DCZards wrote:nate33 wrote:We can be fans but still evaluate him realistically. I stand by my assessment that he's around the 20th best player in the league. I really don't see why you would think otherwise. Going by the numbers, or by the wins, or by intangibles like leadership or clutch play, how does he crack the top 16 or so?
Perhaps he's "worth" more to ownership because he's an exciting player who makes a lot of highlight plays and puts fans in their seats. There's nothing wrong with that. But, on the court, I think there's somewhere between 16-25 players who would do a better job of helping the team win games. I'm not hating. It's great to have a top 20ish player. The Wizards haven't had a top 20 player since prime Arenas.
I agree that John is probably in the 16-25 range when it comes to top NBA players. However, it's awfully difficult to compare players across positions, imo. If we're talking just PGs, I think a healthy JWall is top 5. If we're just talking guards, he's probably in the 10-12 range.
Fans always overrate the players on their teams. John Wall is not in the top 5 point guards. He's not in the top dozen guards. & he is not in the top 25 players in the league either.
I'm not hating either. He's a terrific player. Just not as good as folks here think. Nate has it right that he's worth more in marketing b/c he's exciting & puts fans in their seats. That's not how you judge where a player ranks in productivity, however.
We've gone over this about a zillion times. Last year, in his best season so far, John Wall wasn't anywhere near as good as Chris Paul, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Kyle Lowry, Stephen Curry or Mike Conley. Isaiah Thomas also had a better season than John's best, & so did Jeff Teague. #9 among PGs in the league -- in his best year ever.
This is not about points scored. Overall, last year John was better than Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, Damien Lillard, C.J. McCollum (whoever you want to call point guard between those 2) & Eric Bledsoe -- all of whom scored more points per 40 minutes than he did.
Obviously, John has had an off year this year; no one would judge him on this season. That's not the point.
As I say, John Wall is a terrific player. He also seems to be a terrific guy. Maybe next year he'll be the best PG in the league, who knows? If so, that's what I'll say about him. In the meantime, you can blow in his balloon all you want; doesn't change facts -- clear & simple facts.