Welcome back to "Pat's Top 25 NBA Players Countdown". On Monday August 13th, Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors and Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers was the 13th and 12th ranked player in my top 25 list.
Kyrie Irving a.k.a. Uncle Drew will be making an appearance on today's list. Kyrie Irving has the best handle in NBA history in my opinion and his ability to finish at the rim with either hand through traffic, may also be at a level that I have never seen before. The only question is, do I consider Uncle Drew a top 10 player in the NBA?
Before I rank Kyrie Irving, let's look at the rankings so far.
*Players that just missed the cut.
- C. Nikola Jokic *Denver Nuggets
- C. Andre Drummond *Detroit Pistons
- SG. Devin Booker *Phoenix Suns
- PF. Kevin Love *Cleveland Cavaliers
- PG. Kemba Walker *Charlotte Hornets
- SG. C.J. McCollum *Portland Trail Blazers
Players ranked #25-12
- (25.) SG. Bradley Beal *Washington Wizards
- (24.) C. Karl-Anthony Towns *Minnesota Timberwolves
- (23.) PG. Kyle Lowry *Toronto Raptors
- (22.) SG. Victor Oladipo *Indiana Pacers
- (21.) C. Rudy Gobert *Utah Jazz
- (20.) PF. LaMarcus Aldridge *San Antonio Spurs
- (19.) PF. Draymond Green *Golden State Warriors
- (18.) SG. Demar Derozan *San Antonio Spurs
- (17.) C. Joel Embiid *Philadelphia 76ers
- (16.) PG. John Wall *Washington Wizards
- (15.) SF. Paul George *Oklahoma City Thunder
- (14.) SG. Jimmy Butler *Minnesota Timberwolves
- (13.) SG. Klay Thompson *Golden State Warriors
- (12.) PG. Damian Lillard *Portland Trail Blazers
*Now the 11th and 10th selection.
- (11.) C. DeMarcus Cousins *Golden State Warriors
DeMarcus "Boogie" Cousins is currently the best center in the NBA. DeMarcus Cousins has been a double-double machine since entering the league in 2010 and has averaged no lower than (22 Pts, 11 Rebs, 3 Ast ) since the beginning of his fourth season. In fact, Cousins stat line the past four seasons have been incredible. His numbers since the beginning of the 2014-2015 season (25.8 Pts, 12.2 Rebs, 4.0 Ast, 1.4 Blk, 1.5 Stl, 46 Fg%, 32 3pt% and 75 Ft%.)
Also, Cousins has made the All-Star game for four consecutive seasons (2015-2018) , has been an All-NBA second team performer in two of the past four seasons (2015,2016) and would have another All-NBA selection last season ,if he didn't rupture his Achilles on January 26th against the Houston Rockets. Boogie was having his best season of his career before the injury, he was on pace to have a career best years in Field goal percentage , assist, rebounds and defensive rating, which he ranked eighth last season. Cousins stats from this past season in 48 games played, (25.2 Pts, 12.9 Rebs, 5.4 Ast, 1.6 Stl, 1.6 Blk, 47 Fg%, 35 3pt% &75 Ft%.)
DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis were finally starting to click as a great frontcourt tandem. They were 6th in the Western Conference with a 27-21 record before Cousin's injury. The New Orleans Pelicans however, did make the Postseason without Cousins and swept the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round series as an underdog. With that happening there were many NBA pundits claiming that the Pelicans played faster offensively without Boogie and that a more swifter offense , was the style of play that best suited the team and Anthony Davis going forward. One Knock against the DeMarcus Cousins was his high turnover rate, which he averaged five a game last season and a little over four a game these past four seasons.
Furthermore, as great as Cousins been, he has never participated in the postseason. Cousins shouldn't get complete blame for that since he played for a miserable Sacramento Kings franchise for six and half seasons before being traded to the Pelicans during the All-Star break in 2017, but his temperament towards teammates, refs and coaches didn't really help in creating a winning environment.
Cousins is now a member of the Golden State Warriors, after signing with them for a one year, 5.3 million this off-season. He is joining a team fresh off back to back titles and winners of three of the past four Larry O'Brien trophies, so barring anything catastrophic happening to Warriors as far as injuries, Cousins will definitely get in the postseason for the first time in his career. When Cousins get back healthy from his injury,one would think that he will be their third scoring option behind KD and Curry and at times a fourth option behind Klay Thompson. I wonder will Cousins accept his role this season with the Warriors. If so, I see nothing stopping the Warriors from winning four titles in five years.
Cousins is undoubtedly one of the most talented players in the NBA, that's why I had him as high as number nine on my list at a point, but I had to place him just outside the top ten, because he will not be fully healthy next season and he's no longer the lead dog or in co-partnership of carrying a team.
- (10.) PG. Kyrie Irving *Boston Celtics
Kyrie Irving a.k.a. Uncle Drew is indeed a top-10 player in the NBA. Kyrie Irving is the most skilled player in the NBA and if you don't consider him number one, he's definitely no lower than top three.
Kyrie Irving is a nightmare for any guard, forward, or center, he's that good offensively. Over the past four seasons Kyrie has made three All-Star games (2015,2017,2018) and has averaged (22.7 Pts, 3.3 Rebs, 5.2 Ast, 1.2 Stls, 47 Fg%, 38 3pt% & 88.5 Ft%) .
Irving doesn't have a ton of accolades to show just how great he is. He never made an All-NBA first team or second team and only made one All-NBA third team back in 2015. He never made an All-defensive team, he never finished top -10 in assist for a season and his stats compared to Damian Lillard who's fresh off an All-NBA first team are lower across the board besides efficiency from the field and three- point line. He's not great on the defensive end like a Jimmy butler or Paul George and he doesn't get assist like a John Wall, but I'll take Kyrie over all of them and here's why. Kyrie is a NBA champion unlike those players I just named and although it's some players ahead of him that aren't champions, he gets a nod over players that are in his tier. Irving is a tier 3 player in my opinion, with a tier 2 talent level that elevates in the NBA playoffs.
The 2016 Finals showed Kyrie's greatness. In that series Kyrie averaged (27.1 Pts, 3.9 Ast, 3.9 Rebs, 2.0 Stls, 47 Fg%, 41 3pt% & 94 Ft%.) had two 30 point games, matched LeBron 41 points in game five and hit the go ahead three right in the face of unanimous M.V.P. Stephen Curry, with 53 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter of game seven. The Cavaliers went on to win the game and won their first NBA title in 46 years as a franchise. The Cavaliers matched up with the Warriors for the third straight year this time having to face a Warriors squad with Kevin Durant. The Cavaliers lost in five games , but Kyrie played great, he averaged (29.4 Pts, 4.0 Rebs, 4.4 Ast, 1.0 Stl, 47 Fg%, 42 3pt% & 90 Ft%.) and scored 40 points on 56 5 shooting in game four to save the Cavaliers from getting swept.
Kyrie Irving was traded to the Boston Celtics in the 2017 off-season for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and Brooklyn's 2018 protected first round pick, because of an underlying tension he had with LeBron James. Kyrie simply didn't want to be there anymore and many people initially felt that it was unwise of him to leave LeBron to essentially be the Alpha on another team, but he proved he can lead on his on. Irving was the catalyst on a good Boston Celtics squad that was number two in the Eastern Conference Standings before Kyrie went down after complications with his Patella, that sidelined him for the remainder of the season on March 24th and caused him to miss the entire 2018 NBA playoffs.
The good news for Kyrie is that he plays for one of the best coaches in the NBA in Brad Stevens, and has a very young and talented nucleus with players like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Terry Rozier and talented veterans such as Gordon Hayward , Marcus Smart and Al Horford, the Celtics are the favorites to come out the Eastern Conference going into next season and Kyrie Irving can cement his legacy even further and skyrocket up this list , if he can lead a team to the Finals ,while being the leading man and potentially winning a Finals MVP as well.
I hope you'll enjoyed today's list. I will be returning with a new post on Saturday, August 18th, 2018, to present the 9th and 8th selection.
Comments
Post a Comment