Welcome back to "Pat's Top 25 NBA Players Countdown" . On Saturday, August 4th, 2018 Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers and John Wall of the Washington Wizards was selected as the 17th and 16th best player in the NBA. Now that one-third of the list is complete, there are 15 elite ballers awaiting to be placed.

NBA All-Star and two time third team ALL-NBA performer, Paul George from the Oklahoma City Thunder, will be making an appearance on today's list. 

Before I reveal the other Star player, let's look back at the countdown thus far.

*Players that didn't make 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 #25-16

• (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 *Toronto Raptors
  
• (17.) C. Joel Embiid *Philadelphia 76ers
  
• (16.) PG. John Wall *Washington Wizards
  

Now players ranked 15th and 14th.

• SF.(15.) Paul George *Oklahoma City Thunder
  

Paul George has recovered nicely from his gruesome leg injury back on August 1st,2014 at an USA Intrasquad scrimmage at UNLV. The injury sidelined him for eight months and he was only able to play the final six games for the Indiana Pacers that season.

 

Paul George has returned back to elite form since the beginning of the 2015-2016 season. He has a cumulative average of (22.9 Pts, 6.4 Rebs, 3.6 Ast, 1.8 Stl, 44 Fg%, , 39 3pt% & 86 Ft%). He has made the All-Star game the past three seasons (2016-2018), All-NBA third team twice (2016,2018) and an All-Defensive second team once (2016). George has been one of the most durable players in the league as well. He played 81 games in 2016, 75 games in  2017 and 79 games in 2018.

In 2015-2016 ,George had a terrific bounce back year. He made the All-Star game once again and was selected to the All-NBA third team . His season average was (23.1 Pts, 7.0 Rebs, 4.1 Ast, 1.8 Stl, 42 Fg%, 37 3pt%, & 86 Ft%.) He was able to lead his Indian Pacers squad back to the playoffs as a seven seed and they came within one game of upsetting the number two seeded Toronto Raptors.

Paul George and the Indiana Pacers seemed to be a team on the rise once again, but that was all a façade. In the 2016-2017 season, they finished as the number seven seed again and was swept in the first round by the Cavaliers. George had big games in this series scoring 29 points in game one , 32 points  in game two and 36 Points , in game three , but had a horrible shooting night in game four. He scored 15 points and shot 5 for 21 from the field and air balled the potential game tying three.  

Then ,Paul George was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the summer of 2017 for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis. People thought initially that the Pacers clearly lost the trade and that the Oklahoma City Thunder were now about to become a legit threat out west with the trio of Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony and Paul George, but they underperformed for much of the season. The Thunder struggled throughout the season, but they were able to close out strong and get a four seed where they headed into the playoffs as the favorite in a first round series against the Utah Jazz, who were led offensively by rookie Donovan Mitchell. The Thunder lost 4-2 and Paul George had another poor outing in a closeout game . George shot 2 for 16 from the field and scored only five points. On top of his miserable night , he had another air ball from the three point line shades of 2017 playoffs against the Cavaliers.

In addition, I do respect Paul George despite his inability to be consistent when it matters most. For what it's worth , ,Paul George has been a valuable defender in the league according to win shares. He has finished in the top 10 ,two out of the past four seasons. He ranked seventh  in 2016 and 10th last season. If Paul George could ever reach his ceiling he could easily become a 25-5-5 nightly kind of player with tremendous defense, but until then he'll always be remembered as a player that keeps you wanting more.

• https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/georgpa01.html
• https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2014/08/01/paul-george-injury-team-usa/13498731/
• http://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/4251/paul-george
• https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/2017-nba-eastern-conference-first-round-pacers-vs-cavaliers.html

• (14.) SG. Jimmy Butler *Minnesota Timberwolves
  

Jimmy Buckets as Stacey King used to call home back in his playing days with the Chicago Bulls, has been a very solid player on both ends of the court the past four seasons. Over the past four seasons, Butler averages (21.8 Pts, 5.7 Rebs, 4.6 Ast, 1.8 Stls, 46 Fg%, 35 3pt% & 85Ft%.) butler has been a four time All-Star (2015-2018), two time All-NBA third team (2017,2018) , three time All-Defensive second team (2015,2016,2018) and won most improved player in 2015.

I told myself while working on this list , wherever I place Paul George is where I'm going to place Jimmy Butler right next to, because they are essentially the same player. Let's look at their stats. Paul George stats (22.9 Pts, 6.4 Rebs, 3.6 Ast, 1.8 Stl, 44-39-86 shooting percentages), compared to Butler's (21.8 Pts, 5.7 Rebs, 4.6 Ast, 1.8 Stl, 46-35-85 shooting percentages.). As you can see Paul George has the edge in points, rebounds, three point percentage and free throw percentage, while Jimmy is better from the field and a better assist man.

I chose to place Jimmy Butler higher than George, because the Timberwolves was the three seed out west last season before he suffered his injury against the Houston Rockets . Butler also had a higher PER last year at 23.7 compared to Paul George's 18.7. Butler finished top ten in win shares two out of the past four years,6th in 2015 and 3rd in 2017 ,while Paul George never finished in the top ten. Also, Butler has the lone playoff series win between the two of the past four seasons, beating the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the 2015 playoffs. 

Butler does have his shortcomings as a leader, he hasn't won a playoff series since 2015 and although he was the leading scorer on the Bulls that season, it was still truly recognized as Derrick rose team. Butler stats in the Playoffs are decent, but they're not what you really need from your lead guy. He averages just under 20 Ppg his last three playoff appearances and he couldn't even win a game against the Boston Celtics after having the number one seed on the ropes taking a 2-0 commanding series lead back in 2017, before losing four straight games. I understand they lost Rondo for the series, but as we grew to understand that Celtics team that season was fraudulent .

Jimmy Butler is ranked as the third best shooting guard on my list and the 7th best guard . His placement inside the top 15 for his pure all-around game is warranted. I'm not sure if I can see Butler  going anywhere above this slot in the future, because I don't see his stats improving. If he begins to win championships then I'll be singing a different tune!

• https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/butleji01.html
• https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/2017-nba-eastern-conference-first-round-bulls-vs-celtics.html
  
  

There you have it. We are basically at the half way point of the list. Let me know how you feel about today's selection. My next blog will be posting Sunday, August 12th, 2018.