RealGM Top 25 Player Poll 2021-22-#1

[Filthadelphia]

WE BACK. Shoutout to the wonderful @ElectricMayhem for holding it down last year. Yes, I was lazy.

Your favorite offseason debate is back by popular demand!
Thanks to everyone who voted last go around Im excited to see where the 2nd annual edition ends up.

Here's the Rules:
-Vote ONE player per poll. You'll be able to change your vote just like last year for those indecisive folks.
-The criteria of ranking the players is YOUR OWN. The whole point of bringing this to the GB is to attract the widest amount of votes/perspectives on the game as possible to form a true consensus. Some people value shooting over defense, team success over indivdual prowess etc. I want to bake all that in to this poll set no matter how chaotic.
-Each poll a player will win and then be taken out of the field. There will be 25 polls in all.
-There are only 10 possible poll options so I will start with the 10 guys who I personally believe will round out the top 10 in most people's eyes.
-As each poll commences I ask you to COMMENT IN THE THREAD your vote for who should be added in the next poll. There will be a large list of players yet to be added to the field below that you can look over to make your vote. I will tally up the votes in the comments at the end of each poll and add the winner accordingly. For example, if you want Bryn Forbes added in the next poll just comment "Nominate: Bryn Forbes"
-If a poll is overwhelmingly skewed towards one guy I will try, time willing, to edit it early and move on to the next one.
-If there is a tie in the poll. There will be a run-off poll created with just the tying parties to determine a winner. The losers of the runoff will then be added back into the field of 10 for the next poll.
-Feel free to ask any questions via pm or comment
-Feel Free to comment on your reasoning for a pick and why

THANKS AGAIN TO EVERYONE FOR PARTICIPATING!!!!

Yet To Be Added: (If someone is not here that you want here comment THAT and I will add them)
John Collins (ATL)
Trae Young (ATL)
Bogdan Bogdanovic (ATL)
Jayson Tatum (BOS)
Jaylen Brown (BOS)
Kyrie Irving (BKN)
Spencer Dinwiddie (BKN)
Zach Lavine (CHI)
Nikola Vucevic (CHI)
LaMelo Ball (CHA)
Gordon Hayward (CHA)
Collin Sexton (CLE)
Darius Garland (CLE)
Evan Mobley (CLE)
Kristaps Porzingis (DAL)
Jamal Murray (DEN)
Michael Porter Jr. (DEN)
Cade Cunningham (DET)
Jerami Grant (DET)
Klay Thompson (GSW)
Draymond Green (GSW)
Jalen Green (HOU)
Kevin Porter Jr. (HOU)
John Wall (HOU)
Christian Wood (HOU)
Caris Levert (IND)
Domantas Sabonis (IND)
Myles Turner (IND)
Paul George (LAC)
Anthony Davis (LAL)
Russell Westbrook (LAL)
Dennis Schroder (LAL)
Ja Morant (MEM)
Jimmy Butler (MIA)
Bam Adebayo (MIA)
Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN)
D'Angelo Russell (MIN)
Anthony Edwards (MIN)
Khris Middleton (MIL)
Jrue Holiday (MIL)
Zion Williamson (NOP)
Brandon Ingram (NOP)
Lonzo Ball (NOP)
Julius Randle (NYK)
RJ Barrett (NYK)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC)
Jalen Suggs (ORL)
Jonathan Isaac (ORL)
Devin Booker (PHX)
Deandre Ayton (PHX)
Chris Paul (PHX)
Ben Simmons (PHI)
Tobias Harris (PHI)
CJ McCollum (POR)
De'Aaron Fox (SAC)
Tyrese Haliburton (SAC)
Dejounte Murray (SAS)
Kyle Lowry (TOR)
Pascal Siakam (TOR)
Fred VanVleet (TOR)
Donovan Mitchell (UTA)
Rudy Gobert (UTA)
Bradley Beal (WAS)

RealGM Top 25 Players 2018-19:
1) LeBron James (LAL)-72%
2) Kevin Durant (GSW)-39%
3) Stephen Curry (GSW)-53%
4) Anthony Davis (NOP)-39%
5) James Harden (HOU)-45%
6) Kawhi Leonard (TOR)-50%
7) Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL)-56%
8) Russell Westbrook (OKC)-47%
9) Chris Paul (HOU)-43%
10) Jimmy Butler (MIN)-33%
11) Joel Embiid (PHI)-37%
12) Nikola Jokic (DEN)-32%
13) Victor Oladipo (IND)-31%
14) Rudy Gobert (UTA)-62%-TIEBREAKER w Kyrie Irving (BOS)
15) Damian Lillard (POR)-32%
16) Kyrie Irving (BOS)-37%
17) Draymond Green (GSW)-31%
18) Paul George (OKC)-27%
19) Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN)-23%
20) Kyle Lowry (TOR)-31%
21) Klay Thompson (GSW)-30%
22) Ben Simmons (PHI)-35%
23) John Wall (WAS)-27%
24) Al Horford (BOS)-33%
25) LaMarcus Aldridge (SAS)-30%

RealGM Top 25 Players 2019-20:
1)Kawhi Leonard (LAC)-39%
2)Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL)-42%
3)LeBron James (LAL)-42%
4)Stephen Curry (GSW)-48%
5)James Harden (HOU)-40%
6)Anthony Davis (LAL)-39%
7)Nikola Jokic (DEN)-33%
8)Joel Embiid (PHI)-35%
9)Paul George (LAC)-46%
10)Damian Lillard (POR)-54%
11)Jimmy Butler (MIA)-30%
12)Russell Westbrook (HOU)-26%
13)Rudy Gobert (UTA)-23%
14)Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN)-28%
15)Draymond Green (GSW)-30%
16)Kyrie Irving (BKN)-37%
17)Blake Griffin (DET)-31%
18)Bradley Beal (WAS)-24%
19)Kemba Walker (BOS)-29%
20)Luka Doncic (DAL)-37%
21)Jrue Holiday (NOP)-22%
22)Ben Simmons (PHI)-30%
23)Pascal Siakam (TOR)-41%
24)Kyle Lowry (TOR)-46%
25)Chris Paul (OKC)-32%

RealGM Top 25 Players 2020-21:
1)LeBron James (LAL) - 53%
2)Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL) - 47%
3)Luka Doncic (DAL) - 37%
4)Kawhi Leonard (LAC) - 34%
5)Anthony Davis (LAL) - 35%
6)James Harden (HOU) - 39%
7)Steph Curry (GSW) - 33%
8)Nikola Jokic (DEN) - 42%
9)Kevin Durant (BKN) - 46%
10)Damian Lillard (POR) - 38%
11)Jimmy Butler (MIA) - 57%
12)Jayson Tatum (BOS) - 41%
13)Joel Embiid (PHI) - 59%
14)Devin Booker (PHX) - 22%
15)Chris Paul (PHX) - 24%
16)Paul George (LAC) - 21%
17)Bradley Beal (WAS) - 22%
18)Donovan Mitchell (UTA) - 22%
19)Ben Simmons (PHI) - 26%
20)Kyle Lowry (TOR) - 28%
21)Rudy Gobert (UTA) - 26%
22)Bam Adebayo (MIA) - 24%
23)Jamal Murray (DEN) - 29%
24)Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN) - 32%
25)Kyrie Irving (BKN) - 33%

[Sofia]

Just getting in early to establish ground rules:

a) Kawhi would normally finish high, but is very likely to miss most if not all of the upcoming season. Noting the poll is based on 2021-22 season, should it be assumed that he is not eligible, or do we go by what he did most recently and vote based on if he was healthy.

b) Likewise, someone like Klay Thompson has been out for 2 years and is due back this season. Should people vote based on what we think he will do (assume minute limits, B2B rests and load management), or go by what we know of him when last healthy?

[Pistol_Pete10]

Voted: Jokic
Add: Anthony Davis

[EArl]

Luka!

[Dutchball97]

Vote: Giannis Antetokounmpo

Add: Anthony Davis

[HurricaneKid]

Voted Giannis

Add AD (seriously put Kawhi on the opening list post ACL surgery?)

Sent from my SM-G986U using RealGM mobile app

[collidingNeurons]

Mikal Bridges has to be an oversight being left off on the to be added later list considering some of the ones on that list

[clippertown]

Luka does it all. He can pass, rebound, defend, hit the jumper and pull off the Hail Mary. Clips hit him with everything they had and he just manhandled everybody. All round he is #1 right now.

[mpoo_sin]

I think this one will be decided between Antetokounmpo and Doncic.

Doncic gets the nod for me. He seems to get better every time he steps pn the floor. What he is doing at the Olympics right now is incredible.

[ElectricMayhem]

Glad to have you back and I'm elated you kept Bryn Forbes as the nomination example!

Vote: Giannis Antetokounmpo
Nominate: Anthony Davis

There may be some players who are better at creating a better team offense than Giannis. There may be some players who are better at defense than Giannis. But nobody in the league has his combination of the two.

And if I may nominate to bump somebody off, Kawhi won't be making my Top 25 because he'll be gone most of the year (possibly all of it) and even if he returns this year, I think there will be 25 guys better.
If he's bumped off, I nominate his teammate to replace him. No, not Luke Kennard. Paul George.

[JN61]

Didn't we already have this while back?

[ElectricMayhem]

Didn't we already have this while back?

You are referring to mdonnelly1989's ranking project. Confusing to have two simultaneous ranking polls to be sure. Some differences:

Filthadelphia's Top 25:
This is the 4th annual offseason poll.
This one asks users to rank players based on 2021-22 season projections.
This one also asks users to decide the next person to join the poll.
Daily. Operated by Filthadelphia in a nearly clockwork fashion.

Past three rankings in visual form: https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2031294

Mdonnelly1989's Ranking Project:
About now, not the 2021-22 season.
Imagines all players healthy.
Asks which player gives you best shot at winning the finals on a "clean" roster.
As far as I know, no specific target number of rankings.
As far as I know, first time doing this.

I have a personal affection for this one given the level of organization Filthadelphia has and the fact that I ran it last year. I do think they can coexist, though. RealGMers just need to be mindful of the criteria in each specific poll.

[PhoenixMilwauke]

Vote: Giannis
Add: Jimmy Butler

[Mich3006]

Vote: LeBron
Add: AD

[cupcakesnake]

Vote: Jokic
Nominate: AD (lots of guys I wanted to nominate more, but it felt too early to put them ahead of AD in this elite group)

Tried to look at team situations to see who's team is going to be the most conducive to the individual players' success. Mostly came down to Giannis vs. Jokic vs. Doncic vs. Embiid for me (crazy that the top 4 players next year might all be international players). We know all these guys are going to be individual monsters, so to me it's more about whose team puts them in the best position to succeed and have the best season.

- It's hard to know what the Sixers are going to be like around Embiid, with no clear indication of what kind of return the Sixers will get for Simmons. In the end, I never feel great betting on Embiid just due to health. After his regular season in 2021, a healthy Embiid season projects to always be considered potentially the best season a player can have.

- Doncic's team situation is also a huge question mark. Dallas is clearly in desperation mode, and the moves they make this offseason could temporarily boost the team or destroy it. If Dallas got Lowry (and Lowry stayed healthy and good), I could see Doncic putting up a monster MVP season and Dallas having a lot more regular-season success. Doncic's ball dominant style means he's virtually guaranteed to have monstrous individual success, but we'll be hesitant to call him the top guy or a top 5 guy until Dallas wins 50+ games I suppose.

- Giannis dominates every regular season, and now we wont doubt his ability in the playoffs. Giannis got a tiny bit better at some small things (quicker passing, better shooting from the mid post, more willingness to use counters rather than just always trying to overpower everyone). It made a massive world of difference. Giannis is a great pick and I have nothing to say against it. I voted Jokic but as soon as I started writing my explanation, I felt Giannis was probably the better pick. Giannis's defense gives him the edge over Jokic, even if I like Jokic's offense quite a bit more.

- Jokic. I don't think it will be hard for Denver to fix it backcourt depth issues, and this team will assumedly get Murray back at some point in the season. A healthy, properly stocked Denver team is going to trounce team in the playoffs imho. Jokic will keep piling up triple doubles, leading an insane offense, and continuing to establish himself as the best decision-maker and offensive threat in the NBA. I don't think anyone in the NBA has a fuller offensive toolbox (ATG passing, brute post up, outside shooting, unstoppable floater) and when you combine that with his ability to adapt and figure out defenses, it's just too much.

[longtallbrad]

Vote: Jokic
Add: George

I have no issue with those voting for Giannis, who just obliterated a couple years' worth of critiques of his postseason performance, or leaning into voting for Doncic. But Jokic is the reigning (and deserving) MVP who is a unique offensive threat and I think there is plenty of reason for believing he hasn't even peaked yet. No, he didn't single-handedly lead his team to a championship during this past offseason, but then neither did Giannis.

[AdriLaker]

Vote: LeBron Raymone James
Add: Anthony Marshon Davis

Supporting ALWAYS purple and gold!!!

[Aliasego]

Vote: Giannis
Nominate: Anthony Davis

[Alonzo_Morning]

Giannis Is both the perfect human and the best baller

[SeanieWard]

I voted for the guy who won MVP, deservingly, and averaged 26 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assist, a steal and a block on 57% from the field, 39% from 3, and 87% from the line..