When it comes to NBA superstars, there exists a clear hierarchy: LeBron James at the top, then Kevin Durant. It's in carving the third head on that totem pole where the going gets tough. To do so, The Mag first asked one exec from each of the 30 NBA teams to name the league's third-best player. The results were mixed: While 21-year-old Anthony Davis edged Chris Paul 10 votes to nine, 11 other execs named eight additional players...
Paul's ridiculous 0.270 WS/48 crushed the field, but that's typical; he's led all PGs in the stat each of the past seven seasons...
...despite Griffin's rep as a superior offensive player, his efficiency wanes from his high usage-and a surprisingly low rebound rate.
..."Chris sets up his scoring because he's such a threat to pass," says a Western Conference exec. "And Steph sets up his playmaking because he's such a threat to shoot."...
So the battle for bronze boils down to Paul vs. Love. And because Paul clearly topped Love in 2013-14 stats, we wage this one with a career metric: net rating, the measure of a team's production with a player on the floor. Through Nov. 12, Love's career net rating: plus-5.2. Paul's: plus-8.8. No contest. Conventional wisdom says Paul is the more complete player. And in this case, it's right.
No. 3's A Crowd
