RealGM

Continuing the tradition from last year, I’m offering here my power ranking for the top Canadians before the start of the new NBA season.

As before, I'm well aware that this might not be in line with the ranking of most people (in particular for one of the names below). But I tried to be honest when asking myself a simple question: If I were building my Canadian dream team (with the Tokyo Olympics in mind), who are the players that I would most want to see there, and more or less in what order? I'm writing from memory, so might be missing some guys. Feel free to add names/debate.

Here are my top-50:

1 Jamal Murray
2 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
3 Kelly Olynyk
4 Dwight Powell
5 Cory Joseph
6 Dillon Brooks
7 Brandon Clarke
8 RJ Barrett
9 Trey Lyles
10 Nickeil Alexander-Walker
11 Khem Birch
12 Tristan Thompson
13 Andrew Wiggins
14 Kevin Pangos
15 Melvin Ejim
16 Kyle Wiltjer
17 Phil Scrubb
18 Chris Boucher
19 Nik Stauskas
20 Mifiondu Kabengele
21 Andrew Nicholson
22 Oshae Brissett
23 Maryal Shayok
24 Luguentz Dort
25 Naz Mitrou-Long
26 Ignas Brazdeikis
27 Andrew Nembhard
28 Dylan Ennis
29 Kaza Kajami-Keane (KKK)
30 AJ Lawson
31 Aaron Best
32 Tyler Ennis
33 Thomas Scrubb
34 Brady Heslip
35 Anthony Bennett
36 Dayshawn Pierre
37 Kassius Robertson
38 Lindell Wigginton
39 Owen Klassen
40 Duane Notice
41 Conor Morgan
42 Aaron Doornekamp
43 Trae Bell-Haynes
44 Marc Trasolini
45 Andy Rautins
46 Simi Shitu
47 Koby McEwen
48 Karim Mane
49 Addison Patterson
50 MiKyle McIntosh

Your number one is wrong ...

1 Kawhi's Son (Mount Sinai Hospital)
2 Jamal Murray
3 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
4 Kelly Olynyk
5 Dwight Powell
6 etc...

NAW over AW is hilarious and I agree with it.

This is Olynyk's FIBA ranking, I presume.

The most glaring thing I noticed is that Canada does not produce any big men. Lots of starters/all star caliber Guards and wings but nothing for PF and C.

bongmarley wrote:The most glaring thing I noticed is that Canada does not produce any big men. Lots of starters/all star caliber Guards and wings but nothing for PF and C.

Mostly power forwards but I think 6 of the top 12 are 4s or 5s after taking a quick glance.

Zeno wrote:

bongmarley wrote:The most glaring thing I noticed is that Canada does not produce any big men. Lots of starters/all star caliber Guards and wings but nothing for PF and C.

Mostly power forwards but I think 6 of the top 12 are 4s or 5s after taking a quick glance.

None of those 6 are really any good though, and i don't really think they should be in the top 10

Love it Hair - I was about to do this too.
Here are my 50:

1 Jamal Murray
2 Shai Gilgeous Alexander
3 Dwight Powell
4 Kelly Olynyk
5 Andrew Wiggins
6 Tristan Thompson
7 Dillon Brooks
8 Brandon Clarke
9 Cory Joseph
10 Khem Birch
11 RJ Barrett
12 Trey Lyles
13 Andrew Nicholson
14 Chris Boucher
15 Nik Stauskas
16 Kevin Pangos
17 Nickeil Alexander Walker
18 Tyler Ennis
19 Melvin Ejim
20 Aaron Doornkamp
21 Kyle Wiltjer
22 Dylan Ennis
23 Naz Mitrou Long
24 Mfiondu Kabengele
25 Marial Shayok
26 Anthony Bennett
27 Oshae Brissett
28 Dejan Kravic
29 Phil Scrubb
30 Thomas Scrubb
31 Conor Morgan
32 Dyshawn Pierre
33 Stefan Jankovic
34 Kassius Robertson
35 Ignas Brazdeikis
36 Luguentz Dort
37 Kenny Chery
38 Andy Rautins
39 Aaron Best
40 Kaza Kajami Keane
41 Joel Anthony
42 Johnny Berkmanskel
43 Owen Klassen
44 Mikyle McIntosh
45 Olivier Hanlan
46 Lindell Wigginton
47 Marc Tasolini
48 Andrew Nembhard
49 AJ Lawson
50 Brady Heslip

And Hair - my debate to you is you are missing a few high end Euro guys that seem easy Top 50 to me.

Kenny Chery
Johhny Berkmanskel
Dejan Kravic
Stefan Jankovic

They are all playing in top tier Euro domestic leagues and a couple are playing EuroCup even. Kenny Chery is criminally underrated and I probably have him too low. You can argue against Kravic and Jank as they are Serb as well. But neither have played for Serbia, both raised in Canada and eligible to play for Canada. If you want to take them off - then Iggy needs to go too And maybe Mitrou-Long.

Also think you rate Doornekamp far too low - he frankly has a better pro resume than Ejim. I'm not saying he is better than Ejim, but he is in that Tier. Too me he is probably better than all Euro based guys except Pangos, Stauskas, Ennis, Ejim.

And I think you have Brady Heslip way too high too. He can barely keep a job in Europe as he is so hideously bad on D. Rautins is a better all around player along with most of the experienced pros you have in the 40s.

mojo13 wrote:And Hair - my debate to you is you are missing a few high end Euro guys that seem easy Top 50 to me.

Kenny Chery
Johhny Berkmanskel
Dejan Kravic
Stefan Jankovic

They are all playing in top tier Euro domestic leagues and a couple are playing EuroCup even. Kenny Chery is criminally underrated and I probably have him too low. You can argue against Kravic and Jank as they are Serb as well. But neither have played for Serbia, both raised in Canada and eligible to play for Canada. If you want to take them off - then Iggy needs to go too And maybe Mitrou-Long.

Also think you rate Doornekamp far too low - he frankly has a better pro resume than Ejim. I'm not saying he is better than Ejim, but he is in that Tier. Too me he is probably better than all Euro based guys except Pangos, Stauskas, Ennis, Ejim.

And I think you have Brady Heslip way too high too. He can barely keep a job in Europe as he is so hideously bad on D. Rautins is a better all around player along with most of the experienced pros you have in the 40s.

These are all good points mojo. Chery I would probably put in somewhere in the 30s, but forgot about him. Berkmanskel, Kravic and Jankovic I haven't watched at all, so tough for me to say.

In general, I believe I give a bit more precedence to the young fellas in my ranking than you do. That's mainly because my criterion is who I would take for next years' Olympics (or qualifiers), and so I assume a year or so of the chance to improve. But you might be right if judging solely based on current abilities.

Heslip I think can be a useful bench piece for team Canada for limited minutes, regardless of how he does in his club teams. Both him and WIltjer are horrible defenders (as is Pangos, though not to the same degree), but surrounded by the right players and for limited playing time they can be useful because of their elite shooting.

I think Wiggins is low on your list. Otherwise...looks pretty good.

I'm one of the delusional fans that hasn't given up on Wiggins yet. I just can't let go

Hair Canada wrote:

mojo13 wrote:And Hair - my debate to you is you are missing a few high end Euro guys that seem easy Top 50 to me.

Kenny Chery
Johhny Berkmanskel
Dejan Kravic
Stefan Jankovic

They are all playing in top tier Euro domestic leagues and a couple are playing EuroCup even. Kenny Chery is criminally underrated and I probably have him too low. You can argue against Kravic and Jank as they are Serb as well. But neither have played for Serbia, both raised in Canada and eligible to play for Canada. If you want to take them off - then Iggy needs to go too And maybe Mitrou-Long.

Also think you rate Doornekamp far too low - he frankly has a better pro resume than Ejim. I'm not saying he is better than Ejim, but he is in that Tier. Too me he is probably better than all Euro based guys except Pangos, Stauskas, Ennis, Ejim.

And I think you have Brady Heslip way too high too. He can barely keep a job in Europe as he is so hideously bad on D. Rautins is a better all around player along with most of the experienced pros you have in the 40s.

These are all good points mojo. Chery I would probably put in somewhere in the 30s, but forgot about him. Berkmanskel, Kravic and Jankovic I haven't watched at all, so tough for me to say.

In general, I believe I give a bit more precedence to the young fellas in my ranking than you do. That's mainly because my criterion is who I would take for next years' Olympics (or qualifiers), and so I assume a year or so of the chance to improve. But you might be right if judging solely based on current abilities.

Heslip I think can be a useful bench piece for team Canada for limited minutes, regardless of how he does in his club teams. Both him and WIltjer are horrible defenders (as is Pangos, though not to the same degree), but surrounded by the right players and for limited playing time they can be useful because of their elite shooting.

Gotcha.
I was thinking in more of a vacuum. Abilities of players today (which discounts the youngsters)?with no consideration for FIBA. I’m a big believer that FIBA is a very different game and that would change my rankings meaningfully. For one I have Wiggins way too high if this is FIBA (I think I have him too high regardless). I’d move KO above Powell too.

jrask wrote:I think Wiggins is low on your list. Otherwise...looks pretty good.

I'm one of the delusional fans that hasn't given up on Wiggins yet. I just can't let go

Let him go... it's a very liberating feeling

Seriously though, as I said before, I have no ill will with Wiggins and would be happy if he somehow turns things around. It's nothing personal. But after these last two years, one has to be realistic. Nevermind that he's not the best Canadian player. He's not even a good NBA player at this point. His team was better without him than with him last year. And, unfortunately, he himself doesn't recognize this. So I am not joking when I say I would take Brooks, Clarke, Birch or CoJo to my team before him. Not even considering the horrible contract. I truly think they bring more value to their teams.

bongmarley wrote:The most glaring thing I noticed is that Canada does not produce any big men. Lots of starters/all star caliber Guards and wings but nothing for PF and C.

A lot of nations only dream of having bigs like Olynyk, Lyles, Powell and TT.

bongmarley wrote:The most glaring thing I noticed is that Canada does not produce any big men. Lots of starters/all star caliber Guards and wings but nothing for PF and C.

It's been downhill since Jamaal Magloire.

Hair Canada wrote:

jrask wrote:I think Wiggins is low on your list. Otherwise...looks pretty good.

I'm one of the delusional fans that hasn't given up on Wiggins yet. I just can't let go

Let him go... it's a very liberating feeling

Seriously though, as I said before, I have no ill will with Wiggins and would be happy if he somehow turns things around. It's nothing personal. But after these last two years, one has to be realistic. Nevermind that he's not the best Canadian player. He's not even a good NBA player at this point. His team was better without him than with him last year. And, unfortunately, he himself doesn't recognize this. So I am not joking when I say I would take Brooks, Clarke, Birch or CoJo to my team before him. Not even considering the horrible contract. I truly think they bring more value to their teams.

You're probably right. I should just let him go

He's just such a great athlete....he should be great at something. His athleticism is off the charts

Kabookalu wrote:

bongmarley wrote:The most glaring thing I noticed is that Canada does not produce any big men. Lots of starters/all star caliber Guards and wings but nothing for PF and C.

It's been downhill since Jamaal Magloire.

Jamaal Magloire was nothing special either.

An average NBA player. Don't let the All Star appearance fool you.

Wiggins: "There's not 12 Canadian ballers better than me!" LOL

#drinkthepink

Tristan Thompson should be in your top 5 and SGA and Powell should not (SGA not yet), don't think Dillon Brooks is top 10

Yallbecrazy wrote:Tristan Thompson should be in your top 5 and SGA and Powell should not (SGA not yet), don't think Dillon Brooks is top 10

I agree with HairCanada - TT is not a Top 5 player for FIBA in particular.

In the NBA you have a better argument. I have him at 6, but you can easily convince me he is better than Wiggins.