SI Top 100 NBA Players of 2019

[superdave]

[*]Adam Morrison

Charlotte...every single time...

[wobatus]

Only Harrison Barnes on the list from UNC, none from State.

I was surprised to see TJ Warren off the list, but I guess being the second best player on one of the worst teams gets you little recognition.

I thought Barnes a bit too high on that list. Reggie Bullock probably had a better year last year. Maybe even Ellington. You might prefer Barnes over Bullock (a year younger, more versatile, although Bullock is turning into a deadly 3 shooter), but at that price? And Bullock isn't close to being top 100. TJ Warren also had a better year than Barnes, I'd say. They give credit to Barnes being able to defend 4s. TJ ups his 3 point shooting a bit and he's on the list, but his eFG% is still higher than Barnes.

[JNort]

I dunno, Dukelifer... J.J. was drafted #11, presumably all the best judgments of the scouts and GMs at the time, given that ten teams passed on him. He has played 19,000 mins, grabbed 1,502 rebounds and scored 9,412 points.

Just a quick looks suggests the only players with better careers drafted ahead of him are LaMarcus Aldridge (30,000 mins., 7,224 RBs, 16,871 PTs) and Rudy Gay (28,000 mins., 4,743 RBs, 14,515 PTs). Randy Foye's numbers are roughly comparable to J.J.'s, but he is no longer in the league.

Maybe I overlooked someone... The first 15 picks in 2006 were --

1. Andrea Bargnani
2. LaMarcus Aldridge
3. Adam Morrison
4. Tyrus Thomas
5. Shelden Williams
6. Brandon Roy
7. Randy Foye
8. Rudy Gay
9. Patrick O'Bryant
10. Mouhamed Sene
11. J. J. Redick
12. Hilton Armstrong
13. Thabo Sefolosha
14. Ronnie Brewer
15. Cedric Simmons

Of those drafted ahead of him it looks to keep like only Aldridge and Roy were better.

[elvis14]

I thought Barnes a bit too high on that list. Reggie Bullock probably had a better year last year. Maybe even Ellington. You might prefer Barnes over Bullock (a year younger, more versatile, although Bullock is turning into a deadly 3 shooter), but at that price? And Bullock isn't close to being top 100. TJ Warren also had a better year than Barnes, I'd say. They give credit to Barnes being able to defend 4s. TJ ups his 3 point shooting a bit and he's on the list, but his eFG% is still higher than Barnes.

Maybe Barnes is on the list because he contributed greatly to an NBA championship. The Cavs don't beat the GSW without a truly unbelievable amount of help from Harry.

[kAzE]

So ESPN is also doing their top 100, and they are significantly higher on Jayson Tatum than SI.

the 21-30 list came out today and has Jayson at #24. Those are some sky high expectations for a 20-year-old 2nd year pro. I have no doubt Jayson will be a top 10 talent one day, but I think I'd still put him behind Horford as of year 2.

Kyrie will presumably be in the 11-20 list.

[JNort]

ESPN is doing theirs right now as well. It's a joke (per usual) how low some are and how high others are.

Cousins, Kristaps, DeRozan, Hayward, and Wall didn't even make top 30.

[flyingdutchdevil]

ESPN is doing theirs right now as well. It's a joke (per usual) how low some are and how high others are.

Cousins, Kristaps, DeRozan, Hayward, and Wall didn't even make top 30.

3 of those 5 are coming off devastating and potentially career limiting injuries. Another is ineffective in the playoffs. And the fifth had a down year compared to 2016-17.

[JNort]

3 of those 5 are coming off devastating and potentially career limiting injuries. Another is ineffective in the playoffs. And the fifth had a down year compared to 2016-17.

Injuries until its shown to impact their play are irrelevant to me. There isn't 30 people better than those guys in the NBA. That's just the guys rated too low, the ones rated too high are even worse imo.

[RPS]

So ESPN is also doing their top 100, and they are significantly higher on Jayson Tatum than SI.

the 21-30 list came out today and has Jayson at #24. Those are some sky high expectations for a 20-year-old 2nd year pro. I have no doubt Jayson will be a top 10 talent one day, but I think I'd still put him behind Horford as of year 2.

Kyrie will presumably be in the 11-20 list.

The Sporting News has a new Top 25 Under 25 list. Ingram (#13) and Tatum (#7) are on it.

[JNort]

The Sporting News has a new Top 25 Under 25 list. Ingram (#13) and Tatum (#7) are on it.

That list isn't too bad but Capela is soooooo much higher than I would expect.

[kAzE]

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...players-season

I can't be the only one surprised by this. I won't argue at all with putting him behind Draymond, Jimmy Butler, Paul George, or even Klay, who I think will forever be underrated.

However, ESPN ranked Kyrie behind guys like Oladipo, Karl Towns, Ben Simmons in his 2nd year, Nikola Jokic (#12? are you crazy? This guy plays no defense), and 33-year-old Chris Paul.

I'm obviously biased, but in a vacuum, there's no way I would take any of those guys on my team for the 2018-19 season over Kyrie Irving.

[sagegrouse]

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...players-season

I can't be the only one surprised by this. I won't argue at all with putting him behind Draymond, Jimmy Butler, Paul George, or even Klay, who I think will forever be underrated.

However, ESPN ranked Kyrie behind guys like Oladipo, Karl Towns, Ben Simmons in his 2nd year, Nikola Jokic (#12? are you crazy? This guy plays no defense), and 33-year-old Chris Paul.

I'm obviously biased, but in a vacuum, there's no way I would take any of those guys on my team for the 2018-19 season over Kyrie Irving.

Here's the entry on Kyrie (fair use only, of course):

As a young star, Irving charted as high as No. 8 in NBArank based on his immense potential. Now he's settled in as a top-20 player because he has averaged only 63 games played in his seven seasons -- and his defensive effort is not a lengthy visitor. But at age 26, with a full return to health and the possibility of playoff heroics ahead, Uncle Drew can rise again. -- Royce Webb

Paraphrase: only top 20 'cuz he has averaged only 63 games a year. Plus, somewhat of a knock on his defense. If Kyrie is healthy, he's a top ten player. IMHO (where the H has been missing since the 1980's).

[English]

Injuries until its shown to impact their play are irrelevant to me. There isn't 30 people better than those guys in the NBA. That's just the guys rated too low, the ones rated too high are even worse imo.

That's your prerogative, but this isn't a video game. These are human athletes who have human bodies. Historical trends on recoveries from gruesome injury tend to tell pretty clearly that ACLs and achilles tears typically take longer than a single season to return to 100% ability. But hey, the entire point of lists like these is to drum up discussion.

[JNort]

That's your prerogative, but this isn't a video game. These are human athletes who have human bodies. Historical trends on recoveries from gruesome injury tend to tell pretty clearly that ACLs and achilles tears typically take longer than a single season to return to 100% ability. But hey, the entire point of lists like these is to drum up discussion.

I get that but this is about who's the best, not whos the healthiest. So if all are healthy then this list is wrong by a bunch. That's how I view it.