Edit the label text in each row. He's the anchor of a defense that, by design, has made his job more difficult this time around. After a torn ACL at the worst possible time, a whole season on the sideline and a couple of false starts, Leonard finally looks like himself again. Despite that, he is the enforcer of a team that has won four NBA Championship with him on the roster. He'll also likely land on an All-NBA team for the first time at the end of the season. Voters for the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (player), Marv Albert (media), Al Attles (team), Red Auerbach (team), Elgin Baylor (team), Dave Bing (player), Larry Bird (team), Marty Blake (team), Fran Blinebury (media), Bill Bradley (player), Hubie Brown (team), Wilt Chamberlain (player), Mitch Chortkoff (media), Bob Cousy (player), Billy Cunningham (team), Chuck Daly (team), David DuPree (media), Wayne Embry (team), Julius Erving (player), Joe Gilmartin (media), Sam Goldaper (media), Alex Hannum (team), Lester Harrison (team), John Havlicek (player), Chick Hearn (media), Red Holzman (team), Phil Jasner (media), Earvin Johnson (player), John Kerr (player), Leonard Koppet (media), Bob Lanier (player), Frank Layden (team), Leonard Lewin (media), Jack McCallum (media), Dick McGuire (team), George Mikan (player), Bob Pettit (player), Harvey Pollack (team), Jack Ramsay (team), Willis Reed (team), Oscar Robertson (player), Bill Russell (player), Bob Ryan (media), Dolph Schayes (player), Bill Sharman (player), Gene Shue (team), Isiah Thomas (team), Wes Unseld (team), Peter Vecsey (media), Jerry West (team). A new era has arrived in Minnesota, and it should include trips to the playoffs, a couple of All-Star big men and a lot of expectations for the future. Butler throughout his career has logged a ton of minutes, and he shows up on the injury report quite often. He's averaging only 1.8 fewer points and one fewer assist per game since Jan. 1. Xavier S. Copyright 2022 DefPen.com. He does, and it's been high-octane at that. Morant put the league on notice and made his jump into superstar status last season, jumping up to 27.1 points per game and taking home a Most Improved Player award along the way. While his catch-and-shoot 3-point percentage is improving, he still needs to improve his off-the-dribble 3-point shot, which was 32% last year. One hundred and seven NBA championship rings. Drag the images into the order you would like. For the sixth season in a row, Def Pen Sports presents its collaborative ranking of the top 50 NBA players. At this point, anything he accomplishes is just icing on top of his Hall-of-Fame-career cake. On offense, hes a machine that has improved as a shooter and can get to his spots at will. Torontos system does not feel all that sustainable. 1; Lakers climbing, Lillard becoming one of best scorers ever, Report: Harden 'serious' about returning to Houston, LeBron (foot) to miss at least two weeks, per report, Hornets' Ball (ankle) out for season, per report, Lillard has career-high 71 points in Blazers win, Report: NBA, NBPA close to agreement on new CBA. Nearly one million points scored. The question is whether he has taken a step back defensively and whether he can carry a less-talented team. Panelists were asked to select the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, without regard to position. He can find open shooters but doesnt use his movement and dribble to create opportunities for his teammates. Absolutely. There is not a long list of 6-foot-1 guys who can finish like Mitchell. RANKING THE TOP 50 NBA PLAYERS! But Spida had other ideas. Before him, who do you think was the last player to average at least 18 points, 12 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game? -- Michael Kaskey-Blomain, Butler levels up in the playoffs, but he's been very good, in his typically subtle ways, in the regular season as well. He is tireless on that end, which makes his iron-man streak extra impressive. Good Trae can pull up from the logo and get into the lane at will while unleashing high-arching floaters over much taller defenders. Lillard's 130.2 points per 100 shot attempts is also a career high by an appreciable margin, trailing only Stephen Curry's 136.6 among all point guards. Saddiq Bey, Joe Ingles, Klay Thompson, Aleksej Pokusevski, Kyle Kuzma, Royce O'Neale, Joe Harris, Matisse Thybulle, Kawhi Leonard, Dillon Brooks There are some high-upside guys in this tier, but. You want Jrue putting opposing guards in Alcatraz. The Warriors are a .500 team, in large part because Curry has missed 20 games with two extended injury absences, the second of which he's in the middle of right now. If you play him straight up, hell blow by slower defenders, punish smaller defenders and get his stepback 3 off against anyone. Hes a more willing passer, and his shot selection has improved, but he is nowhere near the floor general that Chris Paul is. It's not an accident that Orlando is outscoring opponents by almost 11 points per 100 possessions when he's on the floor, per Cleaning the Glass. John W. McDonough/Sports Illustrated. The fit projects to be awesome, with Gobert making up for Towns defensive deficiencies and Towns shooting enabling Gobert to hang out in the paint without mucking up the spacing too much. That was December 2021, just 14 months ago. Well, probably not. Centers aren't supposed to be able to run offenses as a primary playmaker, but Sabonis is doing that better any non-Jokic big man has in recent memory, and the gap between them isn't exactly gaping. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". Washington fans should just sit backm enjoy Beal and pray to someone that a young player the team drafted works out. So, everyone knows the Kings are a bit dysfunctional, to say the least. -- Brad Botkin, SGA is in the midst of a breakout campaign. How many NBA Players belonged in the Elite tier?SUBSCRIBE IF YOU ENJOYED! Yet, hes been able to overcome his shortcomings as a shooter and become a truly prolific scorer. In his first year with the Jazz, Markkanen is averaging career highs across the board -- 24.9 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game, while shooting 51 percent from the field and 41 percent from long range. Here is the 2022 NBA player tier list. No player in NBA history has ever put up at least 29 points per game in a season with a true shooting percentage above .670, which Durant is on pace to accomplish. He started the season on a tear, upping his averages across the board, and improving his efficiency to a career-high 50.5 percent from the floor. This preseason, hes been making some 3s and has displayed an improved shooting form. Empowered to be the engine of the Pacers' offense, he has averaged 20 points and 10 assists with career-best efficiency. The difference between Luka and Trae Young, for example, on the defensive end is massive. These are hardly primary ball-handler numbers, but they're the continuation of a very important trend. Are there more skilled players in the league? His poor shooting hasn't seemed to affect the Hawks, however, who still put up 115 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor, compared to 108 when he's off. So that should tell you something about just how productive Harden has been. CBS Sports is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc. Commissioner.com is a registered trademark of CBS Interactive Inc. site: media | arena: nba | pageType: stories | The players who fell out of the top 25 from last year were as follows: Adebayo, George, Irving, Lillard, Julius Randle, Bradley Beal, Zion Williamson, and Kawhi Leonard. His defensive genius is unparalleled -- he's one of the few players in league history that can effectively guard one through five -- while his communication and positioning elevate his teammates. He has no spacing around him. Still, Brown had a fine season overall and has established himself as a borderline-All-Star-level player. If Booker can become the best player on a championship team, he'll find himself in the top-five conversation. In the next series, the Mavs made it a point to punish him on the defensive end, and he showed signs of attrition as the series went on. Browns limitations were on full display in certain parts of last years postseason, when he struggled to keep his dribble to himself, particularly in matchups against Miami Heat guard Victor Oladipo. And then he got hurt, missed over a month, and has averaged 22.5 points per game since returning. Garland still has a path to improvement, and with Mitchell on the team, he has a chance to have more opportunities at clean looks. VanVleet is a good defender despite his small size, averaging 1.7 steals and finishing second in the NBA in total deflections. The Eastern Conference is packed, but Murray makes the Hawks serious playoff contenders on paper. Playing him next to a traditional big means you need three really good shooters on the floor. -- Michael Kaskey-Blomain, After a disappointing defeat in last year's NBA Finals, a series for which he took plenty of blame, Tatum responded by making another leap. It was, in other words, a projection. He also makes deep 3s and can break defenses that surrender floaters and midrange jumpers. His minutes per game last season (37.9) ranked second-highest in the NBA, and its fair to wonder how this dose minutes will affect his smaller body in the NBA, especially with a player who plays as physically defensively as VanVleet does. Fresh off of his fourth NBA Championship and his first NBA Finals MVP, Stephen Curry doesnt really have anything to prove to anyone. The last time we saw Murray in playoff action was in 2020, when he completely tore up the opposing defense en route to a Western Conference Final appearance. Weve seen stretches of dominant play, but he has yet to put together the type of season that would cement him as a true superstar. If Edwards can match the progression from his first two years, the Timberwolves star will not only reach that goal but could push for an All-NBA spot, as well. Wiggins gave Jayson Tatum fits in the finals, grabbed rebounds and dead balls galore and at some point was in the talks for the Finals MVP, until Currys scoring proved unmatchable. Unfortunately, Embiid had a facial fracture and thumb sprain during last Philadelphias playoff run and seems to be hurt during each of Philadelphias postseason appearances. Bad Traes shot selection and flat-out indifference on the defensive end can make the Hawks extremely exploitable. The big man is averaging a near-double-double with 14.7 points and 9.9 rebounds per performance, and he's also adding 1.7 assists and 1.2 blocks while serving as a dangerous lob threat. -- Colin Ward-Henninger, We have published a variety of storiesandcolumns on thecontroversies of Irving's creation, though his stances do not factor into this ranking. Last season, the greatest shooter of all time averaged 25.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game. With Ben Simmons taking charge of playmaking, we may see a scoring explosion from Irving. -- James Herbert, For all of the questions about how he'd fit with Trae Young, Murray's averaging almost exactly the same amount of points and shots as he did last season. Booker is probably the best shooting guard in the NBA now after helping the Suns to the Finals in 2021 and earning first-team All-NBA honors in 2022. So boasts the collective resume of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, selected by a blue-ribbon panel of media, former players and coaches, current and former general managers and team executives. Joining Stern in the unveiling of the 50 Greatest Players, which tipped off the Leagues season-long NBA at 50 celebration, were four prominent members of the list Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Dr. Should tell you something about just how productive Harden has been the Hawks serious playoff contenders paper! 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