RealGM

Just opened up the front page the Realgm and saw "Who will be the best player in 2017" and Drummond was one of the choices, good to see him getting some recognition but does anyone think he could be the best in '17?

I think it's possible but not likely. I have a feeling that unless Dre is leaps and bounds better than anyone else than a perimeter player like Durant or Wiggins will be considered the best. Also, Dre would severely need to improve his offensive game and I don't see him being a dominant go-to offensive player. I think he will be the best defensive player from that list though.

Not sure. I would bet on him being top 5 in terms of impact though. By then he will probably have defensive rotations down pat, and know all of the little tricks that come with experience.

i think next season statistically its going to be hard to argue for Dre , however i do think that 80% of the time when dre's on the court, he'll look like the best player or at least most "impactful" player, which will draw some discussion. But fact is its still bron bron

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2013/8/19/4 ... vin-durant


Its because of this site ranking the potential top 100 players of 2017...

They put Dre #3 behind Durant and Lebron and say at 24 he'll be just entering his prime as the best big in the league.

I think KD will be the best player, but Dre could be the best "big man" in the league in 2017.

I read this yesterday. I believe they put Monroe #28, Jennings 83 and Smith 84 as well

I think people overestimate the pace of a player's decline. Lebron James' game will probably be ever-so-slightly less athletic-based, with much more savvy. At 32, he'll still be putting everyone else to shame - especially a 21 year old Wiggins.

Lebron should still be at a high level 3-4 years from now, and even if he's not Durant (the probably frontrunner in 2017 depending on how Lebron ages) and others will be in their outright primes.

Drummond is the one thing about this Pistons team I am truly optimistic about, but I have a hard time imagining him being the best at that time.

Drummond is going to be a great player in this league but he wont ever be considered one of the best because he will never be a volume scorer. Even if he does develop some type of post or mid-range game, it's not going to be dominant and that is what it would take for him to be a volume scorer. I know he is only going to be 20 soon but even at that early of an age, you either have it or you don't.
How many players can you think of that came into the NBA as below average scorers ever became a great scorer? Zero. Now, how many players on a top 10 list of best NBA players from any year were not high scoring players? My guess would be not very many. Dennis Rodman was great at many things but never scoring. I dont think you could put him on the top 10 best players in the league any year for his entire career because of that. Ben Wallace? He was many, many things but never considered one of the top players in the sport.

I absolutely LOVE Drummond and cant wait to watch him develop, but the guy shouldn't be in any conversation as best player in the league. At least not now.

I like SB nations ranking. Though I think it could be 1. LeBron 2. Drummond 3. Durant.

LeBron will only be 32. If Jordan could be the best in the league still at 35, so can LeBron who is far bigger freak physically. In other words if Jordans body allowed him to dominate the league still at 35, I wouldn't bet against Lebron's.

Durant is an amazing scorer, but even if he's putting up 30 ppg, if Drummond is putting up 20/15 and dominating both ends of the court, I think he would have to be considered the better player at that point.

^Yes. People act like Lebron is going to be over the hill by then. He simply won't be. He MIGHT have lost just enough for Durant to pass him, but the more I think about it I'm not sure about that either.

imagump1313 wrote:Drummond is going to be a great player in this league but he wont ever be considered one of the best because he will never be a volume scorer. Even if he does develop some type of post or mid-range game, it's not going to be dominant and that is what it would take for him to be a volume scorer. I know he is only going to be 20 soon but even at that early of an age, you either have it or you don't.
How many players can you think of that came into the NBA as below average scorers ever became a great scorer? Zero. Now, how many players on a top 10 list of best NBA players from any year were not high scoring players? My guess would be not very many. Dennis Rodman was great at many things but never scoring. I dont think you could put him on the top 10 best players in the league any year for his entire career because of that. Ben Wallace? He was many, many things but never considered one of the top players in the sport.

I absolutely LOVE Drummond and cant wait to watch him develop, but the guy shouldn't be in any conversation as best player in the league. At least not now.

The question is about four years down the road, as you know. Are you seriously saying you can't think of a big man that came in the league as a garbage points scorer and eventually became a 20ish PPG guy? I can think of plenty, a lot of whom were extremely young when they entered the league.

KG averaged 10.4 PPG in 28.7 minutes as a 19-year-old rookie. His next three years were 17.0, 18.5, and 20.8. Jermaine O'Neal took six years to develop, starting at 18, and then averaged 20 points a game for four straight years. I'm sure there are plenty of others.

Drummond is not some athletic freak that doesn't have basketball skills. He's a solid passer for a big, his fadeaway looks decent already, he has quick feet and decent footwork already, and many other things in his favor. People focus on his crap FT% and think he's Ben Wallace on offense. That's not the case.

In three years, with an offense built more around him, he could certainly be a 20/15/2/2/4 player. That's far, far from guaranteed, but it's something that could actually happen. I'd hedge a little lower if I had to bet on it (maybe 17/13/1/1.5/3), and that player wouldn't be top 5 in the league, probably, but it's still close if he's an all-defense team member, too.

No, I don't think he'll be top 5. But I still voted for him.

As long as he's a top 2 or 3 center in the NBA in 2017 we're going to be a really good team... The idea of him being a top 5 player is kind of crazy but if he can be one of the best 2 or 3 big men in the league than we're going to be really really good the next 7-8 years.