think the 538 analysis feels shallow.

As nick has previously pointed out elsewhere, FiveThirtyEight's projections don't pass the eye test but it's a novelty that should evolve to eventually make more sense. Still, it is interesting to see how things look from a purely statistical point of view, which also furthers the notion that numbers don't tell the entire story. The rankings are based on FiveThirtyEight's CARMELO, which is WAR for the long-term in projecting wins above replacement for the next 6 seasons instead of taking into account 1 season. Ironically enough, the Knicks' Carmelo Anthony doesn't appear on the list of 53.

It is a little peculiar that a site famous for accurately predicting the electoral count of the past two presidential elections would have statistical modeling projecting both Marcus Smart and Elfrid Payton ahead of Blake Griffin in franchise player rankings. At least Jeff Van Gundy thinks Blake is undersold in MVP discussions in a recent podcast with Zach Lowe [51:23 time stamp].

Andrew Flowers, Nate Silver & Neil Paine, FiveThirtyEight.com (10/28/15)

8. Chris Paul (46.3)

Paul is one of just two players in his 30s to make the top 10 (you’ll have no trouble guessing the other). The precedents are reasonably favorable here: Point guards tend to age well compared with players at other positions, and well-rounded players like Paul tend to age better than one-dimensional ones. Given his reputation for postseason struggles, however, we couldn’t help but notice that none of Paul’s top five comps (Mark Price, John Stockton, Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, Terrell Brandon) won an NBA title in his prime.^4
...



15. Blake Griffin (36.5)

Griffin would have ranked higher on this list a year ago. There are a few mildly troubling signs in his stats, particularly a decline in his rebound rate last season. Furthermore, a number of his comparables (such as Terry Cummings and Derrick Coleman) had fairly early career peaks. But let’s not get carried away. Although his fame may stem from his ferocious dunks, Griffin has evolved into a great all-around player whom every NBA team would love to have. He’s increasingly stretching opposing defenses with his outside shot, and he’s an underrated passer and defender.
...



18. DeAndre Jordan (35.1)

You know what you’re getting here. Jordan’s skills are either elite (rebounding, shot-blocking) or cringe-worthy (shooting, passing). But as we wrote in our Clippers preview, “dunk-and-defense” guys like Jordan, Dale Davis and Tyson Chandler can be cogs in championship-caliber teams.

The 53 Best Franchise Players in the NBA

[Ranma]