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Traditionally, we start the thread with the Playoffs and then continue discussing until the end of the Playoffs before voting right after it.

This is a good year, a great year actually.

I think for now, 1 and 2 are locks.

I see Griffin, Paul, Curry, Harden, Noah, Dirk and possibly Duncan who can contend for 3, 4 and 5. 'Melo and Love if everyone flops in the Playoffs like last year.

Going into the playoff i got

Lebron
Kd
Cp3
Love
Steph

Kd is Mvp for the record but i dont think hes better than Lebron. 1-4 are locked in unless some players go absolute bonkers in the playoff. Dirk, Blake and Joakim have an outside shot of making it. Joakim was injured last playoff and still was a beast when he needed to be like closeout VS Bkn. Dirk is Dirk blitzkrieg mode etc. Blake might be a stretch since he hasnt had a good playoff series yet but hes been injured alot hopefully he can stay healthy and really show up in the playoff. Lamarcus Aldridges game would be better suited for playoff IMO really admire his halfcourt game so giving him a shoutout

Sweet, been waiting for this thread.

I view this as sort of a playoff extended POY, so I keep this year's performance only. As of now I'd say:
KD
Lebron
BG
Noah
Harden/Curry/CP3

I can swap 3 and 4 easily as well, but I have to put Noah in there this season.

bondom34 wrote:Sweet, been waiting for this thread.

I view this as sort of a playoff extended POY, so I keep this year's performance only. As of now I'd say:
KD
Lebron
BG
Noah
Harden/Curry/CP3

I can swap 3 and 4 easily as well, but I have to put Noah in there this season.

I can understand Noah as no. 4 for MVP, but is he really the 4th most impactful player in the league? Do you think, for example, if you switch Hinrich and Noah for Curry and JO, the Warriors get better?

ardee wrote:

bondom34 wrote:Sweet, been waiting for this thread.

I view this as sort of a playoff extended POY, so I keep this year's performance only. As of now I'd say:
KD
Lebron
BG
Noah
Harden/Curry/CP3

I can swap 3 and 4 easily as well, but I have to put Noah in there this season.

I can understand Noah as no. 4 for MVP, but is he really the 4th most impactful player in the league? Do you think, for example, if you switch Hinrich and Noah for Curry and JO, the Warriors get better?

No, but I think including fit (Noah is the heart of the Bulls), Noah could be top 5 in impact. For his team, he's had incredible impact, but I don't consider portability into the rank.

bondom34 wrote:Sweet, been waiting for this thread.

I view this as sort of a playoff extended POY, so I keep this year's performance only. As of now I'd say:
KD
Lebron
BG
Noah
Harden/Curry/CP3

I can swap 3 and 4 easily as well, but I have to put Noah in there this season.

This isn't MVP, this is most impactful player. If these are your ranking for that for the regular season, I would love to hear the reasons why.

Currently:
1. LeBron James
2. Kevin Durant
3. Kevin Love
4. Chris Paul
5. Blake Griffin

Fringe: Harden, AD, Noah, Curry, Melo, Lillard, Westbrick in no particular order.

I don't see Steph Curry out performing CP3 in the playoffs, so I doubt he will jump into the top 5. Anthony Davis and Melo can't move into the top 5 for me. That leaves room for Lillard, Westbrick, and Harden to sneak into the top 5 barring a big playoff win. Love will likely end up outside of the top 5 after all is said and done, but his impact during the season was 3rd to LeBron and Durant.

Colbinii wrote:

bondom34 wrote:Sweet, been waiting for this thread.

I view this as sort of a playoff extended POY, so I keep this year's performance only. As of now I'd say:
KD
Lebron
BG
Noah
Harden/Curry/CP3

I can swap 3 and 4 easily as well, but I have to put Noah in there this season.

This isn't MVP, this is most impactful player. If these are your ranking for that for the regular season, I would love to hear the reasons why.

Currently:
1. LeBron James
2. Kevin Durant
3. Kevin Love
4. Chris Paul
5. Blake Griffin

Fringe: Harden, AD, Noah, Curry, Melo, Lillard, Westbrick in no particular order.

I don't see Steph Curry out performing CP3 in the playoffs, so I doubt he will jump into the top 5. Anthony Davis and Melo can't move into the top 5 for me. That leaves room for Lillard, Westbrick, and Harden to sneak into the top 5 barring a big playoff win. Love will likely end up outside of the top 5 after all is said and done, but his impact during the season was 3rd to LeBron and Durant.

1/2 Are the easy ones.
3 For me is still Blake due to his impact when Paul was out. I can't just dismiss the fact that Paul missed time, unless I'm just ranking who's the best player, which I didn't interpret as the point of the thread.
4 For me is Noah, who all seem to agree has some arguement for worst case fringe. I think his impact to this years Bulls team is top 5 in the league. Between on and off court, his impact is there above the others in my opinion.
5 is a toss up between all listed above.

bondom34 wrote:

Colbinii wrote:

bondom34 wrote:Sweet, been waiting for this thread.

I view this as sort of a playoff extended POY, so I keep this year's performance only. As of now I'd say:
KD
Lebron
BG
Noah
Harden/Curry/CP3

I can swap 3 and 4 easily as well, but I have to put Noah in there this season.

This isn't MVP, this is most impactful player. If these are your ranking for that for the regular season, I would love to hear the reasons why.

Currently:
1. LeBron James
2. Kevin Durant
3. Kevin Love
4. Chris Paul
5. Blake Griffin

Fringe: Harden, AD, Noah, Curry, Melo, Lillard, Westbrick in no particular order.

I don't see Steph Curry out performing CP3 in the playoffs, so I doubt he will jump into the top 5. Anthony Davis and Melo can't move into the top 5 for me. That leaves room for Lillard, Westbrick, and Harden to sneak into the top 5 barring a big playoff win. Love will likely end up outside of the top 5 after all is said and done, but his impact during the season was 3rd to LeBron and Durant.

1/2 Are the easy ones.
3 For me is still Blake due to his impact when Paul was out. I can't just dismiss the fact that Paul missed time, unless I'm just ranking who's the best player, which I didn't interpret as the point of the thread.
4 For me is Noah, who all seem to agree has some arguement for worst case fringe. I think his impact to this years Bulls team is top 5 in the league. Between on and off court, his impact is there above the others in my opinion.
5 is a toss up between all listed above.

You think those three have more impact than Chris Paul?

Colbinii wrote:

bondom34 wrote:

Colbinii wrote:
This isn't MVP, this is most impactful player. If these are your ranking for that for the regular season, I would love to hear the reasons why.

Currently:
1. LeBron James
2. Kevin Durant
3. Kevin Love
4. Chris Paul
5. Blake Griffin

Fringe: Harden, AD, Noah, Curry, Melo, Lillard, Westbrick in no particular order.

I don't see Steph Curry out performing CP3 in the playoffs, so I doubt he will jump into the top 5. Anthony Davis and Melo can't move into the top 5 for me. That leaves room for Lillard, Westbrick, and Harden to sneak into the top 5 barring a big playoff win. Love will likely end up outside of the top 5 after all is said and done, but his impact during the season was 3rd to LeBron and Durant.

1/2 Are the easy ones.
3 For me is still Blake due to his impact when Paul was out. I can't just dismiss the fact that Paul missed time, unless I'm just ranking who's the best player, which I didn't interpret as the point of the thread.
4 For me is Noah, who all seem to agree has some arguement for worst case fringe. I think his impact to this years Bulls team is top 5 in the league. Between on and off court, his impact is there above the others in my opinion.
5 is a toss up between all listed above.

You think those three have more impact than Chris Paul?

Griffin/Noah yes (based on time missed by Paul as well), KD/Lebron yes. The others are all pretty close between Paul/Harden/Curry (those 3 weren't in any order).

bondom34 wrote:Griffin/Noah yes (based on time missed by Paul as well), KD/Lebron yes. The others are all pretty close between Paul/Harden/Curry (those 3 weren't in any order).

Ahh makes sense. Do you think Paul has a shot at finishing the season 3rd?

Colbinii wrote:

bondom34 wrote:Griffin/Noah yes (based on time missed by Paul as well), KD/Lebron yes. The others are all pretty close between Paul/Harden/Curry (those 3 weren't in any order).

Ahh makes sense. Do you think Paul has a shot at finishing the season 3rd?

Yeah for sure, I think 1/2 are set no matter what, and after that there could be moves based on who goes how far, how guys play, etc.

bondom34 wrote:

Colbinii wrote:

bondom34 wrote:Griffin/Noah yes (based on time missed by Paul as well), KD/Lebron yes. The others are all pretty close between Paul/Harden/Curry (those 3 weren't in any order).

Ahh makes sense. Do you think Paul has a shot at finishing the season 3rd?

Yeah for sure, I think 1/2 are set no matter what, and after that there could be moves based on who goes how far, how guys play, etc.

Yeah I agree. I just can't see Durant/LeBron having poor playoffs and falling out of the top 2.

Durant is #1 for now unless he disappears in the playoffs. Led the league in all the major advanced stats and even scoring.

I've got Durant, Lebron and Love 1-3 for now in that order. In really no discernible order, Curry, Paul, Harden and Griffin fighting for the last two spots with an outside chance of moving Love down a slot. Noah, George and Lowry are on the outside of that group and I don't see them moving inside the top 5.

As of now, I've got LeBron, Durant, Curry, Griffin, and Melo as my top 5. Paul, Harden, Dwight, and Love on the outside looking in.

This year's candidates are much stronger than the last couple of seasons imo.

Seems like it'd be better to do at the close of the regular season and in the early parts of the playoffs. Even the best of us fall victim to recency bias and it puts guys that aren't in the playoffs at a bit of a disadvantage IMO.

Though it makes sense if playoff performance is a major part of the criteria.

Okada wrote:Seems like it'd be better to do at the close of the regular season and in the early parts of the playoffs. Even the best of us fall victim to recency bias and it puts guys that aren't in the playoffs at a bit of a disadvantage IMO.

Though it makes sense if playoff performance is a major part of the criteria.

Yeah this is just an early discussion thread which will probably double as a voting thread? It's just a refresh period for discussion

Currently my top 5

Durant
James
Griffin
Noah
????


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Man, I can't wait to see where this is after the playoffs. So much is at stake (well, in basketball terms of course).

Anyway, right now:

Durant
Lebron
Griffin
Paul
Curry

As far as the top 5 players in the league:

LeBron/Durant
CP3
Griffin
Love

CP3 missed 20 games though, so I guess this season, I might replace him with Curry, who's IMO the most deserving of the rest. Harden had a great regular season, Melo, Dirk, LMA and George, too, and to be honest, I'm not sure how Dwight and Noah compare to the offensive guys. I actually think that Dwight might be the best player on the Rockets, and if so, I'd probably have to put him sixth, which I'm still not sure about. I think he's still a better player than Noah, and the best center in the league, although you can argue that Noah is more deserving of the All-NBA 1st team nod, or just to put him as the one who had the better season. Leading the Bulls to the 4th seed without Rose, and pretty much maximizing their potential, is really impressive.

So yeah,if we're talking about the best season, my top 5 would be:

Durant
LeBron
Griffin
Love
Curry

Not sure about the order after that, but I assume we're talking about just the top 5, right? Still, seems weird not having CP3. He really had another great season, but missed games gotta be a factor. I just don't know how big of a factor. Shaq was outstanding in 1996 '97 and '98, arguably even better than CP3 right now, but he missed even more games in these two seasons, so I'd have a hard time putting him in the top 5, or at most, maybe at number 5, as kind of an honorable mention.

Quotatious wrote:I think he's still a better player than Noah, and the best center in the league, although you can argue that Noah is more deserving of the All-NBA 1st team nod, or just to put him as the one who had the better season. Leading the Bulls to the 4th seed without Rose, and pretty much maximizing their potential, is really impressive.

So yeah,if we're talking about the best season, my top 5 would be:

Durant
LeBron
Griffin
Love
Curry

I like your lists, but I'd really like to nudge you in the direction of giving Curry's spot to Noah. I'm not usually one for narratives, but that Bulls team was dead in the water in early December. They lost Rose, they lost Deng, and at one point they had a 10 game stretch where they went 1-9 and lost to the Jazz, Bucks, and Pistons. But from January 1st to February (something, hoping someone can help me out with this date) they had the best record in the entire league despite having one of the worst offenses. I think leadership is generally overrated, but the turnaround that Bulls team went through is frankly unlike anything I've ever seen,and clearly Noah's passion was the driving force. And while he's not a scorer, he has turned himself into an offensive hub and has proven to be the best passer and ball handler at his position by a comfortable margin. His season has been nothing short of sensational.

The Warriors, by contrast, have largely disappointed this season. Many were predicting they'd be a top 4 team in the West. While a lot can be explained away with injuries and poor bench play, I didn't really see Curry stand out this season. Not to say he wasn't great, but have we learned anything new about him this season? Was he noticeably more effective than last year? I think we might have to draw a distinction between a "good" season and an "impressive" one.