Who is currently the best player in the league and how do you rank the rest of the top ten?

CandyCanes

I feel like what Harden has done these past two or three seasons has just been absolutely ridiculous, but it still feels wrong to put him above LeBron. I'd probably say LeBron, Harden, Durant Giannis, and Kawhi are the top five with Davis at sixth and Westbrook, Curry, Kyrie, and Embiid rounding out the top ten in that order. Westbrook and Curry seem to have fallen off the most out of everyone on this list.
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ChickenStu · Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2019 12:49 am Post subject:

^
Curry is shooting .491/.446/.931 this season, for a .664 TS %.

Regular season, Steph Curry. Playoffs, LeBron.

audioaxes · Franchise Player Joined: 26 Apr 2004 Posts: 12573

Westbrook not a top 10 player anymore

Aeneas Hunter · Retired Number Joined: 12 Jul 2005 Posts: 31763

That's sort of a vague question, although you tried to narrow it. Who is having the best season? Harden. Who is the best player? You could make arguments for Harden, Lebron, Giannis, Durant, or Curry.

Wilkes52 · Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2019 8:32 am Post subject:

I couldn't care less about the abstract (who fans think might be today's current "best" player in this league.) It's too vague a concept, too subjective to personal biases (club, region, stylistic preference). It's too club context-devoid to be worth time.

I say instead that it's a meaningless conceptual standard, too isolated from the needs, assets and limitations of a club's current position: talent-wise, cap-wise, contract commitment-wise, health-wise, competitive state. The best player in the league for one club is probably not the same for several others. No one starts from scratch. There's is no choosing first from a pool of every player in the league.
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Wino · Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2019 11:05 am Post subject:

Durant is such a mismatch for everyone. Where I like him the best is with his outside shot. Combined with his other abilities, makes him impossible to stop. The ONLY thing that can stop Durant is Durant. Lebron is a better facilitator but he is not nearly as good a shooter as Durant, IMHO.
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PHILosophize · Franchise Player Joined: 05 Nov 2012 Posts: 10758

Lebron
Giannis
KD
Curry
Harden
Kawhi
AD
Embiid
Kyrie

in that order
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adkindo · Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2019 8:51 pm Post subject:

I still say Lebron...at least for a little bit longer. That said, I struggle to say guys like Curry or Harden are in that conversation, even though they are likely the two most dominant offensive weapons in the league....but they are deficient in other areas which means they require certain players to surround them. In contrast, players like Kawhi, AD and others are excellent on offense, defense, can shoot, can handle the ball, can pass, can rebound, etc., and they really do not need any type of specialists to compensate for their weaknesses in the lineup.

adkindo · Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2019 9:00 pm Post subject:

Nobody · Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2019 11:19 am Post subject:

Still LeBron, until proven otherwise when it matters most - in the playoffs.

governator · Retired Number Joined: 28 Jan 2006 Posts: 25076

Baron Von Humongous · Retired Number Joined: 02 Jul 2015 Posts: 32979

Lebron
KD
Curry
Harden
Kawhi
Giannis
Jokic

After that it gets hazy between Lillard, Kyrie, AD, Embiid, George, and Westbrook.
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CandyCanes · Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2019 11:39 pm Post subject:

Chronicle · Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2019 11:58 pm Post subject:

janice
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Kobe

Baron Von Humongous · Retired Number Joined: 02 Jul 2015 Posts: 32979

KeepItRealOrElse · Retired Number Joined: 11 Oct 2012 Posts: 32767

LBJ
Steph( switch in playoffs)
KD (switch in playoffs)
Harden
Giannis

PG
Embiid
AD
Kawhi(defense and late game O have been not great and meh, respectively)
Jokic

BadGuy · Star Player Joined: 13 May 2008 Posts: 3616

CandyCanes · Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 9:54 am Post subject:

BadGuy · Star Player Joined: 13 May 2008 Posts: 3616

Mike@LG · Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2019 12:48 pm Post subject:

Jokic has been better than Towns for awhile now.

Towns only woke up when Butler left.

Think Giannis is the best player in the league, but I know I'm calling that shot early.
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Bol · Star Player Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Posts: 4045

Giannis
Harden
LeBron
Durant
Curry
Embiid
Kawhi
Davis
Westbrook
Bonga

governator · Retired Number Joined: 28 Jan 2006 Posts: 25076