Post#6 » by trex_8063 » Tue Sep 3, 2019 4:23 pm
1st ballot - '14 Kevin Durant - League-leading 32 ppg on ridiculous +9.4% rTS shooting efficiency, while also emerging as a pretty good playmaker this year. Totally respectable turnover economy as he added 5.5 apg to his 32 ppg, and was [imo] beginning to be a fair/passable defender by this point, and solid SF rebounder as always. Was 1st in the league in PER, 1st in WS/48 and WS, 2nd in BPM and 1st in VORP, while also being 3rd in RAPM iirc [playing considerably more minutes than the guy in 2nd].
People rag on his playoff performance this year, though as has been noted in many prior spots, I'm not as playoff-centric as many appear to be. But it's worth touching on that he faced good-to-elite team defenses AND good-to-elite individual defenders every step of the way in the playoffs. He nonetheless averaged 29.6 ppg [again: league-leading] on +2.9% rTS in the playoffs, though his playmaking and turnovers did worsen a little. Breaking down the good defenses I'm referring to....
*1st round they faced the 7th-rated [-2.1 rDRTG] Grizzlies, with Memphis platooning Tony Allen, Tayshaun Prince (+/- a little James Johnson et al at times) on Durant. Durant averaged 29.9 ppg @ +0.2 rTS%, though 4.0 topg (to 3.4 apg; though also 9.6 rpg). He still averaged a team-best 19.7 GameScore and a +4 net rating facing that defensive core.
**2nd round they faced a 9th-rated [-1.9 rDRTG] Clippers team, who had Matt Barnes (plus some Jared Dudley) to primarily cover Durant. Durant averaged 33.2 ppg @ +7.9% rTS with 5.3 apg (4.0 topg; and again 9.5 rpg); averaged a team-best 24.7 GameScore, as well as a +9 net rating.
***3rd round they faced the eventual champ Spurs team [whom they took to 6 games, one further than the Heat managed in the finals]. This had been the 3rd-rated [-4.3 rDRTG] defense during the rs, and of course had the ultimate stopper at SF: a still defensively-applied Kawhi Leonard. A "shut down" Durant was still averaging 25.8 ppg @ +2.9% rTS with 3.2 apg and 3.3 topg [Leonard, fwiw, averaged 11.8 ppg @ -5.4% rTS].
And we know Durant is just about as portable as volume-scorers come. fwiw, I actually somewhat like '17 Durant better (all the good things that come with the '14 version, but better defensively [at least with his slightly reduced minutes and offensive role]). However, I think those things might have been made possible by the aforementioned reduced offensive role and minutes; and then there's the 20 missed games to consider. Still, it's in the running for my 3rd ballot.
2nd ballot - '15 Chris Paul - Wicked efficiency (both in terms of shooting and turnover economy) while leading a top-tier offense, and also being one of the best defensive PG's in the game. Played brilliantly in the playoffs, too, the only blemished being that he missed two playoff games [and did that cost them something?]; which was ironic, given he didn't miss a single game in the long rs.
I could see going for '08, but I just feel his defense was better in the later portions of his career, and his on-court impact has perhaps never looked better than in '15.
3rd ballot - '03 Tracy McGrady - 32.1 ppg @ +4.5% rTS, 6.5 rpg, 5.5 apg with a phenomenal turnover economy (just 2.6 topg despite the massive creation responsibilities). He led a pretty rag-tag supporting cast to 10th-rated offense, 42 wins and a playoff berth. In the playoffs, they/he are sometimes criticized for blowing a 3-1 series lead; but I take a more favorable look on it, noting that they took three games off a wildly superior Pistons team, a team they had no business being competitive against.
The Pistons were the 4th-rated (-3.7 rDRTG) defensive team, and had Michael Curry [who had an NBA career ONLY because of his defense] and a rookie Tayshaun Prince largely guarding TMac, with Ben Wallace hedging on the help and guarding the rim. TMac still averaged 31.7 ppg @ +3.2% rTS, 4.7 apg, 3.7 topg......pretty damn good under the circumstances, imo.
EDIT: I'd be perfectly content with any of Charles Barkley, Moses Malone, Karl Malone, or perhaps Patrick Ewing at this point, too. I'm somewhat warming to the idea of George Mikan around here, though likely won't be supporting him myself for at least a few threads (if he's still around).
"The fact that a proposition is absurd has never hindered those who wish to believe it." -Edward Rutherfurd
"Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire