Best Player in NBA in 2015/16

[naturalborn103]

Who will be the best player in the NBA in 2 years? If you choose other then say who.

[alpha]

I just don't see LeBron declining that much or durant improving enough to close the gap. I'll probably be wrong.

[Philaflava]

is Davis really the 3rd best player in the league?

[alpha]

He has a good chance to be in 2 years

[Gregg Popabitch]

is Davis really the 3rd best player in the league?

maybe, maybe not.

but he's improving at a rate where the chances are that he'll be a top 3 player in the NBA in a couple years. He's already a top 10 guy now imo

[Tweak Da Leak]

Lebron
Durant
CP3
Howard
Carmelo
Love
Griffin
Curry
Davis

[naturalborn103]

The big question to me is if Lebron slip in D last year was real or just an off year where is tired. If it is real then I'm going Davis.

[eternalreflection]

I think it really depends on how he does this year, if he stays about the same as last year then nope, Shaq had a pretty big jump from 20 to 21. The tools are there and C is so much more valuable than SF

Lebron and Durant will be basically equal, Davis is an underdog to jump both but he's really the only player that seems to have any shot at it

[capable_keL]

is Davis really the 3rd best player in the league?

not even close. my guess he is listed as a novelty in anticipation of him potentially, maybe being top 5 in the distant future.

[alpha]

Lebron
Durant
CP3
Howard
Carmelo
Love
Griffin
Curry
Davis

This seems appropriate after kels post

[Reason]

2015/16
lebron - durant - davis

2016/17
lebron - davis - durant

2017/18
lebron - davis - wiggins

2018/19
davis - wiggins - lebron

2019/20

wiggins - davis

[Blockhead]

Reason, you think Durant is gonna decline before lebron or that those other two are gonna be so good they'll just naturally over take him?
I feel like durant, if he stays healthy, is gonna be a top 3 guy for the new 5 years easily.

[peanut butter]

I think Durant is gonna age like Dirk did. As his athleticism declines, he'll still be able to dominate because he's a seven footer who is an elite shooter. He's gonna be able to score 20+ per game from the elbow and perimeter, whether he's able to beat people to the rim or not.


PEACR

[naturalborn103]

Davis looked like best player on team usa last night. He was also noticeably bigger. I think he will be top 5 player this year. Also think Durant will be better then LeBron at some point in next 3-4 years.

[capable_keL]

2015/16
lebron - durant - davis

2016/17
lebron - davis - durant

2017/18
lebron - davis - wiggins

2018/19
davis - wiggins - lebron

2019/20

wiggins - davis

very impossible, although I think LaVine will end up being better than Wiggins

[alpha]

if that ends up being the case, the wolves will be the class of the west.

[Reason]

Reason, you think Durant is gonna decline before lebron or that those other two are gonna be so good they'll just naturally over take him?
I feel like durant, if he stays healthy, is gonna be a top 3 guy for the new 5 years easily.

i think durant is overrated and that the gap between him and lebron is way bigger than most people give credit for, but my answer from your options is "gonna be so good they'll just naturally over take him"

davis simply has to do what he did last year agaihn this year for 75+ games. i just need to see him be able to do everything again at that same level a year after his reputation has been established at this level and he receives the commensurate attention/double-teams/gameplanning from opposing teams, and he STILL does it. that wraps it up for me in the durant vs davis argument

i pride myelf in seeing talent for what it is and not letting my assessment get influenced or exaggerated by anecdotal evidence

for example, james harden is far better a defender than people think because someone made a highlight reel of every single instance of his letting up during the regular season. players take plays off on defense all the time in order to have that little extra on offense. i'm not saying harden is okay or right for being lazy and gambling on plays...i'm just saying people get that anecdote or that image in their head and now that's it, harden is one of the "worst" defenders and he's "constantly" lazy. they fail to admit that in the playoffs such gambles are drastically reduced and that anyone could easily make a highlight reel of excellent defensive plays by harden, especially man-to-man iso's

another example - kevin durant drives to the hole and dunks a tomahawk over a big defender. so you would NEVER compare him to guys like kelly tripucka or glenn robinson. but guess what? especially against elite competition, and we've seen it now year in year out in a ton of playoff games, durant settles for contested jumpers, unnecessarily long 3's, and the like, he has no discernible post game unless his defender is a clear mismatch, he doesn't make plays for his teammates and will instead force bad shots in waning moments of big games, and he clearly does not impact his team defense anywhere nearly as much as anthony davis or lebron

this works the opposite way too with lebron. people automatically recall all his missed long range shots, not only completely ignoring the made ones, but also completely ignoring his incredible skill at scoring with efficiency around the basket. they just want to remember that he can't hit 6 threes in a 1st half of a finals game like jordan did. they just want to remember that in his first couple finals he couldn't hit long range shots consistently. what i pride myself in is not overexaggerating his long range woes while also NOT FORGETTING that he is a superior interior scorer to jordan.

[alpha]

you lost me at Harden is a far better defender than people think.

[Reason]

oh btw kel i dunno why my pm shit didn't work right but i tried to send a reply to your pm just saying

if minny can get one of the several prized big men in next year's class from the alexanders to the okafors to the towns' to the turners to the lyles (sooo many good ones, imo the best overall and most abundant collective class of big men prospects in one draft since...shit maybe since that kg/sheed draft off the top of my head?) to pair with pekovic/wiggins/lavine/rubio, look out, world!

[Reason]

you lost me at Harden is a far better defender than people think.

that's funny b/c you're the exact type of opinion-holder that i just completely dissected and demolished in that post

um, that came off like a diss, i meant that opinion that you hold is exactly the type i avoid b/c you obviously formed that opinion LARGELY based on that harden highlight reel (please don't start bullshitting me that you remember assessing harden as that bad on defense on your own by watching all the rockets games in your off days)

[naturalborn103]

Sorry reason, but I disagree a lot on harden. I watched a LOT of rockets last year and every game of Portland Houston series. He is pathetic on D, and it was just as bad in the playoffs. I don't know if he just isn't in shape as he should be or just doesn't care, but he gave up some huge buckets late in playoffs games doing the lazy poke out strategy while not even really attempting to poke it out. Howard on the other was amazing in that series and cleaned up most of those lazy plays.

Also, with Durant, there is blame to go around. He needs to be able to score on guys who are 5 inches shorter then him. I know TA is a incredible defender, but that just shouldn't work. That is on him and I won't be surprised if he improves. The majority of the blame I think falls on brooks. He has zero creativity in getting Durant the ball and usually late in slowed down playoff games he is denied the ball till he either gets it with 8 seconds on shot clock and pushed out way past 3 pt line or Westbrook just has to go kamikaze because there is no other option. They should be running PnRs with them two or having Durant fly around screens and either hit him while he is on the move or let him open up space for his screeners.

[Gregg Popabitch]

the thing is, i've been saying the same thing about harden that rzn is saying in this thread.

no one was complaining about harden's defense when he was on OKC. you may have seen a lot of houston this year but so has everyone. go look at his past OKC games.

[naturalborn103]

I don't doubt Harden's ability to defend 1 on 1, I doubt that either a) he cares enough to do it or b) is in good enough shape to do it. My point was his defense all year on Houston in regular season as well in playoffs was embarrassing, and I am not just going off youtube videos.

[Tweak Da Leak]

Harden was a decent defender on OKC even was able to box out some bigger SG's/SF's that would try and work him in the post, once he took the offensive load in Houston he became a poor man's version of old man Kobe Bryant on Defense.

[stupidregister]

Fuck you guys for not mentioning Derrick Rose anywhere.

[Gregg Popabitch]

Fuck you guys for not mentioning Derrick Rose anywhere.

Once he proves to me that he can finish two handed dunks on fast breaks, i'll think about sliding him into the top 3.

[eternalreflection]

you are more likely to win the powerball than Rose being a top 3 player, he never was when he had knees he sure as fuck isn't going to be now

[capable_keL]

[jazzmatazz23]

I am with Natural and Alpha on Harden. It was blatantly obvious that he was putting in minimal effort on defense last year with Houston even before social media starting taking jabs at him. Before I saw the youtube video, he was the only guy in the league that I noticed that would let guys drive by him to try and poke the ball from behind on a consistent basis. I have no comment on if he was good or bad on D in OKC.

Anthony Davis will 1 or more MVP's in his career. It wouldn't surprise me if he is the second best player in 2 years, and the best player once Lebron starts declining.

[chump change]

Parker>wiggins