The Flagrant 2’s Top 50 Players for 2016–2017: 50–40
The NBA Off-season can be broken into 3 areas; The NBA Draft, Free Agency but most importantly the need for every basketball site to post their almighty NBA Top “Insert Number” List for the Upcoming Season. As relative nobodies and new to the scene, we just want to fit in and be like everyone else. Instead of going through each player, and providing insight into why we chose to put them where did…. Why not just provide commentary on certain groups of players. This way is easier and we are all about ease here at the Flagrant 2.
Sit back and enjoy players 50–40:
Yup, We Ranked Rubio and Thompson In The Top 50:
50. Tristan Thompson
49. Ricky Rubio
Oh man, the Flagrant 2 starting off hot with Rubio and Thompson in the Top-50 but can you blame us? Neither Rubio or Thompson might be a scorer but that doesn’t stop them from making an impact when on the court. Rubio has his steals and assists while Tristan has his rebounds and garbage points… seriously these guys are just rock stars who don’t need to score to have a positive effect on a game. Rubio often gets lost in the shuffle when discussing the PG situation currently in the NBA but we would take Rubio over most in the league right now, and Thompson is the rare big man who can switch onto any player in the league even Curry.
legiNdary notes: These are guys that are dynamic, intricate members of their teams. Someone who just missed the cut was Brook Lopez. However, push comes to shove, we think that the versatility of both of these guys trumps Brook. We love the Lopez family, but had to go with these guys.
2 Of The More Underrated Guys In The League:
48. J.J. Redick
47. Nicolas Batum
Honestly, if you don’t rock with either Batum or Redick in your top-50…. I don’t think we can be Basketball friends. Batum is that glue guy who can do it all, and is a great 2nd option on a playoff team and an UNREAL 3rd option on a contending team. J.J. Redick is the ultimate gamer, seriously though, he is. He understood his weaknesses and knew that for him to make it into the league, he needed to fit a certain player archetype… and he did. Arguably the best catch-and-shoot player in the league, J.J. has turned himself into the ultimate role player and one that will go down as one of the best shooters in league history.
legiNdary notes: JJ Redick is the number 1 podcast host (not a close second in sight). Redick has been criminally underrated for years, is crazy efficient and is a critical member of the Clippers playoff run. Will Nicolas Batum ever be an all star? Not sure, but he is an essential member of the defunct Bobcats and his versatility makes him a great fit on this list.
Is This The Year They Make the Leap Type of Guys:
46. Rudy Gobert
45. Andrew Wiggins
There is nothing more basketball than referring to someone as, “ that guy’s about to take the leap” and both Gobert and Wiggins fit that label for us. The two young guns are oozing with potential and could be All-Stars in the next 2 years, but they both need to improve in certain areas this year for us to believe that the “leap” has arrived. Wiggins is already a capable scorer, which is evident behind is large scoring output in his second season but he needs to hone his shooting from deep so he doesn’t get that DeMar DeRozan 2.0 label… which isn’t a bad thing but don’t say that on twitter to people.With Rudy, the leap is more about him taking his skills up a notch and becoming more efficient in the process. We are not too worried with his inability to create shots because well it doesn’t really hurt DeAndre Jordan, but we are worried about his frame and his ability to defend the more physically imposing bigs in the league. When the 2016–2017 season ends next April, both Wiggins and Gobert should be finalists for the Most Improved Player Award.
legiNdary notes: These might as well be called the “Fringe 2017 All Star guys.” They are primed for a great season, but they may still be another year away from being all-stars. Gobert is ready for a DPOY award, though.
Are We The Only Site That Likes Reggie This Much?:
44. Reggie Jackson
Seriously, this is a legit question…. Are we the biggest non-Pistons supporters of Reggie Jackson? We rated Jackson in the mid-40s and after a few other sites didn’t even have him in the top-50, we felt like idiots but the numbers for Reggie made us feel vindicated. We don’t want to get all basketball analytics on you, but Reggie is top-10 among PGs last season in these pretty important stats: Win Share, Value Over Replacement Player, and Offensive Box Plus/Minus. He also averaged more assists than Kemba Walker and points than C.J. McCollum Per 36 minutes, while posting a PER of 19.6.
So Underrated That They Might Be Overrated Now
43. Khris Middleton
42. Jae Crowder
The former king of long-form ranting, Bill Simmons came up with this and both of these guys exemplify this statement. Don’t get us wrong, both are great two-way players but can they be 2nd options on contending teams? Even though both are still relatively young, what you see right now is what you get from both Crowder and Middleton moving forward. Which again…. Isn’t a bad thing, these two guys will be essential for their teams development over the next 2–3 years.
Savvy Veterans Part 1:
41. Dwight Howard
40. Pau Gasol
Both are on new teams, both are veterans to the league and both are still somehow top-50 guys. We really didn’t want to have Dwight or Pau on the list but after looking through their numbers last year, both were really effective and earned a spot. You are looking at two guys in their 30’s who averaged a double-double last season and played in more games than Rudy Gobert. Seriously, it is crazy, if you need some deep analytic thoughts on them, just look at their VORP or DBPM… both above league average. How long will this last, who knows but it is always enjoyable to see former top-15 guys ride out into the sun.
Part Deux expected next week or sometime this weekend
