Top 100 players of 2016 (Sports Illustrated)

[JDR720]

MICHAEL KIDD-GILCHRIST 85th
Hornets | Forward | Last year: —
The best perimeter defender in the NBA isn’t yet 22 years old. Kidd-Gilchrist approaches the most difficult assignments in the game with unrelenting focus. Pump fakes don’t budge him. Screens can hardly displace him for long enough to make a difference. His extraordinary athleticism is applied toward consecutive efforts, the sum of which can overwhelm even the game’s best scorers. A defender so long (Kidd-Gilchrist stands 6’9” with a 7-foot wingspan), quick, and determined cannot be eluded easily.

AL JEFFERSON 47th
Hornets | Center | Last year: 26
If we accept that Jefferson is likely better than his injury-curbed play last season but not quite so good as to repeat his career-best output from the year prior, then this range of ranking suits him. Jefferson is a sturdy offensive lead who can top 20 points per 36 minutes while rarely turning the ball over. The looming question is how far that offense might take a team. With as hard as it is to survive on high-volume post play given the space-eating style of modern NBA defenses, Jefferson further complicates matters by scoring in a specific way from a specific space (the left block, almost exclusively) on the floor. That Jefferson doesn’t do anything all that well on offense outside the post would seem to impose a low ceiling on his role as a first option.

those two are the only Hornets on the list, Kemba dropped from 94th and Batum dropped from 43rd
http://www.si.com/nba/top-100-nba-players-2016?page=6&devicetype=phone

[HornetJail]

Batum is actually at 55, which honestly considering last season is quite generous. Kemba not making the cut is just stupid, but you expect that when you consider how his raw numbers look without any context.

[Braggins]

I would put Kemba in MKG's spot and MKG in Al's spot and not have Al in the top 100.

[Liver_Pooty]

Walker didn't play well enough to be in the top 100. Batum nor Jefferson probably didn't either, but made it off of "reputation" I guess.

[GrapeApe]

Walker didn't play well enough to be in the top 100. Batum nor Jefferson probably didn't either, but made it off of "reputation" I guess.

Batum was hurt most of last season. He will look a lot better in '15-'16.

[Hornet Mania]

Jefferson is not a better player than MKG, and definitely not deserving of the top 100 based on what we saw last year.

[HornetJail]

^ Not 2014-15 Al, that's for sure. If Jefferson gets back to Jan-April 2014 shape, where he was in-shape and actually made an effort to play defense, that may be a different story. If he sheds some weight and comes into the season weighing around 265 and looks quicker, healthier, and shows some interest in waking up on defense, I'll be optimistic about him.

I can't handle the Jefferson roller coaster. He went from being one of my favorite players in the league to have on my team to one of my least favorite, solely by how he played in less than half a season. It's truly remarkable how much of a difference conditioning makes. I just don't know if I trust Al to stay in good shape as he gets older.

[Braggins]

I've hated on Al probably more than anyone, with the possible exception of BrotherDave, and I would completely change my tune towards him if hed just pass and give some kind of defensive effort. The most frustrating thing with him is that all he would have to do is decide to not be a lazy ball hog and he could be a really effective player. It might be too late for him to ever become a good post passer because hes played like hes never put a single thought into reading a defense for such a long time, but I've seen him make some nasty passes out of the post, so we know he is capable of better. He can palm a basketball like its a softball and make those quick little one handed "flick" passes with such ease and when he does it usually ends with a layup for someone else on the team, but he just doesn't even consider that option 99% of the time. Hes too unathletic to not be a bad defender at this point in his career, but if hed just put in some effort and not literally run away from his defensive assignment half the time we could easily hide him in our scheme. He avoids contact so blatantly that he won't even foul anyone or try to use his massive body as a roadblock when someone goes at him in the paint. There will be situations where he sees an offensive player driving and he'll be in perfect position to rotate over and help and he'll either just sit there and watch or sometimes even purposely get out of the way.

Part of me wants to believe that last year was the wakeup call he needed and that he'll realize that he literally hasn't accomplished anything as a player in this league and he is almost out of time for changing that. I'd love if hed completely change his game around and be a 25-30 mpg offensive specialist that can play as part of a team and not completely sabotage your defense. I wouldn't even mind us resigning him for 2-3 more years at 10 mil or so per year as an elite backup center if that happened. I really do feel like this might be the year where he finally turns it around but I can't help but shake the feeling that it is just wishful thinking.

We have the talent to shock the rest of the league this year and I can't help but be excited about it. If Al ruins it by being the same old Al and Kemba starts pouting and acting like a little baby when things get rough while Clifford just stands on the sidelines looking dumbfounded and doing nothing as our season falls apart (basically repeat of last season) I'm going to be so disappointed.

[HornetJail]

Part of me wants to believe that last year was the wakeup call he needed and that he'll realize that he literally hasn't accomplished anything as a player in this league and he is almost out of time for changing that. I'd love if hed completely change his game around and be a 25-30 mpg offensive specialist that can play as part of a team and not completely sabotage your defense. I wouldn't even mind us resigning him for 2-3 more years at 10 mil or so per year as an elite backup center if that happened. I really do feel like this might be the year where he finally turns it around but I can't help but shake the feeling that it is just wishful thinking.

This is what gets me the most. I really think that guys like Al, and Enes Kanter, would make AWESOME sixth men, where their defense doesn't matter quite as much since they're facing lower quality players and can hold their own against backups while simply dominating them on offense. If he bought into that and we had a defensive/rebounding big that could start in front of him (or just evenly split the center minutes), we'd be set for just about any matchup. Now, where to find a defensive big........

[yosemiteben]

If he bought into that and we had a defensive/rebounding big that could start in front of him (or just evenly split the center minutes), we'd be set for just about any matchup. Now, where to find a defensive big........

We need offense, not defense.

[No-Man]

They have them twisted, I have MKG close to top50 and Al around 80-90.

[HornetJail]

They have them twisted, I have MKG close to top50 and Al around 80-90.

I agree, though I think Al (based on last season only) wasn't even top 100.

[Elden Payton]

They have them twisted, I have MKG close to top50 and Al around 80-90.

QFT.

[Liver_Pooty]

If MKG develops any type of a corner 3 he's top 40.

On the GB I'd get killed for saying that, but I firmly believe in his work ethic, and I just love the guy.

Thrilled we signed him for 13 per. I mentioned a few months ago it'd be interesting to see what Barnes got.

Props to Rich Cho for the MKG and Walker deals before they reach RFA.

[JDR720]

ESPN is doing their NBA rank

so far
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/13723434/team-team

272. Spencer Hawes
300. Jeremy Lamb
302. Tyler Hansbrough
310. Troy Daniels
320. Brian Roberts
332. P.J. Hairston

[InProblematique]

Are we calling MKG 6'9" now? I remember posting a picture last year (on reddit I think) of him standing next to Williams, and he looked like he had a couple of inches on him. Most people seemed to think it was a matter of perception, but there were several times last year where I thought MKG looked like he had grown a couple of inches.

[yosemiteben]

MKG measured 6'7.5" in shoes (he got the standard 1.75" bump from w/o shoes) at the combine when he was just 18. Wouldn't be surprising if he grew an inch and a half since then.