The Flagrant 2’s Top 50 Players for 2016–2017: 10–1
It is kind of funny that the three best story lines coming into the 2016–2017 season, also contains four of the best players in the league. We have the; “Can Lebron Repeat” Narrative, the “What Will the Warriors Do Next With KD” Narrative and finally you have the, “Will Russell Set The NBA On Fire” narrative. Outside of the Top-4, figuring out the remaining six guys is the fun stuff. With so many varying opinions on what matters in the NBA and how do you properly player value is what makes doing this kind of stuff fun.
Now we finish with the Top-10, which means that the NBA season is only a few days away.
Can The Clippers Please Unleash 2014–2015 Playoff Blake Griffin Permanently:
10. Blake Griffin
Last year was a complete waste for Blake Griffin and that sucked for everyone. He played in only 35 games due to injury and had that weird fight with the trainer, which took away who he was the year before in the playoffs the previous year. As an NBA community can we create a petition to force Doc Rivers to always play Blake as a ball-handler and someone who can initiate the offense? That post-season Blake was borderline unstoppable, he averaged 25 PPG while grabbing over 10 boards and averaging 6 assists. Those are like Draymond Green numbers on steroids, and the world needs a full season of this type of Blake. You can take away the all dunks, and just give us this version of Blake; we promise to love him.
Chris Paul is in a Class of His Own:
9. Chris Paul
But seriously, at this point in his career, CP3 is still a top-10 player and it really isn’t even up for discussion. During what could be referred to as the “Golden Era” of PGs, CP3 who might have started it and at 31, he is still very much in the discussion for top-3 PGs in the league today. It seems that the legacy of CP3 is somewhat underappreciated due to it happening during the reign of King James, but CP3 is still a talented player and a Top-5 PG of all-time.
Anthony Davis is Still Anthony Davis Guys… We Shouldn’t Forget That
8. Anthony Davis
Your heart has to go out for Anthony Davis, and if you don’t then well that is a little bit messed up. It wasn’t to long ago that we were proclaiming him as the heir apparent to become the league’s best overall player but as of now, he really is only fighting with Karl Anthony-Towns for the title of the league’s best overall University of Kentucky player. Still only 24, Anthony Davis is still very much growing into his body and still could learn a thing or two from a crafty veteran. The one issue for Davis, and probably why most people rank him below the Top-5 is his love affair with injuries.
James Harden Is Going 2 Destroy The World This Year:
7. James Harden
In 2016–2017, James Harden is going to destroy the world. This turned from conspiracy theory to fact with his transition to the PG, something that he has been dying to be referred to as for years. Even if one of us here at the Flagrant 2 is tired of Harden, it is tough to write off his amazing eye test numbers and big data analytics numbers. If we are strictly looking at the eye test numbers, he passes with flying colors. Harden played the most minutes in the league last year, while having a pretty “respectable” line of 29/7/5. People forget how damn violent Harden is in terms of production, and that is when the big data analytics test comes into effect. Seriously though, Harden is a big data guy and is big data numbers back it up. Harden is Top-10 in these nerdy stats; VORP, Win Share, Usage% and everyone’s favorite Big Data Stat …. PER . We don’t know what a lot of these really mean but people love to bring up these stats when arguing lists so we thought it would be smart if we did it too.
Honestly, The Next Two Can Be Flipped and We Would Be Cool:
5. Paul George
6. Kawhi Leonard
Is Kawhi 5th or is George??? For us , it really doesn’t matter. These two guys are fucking nasty and alongside Jimmy Butler carry the most weight on a given team. Both are their teams go-to scorer and also take the toughest assignment on defense, while doing both at an elite level. Other than those two pretty cool similarities, these two guys don’t have much else in common. It sucks to think that both of these guys could have played together, if the Pacers didn’t trade the pick that turned out to be Kawhi for George Hill. Now that is something Bill Simmons should add to his next version of The Big Book of Basketball.
Russell Westbrook Has 2 Be Real Life Booster Gold:
4. Russell Westbrook
Westbrook has to be the worst athlete in the future, or something and decided that coming back in time would give him the opportunity for glory/fame. That is what the Booster Gold name-drop is in reference too. But back to Russell, this guy is not from the this era. He has to be from a time where we as humans are physically more evolved. This season will be Alpha Russell Mode, he should go absolutely bonkers on everyone and if his usage rate is not above 75% than this season will be a waste. Russell has squashed the idea that the bright lights matter to him and instead is ready to become an icon for the OKC fans.
These Two Guys Will Each Other’s MVP Votes:
2. Kevin Durant
3. Steph Curry
Listen, this KD and Curry thing will be awesome. As much as it will suck to know that winning a championship will be next to impossible with them ruling the West and Lebron still running the East but we can’t just hate it to hate it. Things like this don’t happen in any sport, so we should enjoy it for at least one year than afterwards, do what you will. Both these guys will be great, and watching Steve Kerr incorporate Durant into the offense will be really interesting.
The King Deserves It 4 Another Year:
- Lebron James
As the bold text alludes, this is a pretty simple yet true way to start the Top-50 list. If you believe that someone else deserves to be in the top-4, it is because you are either an NBA Hipster or have unconditional love for Kyrie Irving. Starting the list with Lebron is simple, because well he dominated the Finals and cried with Kevin Love…. That is #1 for us. We thought Lebron was coming down the mountain, but it was just a break until he kept his descent up the mountain. Nothing else really needs to be said. Lebron is still Lebron, and everyone else just has to deal with it. Which is kind of lame.
