ESPN Rankings 3-10 Are Surprisingly Not Horrible

[SK21209]

Anyone who acts like there's some definitive ranking any of the top 8-10ish guys in the league right now is full of it. I wouldn't be mad if someone tried to tell me that Lillard was better than Kawhi.

[MrDollarBills]

Anyone who acts like there's some definitive ranking any of the top 8-10ish guys in the league right now is full of it. I wouldn't be mad if someone tried to tell me that Lillard was better than Kawhi.

I would call anyone who tries to tell you that a moron.

[Bornstellar]

I like Lillard but he is not a top 10 player. Top 15-20 but not top 10

[TheNewEra]

Dame at 9 and Mccolum at 13.

You would think they could have at least put some sort of a fight against the Warriors with such a loaded back court.

Essentially, what I'm trying to say is that Dame probably should be 13 while Mccolum shoudl've been way lower

All the ranking's I've seen, have Dame at 9 or 10. I agree C.J. is WAY too high (should be around 30, where they had him last year).

They did put up a fight against the Warriors. They had double digit 3rd quarter leads in 3 of the 4 games, and they did it with these other 3 starters:

An injured Enes "Can't Play Kanter"
Al-Farouq Aminu
Moe Harkless

The fact that Dame and C.J. were able to drag that mess to the WESTERN Conference Finals speaks well for how good they are. Yes, C.J. is rated WAY too high by ESPN, but overall Dame and C.J. aren't Portland's problem. It is the players they've been surrounded with that are.

Will be interesting to see how they do defensively this year

[levon]

Harden is better than Curry. And I'm one of Harden's biggest detractors.

[Whopper_Sr]

Both LeBron and Steph have been underrated the past few months. To me they're still the 2 best players in the league.

#3 to #6 is fuzzy between Giannis, Kawhi, Harden, and Davis. I'm not high on Kawhi as much as others are so I'd have him narrowly edged out by the other 3. Davis will feast even more offensively playing with LeBron so #5 seems okay. Between Giannis and Harden, I see Giannis making enough of a leap offensively for him to have the better season.

Jokic and Embiid are about equal. Jokic is my favorite player so I'll shamelessly give him the nod. Both of them have a solid chance to end the season as top 5 players. I sure hope to see it. Plus I do think there's a small but clear gap between those two and the #9 and #10 guys.

For the last 2 spots, I'm looking at Gobert and Westbrook. 2018-2019 was arguably George's peak and I don't see him replicating that production. Lillard does belong in this tier and I expect the same from him as the 3-4 seasons.

Overall, I'd go:
1. LeBron
2. Curry
3. Giannis
4. Harden
5. Davis
6. Kawhi
7. Jokic
8. Embiid
9. Gobert
10. Lillard
11. Westbrook
12. George
13. Draymond
14. KAT
15. Paul

[WarriorGM]

Harden is better than Curry. And I'm one of Harden's biggest detractors.

Then the Rockets better finish well ahead of the Warriors this year.

[levon]

Harden is better than Curry. And I'm one of Harden's biggest detractors.

Then the Rockets better finish well ahead of the Warriors this year.

Yeah I got them pegged in 1st.

Rockets
Clippers
Nuggets
Warriors
Jazz
Lakers
Blazers
Spurs

[suckfish]

KD didn't make the top 100?

[scrabbarista]

OK, so they put down the crack pipe for 8 picks. None of these are too offensive; although LeBron's probably ranked too high. Giannis (presumably #1) and Kawhi (#2) are left.

10. PG13
9. Dame
8. Embiid
7. Jokic
6. Steph
5. AD
4. Harden
3. LBJ

I haven't been following the rankings at all, buutttt... this looks pretty terrible to me. And hearing that McCollum was 13th... Yikes. The rankings that I'm hearing here and there from both ESPN and SI just remind me why I've been ignoring them.

EDIT: After seeing the comments in the thread, it seems no one agrees with anyone else and I disagree with everyone, so maybe being wrong is just inherent to NBA list-making right now. This could be a very interesting season. Let's hope for good health!

[BNM]

I like Lillard but he is not a top 10 player. Top 15-20 but not top 10

He's finished top 8 in MVP voting and has been 1st or 2nd team All NBA 3 of the past 4 seasons:

2015-16: 8th in MVP voting, 2nd team All NBA
2017-18: 4th in MVP voting, 1st team All NBA
2018-19: 6th in MVP voting, 2nd team All NBA

SI Ranking: 10th
ESPN Ranking: 10th
RealGM Player Poll: 10th

Your opinion would appear to be in the minority.

[Dominator83]

KD didn't make the top 100?

It's probably taking into account that he's unlikely to play this year

[suckfish]

KD didn't make the top 100?

It's probably taking into account that he's unlikely to play this year

Odd considering Klay is ranked.

[BoogieTime]

LeBron aging, should be about 7-8 or less by this point

[clyde21]

AD over Curry seems off to me

let them sleep (again)

[NZB2323]

Davis should be at the end of top 10. What exactly did he accomplish last year to move up a spot?

Curry should be in top 3-4.

LeBron should be in #5 spot or lower.

Davis got Lebron as a pick and roll partner, and players are usually better at age 26 than 25.

[LeMasta]

AD is not a better player than Curry

I'm also taking LeBron over Giannis especially come playoff time.

[Benedict_Boozer]

Lol at Curry being that low, and I can’t stand the dude


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[Raps in 4]

AD and Harden ahead of Steph is pretty horrible.

[Raps in 4]

Harden is better than Curry. And I'm one of Harden's biggest detractors.

No, he's not. And I'm one of Harden's biggest fans.